With over 5 million online sellers on the platform, Amazon is one of the most popular online marketplaces in the world. It has around 200 million Prime memberships all over the world, and the number continues to grow. These statistics show there hasn’t been a better time to start than today.
However, finding the best items to sell on Amazon should be a priority if you want to be successful in this field. There are dozens of new Amazon products that fly undetected by most sellers. So if you are wondering what the best products to sell on Amazon are, this post is the one for you.
You can have a slice of the pie if you get hold of the top selling products on Amazon. However, there is always a catch when it comes to selling online. This is what we are going to discuss in this article.
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Researching The Best Items To Sell on Amazon
Despite Amazon being the largest online marketplace, you cannot just pick up any product and sell it. Finding the best items on Amazon requires some deep research too. If you are set to create a success story and grow a successful business, you must take product research seriously. If you can find the right product with great margins and generate a lot of sales, you can scale your business quickly.
If you are trying to find the best categories, then you need data-driven information to make the right decision, and there is always confusion about where to start. Knowing the basics of selling products; the ones to push and which ones to ignore is critical to your success.
There is a huge pool of nearly 400 million individual products on the website. And every seller might find it difficult to filter and find the best items to sell. It’s always difficult to put time and effort into finding the winning product. But if you don’t do it, you will waste a lot of precious time and money in the long run.
In this article, you will find the best items to sell. We have picked the hottest product categories to give you an idea too. If you are ready to make some money by selling online, read this article to get started.
Is it profitable to be a seller on Amazon?
Amazon is the most popular online selling website today. When you sell on the platform, you already have the advantage of leveraging customers’ trust. Third-party sellers are enrolling in Amazon largely because of the trust people have in Amazon. This can help vendors when it comes to pushing their sales. Also, the listing fee on AMZN isn’t as big compared to other e-commerce platforms.
With nearly two million third-party sellers worldwide, 55% of the sales in 2020 have come from third-party sellers.
These numbers are impressive. However, the competition is tougher today compared to a few years ago. Moreover, selling your brand is considered more profitable nowadays too.
You can do your fulfillment in two ways. The first is FBM (fulfillment by Merchant) and the second is FBA (fulfillment by Amazon).
If you use FBM, you’ll have to handle your packing, shipping, and customer service on your own. You’ll also be solely responsible for your shipping fees and fulfillment expenses. However, you can also delegate the work to Amazon under the program known as Amazon FBA. You just need to send your products to their warehouse, and AMZ will fulfill your orders.
As soon as a sale happens, they will pick, pack and ship your orders for you. You will have all the time in the world to focus on your business by shifting the fulfillment to Amazon. And since they already have an established network, you won’t have to worry about getting your orders lost or damaged.
If you are unaware of FBA, you should check it out. Taking advantage of this option makes selling a breeze. Amazon has the experience, and its expert personnel can efficiently handle your orders. Just find the best items to sell on Amazon to start making some money, and let FBA do the rest.
The importance of selling the right product.
Effective product research is huge, especially for new sellers. It’s not always about the top selling products. Sometimes you also need to sell products that provide value to your customers.
The time spent on product research is always worthwhile. Remember that hundreds of millions of people are already itching to buy on the website. As the seller, it is important to know the product niche that customers are interested in.
Some of the best items on Amazon are not noticed by newbie sellers. For example, many new, trending Amazon products don’t get noticed by inexperienced sellers until they start to get popular. Some of the top selling products on Amazon are from those who sell handmade items too.
If you want to sell on Amazon and achieve sustainable growth, you must start by choosing profitable products. You can pick any item for sale and get a few sales every once in a while. But don’t you want your Amazon store to expand and consistently generate hundreds of sales per day? Don’t you want to reach a point where selling gets automated? Shouldn’t you aim to spend your precious time with your friends and family instead of working 24/7?
Make sure that the product niche you choose isn’t overcrowded and the demand is high. When it comes to choosing the best product to sell, low competition is always good.
Factors to consider when choosing your products
You have to consider various factors if you want to sell the right products. Below are a few factors to take into consideration before you jump into researching products:
New, Used, and Homemade Products for sale on Amazon
You are wrong if you think that Amazon only allows you to sell new products. There are numerous categories of products for sale. Third-party sellers can offer new products, used products, and homemade and handmade items.
New Products
Most people shop only for new products. The number of people looking for refurbished products is less compared to people looking for new ones. Statistics of products with high sales on AMZ mostly include new products.
But it is worth noting that new products are expensive to buy, ship, and store compared to used ones. That means you can also include a new category of old products in your product listing.
Used Products
Used products can also sell well on the AMZ platform. But, you have to take special consideration when choosing used items. Some items that can be easily purchased new cannot be sold under the used product category.
You can earn a decent profit from selling old items. That is because used products can be sourced for a cheap amount. They can also be sold at a higher amount. Thus, selling used items is also a good strategy for new sellers. An example of using items that you can sell is refurbished goods bought from discount stores. You can also sell used books from mom-and-pop bookshops.
Here is a piece of condition guidelines that Amazon has issued for used items:
Source: Sellercentral.Amazon
Homemade and Handmade Items
Amazon also has a product category for artisans, in fact, there’s an entire platform for people who want to sell handmade products. Homemade and handmade products are niches, but the monetary value they bring is also huge. Those who sell handmade items can make a lot, but they also need to invest more time and effort in their products.
If you find this business appealing, you can make arrangements with artisans too. You can help them earn a living by selling their products online. It will be best if you can make handicrafts by yourself, but reselling is great too.
Check the market, create the on-demand items and you can make a fortune under this category. But remember, this is a time-consuming and laborious process.
Here is a piece of introduction from Amazon that is an inspiration for all the artisans to start selling their products on the platform:
Source: Amazon handmade
There is no rigid answer as to which process is the best for you. All of them have their pros and cons. You must choose your strategy based on your ability to procure products and the product’s ability to generate enough revenue for you.
How Big should your Product be?
The products that you can find vary all the time. From light feathers to giant machines, there is always an opportunity to make money selling these times. But what is the category of item suitable to sell for a newcomer? Are smaller products the best items on Amazon? Or should you go for bigger ones?
The product you choose to sell should be lightweight and small. When you enter the market, you don’t know how to handle large items, and the pricing is too high. You need items that can be sold frequently and generate revenue daily. Here are some reasons why you should buy small and lightweight items:
- You can buy small items for cheap since cheap items require less investment. This way, you can enter the AMZ market with minimal investment yet quick returns.
- Small and lightweight items are inexpensive to ship but you can cut down shipping costs and invest the money elsewhere.
- You can get AMZ’s fulfillment service for fewer fees for smaller items. Larger and heavier items cost more for storage, eventually cutting your profit margin.
There are larger items with considerably huge profit margins, but there is a huge cost to earn that profit. So, it’s best to start with smaller items. Minimizing your expenses is also one way to earn more.
What’s the Best Price Point for your product?
Price is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing the best items to sell. Profit is directly proportional to the selling price of the product, so you must be very careful when fixing product prices.
Ideally, smaller items that are cheap will have a higher profit margin. An item that costs $15 can make a higher profit margin than a $100-dollar item. Additionally, items with lower prices are often purchased, rapidly increasing profit margins.
Targeting products that sell for $13 to $60 apiece is advisable. Since these items will be bought frequently, it can increase your sales volume. Your profit margin in total will increase if your sales volume increases, and you can also get more customer reviews that can help boost your rankings.
What Product Categories are best?
The website sells nearly 400,000,000 individual products; this allows sellers to reach out to a diverse community of buyers. Plus customers are confident enough to trust AMZ as their shopping destination. They believe that AMZ will ensure their items are safe, authentic, and not damaged.
It is challenging for a new seller to find the perfect product niche and compete against the existing sellers. You must give plenty of time to researching product ideas and choosing a niche that is beneficial to you. Knowing which product will cost less and generate the most sales is a must for every seller.
Generally speaking, here are some of the best selling categories on AMZ:
- Toys & video games
- Electronics
- Camera & Photos
- Books
- Home & Kitchen
- Personal care and beauty products
Some categories sell more than others, but you can have a decent start with these product categories and grow gradually. Find a niche that is right for you and jump into it.
What Kind of Business Model Should You Use?
Sourcing products and choosing a business model have always been a crucial part of selling on Amazon. While most people don’t know how products can be sourced, a few know how it can be done. Practically, it is a very vast subject, and it can only be fully understood when you attempt to start your Amazon store. A few options have been in practice and are quite popular as well. Here’s an insight into the different business models and how the model you choose can influence how you should start sourcing your product.
Wholesale
It is a practice of buying in bulk at a reduced price and selling them for a good profit margin. The wholesalers offer a discount because of your quantity purchase.
It’s a good method of sourcing your product, but you need a good amount of investment to purchase the bulk inventory. You have a minimum order quantity, and you cannot buy below that quantity. Also, the more you buy, the more you will gain because of the quantity discount on your purchase.
Dropshipping
It is a retail fulfillment that can be done without storing, managing, and shipping your inventory. Simply put, you don’t have to do anything more than managing your digital store.
In dropshipping, you need to contact your supplier, receive the order and complete the order. You won’t need a physical inventory by delivering the products directly from the supplier to your customer. The fulfillment is done by your supplier, under your name.
Dropshipping is best for those sellers with a low entry point and who are not perfect with inventory management and other fulfillment options. So, it’s easy to skip the time and cost of manufacturing and maintaining stock. It’s very easy to go with dropshipping if you are an entrepreneur starting an eCommerce business operating on a small budget.
Related: Seller’s Guide to Amazon Dropshipping
Private Label
Running a private label business on Amazon involves selling already existing, generic products under your own brand name. This is the best business model if you want to build your own brand on Amazon, gain brand recognition, and uniquely do your business. You have all the facilities under dropshipping, but you must sell your products under your unique brand name. Under dropshipping, you contact the manufacturer, order your product in bulk quantity, and leave the order fulfillment to Amazon.
The private label business model is quite flexible, but that’s not the main advantage of the business model. The main benefit of selling private label products on Amazon is the competitive advantage that it gives you, which can in turn result in a lot of sales.
Choose your strategy based on your business plan and the budget you wish to invest in the business. You must research and choose the option that will ensure that you will succeed at whatever you choose.
Where can you find the best items to sell?
You must be looking for places to source your product if you are into reselling. And there are different places to source your products from. The most important part of your business is customers. And customers want to purchase the best products. For that, you must procure your products from the best place.
Here are some of the best places from where you can purchase your product for sale:
Alibaba
Alibaba is a website from which traders from around the world can contact manufacturers and suppliers in China for their products. These products are cheap, and the buyer can resell them for a big profit. Alibaba has a huge database of products, and the manufacturers are always ready to ship these products to the buyer’s destination on demand.
One of the benefits of sourcing your product from Alibaba is the manufacturers are friendly to work on your branding and customization. Most suppliers here also have minimum order requirements, and the more products you can purchase at once the better deal you’ll get.
Aliexpress
Aliexpress is one alternative for Alibaba to source your product from. It is an international retail platform from which buyers from all over the world can procure products for resale.
But, because this is intended for customers, it’s a little costlier than Alibaba. However, there is no minimum order size requirement for buying from Alibaba. That will be a big plus point for buying from Aliexpress.
Other Brick and Mortar stores
Sometimes, the best place to source your products can be just around you. You don’t need to import since local retail stores like Walmart can be your source of products.
The main theory of selling is to earn more profit margin than your costs. It doesn’t matter where you purchase your goods as long as you can sell them for a great profit margin. The price of products is different in different states and countries. You can leverage this fact by sourcing your products from the state with the lowest cost. Then you can start selling them in a state with a higher sales price. You can also look for events that offer discounts on bundle purchases.
Other Online Marketplaces
It is similar to finding cheap items in brick-and-mortar stores. The difference is here, you look online to source your products. Online stores like eBay can be a great place to look. If you can find something being sold there for less than it’s being sold on the AMZ website, then it has resale potential.
Garage Sales
We have already discussed used items earlier in the article. If you are interested in selling used items, garage sales can be the best option to look into. Garage sales are a gold mine only a few people visit.
The people selling goods also have little knowledge of the value of the items they are selling. It would be easy to convince them to get these items for less value and sell them online.
Of course, there are other places also from where you can source your products. But, the main thing is you must do your research before you take action.
Zonbase: The Easiest Way To Find Winning Products To Sell
All the discussion above brings us to one simple question: what is the easiest way to find winning items to sell? To do this, you need to find a service provider that can offer comparative analysis and data-driven information.
Source: ZonBase Homepage
Zonbase is an Amazon software recognized for its complete set of Amazon seller tools. The software offers a wide range of tools for finding profitable products, conducting keyword research, optimizing listings, and running optimized PPC campaigns.
Under ZonBase there are specifically five product research tools.
- ZonResearch: It helps you to filter through the entire AMZ database to find your next winning product idea.
- Chrome Extension: It helps you to add a Chrome extension to see all the relevant figures behind your product. It helps you assess your product ideas by displaying relevant data on the AMZ search results page.
- Hot Products: This helps you to choose your next product from the hottest selling products currently.
- Product Validator: It helps you to validate the product you choose for the product launch.
- Sales Estimator: It estimates the monthly sales quantity to find out how much you can sell. It also indicates whether you can compete with other competitors or not.
Conclusion
When entering into the selling business, choosing the winning product is important. In many ways, it is the deciding factor of whether you are going to succeed or not.
While it can be intimidating to start as a complete newbie, don’t fret. If you follow the tips above, you are on the right path to success. Also, make sure to use the product research tools offered by ZonBase. You can try Zonbase for a free trial if you want to try out the software first.
Also, check out this video for a complete Amazon Product Research Tutorial!
