Starting an Amazon business is an exciting business venture to embark upon. One of the first hurdles that a soon-to-be seller must jump? Determining what product (or products) to sell! There are a lot of factors to consider when picking a product and it is important to carefully consider each. Some of the critical points to consider when choosing your product are: Product weight, product size, manufacturing, manufacturing costs, sale price, target audience, product complexity and product demand (as well as demand over time).
With so many factors to consider, its critical to have the resources and knowledge necessary to make a well informed decision. This blog will detail the research, resources and key aspects to consider during the product-picking process.
Amazon Product Research
Finding the right product to sell on Amazon requires some research. When you start researching products, a great way to keep your findings organized and available is in a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are great because you can make columns that list things like the product name, best seller rank (BSR), number of reviews, number of similar items, search volume, and more.
One way to begin product research is by looking up the top 100-500 best selling items in every category. This will help you get a good idea of the competition that is already on Amazon, and whether or not the product is lucrative. Additionally, there are plenty of programs and websites offering paid services that dive deeper into competition analysis. Rinse and repeat this process for all the categories on Amazon that strike your interest.
Furthermore, spreadsheet-worthy products should meet the following criteria:
- The product is small and light
- The product is not complex or confusing (electronics, moving parts, etc.)
- The product should sell for 20 dollars or more
- The product is not something that you feel emotionally attached to
- The product is not a: yoga mat, supplement, or marijuana-oriented
- The product is a combination of good profit margins and you are interested in it
Consolidating the Initial Product Research
The next step in the product research process aims to refine the list of spreadsheet products you found previously. Look up the keyword associated with each product in the Amazon search bar and evaluate the first ten products on the first page of results. If these first ten products have more than 500 reviews, it is probably best to scratch this product off of your list. Products with a lot of reviews make tough competition, which makes things more expensive for you. Next, check the product’s Best Seller Rate (BSR). Make sure that the top ten are getting decent sales and that it isn’t just the most popular product that is getting a good BSR. So, if the product is over 5,000 for the majority of the top ten products in that category, scratch it off. Expensive products are the only exception to this, as those sell fewer units per day and therefore have a higher BSR. Your goal it to determine the daily sales volume, so the BSR is critical to analyze in the FBA toolkit on Amazon.
The Final Steps in Product Research
Finally, evaluate your spreadsheet to see how many like-items there are and how many pages of search results come up with each. Generally speaking, you should be looking for a product that sells about 10 units per day for 20 or so dollars, has less than 300 reviews and has minimal competition. If your product checks all the boxes, the only thing left to do is ensure that it can be manufactured for a good price and is of good quality. Alibaba is a great resource for finding a supplier overseas where the manufacturing costs are lower. Just don’t forget to order a product sample first before placing an order to ship to Amazon Fulfillment Centers!
