I’m an Amazon operator with 2 years under my belt, working at a tiny startup. Our owner’s from a totally different industry—zero e-commerce background, like none. We launched our US Amazon store earlier this year, and it’s a super small team (just a handful of us, really).
I was hired to handle ops. At first, the owner picked the products, I did the market research, and we’d hash it out to decide what to sell. We’re doing selective expansion—not full-blown private label, not just retail arbitrage. More like small-batch, curated stuff we actually believe in.
As we added more accounts, the owner got swamped with his original business. So we decided to hire a sourcing specialist—someone with real, hands-on experience. Ended up with a guy who had 10 years at a big company. I was stoked, thought this would take a ton of weight off our shoulders.
Spoiler: Nope. Things went south fast, and I started wondering if his “experience” was even real. Here’s the mess:
He sourced a dropshipped cosplay costume based on a trending IP. Next thing we know, we got hit with an infringement claim—and the account was gone. Poof. Just like that.
He ordered battery-powered products without checking if the supplier had the required safety certs. When it was time to ship, the freight forwarder asked for docs we didn’t have. We had to scramble for a new one, wasted both time and money.
His research sheet for one product said “water-resistant.” But when we got the sample and shot product videos? The material soaked up water like a sponge. Total fail.
He had zero clue about basic FBA rules—box size limits, suffocation warning labels. Stuff even new sellers figure out in their first month.
Every time he handed off product info to me (the ops guy), something was missing or wrong. I ended up redoing so much work—total waste of time.
He also had no control over lead times or quality. Suppliers didn’t take him seriously at all—delays were constant, and samples were hit or miss.
To be real, I should’ve caught some of these mistakes too. I trusted his “10 years” way too much, and I’m still learning the ropes. I’m not blaming him entirely, but a lot of this could’ve been avoided.
The owner finally let him go—but not because of all the rookie mistakes I just listed. It was because he brought zero supply chain value. The owner thought a 10-year vet would have connections to top factories—turns out, he had nothing. Nada.
Here’s what I’m trying to figure out: What should a sourcing specialist actually do in a small Amazon startup? And how do ops and sourcing work together without stepping on each other’s toes?
If you’ve been in this spot—whether you’re an operator, a sourcer, or a startup owner—I’d love your take. Drop your thoughts below, they’ll mean a lot.
Answers (7)
What you really needed wasn’t a sourcer with pre-existing connections—it was someone who’s good at finding and vetting suppliers from scratch. Someone who can dig up good factories, negotiate terms, and build those relationships over time—not someone who hoards their contacts.
Also, don’t sleep on how much sourcers can learn from ops. Explain the “why” behind Amazon’s rules—why box size matters, why certain certs are non-negotiable. Once they get the consequences (like losing an account), they’ll start checking those things on their own.
As an operator, you can’t just take what the sourcer gives you and run with it. You’ve got to do your own checks—market demand, patents, profit margins, viability. The sourcer brings the product and specs; you bring the data to decide if it’s worth launching.
And for startups? You don’t need a 10-year vet. You need someone with 5-6 years from a small, hands-on factory or trading company—someone who knows the rules because they’ve followed them, not because they read them in a manual. Someone who gets the whole process, not just one piece.
Now the inventory’s on a ship, and if it flops? It’ll be my fault (the ops guy). The biggest issue? Ops and sourcing need to be on the same page—100%. If you don’t align on product direction, you’ll end up with miscommunication and blame games.
The core job of a sourcing specialist is understanding customer needs and turning that into a solid product. Logistics, compliance, packaging—those can be learned. But they have to want to learn. Sounds like this guy didn’t.