This page contains a list of the tools you need to sell things on Amazon. I’ve done the research for you, and found the best product, the best deal, or both!  I’ve linked to Amazon for most of these products, but in some instances (like the boxes) it’s best to buy them somewhere else.

You’ll notice in many of the descriptions, I mention how a product saves me time.  As you grow your Amazon FBA business, you should always be on the lookout for tools that can save you time and/or make the job easier.  So while many of these items aren’t required for selling on Amazon, they make the process faster or easier, which in turn will make you a happier and more efficient seller.

Shipping scale: To send shipments to Amazon you have to know their weight.  A shipping scale gives you an easy to read display and keeps the bathroom scale in the bathroom where it belongs.  The scale I use is almost identical to this one pictured above.

Barcode scanner: This helps list products more quickly because you can scan a product’s UPC barcode rather than having to type the number in.  If you’re listing a large variety of items, such as used books, a barcode scannersaves you quite a bit of time.  Find it here.

Scotty peeler: Products from retail stores often have price stickers on them.  A Scotty peeler greatly speeds up the process of removing those stickers so I consider it a must-have tool.  I prefer the metal ones but the plastic ones work well too.  This link is for a package that contains both metal and plastic so you can test them both out for yourself.

Goo Gone: Sometimes after removing price stickers the adhesive will still be stuck to the product.  Goo Gone is what I use to remove it because it’s super-effective.  I use both liquid Goo Gone here and the even-more-convenient wipes here.

DYMO printer: If you have products that need to be labeled, and you want to save a bit of money by not having Amazon label products for you, then you have to print the labels yourself.  A DYMO label printer is the standard printer for this task.  I’ve used the LabelWriter 450 for years and it’s great.  Don’t forget to buy extra labels as well.  I’ve found generic labels like this 10-pack work just fine and they are much less expensive than DYMO-brand labels.

Plain paper printer: I use this multi-function printer from Brother, and I love it because it does scanning as well as printing and copying, all at an affordable price.

Label printer: Today, I use a thermal label printer from Zebra to print labels.  It really speeds up the task of printing and attaching labels for outbound shipments.  If you want to see 3 more options, check out my thermal label printer post.

Thermal labels:  You’ll need labels to go with the thermal label printer.  These ones will work great.  For additional label options see this post.

Printer paper: You will print lots of labels on paper, and you need printer paper for that.  Buy in bulk to save!  This link is for Amazon Basics paper, but I’ve also had luck going into Staples when their paper is on sale and getting it for even less than what Amazon sells it for.

Sealing poly bags: Sometimes you have to bag items before sending them to Amazon, and you have to use sealing poly bags.  They come in all sorts of sizes so make sure to pick a size that fits your needs.  This link is the best value I could find and offers 100 bags each in sizes of 6”x9”, 8”x10”, 9”x12”, and 11”x14”.  They also have the mandatory suffocation warning printed on the outside of the bag which is a time-saver.

Suffocation warning labels: If you’re sending bagged products to Amazon that don’t have suffocation warnings printed on them, you’ll need to put this label on yourself.  The best value I could find for these labels is here.

“Sold as set” labels: If you are bagging multiple products together to be sold together, you’ll need to put a “sold as set” label on each bag.  Find these here.

Packing or “void fill” paper: When just starting out, I recommend you use newspaper or paper bags you have lying around as packing or “void fill” paper.  You can also grab free newspapers at local businesses, saving you money.  When you start to ship product regularly to Amazon, however, you shouldn’t waste time searching for newspaper.  I recommend having rolls of paper on-hand to save time.  You can get 2 rolls for a great price here.

Tape gun: To ship boxes you need to seal them, and to do that quickly you need a tape gun.  I’ve tried several different brands of tape guns over the years and I’m sharing my favorite brand with you.  The Tach-It gun, which I discovered recently, does the best overall job.  I use the 2” version here with clear tape and the 3” version here with brown tape.  This tape gun works smoother than others I’ve tried, and loading and unloading the tape is fast and easy.

Clear and brown tape: I use clear 2-inch tape to attach shipping labels to boxes, and I use 3-inch brown tape to seal the boxes themselves.  Brown tape also quickly covers other shipping labels, which is often faster than removing them.  I buy tape in 36-roll boxes so the cost per roll is much lower than buying it in a store.  You can find 35 rolls of 2” clear tape here or 36 rolls of 3” brown tape here.  I recommend buying tape online because it is WAY cheaper than buying it in an office-supply store.

Tape measure: To ship a box to Amazon you need to know its size.  The quickest way to measure the dimensions of the box is with a tape measure.  Many people already own a tape measure, but if you don’t, this is the best deal I could find on Amazon.

Boxes: If you are just starting out, I recommend using boxes you have around your home for your first shipments to Amazon.  Once you need more boxes, you should buy them in bulk to save on the cost per box.  The best way I know of is to have U-Haul ship boxes to you directly.  For orders over $100 you don’t have to pay shipping costs either.  Buying boxes this way saves you the time of not having to go to a store, like Staples, to purchase boxes yourself.  I like the “Medium Moving Box” best because it’s a good compromise between being big enough but not too big.  You can buy many different other sizes as well.

Box cutters: For re-sizing or opening boxes you’ll want to have a good cutting tool.  If you don’t already own a utility knife, you can get inexpensive box cutters here or use a quality utility knife like this 2-pack here.

PC speakers: This is a “nice to have” item, but is definitely worth it if you listen to music while you prepare shipments.  I used the same old speakers for many years, but I recently upgraded to these speakers from Klipsch.  I can’t believe how much better they sound than my old speakers!