Top 6 Tips for Amazon FBA Sourcing in November

Wow! I can’t believe it’s already November. While the weather may be getting cooler, the opportunities to make big profits via Amazon FBA are getting hotter and hotter. You probably noticed a slight increase in sales in October, and this month the numbers of sales will continue to rise. This is an exciting time.

To help you make the most of every opportunity for the rest of Q4, I’ve put together a list of my best “outside-the-box” tips for FBA sourcing in November. While most resellers are focusing on toys, toys, and more toys, I want to help broaden your thinking on other ways to make this Q4 profitable. In fact, only one of the tips below even mentions toys. That’s because I think that toys is the most obvious thing people are sourcing, and I wanted to give you other ideas of profitable items to source that others might be ignoring. Yes, toys are awesome to sell during Q4, but if you only look at toys, you are leaving a lot of other money-making opportunities on the table.

1. Halloween clearance. 

Halloween clearance sales provide a great opportunity for profitable items. Halloween candy (especially candy corn) still sells well throughout the year. And certain children’s costumes are big sellers year round. Many kids love getting a costume of their favorite TV, movie, or video game character as a Christmas or birthday gift during the year.

Also, children’s dance studios and school plays need costumes throughout the year… so if you happen to come across any Halloween costumes still on clearance, scan and buy those things up. If a store still has costumes on clearance, it’ll probably be up to 90% off by now. What awesome ROI! Note: Some costumes are sold in the Toys & Games category, while other costumes are sold in the Clothing category. From my experience, about 75% of the costumes I’ve looked at are in the Toy & Games category, while the other 25% are in Clothing.

2. Winter-related items

November is here, and so is the cold. In many places across the US, arctic fronts are hitting soon (or have already been) and this signals a huge increase in winter related products. If you see anything on clearance that is winter related, scan it as soon as possible. This especially includes themed winter merchandise such as blankets with children’s characters on them (Peppa Pig Fleese Throw), Snuggies (with the local college logo all over it), and anything else winter related with a TV, movie, music, or sports theme.

The best thing about winter related items is that they will often still sell year-round. Even during the hot summer months in the US, it’s still cold somewhere in the world, and customers want to get their winter related items from Amazon. You want them to buy from you! I’ve sold Thomas the Train fleece throws and Hello Kitty Snuggies both in November and in July. So while the next 3 months are going to be the best time to sell winter themed items, you don’t have to worry if they don’t sell now… because it’s likely to sell (if priced competitively) sometime later.

Of course, there are a million other winter related items that sell well while it’s freezing. Put on your thinking cap and come up with other cold related items that people buy between November and February. Just brainstorming I can think of winter boots, vaporizers, ice scrappers, wool socks, lotions and skin moisturizers for dry skin, ice fishing supplies, car covers, snow blowers, ice skates, hot chocolate mixes, hand warmers, fireplace tools, bags of rock salt, cough and cold medicines, and space heaters… and that’s just off the top of my head. Keep your eyes open for these items (some regular price, but especially clearance priced) because they may sell very quickly.

3. Possible Christmas Gifts 

It’s more than just kids who get Christmas gifts, right? So if adults are getting Christmas gifts too, then you want to be sure you’re stocked up on items that make great gifts for family and friends. When you’re out sourcing, both in the clearance sales and the regular price aisles, be looking for items that might make a fun gift for an adult.

One way to get some ideas is to just think through every member of your extended family. What would be a gift they might enjoy? Think about your aunt, uncle, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, cousin, mom, dad, sister, brother… even that “weird” family member. They all have someone thinking of them to give gifts to… and you want those people buying your items from Amazon as gifts. Then start thinking of other people in your life that might get a gift… your boss, neighbors, friends, teachers, and anyone else you come in contact with. Think about what kind of gifts they would like. This brainstorming might help you see items in the stores that would make a great gift for them… and after scanning them and seeing the sales rank and ROI, get them to send to Amazon!

4. Warm weather-related items 

It might seem rather obvious to sell winter-related items during the winter, but did you know that warm weather items sell well this time of year too? In fact, it’s more likely that you’ll find summer items that are clearanced up to 75% or even 90% off retail prices.

Even though it may be winter weather where you are, there are many places where it’s still warm. I’ll never forget when I was in middle school and went swimming on Christmas day in Houston, Texas. Sure, it was a rare winter season where the temps never got close to being cold, but I know there are plenty of states in the US (think of Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii too) that stay warmer than the rest of the US… and they still might be buying summer items right now. Also, some families take winter vacations to warm weather destinations, and need to buy summer related items. You want them to buy from you!

Sure, not all of your warm weather merchandise will sell during the winter months, but just think how awesome it is, that for only a dime (or so) a month, Amazon will store these items for you until they eventually sell. Come spring, these items will be back to flying off the shelves, and the ROI you get will make your wallet very happy. You’ll have all of spring and the beginning of summer to sell these items.

Note: Don’t just assume all warm weather-related items will sell during the winter. Do your due diligence and check the data from Keepa for each item to see if you can expect sales now.

5. Grocery

Q4 is an amazing time to sell groceries on Amazon. With Thanksgiving meals, Hanukkah meals, Diwali, Kwanza, Christmas parties, Christmas meals, New Year’s Eve parties, and the list goes on… the opportunity for fast grocery sales is alive and well this time of year.

No idea where to start? Think about what you enjoy eating during the holidays and see if those items are selling well on Amazon for a profit. Other profitable items might be grocery items that are local to your area only. Just keep scanning and you’ll start to find profitable grocery items.

6. Black Friday

Another big event in the life of a reseller in the month of November is Black Friday. In 2021, Black Friday falls on November 26th, but that doesn’t mean that all the best deals happen on that specific day. Retail and online stores still want to bring in customers and make profits on the days both before and after Black Friday. In fact, some pre and post Black Friday deals are the best deals all year.

Did you know that many of the Black Friday deals are honored online? That’s right, you can order from home many of the same deals that others are camping out overnight to get. Another way to take advantage of Black Friday deals is that Amazon often price-matches Black Friday ads. Do your due diligence to find out which ads they are matching, but for many items, it’s well worth the time to get Amazon to price match. That way, you could buy from the retailer (who will often limit your purchase to a small quantity) AND you could buy from Amazon (who will also limit your purchasing numbers). This way, you could get double what you would normally get if you only shopped from the retail store’s website.

You may already know that Black Friday is an incredible opportunity for resellers to find amazing ROI on fast turning inventory, but many resellers don’t know where to start.

Many resellers end up skipping out on the Black Friday sales simply because they don’t know what to do. Other resellers assume that you have to spend all day fighting the crazy crowds and long lines in order to find the best inventory for selling online.

Many resellers end up skipping out on the Black Friday sales simply because they don’t know what to do. Other resellers assume that you have to spend all day fighting the crazy crowds and long lines in order to find the best inventory for selling online.

It doesn’t have to be that way at all.

I’m excited to tell you that my friend Kristin Ostrander and I (Stephen) created a course called The Reseller’s Guide to Black Friday:  The Fool-proof Strategy to Rock Black Friday Sales Every Year. In this combination ebook and live master class, we will walk you through, step-by-step, multiple Black Friday strategies that you can implement in your own Amazon business model.

Here’s the cool thing: Kristin and I have completely different Black Friday strategies, yet we are both able to make a killing off of Black Friday sales. She likes to shop Black Friday sales in the stores, while I usually stay home on Black Friday… How can both of these strategies work? We can’t wait to tell you in the latest edition of The Reseller’s Guide to Black Friday.

Right now, the cart for the Black Friday course is closed, but you can get on the wait list today! All you have to do is click on this link and you can sign up to be notified when the 2022 edition of the course is released. I’ll also be sure to send you  a coupon code for the course as well.

I really love sourcing in November. Amazon’s Q4 sales have started to increase, and there is more money to source with than usual. The more money you can source with in November, the faster you can get inventory into Amazon to flip… which leads to even bigger payouts, and more capital to source with in the next disbursement… and then the cycle starts over and over again!

So how about you? What tips do you have to share about sourcing in November? Do you have a plan of attack for Black Friday? I’d love to hear how you plan on making November the most profitable it can be. Comment below with your awesome ideas.
*This post was updated for 2021