While Amazon was once the sole seller of products on their platform, third-party sellers are a prominent part of that equation today.
Not everyone feels comfortable buying from third-party sellers though, mostly due to the potential risks such as not receiving the same product as was advertised.
This is not always the case, but it does happen.
If you would prefer to bypass these sellers and find items sold by Amazon and Amazon alone, there is a way to do that.
In this guide, I will show you how to find items sold by Amazon.
Let’s start with some basic terms first though.
Sold by Amazon vs Shipped by Amazon
Before you start searching for Amazon products, know that there is a difference between sold by Amazon and Shipped by Amazon.
Sold by Amazon Meaning: These products are sold directly by Amazon themselves. No third-party sellers are involved at any point during this transaction. Manufacturers ship these products directly to Amazon, the transaction is completed on the site, and Amazon ships the products to a customer.
Shipped by Amazon Meaning: A third-party seller sells these products, but Amazon fulfils the order. A third-party seller advertises the products on Amazon, which are located at an Amazon warehouse. Once the transaction is complete, Amazon picks, packages, and ships the product to the customer on behalf of the third-party seller.
Amazon store and ship products for third party sellers under their Amazon FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) program.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let me show you how to find items sold by Amazon.
Steps to Find Items Sold by Amazon
To only browse through products that are sold by Amazon, you will need to open the desktop version of the site. From there, follow these steps:
- Search for the product you are interested in using the search bar. Once you get to a search results page, pick a department on the left to further narrow your search if necessary. In this example, I clicked on Instant Film Cameras.
(Source: Amazon.com)
- From this page, scroll down until you see the Seller menu on the left. You should see an option for your marketplace of choice, in this case: Amazon.com.
Place a checkmark next to this to only see products sold by Amazon. Don’t see this option? Amazon.com doesn’t sell your chosen product themselves.
The search results page will now reload only to show you products sold by Amazon.
(Source: Amazon.com)
If you want to make sure that you are purchasing a product directly from Amazon, pay attention to the Add to Cart section. Under the Buy Now and Add to Cart buttons, there will be text that indicates a product is sold and shipped by Amazon.
Related: How To Find A Seller On Amazon
How Many Third-Party Sellers are There on Amazon?
Depending on the products you want to purchase, it can be challenging to get around purchasing from a third-party seller simply because Amazon doesn’t sell the products directly.
In January 2017, Amazon reported that over 3 million new third-party sellers joined the marketplace. As of late 2020, 54 percent of the products that customers purchased were sold by third-party sellers. In essence, well over half of all products you consider buying on Amazon, will be sold by a third-party seller.
Most third-party sellers are reputable, and by looking at their reviews, you can quickly tell whether you should be buying from them.
Amazon has stringent rules and policies when it comes to third-party seller if you aren’t happy with your purchase, you can always raise a case with Amazon and ask for a refund.
Amazon prioritizes the customer, not the seller.
Is There a Way to Only See Products Sold by Amazon?
If you love Amazon but genuinely don’t want to deal with third-party sellers ever again, you can always use a Chrome extension such as Shipped and Sold by Amazon.
As the name suggests, you will only see products that are sold and shipped by them any time you open Amazon. Once you open the Amazon site, you hit one button, and all the filtering is automatically turned on for you.
This plugin works with amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, and amazon.fr.
There you have it; now you know how to find items sold by amazon and amazon alone.
If you have any further questions about purchasing from third-party sellers, leave me a comment below.
Considering becoming a third-party seller yourself? I recommend looking at our Private Label course.
More soon.
Tags: amazon FBA, Amazon Third-Party Sellers, Sold By Amazon
