A guy who sold $1.2 million worth of products on Amazon last year told me where every single item comes from. Alibaba. The $35 wireless earbuds he sells on Amazon cost him $3.80 from a factory in Shenzhen. The $28 phone case that gets 4.7 stars cost him $1.40. The $45 LED desk lamp cost him $6.20. The $22 resistance bands cost him $0.90. He doesn't design the products. He doesn't manufacture them. He doesn't invent anything. He finds factories on Alibaba that already make the product, orders 500 units with his logo printed on them, ships them to an Amazon warehouse, and lists them with professional photos and optimized copy. His average markup: 440%. He told me something most American consumers have never considered: "Every product you buy on Amazon with a brand name you've never heard of and most of the ones you have is available on Alibaba at the factory price. You're paying a middleman to put it in an Amazon box. The factory doesn't care who buys. They'll sell to you directly for the same price they sell to me. You just don't know how to find them." He showed me 9 things most people get wrong about buying from Alibaba and the system that lets anyone buy from the same factories supplying Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Here's the full playbook 🧵