Amazon $$$
(Top Secret Formula for Picking Profitable Products)
The most common question asked by both new Sellers and “Old-Hands,” at selling products successfully on Amazon is, “…..what should we try to sell next?” It is a common misconception that many successful sellers on both Amazon and even EBay have their own top-secret formulas for deciding what items will sell in acceptable volumes and will be highly profitable. However, it appears that the truth is that there are some very common concepts that most successful sellers share.
In short, there are specific targets that successful digital marketers require a product to hit. While no company is 100% successful with every product they bring to market, top sellers have far more “winners,” than “losers.” In the DR (Direct Response) industry there are specific concepts that a company supports with their advertising. This includes both on the product side as well as on the targeted demographic side. The same is true when it comes to digitally driven sales over the internet.
Regular readers of articles posted on our MosaicaFX website have no doubt recognized certain themes and even formats that we use in providing information to our clients in our web-based articles. While we will always stay true to our efforts to help educate and support our readers with timely information, today we break with our normal formatting of these articles by simply listing what many successful digital Sellers believe are the TOP 16 Requirements for Profitable Products. While we would love to take credit for the list below, it was developed by Josh Shogren, an up-and-coming “products to paychecks” guru that invested a great deal of research into preparing such a list. Prepare to be amazed!
- Average Product Sale Price Should Be Between $10-$50. This price range is the “sweet spot,” for pricing because people will make impulse buying decisions for products in this price range!
- Lightweight (Preferably under 2-3 pounds). We are referring to shipping weight. This weight results in shipping costs that are optimal for the Seller, Shipper and Customer.
- Similar Products Have a 5,000 Best Seller Rank (or Smaller in Main Category). The BSR (Best Seller Rank) is a great indicator regarding product potential. The higher the rank, the higher the demand for a similar product.
- No Brand Names within Product Category/Niche. No one likes to compete head-to-head with brand names. Compete instead against weak, no-name brands that carry no weight with their name.
- Simple Items that are not Easily Broken. This is very important. Products that arrive broken to the customer result in negative reviews and rankings.
- 2-3 Products with Less Than 50 Reviews on First Page. Items with less than 50 reviews are generally considered to be easy to (beat) exploit. This means there would be a good chance your product could reach the first page for the product.
- Product can be Produced for 25% or LESS of Sale Price. This is a “down & dirty” way of quickly estimating that the profit margins will be acceptable on a potential product. There is of course a more detailed process that should be explored to actually calculate specific profit margins….. this is a good, basic rule of thumb.
- Room for Improvement and Optimization of Current Listings. You need to confirm that there are listings on the first page for your product that are not fully optimized. This generally means that your competition is going to be weak, thus your climb to the first page will be more likely.
- Top 3 Keywords have over 100,000 Monthly Searches in Merchantwords.com. If your top three product keywords get over 100,000 monthly searches then it is a good sign that there is enough demand for the product to sell successfully.
- Product is Easily Outsourced in China. The quickest way to confirm if your product can be made in China is to type in a product search on Alibaba. If multiple suppliers pop up with your product then more than likely you can easily source the product.
- Year-Round Seller (NOT Seasonal). Year-round sellers are preferable to “hot” products sold over just a few periods of the year. This affords you more manageable production and marketing campaigns.
- Similar Products Being Sold on EBay. If similar products are being sold on EBay then you can assume that the market for your product is big. This is a good sign believe it or not!
- Ability to Expand Your Brand with Related Products. This is very important if you are planning on creating a brand around your product.
- Can Make a Superior Product over Similar Products in the Market. If you can build a superior product that is better and more unique than comparable products in your market then you can develop a huge advantage over them.
- Product Encourages Recurring Purchases. While not a major requirement, it is a definite bonus if this is applicable. This can be a difficult product to develop but it is worth it if possible. Think offering “cheap” batteries for battery powered products as an example.
- Multiple Product Keywords. If you have 3 or 4 keywords for your product you have a better chance at least ranking for one of them instead of everyone fighting to rank for only one keyword.
As expected, when a Seller decides to expand their product offerings, it is important that they not waste their time, energy or money when it comes to deciding what buyers will purchase. Digital website selling is the most competitive retail vertical to work in.
Mistakes can kill you. Whether it is a bad choice when developing a new product……or the poorly managed shipping and customer service associated with potentially a good product, mistakes can derail even the best Amazon Sellers. That’s why it is imperative that you develop your own “requirements” list when developing a new product.
Better yet…….use the one above as it may be the best litmus test available yet
