Finding a great product can make or break your business. A lot changed in 2020 but the main strategies for finding a good product still work.
In this article we are going to cover our top tips for choosing a good product to sell on Amazon.
Sells for Between $20 and $100
If the price is below $20 Amazon’s fees eat up too much of the margin to make it worthwhile.
If the price is over $100 it’s less of an impulse buy for people and more likely they will want a brand they know, so it’s harder to sell. So aim products in the $20 to 100 range.
Is Light and Small
Freight costs and Amazon’s fees are based on the size and weight of a product.
If you air freight a bulky item this can cost thousands of dollars. Aim for standard size items which are smaller than a shoebox and weigh less than 2 pounds.
Ideally you want as small and light a product as possible that will guarantee your margins are higher.
Low Competition
If you search for an iPhone case on Amazon there are more than 8 million options.
Even if your case is made of gold and diamonds and sells for 9.97, with so much competition it’ll be hard to stand out and be seen. People usually buy the first 10 to 50 results on Amazon that pop up on page 1 or page 2.
So for every item you are considering, check how many similar items are already being sold.
Minimum Volume
Using Unicorn Smasher you can check how many units sell for each of the top 10 products on Amazon.
You want items where the top six sell a total of 3000 units or more per month in total, so an average of 500 units per month. Why? If the volume is less than this there is not enough demand to sell your product.
Brand Isn’t Important
For some products, brand is very important. Nobody buys XYZ Sneakers. They want Nike or Adidas.
Even if your sneakers look great it’s unlikely that someone will choose your brand over Nike, Reebok or Adidas. But if they are shopping for kitchen spatulas they won’t mind which brand it is.
They’re looking for the best value. So go for products that are not brand sensitive.
Keep it Simple
Electronics and products with many moving parts require a lot of capital and there are lots of things that can go wrong.
For most electronics, customers will expect a 12-month guarantee. They also require special lab testing and certification.
For your first 10 products keep it simple and sell something that’s easy to manufacture, has few moving parts, and has no electronics.
Search Volume
Check the volume of the keywords for the item you’re considering on AMZ Tracker.
Make sure the top three keywords have an average of 10,000 searches each at least. If there are few people searching for it, it’s unlikely you can sell a lot of units.
Bonus Criteria – Margin
Make sure the landed cost of the product, that’s the price of the item plus freight to Amazon, is less than 25% of the price you sell it for.
After Amazon fees this will leave you with a healthy 40 to 50% plus profit margin. That’s the minimum you should be aiming for.
