What Documents Do You Need for Amazon Wholesale?

Nobody wants to email a distributor for the first time and get asked for a document they've never heard of. And nobody wants to find out what Amazon requires for an authenticity check by getting that email after the fact, with a suspended listing and a countdown clock. Both situations are avoidable with the same basic paperwork kept ready in advance.

What to have ready before you contact a supplier

You don't need to attach a folder of documents to your first outreach email. But you should have all of this ready the moment a supplier asks, because hesitating at that point makes you look unprepared.

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LLC or registered business entity

You can form one through a service like Bizee for $250 or less, no lawyer required. This is the single most important document, since most legitimate distributors will not open a wholesale account for an individual person.

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EIN

Free from the IRS website, takes about 10 minutes online. This is your business's tax ID and gets asked for alongside your LLC almost every time.

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A basic business website

It does not need to be elaborate. It needs to exist. A supplier who searches your business name and finds nothing is far less likely to take you seriously than one who finds even a simple site that confirms you're a real, operating company.

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A resale certificate, if the supplier asks

Some distributors want one before selling to you at wholesale price, since it lets you buy without paying sales tax on inventory you plan to resell. Requirements vary by state. Not every supplier will ask, but it's worth having ready.

Position yourself as a retailer building an e-commerce business when you reach out, not as an Amazon seller specifically. This post covers the outreach approach in full, including the positioning mistake that gets beginners an instant no.

What Amazon requires for ungating a brand

This is a separate question from what a supplier wants, and it comes down to a single document: an invoice from a source Amazon recognizes as authorized for that specific brand. That invoice needs to check three boxes.

It matches your Seller Central account exactly. The business name, address, and contact details need to be identical, right down to a suite number.
It shows a recent purchase of at least 10 units of the exact product you're applying to sell.
It comes from a distributor Amazon recognizes as authorized for that specific brand, not just any legitimate-looking wholesale invoice.

The full ungating guide covers what to do when that application gets rejected the first time, which happens more often than not.

"I have the product but no invoice" — the honest answer

This comes up constantly: someone has real, authentic stock of a brand, but doesn't have a proper invoice from an authorized source, and asks how to still get ungated.

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There is no real workaround here. If you cannot produce an invoice from a source Amazon recognizes as authorized for that brand, you cannot legitimately ungate it. The only genuine fix is going back and buying that inventory from a properly authorized distributor who can issue a valid invoice. Anything that promises a way around this is either going to fail Amazon's review or put your account at real risk.

This is exactly why verifying a distributor is actually authorized before you place an order matters more than the price on their list. An unbeatable price from an unverified source isn't a deal if you can never legitimately sell what you bought.

What Amazon asks for in an authenticity or IP complaint check

Separate from ungating, Amazon can flag a listing after the fact if a brand or a competitor files a complaint claiming the product isn't authentic. When that happens, you typically need to provide:

An invoice or purchase order from your supplier showing the specific product, quantity, and purchase date.
Proof the supplier is an authorized source for that brand, the same standard as the ungating requirement.
A letter of authorization from the brand in some cases, though this is less common and usually only requested for higher-scrutiny situations.

The businesses that get through this quickly are the ones who already have every invoice organized and easy to pull up by product and date. The ones that get suspended for weeks are usually the ones scrambling to find a receipt from three months ago, or worse, realizing they never actually verified the supplier in the first place.

Keep it simple

A folder per supplier, with every invoice saved the day it arrives, is enough. You don't need special software for this. You need the habit of never placing an order without saving the paperwork that comes with it.

The real takeaway

Almost every document problem in Amazon wholesale traces back to one decision: which suppliers you chose to work with in the first place. A properly authorized distributor gives you invoices that satisfy both a supplier relationship and an Amazon authenticity check without any extra effort. An unverified one leaves you exposed no matter how organized your folders are. Get the sourcing right, and the paperwork mostly takes care of itself.

Common questions

What documents do I need to contact wholesale suppliers? ›

At minimum, an LLC or other registered business entity and an EIN. A basic business website helps too, since it signals you are an established operator and not someone who appeared out of nowhere. You do not need to send all of this in your first email, but you should have it ready the moment a supplier asks.

What if I have the product but no invoice for ungating? ›

There is no real workaround. If you cannot produce an invoice from a source Amazon recognizes as an authorized distributor for that specific brand, you cannot legitimately ungate it. The only real fix is going back and buying from a properly authorized distributor who can issue a valid invoice, not finding a way around the requirement.

What does Amazon ask for during an authenticity or IP complaint check? ›

Typically an invoice or purchase order from your supplier showing the product, quantity, and date, along with proof that the supplier is an authorized source for that brand. Amazon may also ask for a letter of authorization from the brand itself in some cases. Having these documents organized and ready before you are ever asked is what separates a fast resolution from a suspended listing.

Do I need a resale certificate for Amazon wholesale? ›

Some suppliers will ask for one, since it lets you buy at wholesale prices without paying sales tax on inventory you plan to resell. Requirements vary by state, so it's worth having one ready even if not every supplier asks for it upfront.

How do I keep myself protected before Amazon ever flags my account? ›

Only buy from distributors you have verified as authorized for that specific brand, and keep every invoice organized and easy to pull up by product and date. The sellers who get through an authenticity check quickly are the ones who already have clean paperwork sitting ready, not the ones scrambling to track down an invoice after the fact.