What to sell on Amazon: criteria to pick the best products.

3 min read

2 years ago Martha Rohde

When you’re about to choose products you want to sell on Amazon:

#1. Look at the top-selling products for each category and find trending products.

#2. Go for amazon items with high demand (or some demand): an item doesn’t have to be selling massive amounts per day. However, at a minimum, any product you plan to sell should achieve at least 10 sales per day.

#3. Avoid being too trendy or seasonal so you have consistent sales throughout the entire year. Selling products in demand 24/7/365 will help you achieve sustainable growth.

#4. Avoid picking heavily-saturated markets, consider international markets. Amazon FBA support more than 17 markets.

#5. Find a niche with consistent demand: in general, buyers often don’t just ‘browse’ on Amazon, but look for something specific, e.g. “Cookbooks for instant pot cooking” is more specific than “Cookbooks”. You can use a browser extensions or FBA software’s to research products in a niche market, e.g. Jungle Scout to see monthly sales volumes on products or products with low competition.

#6. Consider products with low competition that could indicate an untapped market (selling products with big-name brands can mean too much competition). There might be high demand for a product, but not many sellers are offering it. Why not swoop in and offer a really good version of that item?

#7. Leverage existing product reviews, e.g. the number of reviews could indicate how often a product has been purchased or how long a product/listing has been up. A small number of reviews that are in the 4-5 star range could mean that that product is emerging as a top seller (there’s potential and likely little competition).

#8. Consider products that are inexpensive to acquire/make.

#9. Test product quality before you invest. Check samples from your suppliers. This is extra important on Amazon FBA.

#10. Pick products that are easy to ship: be careful about items that are fragile, breakable, perishable, or prone to damage.

#11. Learn about shipping costs and Amazon seller fees so you can narrow your decision, e.g. a two-pound item will be lightweight and easy to ship, which can help lower your shipping fees.

#12. Consider creating your own brand. Private label products can be less expensive to purchase compared to big names so you can make more profit on them. You also have control over how you market and present the product (however, you still need to design your own logo, and packaging and build a customer base).

Top selling items on Amazon: product research software

Pinpointing top-selling products is more complicated than simply looking at Amazon’s bestseller list. It’s just the first step and a way to gather ideas. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to find all the relevant information there.

The fact is that you need a more scientific approach. You need to know the stats behind each product before you decide to invest in it: