Amazon FBA Q4 Sourcing Calendar: What to Buy Each Week

1. Why Most Sellers Miss Q4 Money (and When to Start)

Q4 is the most profitable stretch of the year for Amazon FBA. The sellers who clean up start sourcing at the end of September. By December, they know what they're buying each week.

The mistake I see: treating Q4 like a sprint that starts at Halloween. It's a 12-week marathon with different categories producing at different times. Miss one window and you've left thousands on the table.

"It's Monday, tons of new sales starts... there's a lot of things going on because Monday is a new week. We're going to be able to find a lot of leads."

Use This Amazon FBA Sourcing Strategy Before It's TOO LATE - Chris Mangunza

That logic applies to every week in Q4. Each week has a specific category set producing. Show up without knowing what this week should look like and you're behind. The calendar below fixes that.

This is the exact framework I use to hit $100K+ months during Q4. If you want to scale your Amazon FBA business to that level, Q4 is the fastest path there.

2. The Full Q4 Window at a Glance

Q4 for FBA sellers runs from late September through December 31. I break it into 12 active sourcing weeks because the last couple weeks of December slow down for new inbound shipments.

• Weeks 1-2 (Sep 29 - Oct 11): Halloween final push
• Weeks 3-4 (Oct 13-25): Category transition, Christmas opens
• Weeks 5-6 (Oct 27 - Nov 8): Toys, games, and advent calendars
• Weeks 7-8 (Nov 10-22): Black Friday prep sourcing
• Weeks 9-10 (Nov 24 - Dec 6): Post-BF/Cyber Monday push
• Week 11 (Dec 8-14): FBA cutoff, pivot to FBM
• Week 12 (Dec 15-31): Clearance sourcing for January

Each window has its own category focus. The big mistake is treating Q4 like one long sourcing season and buying the same stuff all the way through. Jump to the week you're in right now and execute. Read the rest so you're not caught off guard later.

3. Weeks 1-2 (Sep 29 - Oct 11): Halloween Final Push

If you're reading this on September 26, you have about five days to get Halloween inventory moving toward FBA. Five days is tight. Some units will check in during the second week of October, which still captures the last strong selling window before the 28th.

Categories to hit right now:

• Licensed character costumes: target BSR under 8,000 in Clothing and Accessories
• Fog machines and orange/purple LED string lights
• Candy bowls, cauldrons, and skull decorations
• Pumpkin carving kits: these sell out fast after October 12

Target minimum 30% ROI on Halloween items because the selling window is short. A product netting $8.50 that moves 20 units in two weeks beats a $14 net item that only moves four. Use your Keepa sales rank history to check how fast these moved last October before you commit capital.

Hard rule: do not restock any Halloween item after October 14. Velocity drops fast after the 15th and you'll be holding seasonal inventory for a full year.

4. Weeks 3-4 (Oct 13-25): Halloween Out, Christmas In

By October 15, Halloween slows down. Anything not checked in by now is a Q1 clearance problem. Stop restocking Halloween entirely and shift sourcing to Christmas categories starting this week.

The first Christmas categories to open:

• Advent calendars: This is the biggest Q4 arbitrage opportunity most sellers miss. They start selling hard in late October and clear out by December 1. Target net $10+ per unit, BSR under 5,000 in Toys.
• Ugly sweaters: Check Walmart, Target, and Costco for restocked styles at $15-20 retail that flip to $45-65 on Amazon.
• Christmas village sets and collectibles: Lower competition, consistent velocity from now through December 20.
• Ornament sets: Easy category to enter fast. Look for 12-pack and 24-pack sets with BSR under 3,000.

I source advent calendars in bulk the moment I find a clean spread. Last year I moved over 80 units of a $24.99 cost advent calendar at $62 average on Amazon. That's about $27 net per unit after fees. They were gone before November 28.

5. Weeks 5-6 (Oct 27 - Nov 8): Toys, Games, and Gift Season Opens

Toy gift guides start dropping on major blogs and YouTube channels this week. When a toy lands on a "best gifts for kids" list, its BSR craters and Amazon price spikes within 48-72 hours. You want inventory positioned before that happens.

Categories to focus on:

• Board games and card games: newer releases with BSR under 5,000 in Toys and Games
• STEM kits and science sets for ages 6-12
• Craft kits and art sets with gift-ready packaging
• Puzzles over 500 pieces: under-sourced, margins of $10-16 net at $30-45 retail

If you haven't gotten ungated in Toys yet, start the process today. I broke down the full process at how to get ungated in Toys on Amazon. Being gated out of Toys in November is one of the most expensive Q4 mistakes you can make.

Board games are the cleaner play if Toys approval is still pending. You can hit $12 to $18 net on games retailing at $35 to $55, and competition is lighter than core Toys during this window.

6. Weeks 7-8 (Nov 10-22): Black Friday Sourcing Prep Mode

Black Friday 2026 is November 27. The FBA opportunity is sourcing right now, products that will spike in price during and after Black Friday because retail supply dries up while Amazon demand stays full price.

My approach during this window:

• Pull Keepa data on anything I'm considering and check what happened to price and BSR during the last two Black Fridays
• Identify items that retail stores will discount deeply but Amazon holds at full price
• Scout early Black Friday sale pages at Walmart, Target, and Costco for clean arbitrage spreads
• Build up existing inventory positions on proven Q4 products before BF demand hits

Electronics accessories, kitchen appliances under $75, and licensed character toys are the three categories I watch hardest. The logic: retailers discount to move volume, Amazon sellers run dry on stock, and you're sitting on inventory ready to ship.

For more on Q4 sourcing tactics and how I structure the BF window specifically, check the full Q4 sourcing strategy breakdown.

7. Weeks 9-10 (Nov 24 - Dec 6): Post-BF Push, the Real Money Window

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals end. Shoppers move to full-price Amazon purchases. FBA sellers with the right inventory win big here. These two weeks produce the highest revenue of the year.

What I'm buying heavily during this window:

• Any toy or game that hit a gift guide and is now partially out of stock at retail
• Kitchen gadgets: air fryer accessories, instant pot accessories, countertop appliances under $80
• Beauty gift sets that retail stores are selling through fast
• Candles and home fragrance sets with gift-ready packaging and solid $11-18 net margins

I deploy the most capital during this stretch. I'm moving $30,000 to $50,000 in inventory in a single week. Cash position matters more here than at any other point in Q4. Plan for it before October starts.

8. Week 11 (Dec 8-14): FBA Cutoff Dates and the FBM Pivot

Amazon's FBA holiday cutoff for Christmas delivery lands between December 8-12. Check your Seller Central dashboard for the exact date each year. Miss it and your units won't be Prime-eligible for Christmas delivery, which tanks conversion on your most expensive inventory.

What to do during this week:

• Confirm all pending inbound shipments are checked in and available for sale
• Identify your top-moving SKUs and activate FBM listings as a backup
• Keep sourcing smaller quantities you can self-ship to customers within 1-2 days
• Monitor repricing closely: competition drops out and prices spike in this final stretch

Most sellers skip the FBM pivot. If you can self-fulfill at a competitive price, you capture Christmas sales even after FBA cutoffs. Find the step-by-step setup in the Q4 FBA prep checklist.

9. Week 12 (Dec 15-31): Clearance Sourcing Starts

December 26 kicks off clearance season and most sellers ignore it. Retailers are moving Christmas inventory at 50%, 70%, and 90% off. That's your Q1 inventory at the lowest cost basis of the year.

What I'm sourcing during this window:

• Christmas decorations and village sets for next year: hold in storage, sell October-November 2027
• Beauty and personal care gift sets that aren't seasonally packaged
• Toys and games on clearance that have year-round demand, not just holiday-specific velocity
• Kitchen and home items at 50%+ off with BSR under 20,000

I fund Q1 through this window without debt. An $8 clearance buy on a product that sells for $32 on Amazon in March beats most Q4 deals you'll find. Buy it now, store it, and sell it in March.

10. The Target List: How to Source Faster All Q4

"What I call my target list is a list that... this is what helped me bring some sort of consistency in the way I'm sourcing and make things click for me when it comes to online arbitrage."

6 Figure Online Arbitrage Sourcing CHEAT CODE Revealed - Chris Mangunza

The trap during Q4: sourcing from scratch every day. It's slow and inconsistent. Build a target list: a curated set of products and stores you check first before any open-ended browsing.

My Q4 target list has three columns: the product or store, the target buy price, and the minimum net I'll accept. When I sit down to source, I run through the list first. It takes about 15 minutes and I find something in the first pass most days.

Build your list from products you've sold and won this year. Add new stores from the categories in this calendar. During Q4, I keep a separate sub-list for time-sensitive items: advent calendars in October, specific toys after gift guides drop in early November, and clearance buys starting December 26. The Q4 inventory planning deep dive has a template to structure this.

11. Cash Flow Is the Only Thing That Can Stop You

The biggest Q4 mistake newer sellers make is running out of money in week 7 when the best deals are right there.

Q4 is capital-intensive. Plan your cash positions before October 1. Mid-November is too late. I covered this at how to finance FBA inventory and the FBA cash flow trap post.

The quick rules I follow every Q4:

• Never spend more than 70% of available cash in a single week
• Keep a 30% reserve for mid-week opportunities that appear after your main sourcing run
• Use Amazon Lending or a business line of credit to extend buying power, not to cover losses
• Track disbursements and reinvestment rate weekly, not monthly

To see how I run this system live, including how I source, track cash, and pick categories during Q4 in real time, reserve a seat at the free Thursday training at 8 PM EST.

12. Next Steps

You have the calendar. Pick the week you're in and execute.

• Amazon FBA Q4 Inventory Planning: How many units to buy per category and when to cut off restocking each one.
• Amazon FBA Q4 Prep Checklist: The step-by-step checklist I run every year before October 1, including account health and ungating tasks.
• Amazon FBA Q4 Sourcing: The deep dive on sourcing tactics built specifically for the holiday window.
• Get Ungated in Toys on Amazon: Get this done before November 1 or you'll be locked out of the highest-margin Q4 category.
• The FBA Cash Flow Trap: How to avoid running dry in week 7 when it matters the most.