China Sourcing Checklist for Amazon Sellers
A focused pre-order checklist for Amazon sellers managing specifications, compliance, packaging, quality, and shipment risk.
Amazon sellers often move quickly from a promising sample to a purchase order. The risk is that listing requirements, packaging, compliance, and production controls remain scattered across messages instead of becoming one approved specification.
Before requesting final quotations
- Define the exact product variant and approved components
- State the target order quantity and realistic reorder plan
- Confirm the destination market and required certifications
- Separate tooling, product, packaging, testing, and freight costs
- Ask which quoted items are subject to substitution
Before approving the sample
Record dimensions, materials, colors, firmware, accessories, labels, packaging, and test results. Keep an approved reference sample and photos. A verbal “sample approved” is too vague for bulk production.
Before paying the deposit
Verify the supplier entity, payment beneficiary, production responsibility, lead time assumptions, defect policy, tooling ownership, and inspection terms. The purchase order should point to the approved specification.
Before shipment
Inspect a representative quantity when production is complete enough to measure but correction is still possible. Check function, cosmetics, packaging, barcodes, carton markings, quantities, and marketplace-specific preparation.
Finally, confirm that shipment release requires buyer approval. A supplier should not ship simply because production is finished when inspection findings remain unresolved.