So, you’ve set up an Amazon Seller account, now what? If you aren’t sure what to sell on Amazon, you’re not alone!
When most people dream about starting an online business, they think about all the benefits – setting their own hours, selling products they believe in, earning a passive, steady income while on vacation at the beach with friends and family…
But before you can enjoy the benefits of all your hard work, you need to find products to sell (unless you have your own products to sell).
Finding the best things to sell on Amazon can be a daunting experience. But if you’re willing to spend a few hours conducting online research, you’ll stumble upon many products that you can easily sell.
To get you started, here are three fast and easy ways to find profitable products with long-term income potential.
Amazon Product Research Tools
With free and paid product research tools to choose from, an Amazon product research tool allows you to discover profitable product categories on Amazon. Using the search filters provided, you can easily narrow your search by browsing through sub-categories until you find the top selling items on Amazon.
All products listings include valuable information such as:
- Monthly revenue
- Monthly Sales
- Price per unit
- Rank
- Number of reviews
Use this information to choose the best things to sell on Amazon.
Free product research tools include:
- Amazon Best Sellers – A great way to begin your research as this page features the top selling items on Amazon. Use the product filters provided to narrow your search. Updated hourly; this tool is an invaluable resource for new sellers.
- AMZBase – Search for products, learn more about historical prices, find ASIN numbers and current product description titles (so you have a better understanding of what your competition is doing.) This research tool also allows you to use various search engines to learn even more about potential products and how well they sell all over the world.
- Influencer Marketing Hub also offers a free keyword tool that you can use to find potential products.
A paid Amazon product research tool can help you find products, choose the right keywords, discover new consumer trends and provide you with analytics such as earnings reports, inventory and the best selling times (for seasonal items) to help you improve sales.
Paid product research tools include:
- JungleScout
- SellerApp
- Helium 10
- Viral Launch
Easy to navigate, all these tools provide fast and easy ways to find top selling items on Amazon. Some paid research tools include a free trial, so you can try out the tools before committing to a monthly or annual subscription.
Google Trends
Learn more about what consumers are searching for online right now to determine the best products to sell on Amazon. Google Trends can tell you which topics people search for the most within a day, week, month year or longer. This tool helps you learn more about consumer interests, wants, needs and demands.
Once you learn more about consumers, you can offer products that help to meet their wants, needs and demands.
For example, if you want to sell trendy or seasonal items like sweaters and jackets, lawn furniture, skincare products, vitamins or fitness equipment, having a better understanding of when these items increase and decrease in popularity can help you determine profit potential.
Free to use, Google Trends also helps you separate the fast-fading trends from the stuff that will be around for a while. Use this information to select trendy products you can sell quickly or products that you can continue to sell for a long time.
Search Google Trends by time frame, geographic location, search type (news, shopping websites, entertainment websites), industry and category to learn more about what consumers want and need.
Product Reviews
Negative product reviews can have an impact on sales. And once a product receives too many bad reviews, it can be very hard to get customers to buy that product. Many consumers read product reviews before spending money, especially for new or trendy products.
So, when selecting products to sell on Amazon, choose products with fair to great reviews on Amazon and other online marketplaces. Visit manufacturer or retail websites to read what customers post.
Product review websites like Trustpilot, CNET, FanReviews, ConsumerReports, Comparaboo and Viewpoints provide invaluable information and insights into how consumers feel about specific products.
Now that you know how to conduct simple online research, it’s time to learn more about how to make money selling on Amazon.
During your initial research, create a list of potential products – aim for a list of 20 items. Creating a list of potential products allows you to compare the following:
- Pricing – Eliminate products that cost too much for the average consumer. If you have two similar products that cater to the same consumer group, select the one that’s most affordable as you will probably sell more units over time. For best results, select products that cost between $5.00 and $50.00.
- Profit margins – This is the amount you will earn after paying suppliers, Amazon seller fees and other fees associated with your business. Select products with a 50 percent or higher profit margin.
Some Amazon sellers sell products that yield less than a 50 percent profit margin, but they usually have to sell more units in less time to remain profitable.
There’s a delicate balance here – if you sell a product that’s very popular and competitively priced, you can play around with the profit margin if you’re sure you can quickly sell lots and lots of units to stay ahead of your business costs. - Competition level – Keeping up and staying ahead of the competition means everything when selling products on Amazon. When starting out, select products with low to medium competition. To determine competition levels, use your Amazon product research tools to find out how many other people sell the same or similar products on Amazon. Find out how much they sell these items for and how much volume they sell monthly.
- Product uniqueness – You can sell the same or similar products on Amazon as long as the competition remains low or medium. The more unique your product, the better your chances for earning a steady income as consumers will have fewer options when it comes to purchasing these products.
- Consumer reviews – Discard any products with mediocre, bad or really bad product reviews. Instead, focus on selling products that people want and approve of.
Final Words About Finding the Best Things to Sell on Amazon
In the end, finding the best things to sell on Amazon requires a little bit of time conducting online research, creating a list of potential products and then using your research to whittle down your list to one or more products.
Some people say the key to success is selling products that you would also buy, while others depend on research, trends and other analytics to choose profitable products. Information is power, so it is important to learn as much as you can about a product so you can determine the best ways to market it to consumers.
However, if the product is also a product you use or one that you believe in for whatever reasons, you should use your positive experiences to help convince others that they should buy the product from you.
One of the best reasons to sell products with Amazon is inventory flexibility. Over time, you can add or remove products from your store to help maintain steady month-to-month earnings.
With every product you sell, you will become more knowledgeable about consumer trends, online marketing and the characteristics of products that continually perform well over time.
If you provide top-notch customer service and can remain competitive with other Amazon sellers, you’ll build a solid business that provides financial freedom and the satisfaction of being your own boss.