If you want to start a water bottle e-commerce business, you might first think of some major retail platforms – Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc. However, among them, the one with the largest traffic, the most opportunities, and the most intense competition is undoubtedly Amazon. Amazon operates in the global market (the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, etc.), and even small suppliers can attract millions of customers. It charges referral and fulfillment fees (approximately 10-30% of the sale price, depending on the category), but in return, it also provides services such as payment processing, fraud protection, and Prime-level fulfillment for sellers.
By listing on Amazon, water bottle sellers can immediately obtain visible data (which can be used to determine whether the product meets the user’s taste), and with good luck, they can quickly get some orders. If you want to start your business on Amazon, this article analyzes some of the services provided by Amazon, the benefits for sellers, and how the water bottle retail industry can maximize the use of this huge ecosystem of Amazon, hoping it will be helpful to you.
What Is FBA/FBM? Which One Should I Choose?
For those who are new to Amazon, they may often come across some baffling technical terms. Among them, the ones most frequently heard are probably FBA/FBM, Vine, Prime, etc. Here, we will first explain the first two.
Amazon offers two main fulfillment models:
- FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)
- FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant)
Through FBA, sellers transport their inventory goods to Amazon’s warehouses; Amazon is responsible for storage, picking, packaging, shipping, as well as handling customer service and return matters. At the same time, on the product pages with FBA service, Amazon automatically provides “Prime Two-Day Delivery” service for buyers, which helps to increase conversion rate and repeat purchase rate. Amazon reports that through Amazon Logistics service, the transportation cost of each item can be as much as 70% lower than the usual transportation rate, and new professional sellers even can receive transportation cost deductions (for example, transportation costs with cooperative transporters can be reduced by $100).
In contrast, FBM (where merchants are responsible for shipping) means that sellers store and ship products themselves. That is to say, sellers have complete control over packaging and handling (for example, personalized messages, customized packaging, etc.). At the same time, Amazon also provides cost reduction tools for sellers who choose FBM. For example, Buy Shipping offers discounts (~31% on UPS/FedEx/USPS)– and now an “FBM+” program lets self-shipped sellers offer expedited delivery using Amazon’s carrier network.
Here’s a quick comparison chart:
| FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) | FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) | |
| Who handles fulfillment | Amazon | Seller |
| Prime eligibility | Yes (automatic Prime badge) | No by default (but FBM+ can qualify in some regions) |
| Sales stage suitability | Growth stage / scale-up phase | Launch stage / niche or customized products |
| Logistics cost structure | FBA fees + storage fees, but lower per-unit shipping at scale | Higher per-unit shipping, but no Amazon storage fees |
| Inventory pressure | Requires accurate forecasting to avoid long-term storage fees | More flexible |
| Packaging flexibility | Limited (must comply with Amazon FBA rules) | Full control (custom boxes, inserts, gift-ready packaging) |
So which one should I choose? Here’s the fact: it’s not an A or B option. In real-world Amazon operations, successful water bottle sellers rarely rely on only one model.
A common strategy looks like this:
- FBM in the early stage: Sellers test new designs, colors, or bundles with smaller order quantities. This reduces risk and avoids FBA storage pressure.
- FBA for proven SKUs: Once a bottle model gains traction and stable demand, moving it to FBA improves conversion rates and Buy Box performance.
- Hybrid model for cost optimization: Best-selling standard bottles go FBA, while oversized bottles or seasonal gift bundles remain FBM.
Whether sellers choose FBA or FBM, manufacturing cost and packaging adaptability directly affect profitability: Under FBA, lower unit cost helps offset Amazon fees and protects margins at scale, while under FBM, packaging design, carton optimization, and shipping-ready labeling become critical. And this is exactly where we support Amazon sellers, we provide:
- Products designed with FBA size & weight thresholds in mind
- Optional custom packaging suitable for FBM or Amazon’s SIPP program
- Pre-applied FNSKU and compliance labels to reduce seller workload
- Flexible production volumes for both testing and scaling stages
Amazon’s Advertising, Marketing and Branding Tools for Water Bottle Business
Amazon offers a complete set of marketing tools to sellers, including sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored display ads. These tools allow sellers to bid for exposure in search results and product pages and feature a self-service model and are pay-per-click. Amazon reports that small businesses attribute approximately 30% of their sales to these Amazon promotion tools. New sellers can even receive incentives (for example, a 90-day advertising credit reward of up to $1000).
In addition to search ads, Amazon also provides advanced solutions, such as Amazon DSP (demand-side platform), for displaying and video ads on Amazon websites and non-Amazon platforms. In the 2024 unBoxed event, Amazon launched AI-based DSP optimization (such as the “Performance+” automated feature, which can increase CPA by approximately 51%). All advertising campaigns generate detailed reports so that sellers can track spending and sales in real time.
Amazon also supports a variety of promotional tools: coupons, flash promotions, Vine or early reviewers program (to collect product reviews during early stage of product launches).
To understand how these tools actually work together for water bottle sellers, let’s look at a specific scenario.
Example: Launching a 20oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle with Your Brand Logo
Imagine you are launching a 20oz stainless steel insulated water bottle under your own private label. The product is FBA-ready, competitively priced, and targets office workers and fitness users.
Step 1: Sponsored Products
The first and most essential tool is Sponsored Products.
You bid on keywords such as:
- “stainless steel water bottle”
- “insulated water bottle 20oz”
- “leak proof thermos”
- …
In most cases, the users who search for these keywords have a strong desire to purchase and a clear goal in mind, which means they are the customers with the highest conversion potential.
For water bottles, this is especially important because:
- The category is crowded
- Buyers compare similar-looking products quickly
- Visibility often determines which product gets clicks and reviews first
- If the customers find products that meet their requirements, they will purchase them within a short period of time. They won’t just browse casually like choosing random outfits.
Step 2: Sponsored Brands
Once your listing starts converting, Sponsored Brands help you move from “a product” to “a brand”.
In this stage, your ads may:
- Display your brand logo and a short tagline
- Feature multiple bottle sizes or colors
- Link to a custom Amazon Store page
For example, instead of promoting only one product, your Sponsored Brand ad may showcase other products in your store as well.
By using this method, your potential customers or repeat customers who are interested in your particular product may be attracted by your entire brand, thereby increasing the likelihood of them purchasing other alternative products or complementary items in your store.
Step 3: Sponsored Display
Many shoppers click, compare, and leave without purchasing. Sponsored Display ads allow you to retarget:
- Shoppers who viewed your water bottle but didn’t buy
- Customers browsing competitor listings
For a water bottle seller, this is useful when you want to stay visible during their decision process as this keeps your product “in sight” until the purchase happens.
Step 4: Promotions
Amazon’s promotional strategies played a crucial role in the early stage of its market development. If you set up coupons, you can increase the click-through rate and conversion rate; during the summer, the school opening season (or other periods when water bottles are in high demand), you can leverage platform traffic to achieve higher sales; the Guanteng plan helps generate early reviews for new products, and for water bottles / tumblers / reusable thermos coffee cups / insulated can coolers / stainless steel shakers / hip flasks / lunch box / coffee posts etc, users’ real reviews have a significant impact on purchasing decisions, because consumers pay attention to leak-proof performance, insulation effect, product quality and durability, and these are information that cannot be fully obtained solely through pictures and descriptions.
Step 5: Amazon DSP
Once the brand grows, sellers may use Amazon DSP to reach audiences beyond Amazon search results.
For example:
- Display ads on external websites targeting fitness enthusiasts
- Video ads showing insulation performance (ice retention tests)
- Retargeting past buyers with new bottle designs
At Amazon’s 2024 unBoxed event, AI-driven DSP optimizations like Performance+ were introduced to improve efficiency and reduce cost per acquisition.
This stage is not for every beginner, but for established water bottle brands, DSP enables full-funnel growth.
Why This Matters for Metal Drinkware Sellers
Amazon’s advertising system is very favorable to sellers whose products have competitive prices, stable inventory, high quality and consistent performance. This is where manufacturing capability directly affects advertising performance.
If your factory partner can:
- Optimize bottle weight and size (lower FBA fees)
- Ensure consistent quality (fewer negative reviews)
- Support multiple SKUs and fast replenishment
Your ad spend works much more efficiently.
At KingStar, we design and manufacture water bottles with Amazon selling logic in mind, helping sellers turn advertising traffic into real, profitable sales.
Using Brand Registry, Enhanced Content and Analytics to Promote Your Thermos Business on Amazon
Registered brands on Amazon enjoy extra protections and tools.
Amazon Brand Registry (free to enroll) helps protect trademarks by detecting and removing counterfeit or infringing listings. It also unlocks brand-building features: for example, A+ Content lets sellers add rich images and text (often raising sales), and Stores pages let brands create mini-website experiences.
Registry members get access to enhanced marketing (Sponsored Brands, Brand Stores), and even incentives (e.g. 10% fee rebate on the first $50K branded sales and a $200 Amazon Vine credit).
Crucially, Brand Registry provides brand analytics: dashboards showing how customers search for your brand and how your products perform. Sellers can monitor search terms, buy-box share and more. Amazon also offers customer insights tools in Seller Central, for example, “Customer Review Insights” aggregates review data. All of this data helps sellers refine pricing, listings, and inventory.
Key 2024-2025 Amazon Updates and Policies
Amazon continually updates its platform.
For 2025, Amazon announced no general fee increases for US sellers: no new referral or FBA fee hikes, and even lowered some inbound shipping fees for large or new products. They are also enhancing new-seller programs: waiving placement fees for new ASINs and adding deeper rebates for essential items. In late 2024, Amazon introduced seasonal peak shipping fees (higher rates from Oct 15–Jan 14), and a low-inventory fee for SKUs with under 28 days of stock.
On the compliance side, starting Sept 2024 Amazon requires that any mandated safety/testing documents be approved before listing a new product. In packaging, Amazon expanded its sustainability programs: for example, in 2024 ~2 million seller products were certified for the “Ships in Product Packaging” program, allowing them to ship in their own (recyclable) packaging without an extra Amazon box. (Amazon also banned plastic air pillows in its fulfillment centers as of Oct 2024.)
These changes (plus new advertising features like video ads via Alexa and multi-touch attribution) mean sellers should stay current on Amazon’s announcements.
In short, the latest policies generally aim to help growth (fee stability, new incentives) while demanding better compliance and efficiency from sellers.
Click and read more about Custom Options: Custom Bottle Tumbler Decorating, Custom Logos of Water Bottles, Custom Water bottle Packaging, Smart Water Bottles
As an Amazon Water Bottle Seller, Why Should You Choose KingStar as Your Trusted Supplier?
As a leading original equipment manufacturer of water bottles in China, KingStar provides support to Amazon sellers with its outstanding manufacturing technology.
We focus on the manufacturing of one-stop customized (plastic, stainless steel) water bottles, thermos cups, mugs, water jugs and related products, offering high-quality products at competitive prices.
Our OEM/ODM services not only cover adjustments to existing products (size, color, surface treatment, logo, nameplate, patterns, bottle caps and various accessories), but also accept customer sketches or 3D drawings for mold making to produce products with brand new design (under NNN/NDA agreement).
Our product range includes stainless steel insulated bottles (double-layer vacuum insulation, able to keep beverages hot for 12 hours or cold for 24 hours), sports water bottles (durable, leak-proof plastic or metal bottles with straw lids), and children’s water cups (lightweight, colorful designs). All products use food-grade materials (18/8 stainless steel, 316 stainless steel, food grade&BPA free plastics) to ensure safety and durability.
We can assist with both Amazon’s FBA and FBM options.
For customers who choose the FBA service, we strictly handle the requirements of Amazon: We provide free pre-attachment of all FBA labels (FNSKU, MSKU, pallet and shipping labels, warning stickers, etc.), and completely follow Amazon’s requirements for uniform packaging. This way, sellers can directly deliver their goods to the Amazon warehouse (or we can deliver them directly to the Amazon warehouse).
If you choose FBM, we can also customize packaging that can be directly sold or mailed according to your requirements, and send it to your designated warehouse. We offer door-to-door transportation services, enjoy discounted shipping fees, handle customs clearance and delivery matters, all the way to the Amazon FBA center (or your warehouse).
During peak seasons, when Amazon warehouse space is scarce and expensive, we can provide 1-2 months of free storage services in our facilities for sellers to replenish their inventory in batches. In fact, we will store your customized bottles or cups and ship them to Amazon in multiple smaller batches as needed, thereby saving Amazon’s long-term storage costs.
Among others, our internal studio provides professional product photography services. For bulk orders, we even provide 3-5 high-quality white background pictures for each SKU for free for you to display on your Amazon product page.
These services, combined with our fast delivery time and cost-effectiveness, enable brand owners and importers to easily start and expand their water bottle business on Amazon without facing logistics issues.
Conclusion
Amazon offers a powerful platform (with a global customer base, logistics system, marketing methods and data analysis capabilities) for sellers who wish to establish their own brands. It constantly innovates, such as introducing new seller incentive measures, providing data tools, launching sustainable development projects, etc. Although the platform charges certain fees in some aspects, in general, as long as a reasonable and long-term strategy is formulated, these service fees are worthwhile. KingStar, as a reliable water bottle manufacturer, supplements the advantages provided by Amazon for sellers by offering beverage containers that meet Amazon’s requirements, are cost-effective, reliable in quality and customizable. To a certain extent, this also compensates for some of the cost difficulties.
Brand entrepreneurs, importers and e-commerce companies can thus focus on marketing and growth while we handle the rest.
To explore a manufacturing partnership and sell water bottles on Amazon, please reach out to KingStar at sales@waterbottle.tech. Together, we can take full advantage of Amazon’s services to build a thriving water bottle brand.
