AMZ Seller Financing   •   June 25, 2018

The great thing about Amazon is that you can set up your online store in a couple of steps and start selling right away. As soon as your account is created, you can begin working on your sales. But that’s the moment a question arises – what should you sell? There are so many products out there, and it’s getting hard to decide on the best niche and type of products to sell. Inexperienced sellers, who are new to the market, often follow their intuition. By doing so, they choose products they like and hope would sell – but this is never a good idea. No guesswork is allowed. Everything must be worked out and planned in advance.

It’s not smart to go with your hunch and venture into online sales without a good strategy. And no strategy is complete if it’s not backed by some solid research. Like any other market, Amazon works on the principle of supply and demand, which is why it’s crucial to know what to sell. The competition is fierce and it’s not enough deciding to put a product in your online store and hope for the best. You actually need to research the niche you’re in and find the most lucrative products. That is how you will attract a lot of customers and secure steady sales.

Most newbies think that any product is good if it’s marketed the right way. Although this is somewhat true, you need to understand that the concept of a product a bit deeper than that. A product is not something you sell, but something that is sold. You need to know that, when it comes to Amazon selling, certain products are better than others. That’s the way things are. How to know what makes a product “good” in Amazon’s terms? Here’s how.

How to Decide what to Sell on Amazon

1. Find Products that are Lightweight and Simple

If your product is bulky, and hard to move around, it will affect your shipping costs. Also, keeping big, heavy products in stock requires a lot of space. And if you count in the potential breakage and repair costs, it’s clear why small and simple items are a safe bet. Remember: the bigger the product, the bigger the risk. It’s smart to avoid electronic products, because they are very risky. They can damage during shipping and lead to many customer complaints. That is why you must never dismiss shipping as a decisive factor. The best-selling products are always those that ship easily.

2. Focus on Niche-Specific Products

Your sales depend on your customers’ search terms. This is why good products are always as specific as possible. Your product descriptions should be very specific. However, it’s impossible for your product descriptions to be specific unless you have niche-specific products in the first place. For example, a customer won’t type in “beach ball”. Instead, it will more likely be something like “giant colorful inflatable beach ball”. Do you notice the difference? If your products are niche-specific, they will match the customers’ specific search. In the long run, it’s best to find a profitable niche and dominate it.

3. Focus on Products that Sell at $10-$200

This may seem like too low for you, but it’s the best range for getting started and establishing a steady-income business. Yes, you can make a lot of money selling products that are far above $200 per item. But the biggest downside to it is that, in order to get started – you need a lot of capital. Not many new businesses can afford this. If you can, good for you, but know one thing: it’s always smart to start small and gradually develop. Some of the best-selling products in the world are fairly inexpensive. Nevertheless, their sales figures are staggering.

4. Make Sure Your Products Are in Regular Demand

Good products are sought after, on a regular basis. Don’t focus on the products that are popular today, or this month, because these things come and go. It’s like a fad. Here today, gone tomorrow. Instead, focus on products that sell throughout the year – every year. It’s great to have seasonal products and promotions (e.g. for Xmas, Halloween, July 4th), but don’t focus solely on those. Think in terms of the food industry: there are no days or seasons when people don’t eat; we need food every single day. That’s exactly what a good product is – it sells regularly. Always make sure that you sell products in regular demand.

5. Go for the Margin of at Least 50%

A good product brings you good money, simple as that. A product can be useful from a practical standpoint but, if it doesn’t sell, then it won’t help increase your business. If you’re earning only 5% per item sold, that’s not a prosperous state of affairs. You can go on like that forever and never have enough to pay the rent. 50% is the right starting point; if a product can give you that – then it’s definitely good. So, what does it all mean? If you’re selling a product at $100, you shouldn’t buy it for more than $50. If you’re selling at $200, don’t buy for more than $100. Sure, you can find fellow Amazon sellers with much lower margins, but it’s very hard to succeed that way. Amazon’s marketplace is saturated as it is, and you should have a solid chance of making it as an online seller.

Feel free to check out the other articles on our blog as well as download our FREE ebook on how you can fund your Amazon business.