How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory/ Ways and Benefits
A question asked by many—is it possible to sell on Amazon without inventory? Yes! It is possible.
E-commerce has balanced the industry for small businesses in such a way that anyone with no money, high entrepreneurial skills, and passion can start their own business.
What does “how to sell on Amazon without inventory” mean?
This refers to 3 answers.
- You own stock or inventory but don’t want to manage the problems of packaging, handling or shipping the products.
- You don’t have an inventory, but you still want to become a seller on Amazon by selling products manufactured by someone else.
- You don’t have or don’t want to manage stock but are still interested in becoming a seller on Amazon, or you want to sell digital products.
All of the 3 options above are viable and legal according to Amazon’s terms and conditions.
Although, one of the greatest challenges to start an online business is sourcing products to sell.
When people think of becoming a seller on Amazon, they think they need to fully stock up the goods and become a fully loaded seller to begin. But in such cases where you have no money to stock up or no space to store goods? Or what if you just want to sip to get the taste before you actually start?
There are multiple methods to sell on Amazon without an inventory. Our guide will take you through the entire process and steps required to start selling on Amazon without an inventory.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Selling on Amazon Without Inventory

Amazon offers many advantages for those who are willing to sell without inventory. Firstly, let’s discuss the benefits of selling on Amazon without inventory:
- The biggest benefit of selling without inventory is that there’s no requirement to invest in stock beforehand.
- This way, it also prevents all the risks of wasted stock and money.
- It adds more flexibility to your profit as you can source products from different sellers according to your convenience.
- Selling without inventory helps businesses focus more on customer service and marketing than logistics or shipments. So, it’s a wise way to grow your e-commerce business.
Ways to sell on Amazon without Inventory
- Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)
- Dropshipping
- Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
- Digital Products
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)
It is one of the most widespread methods of selling on Amazon without inventory. This method helps users to sell products by just dropping them to Amazon warehouses. The rest is FBA’s job. They take care of storing, packing, and delivering your products to the correct addresses.
This is an advisable method if you want to sell without inventory. Amazon takes care of packing, storing, customer service and shipping your inventory and takes a monthly fee and charges from each transaction.
Pros and Cons of FBA
Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of using FBA for selling without inventory:
Dropshipping

Dropshipping is also a very popular method of selling without inventory. This method has been around even before Amazon.
In this method, the seller doesn’t have to take up the inventory burden because whenever an order comes, the seller gets in touch with the supplier, who instantly delivers the product to the customer.
While using dropshipping, you are responsible for marketing and selling the product, and your supplier will be responsible for the inventory.
For dropshipping on Amazon, you only have to create product listings, and when you make a sale, you contact your supplier and get it shipped to the customer. It is a direct gateway to your e-commerce journey.
Pros and Cons of Dropshipping
Dropshipping is in great use lately, so let’s discuss its pros and cons:
Third-Party Logistics (3PL)

If you want to sell without inventory, you can consider taking a third-party logistics (3PL) service. It is a service that manages your inventory, packages and ships your products and even deals with the customers.
A 3PL service provides warehouse space and shipping service for sellers. This option is great for sellers whose business is grown up or who need assistance handling their orders.
Here’s what a 3PL service includes:
- Inventory control
- Warehouse storage
- Collecting and inspecting
- Packaging service
- LTL, FTL shipping methods
- Return management and service
Pros and Cons of Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
Every business considers using 3PL service while shipping products to customers. Here are its pros and cons:
Digital Products
Another method of selling and making money from Amazon without inventory is selling digital products.
As we all know, Amazon is a virtual platform, which makes it obvious to list virtual products on its website. Moreover, the best part is that you can sell them without inventory.
What are Digital Products?
Immaterial items that are offered electronically, such as the following are digital products:
- eBooks
- Music
- Digital art
- Software
- Any courses
There’s no limit to selling these digital items, as they can be sold as often as you want. The best thing is that you don’t have to manage any physical inventory for this.
Pros and Cons of Digital Products
Here are the pros and cons of selling digital products:
Wrapping Up
We have explained all sorts of methods you can use to sell on Amazon without inventory. The rest depends upon your need and goal. You can go for dropshipping or digital products if you don’t have enough money to startup. And luckily, if your business grows, you can use 3PL service or Amazon FBA.
We have told you the pros and cons of each of them; the rest is your choice.
Best of luck!