Hidden Tricks to Finding a Top Product to Sell on Amazon

Are there any private label products left to sell on Amazon FBA? If everyone is using the same tools and criteria to source products on Amazon, how do you actually stand out?

Gone are the days of just slapping a label onto a product and expecting to get a high return of investment. As the amount of private label sellers grows rapidly, you need to stand out from the crowded marketplace in order to win. Sellers need to modify, tweak, or improve a generic product to make the deal more enticing for buyers.

Don’t despair as there are still plenty of opportunities in the marketplace and I’m going to walk you through the process of sourcing a good product to sell on Amazon FBA. But first, here are the criteria of 3 types of products that you need to understand and be aware of:

Great Products:

1. Existing Consistent Demand / Low Seasonality — You want a product that is going to sell consistently all year long, as opposed to seasonal items (i.e. Santa Claus costume).
2. Small and Lightweight — The bigger and heavier it is, the more it costs to ship, not to mention higher storage fees.
3. Good Margins — Products with 100% or higher markups (at least 50% margin) are the way to go. You need to take into consideration Amazon fees, advertising fees, and product costs so you will be able to reorder again without cutting yourself short.
4. Niche Products — Be specific with the product you want to sell. For instance, you’d want to sell “Aberdeen fishing hook for sea bass” instead of just “fishing hooks” or “fishing hook for sea bass”. Be sure to dig deep into each category on Amazon to search for potential top products. Selling niche products also allows you to rank easily for long tail keywords instead of generic keywords.
5. Selling Price of $25 to $99 — Anything higher will take a lot of capital to get started but you can certainly try, just know it’s going to be riskier. Lower price points also target impulse buyers meaning, less consideration when buying a $15 product compared to buying a $150 product.
6. Less Than 1,000 Reviews — Generally, average products with more than 1,000 reviews are proven to be very competitive (due to loyal customers) and it’s wise to navigate away from that territory. I will show you how you can determine this using ZonGuru’s Chrome Extension tool below.

Bad Products:

1. Trademarked — Never go for products with a trademark on it else you’ll risk being sued and put in the red. Counterfeit products or other US trademark products such as Disney toys or NBA related products are a no-go zone.
2. Multiple Power-sellers Selling Large Volume — If you’re thinking about selling Bluetooth sports earphones, don’t pick earphones that have multiple power-sellers who sell thousands of units a month already. You don’t want to be competing in the red ocean.
3. Fragile — Best to avoid products, such as glasses, that are fragile and require the best practices when shipping to Amazon and to customers. Again, you can try but keep in mind it’s riskier.
4. Mechanical that Demand Great Warranties — You definitely don’t want to be dealing with products with hydraulics or complex machinery as they require warranties and are more prone to breaking down. A simple portable bicycle pump is fine however a mini electric motor for a toy car can be quite risky.

Note: These are just my recommendations based on previous experiences. I’m sure there is money to be made in products that break every guideline above, in the end, it’s up to you to make the decision.

Middle Ground Products:

1. High Maintenance — Products that come in different sizes, colors, and other variations are definitely more geared towards seasoned and advanced sellers because they have higher return ratios and require higher maintenance. Clothing, shoes, and fashion fit into this category. Although the profit is lucrative, it comes with a lot of risks as well so if you can stomach these risks then, by all means, go for it.
2. Licensing — You have probably seen Ferrari Watches being sold in duty-free stores and wondered why would a car maker start selling watches? The answer is licensing. Meaning a watchmaker or perfume maker sealed a deal with Ferrari to launch merchandises licensing the Ferrari brand. Advanced sellers interested in going down this route can do so by securing licensing deals and leveraging on these big brands.

3 Tricks to Finding Top Products to Sell On Amazon

Now that you know what determines a great product, you can start getting ideas for products. Here are 3 tricks you can leverage to find top products to sell on Amazon.

#1 Piggyback on Best-selling Products

I suggest starting from a list of Amazon’s Best Sellers or Amazon’s Movers & Shakers to brainstorm for complementary products or bundling ideas. These subsidiary products may or may not generate more sales compared to best-selling products but they are definitely worth looking into.

A great starting point is to list down products and markets in your life that you interact with on a regular basis. For instance, “you would grab your toothbrush from its holder and use a cup that drains itself to rinse your mouth when you are brushing your teeth on a daily basis.” Based on the routine, there are already multiple products that you can potentially sell on Amazon.
Be sure to search for products that you would use as well so you can fully immerse in the product usage experience and have a clear idea of who your ideal customers are.

Using ZonGuru’s Chrome Extension, you can get a complete look at an entire product category in seconds without needing to navigate away from Amazon. You can also filter results based on the above guidelines (price, rating, estimate sales & revenue, rank, and reviews) to find potential products. Below is an example of “step stool for kids” on Amazon.

One important piece of data that the tool provides is the launch budget for the product. The launch budget is an estimated budget required to launch a similar product and get it to page 1 for the search term. The estimate includes factors such as COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) of 30% of average sale price, enough stock to giveaway for 15 days to get to page 1, plus 2 months of stock for organic sales.

Pro Tip: Depending on which marketplace you are researching, the level of demand and competition may vary. I suggest recording all your work in a spreadsheet to keep track of niche products you’ve found.

#2 Use Google Trends

Another trick you can use is to perform a quick Google Trends search on the product you have found to ensure there is a consistent customer search on Google. This will help you avoid any fads (i.e. fidget spinner) that can cost you. A comparison between the fidget spinner and camping lantern below will give you a precise idea on what to avoid.

You can also determine trends for primary keywords to be used for your product listing optimization using Google Keyword Tool together with Google Trends.

#3 Yasiv.com

I mentioned this tool in one of ZonGuru’s newsletters and you can certainly use this tool to search for potential products to sell on Amazon. Basically, this is an online visualization tool that shows similar items based on “Customers who bought this also bought…” data from Amazon.

All you need to do is insert the product ASIN number into the search bar, hit ‘Search’, and you will see a weblike map of analyzed products.

Pro Tip: You’d want to search for products with the least amount of other related products. Using the step stool for kids as an example, I have discovered a potential great product to sell on Amazon, disposable potty liners.

Be sure to use ZonGuru’s Chrome extension to check the criteria for a great product and potential private labeling option.

3 Vital Questions to Ask Yourself During Product Hunting

1. Can the product be improved? — This is one way to steer yourself away from existing competitors. A great way to find out if a product can be improved is to look at competitors’ negative reviews. Read what their customers think can be improved and you have your answers there.
2. Can the product be bundled? — This is another way to improve the product and for you to get creative. For instance, if you are selling camping lanterns, you could bundle it with a portable first aid kit.
3. Can the product be private labeled? — Another advance tactic I strongly suggest is to go down the private labelling route. This is a great way to build your own brand and line of products and be in the game for the long haul.

Pick Your Winning Product!

You have now done more product research than most people trying to sell on Amazon. You already have all the information you need to know which products will win or lose so the next step is for you to take the leap of faith.

Decide on 3–5 potential products to try out, then proceed to find reliable suppliers and purchase samples (or get them for Free depending on your negotiating skills). Select products based on suppliers’ information and trust your gut feeling. There will be risk involved when starting your own business but you will never know until you try so get started today!

Originally published at zonguru.com.