Hi MFM #squad! I’m so excited to share with you our new series on making money on Amazon as a seller.
For this series, I enlisted the extra help from my friend Fredrik Gustafsson, so he could share his firsthand expertise with us. Fred has over 7 years of experience as an Amazon FBA seller, HK importer, and FBA coach. We’ll let him take over and start this series off, here’s a quick background on Fred:
I have 7-years of experience selling on Amazon and I have in-depth knowledge about Amazon’s algorithm and marketplace. So far, I have built 5 highly successful brands that are still selling and doing very well on Amazon.
I have got a lot of experience when it comes to product research, design, copywriting, SEO listing, optimization, PPC, keyword research, brand development market research and more. I’m also currently coaching 7 other Amazon sellers, 4 startups and 3 long term sellers.
If you are going to be successful selling on Amazon, it is essential that you select the right products to sell. Customers are looking for quality, and if they can’t get it from you, they will go to your competitors. Your products determine many things, the most important of which being profit.
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You entered this business for one reason, and that was to make money, so let’s find out how you can locate the best products to sell for your online business.
Every day on Facebook, blogs, and forums, I read and hear people ask;
- Is it too late to start an Amazon FBA biz?
- Is Amazon to oversaturated, is it too late?
- What’s the next “big thing” online?
- How do I find products that sell good but have less competition?
- What course can I buy that teaches me how to find products?
- What is the best JungleScout viral launch research tool?
My answer is it’s not too late! But it’s important to do things the right way.
To be honest, I find products on a daily basis, that I see good potential in. I also use specific services that allow me to find suitable products to sell. When you get proficient at product research it becomes 2nd nature and you can outsource it to do more important things. Time is money, so I rather outsource product research and work on more important tasks in a growing business.
? This is a part of MFM’s Amazon FBA series. Sign up to our mailing list for more Amazon FBA series updates and other creative, money-making, side hustle inspirations you didn’t know about!
What To Look In Products To Sell on Amazon
1. DEMAND, DEMAND, DEMAND
This is the MOST IMPORTANT factor in my opinion, without customer demand you have no sales, right? Use an app like JungleScout or other to find products that sell at least 400 units a month (so you can reach 10 units+ per day) easily after you got your organic rankings in place.
? Top Tip: If you find a product you like, TEST THE MARKET with 150-300 units before you place a larger order, you don’t want to end up having 1000+ units on Amazon and then realize it doesn’t sell as expected, in addition, you can get hit by large long-storage fees and other unnecessary punishments.
2. ADD A FREE “CHEAP” ITEM
Image yourself if you are buying new beer glasses, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a FREE bottle opener included? People that are shopping on Amazon love free added value and bonuses. A simple bottle opener from China might cost you 50 cents extra but you will make that cheap 50 pennies up in sale volume quickly.
3. BUNDLE YOUR PRODUCTS
Let’s say you sell a BBQ glove, why not sell a kit of BBQ gloves, BBQ brush, and a BBQ tong?
Think 101: “Perfect Kit for the Family BBQ Masterchef”
Your potential customer might need all these products and you can take a higher price and increase your profit margins.
4. CREATE A CUSTOMIZED PRODUCT
Amazon is under attack from hijackers and other fraudulent sellers, if your product is too easy to copy, you are at risk of being attacked by these sellers 356 days a year. The fraudulent sellers will not go through a customized product that cost them upfront $$$ to manufacture, so try to stay unique and BRAND your products, packing, insert cards – essentially check out creating your own private label of products.
5. RIGHT PRICE POINT
Don’t launch something “cheap” just because you’re on a low budget. It’s better to save up some money, take the time you need. Products below $15 rarely make it (if you don’t sell 50+ units a day) since Amazons fees and PPC easts up the profit. Fees also go up every year, it’s better to be ahead. I recommend selling products that sell for USD 20 to USD 75 or even more if you have the budget for it. The more expensive the product is, the less competition it has usually.
If you sell something for USD15 on Amazon, make sure landed cost (purchase price + shipping to Amazon) for the product to Amazon is not more than around USD3, you want to get like USD7-8 in your pocket after all fees.
6. PRODUCTS YOU CAN IMPROVE
I look at my competitors 1 and 2-star reviews and read what current customers complain about, then I check if I can improve this with my products. When reading bad reviews, you can get some AMAZING insights into the product guys, and best of all – it’s FREE.
7. WORK WITH MANUFACTURES
When you find your product and heading over to Alibaba to source your product, try to avoid trading companies. Why? In my experience quality is usually worse, prices per unit are higher and lead-time is longer. Also, a trading company can sell YOUR PRODUCT to other customers and that makes you a good target for hijackers.
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Anatomy of a Top Selling Product on Amazon
The idea is to sell products that people not only want to buy, but that they need to buy. In particular, great products do the following:
1. Problem Solvers
Any product worth it’s salt should solve a problem that a lot of people have. The more people that have a problem your product can solve, the more sales you will make. So spend time doing some brainstorming and think about the kind of issues people are facing in 2019. Difficulty breaking bad habits? Finding it hard to get into a productive routine? Always losing things? What products provide solutions to these problems?
2. Passion Igniters
If potential customers are not passionate about a product, they are not going to buy it. People should feel a strong emotional connection with your products. Whether the feeling is positive or negative is irrelevant, the idea here is to get people talking about your product. It is also important that you are passionate about the products you are selling so that those feelings are what drive your marketing efforts.
3. The Power of Branding
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any product because this is what people connect with. If you think about brands such as Adidas and Nike, outside of marketing, one of the main reasons they are so successful is because of the brand attached to the product. Your brand should excite people so much that they share information about it on all their social media platforms.
4. A Specific Product
Have you ever heard of the term “jack of all trades and master of none?” There is nothing wrong with having a product that does multiple things for multiple people but that’s not really what you want. Your aim should be to have a very specific product with a very specific purpose. It will only appeal to a certain audience, but as long as there are a lot of customers within that audience and they are loyal, you have hit the jackpot.
You should also focus on making sure that your product is unique, there is nothing new under the sun, so there is no doubt you are going to have competitors. Your job is to gain a competitive advantage by ensuring that your product is a cut above the rest.
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How To Find Your Products
Finding the best products is the next step in becoming a successful online seller. The question is, where and how do you find them?
One of the ways you can do this is to research what’s trending on platforms like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. Although Facebook is not a sales platform, its where people talk about what’s hot and what’s not so you can also join certain Facebook groups and see what the main topics of conversation are.
Another effective strategy is to look at where there are gaps in the market.
There is always the possibility that a company is selling a great product but there is something missing. It’s these missing links that you need to pay attention to, if you can find the right products in these areas, you are potentially looking at a very profitable online store.
Researching what has been successful in the past is another effective method for finding good products. Basically, if it worked before, it will work again if you can find the right audience. All you need to do is resurrect the product and appeal to the needs of the people today.
If you are having trouble coming up with ideas, think about the products you used to love back in the day that is no longer on the market and in what ways you can bring them back to life.
Last but not least, if you have a feeling about what to sell but you are not quite sure, take advantage of search engine optimization tools such as Google Keyword Planner and JungleScout.
This will give you information about what people are searching for and the current popularity of certain products. Once you have found what you are looking for, start looking into how you can successfully market your new product.
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Selling on Amazon – What Are The Best Products to Source?
Amazon is the behemoth of the eCommerce industry, it doesn’t matter whether you are in Africa or America, everyone can sell on the Amazon platform and become successful if you know how.
Amazon Launchpad
Success is possible on Amazon if you are willing to get your hands dirty and work hard. In other words, you can’t just put any old product on sale and expect to see results. The product research tool is very useful when it comes to finding the best products to sell on the site. You need to become a part of that 10% of sellers who are making all the money on Amazon.
According to Jungle Scout, 90% of people get it wrong when it comes to finding the right products and end up wasting a significant amount of money on the wrong ones.
Finding the right products is one of the most difficult things about succeeding as a private label Amazon seller. If you have any chance of getting this right, you should aim to spend a minimum of 40 hours conducting product research.
Here are some essential points to consider when choosing good products to sell on Amazon:
1. Cost
The ideal price for selling products on Amazon is anything between $15 – $75. Don’t waste money on products that cost less than $20 because you won’t make much profit. Products that are more than $75 are just too expensive if you are just getting started.
2. Durability
You want to make sure your products arrive at their destination in one piece and that they are easy to ship. Therefore, avoid oversized products that are too fragile.
3. Availability
Once you’ve found the products you want to sell; you need to know where to purchase them. One of the most popular manufactures is Alibaba. There are also other suppliers you can source your products from.
4. All Year Round
Ideally, you want to make a profit no matter what time of the year it is, so products that only sell well during certain seasons should be scratched off your list.
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Researching New Amazon FBA Products – What You Need to Look For
There are several things you will need to pay attention to when starting your product search. This will prevent you from wasting time when it comes to making a decision on what’s considered good to sell.
Is There Enough Demand?
If a product is not making at least 400 sales per month, don’t waste your time. Any product that you might be interested in should have a minimum of 2000 sales per month between the top ten sellers of the product.
What is the Competition Like? It is essential that you sell popular products if you are going to make a profit. However, if there is too much competition, you may be wasting your time.
Think about it, if you are selling similar products to someone who has got 200 reviews and you don’t even have one yet, who do you think the customers are going to buy from?
Profit Margins
As previously stated, the reason you want to become an Amazon seller is to make money. The only way you can do this is if you are making enough profit on each unit sold.
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Obscure Products
Even though online shopping has changed the game in terms of where people choose to shop, there are still people who prefer to go to a physical store. Therefore, a good strategy is to find products that are not easy to obtain at a physical store.
? Retail Arbitrage: One idea off the top of my head is selling cult/niched products specific to a culture. Japanese branded candy (jelly beans, pocky, chips etc.) can be found by bulk prices at most Asian grocery stores. But for many USA shoppers – not everyone lives near an Asian grocery store (often existing only in a large diverse city). Sourcing uniquely branded candy and snacks that can’t be found at any regular grocer (like Safeway) would be a good idea. Those who can’t find it in stores will pay a higher price for it online from your FBA store.
You will also need to take into consideration the fact that Amazon popular products are in high demand and it won’t be easy to break into the market.
Finally, stay away from products that have a popular brand attached to it or products that have a patent, trademark or legal issues. If you don’t know what you’re doing you could get accidentally banned for messing with patents and trademarks.
? Top Tip: At the end of the day your main aim is to make a profit, the key is to get the balance right. You need to find products that are in high demand with limited competition. Once you’ve overcome this hurdle, the next step is to make sure that your products stand out from the crowd.
Getting The Ball Rolling
The first place you should start looking is on the Amazon best sellers list, but you will need to bear in mind that there will be a lot of competition here. There are also several other websites you can check out, these include:
- Flippa: A website to buy and sell online businesses.
- Made-in-China.com: Chinese suppliers.
- Jungle Scout: Product database and chrome extension.
- Alltop: A blog aggregator that helps you find the most popular niches.
- Reddit FBA: Check out their forums to give you an idea of what’s trending.
- Alibaba: Knowing what the manufacturers are selling will give you a good idea of where to start.
- Keyword Tools: The best way to find out what people are interested in is by researching what they are entering into search engines. The most popular tools to use include LSI Graph and Google’s KW planner.
Good luck with your product research sellers!
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Final Words
Selling on Amazon is NOT a get a get-rich-quick-game if you are looking for that, you better save your time and look for something else, to build a successful brand or Amazon business might take 1-5 years depending on many factors, but if you put in the work and believe in yourself, everything is possible.
? This is a part of MFM’s Amazon FBA series. Sign up to our mailing list for more Amazon FBA series updates and other creative, money-making, side hustle inspirations you didn’t know about!
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