How to Find the Best Products to Sell on Amazon FBA and Work from Home
Undoubtedly, you’ve made a purchase or two on Amazon. But have you ever considered using Amazon as an additional source of income?
Amazon is the world’s largest eCommerce site, but not all product offered is from Amazon itself.
It is also an ideal place for individual people and businesses to sell their products. And that can be you, too.
Now, finding what the best products to sell on amazon fba does take some work. But by putting in the time and effort up front, you can watch your Amazon FBA sales take off.
Depending on your goal, your online business can be supplemental income, or you can work harder to have it become your only source of income.
If it is something you’ve been thinking of doing, but have been unsure of how to find the best products to sell on Amazon FBA, keep reading.
We will break down the best ways to determine the best Amazon FBA products to sell and provide you with the perfect road map to set yourself up for success on Amazon.
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What is Amazon FBA?
Simply, it is Fulfillment by Amazon.
And, what does that mean?
To break it down, you have an item that you want to sell. Rather than storing inventory yourself and handling all the packing and shipping (like you do on eBay), Amazon does it all for you.
You ship your products to sell to Amazon. Then Amazon keeps your products in one of its warehouses. And, then you list your Amazon product.
And when a sale is made, Amazon packages and ships the product on your behalf.
How Much Can I Earn from Amazon FBA?
Well, how much you can earn from selling on Amazon FBA depends on you and what product you choose.
Some individual sellers start seeing profit within the first 30-days of their first product listing. The top sellers earn up to $50,000 a month. But don’t start expecting that type of return right away because there are others who don’t make money even after a year of listing their products.
But, if you are able to choose the best Amazon FBA products, you can absolutely earn thousands of dollars each month.
It all depends on your strategy, which means the product you chose, the cost of that product, and the sale price. If you get that right, there is no telling what you can earn monthly using Amazon FBA.
Amazon FBA Fees
You will need to consider the different fees when deciding on what to sell on Amazon FBA.
When looking at the cost of your products versus what you intend to sell them for, you need to factor in the fees so you have a better idea of your true profit.
For everyone, there is the standard 15% seller fee, which Amazon charges for placing the item on their site.
This means every item of yours sold on Amazon will have 15% deducted from the sale price.
In addition, there are fulfillment fees per item that vary in amount based upon the size of the item that also includes packing and shipping.
And, if you have a lot of inventory that is not moving, you are also charged inventory storage fees.
Best products to sell on Amazon FBA
Technically, you can sell anything that you want on Amazon FBA. But to find the best Amazon FBA products, you need to focus on selling an item that is in high demand.
Ideally, your product will be in high demand and with low competition. That’s the formula you need to strive for.
And, your target selling price should be between $10 – $50. Why? Most shoppers don’t think twice before purchasing an item in this price range. It’s an impulse buy.
For an item to fall within that price range, it is easier for you to turn a profit on each sale and to move inventory.
Anything under $10 is going to be hard to realize a profit. And anything over $50, people may stop and think twice about purchasing.
And, you will want to avoid competing with well-established products or companies. It is nearly impossible to compete with not only the brand recognition but with the marketing budgets of major companies. Imagine going head-to-head with Nike?
Another consideration is if the product has year-round demand.
Seasonal items may provide an amazing profit, but it is only for a part of the year. Would you rather have your product earn you a profit all year long or for just a few months?
And remember, for a product that doesn’t sell, you may have to pay monthly inventory fees for storing your unsold product at an Amazon warehouse until the next season rolls in again. Which means you’ll be losing a lot of profits.
Something else to keep in mind, but not necessarily a hardened must, is to pick an item that is light and small. Why? Cheaper shipping costs.
Also, if your item cannot be offered as part of Amazon Prime, shoppers will have to pay for separate shipping. So, you will want to keep shipping as inexpensive as possible or you may lose buyers.
What to Sell on Amazon FBA?
The first method for finding the best Amazon FBA products is to sell something based upon a hobby or subject you are passionate about.
What interests you? What do you know a lot about already? Using something from what you love means that you are really invested in your chosen items, and you know the customer base.
And writing your product information for something you love will be much easier. But, if writing is not one of your strengths, you can always use Grammarly to ensure that your product listing is free from error.
But you need to go deeper than just an area that interests you. For example, you love hiking. But hiking is extremely broad. How can hiking be broken down? Hiking gear, safety equipment, and protective clothing are a few specific areas for hiking.
And then, with your areas listed, what products can you think of that would fit into each of those.
Once you have completed your brainstorming, then you can start researching which products are viable ideas to pursue.
Or, you can jump into selling product solely based upon market research. What is in demand now? What has a healthy market without a major player in it?
This way, your decision on what best products to sell on Amazon FBA is based entirely on data.
Researching the Best Amazon FBA Products to Sell
Whether you are using your personal interests or market data, researching the demand of a product is pretty much the same.
Using Amazon.com
One of the easiest ways to research the best Amazon FBA products to sell is by using Amazon itself.
If you know how to use what the site already provides in terms of product demand, finding good products to sell on Amazon is easy.
On Amazon, head to the category that best matches what you are thinking of for your product, and then check what the best-selling items are.
Besides seeing what the popular items are, you should also look at the selling price of each. Is what you are wanting to sell fitting within that pricing range?
Customers Also Bought
But don’t just stop at what the best-sellers are for the category. To get a better idea of what people are looking for, drill down further for each of the best-selling items listed.
Check out the “customers also bought” section for each item. And then make a list of those items that pique your interest.
Using Amazon Search
You can also find the best products for Amazon FBA using Amazon’s search bar. With your brainstormed product list, enter the item into the search bar.
How many search results come up for that item? Under 1,000? Over 10,000? If it’s a small search result, you may be on to something.
But if your product returns a large search result, try narrowing down your search even further. Be more specific. For example, the term “flashlight” comes up with over 10,000 results. But if you search “micro flashlight” you get 414 results.
Being as specific as possible in the Amazon search instantly gives you less competition. Now you can look at the top sellers for these items.
What are the reviews? Are people happy using this item or are they looking for something better? What are the price points? If you can compete within that range or offer a superior item, you may have a winner.
Amazon Best Sellers
But sometimes it is not enough to have minimal competition. You have really found the ideal product if you find a category that has more than one item marked as a “Best Seller”.
If your specific category only has one item that is a Best Seller, perhaps the demand isn’t there.
But if your micro category features several items that are marked as “Best Sellers,” you may be onto something.
Having multiple items as best sellers will tell you that there isn’t just one item that is dominating the market.
In fact, the demand for this product is large enough that several items are best sellers and not one specific item is the king. This means there is room for you.
Looking at flashlights again, if you type in “camping flashlight,” you will see that there are about five items that are marked as best sellers.
Whereas for “travel thermos,” there is only one bestseller in that category.
Customer Reviews
Though more time consuming, another way to find out what customers are looking for on Amazon is to read customer reviews of products you have shortlisted.
What you are looking for is how to improve upon what is currently offered. Is it a bag that needs more pockets? Or, a portable electronic that needs to use smaller batteries? What are customers saying that they wish that product had?
If you find a common suggestion, you can then find a product to offer that fits into that gap. People are saying they want it but cannot find it. So, you can provide it to them.
Using Amazon Seller Search Tools
If all of this research seems too overwhelming and you want to make your life easier, because let’s face it, who doesn’t?
Then we suggest using one of the Amazon selling tools below to help you find the best products to sell on Amazon FBA.
Using AMZScout
If you want an easier method to find the best Amazon FBA products to sell, then AMZScout is a great tool you can use.
AMZScout is a web application that can be accessed through the company’s website.
The platform allows you to not only find the best products to sell, but they also help you find the most profitable keywords, learn what’s working with your competition, and brainstorm the right niche before you sell on Amazon FBA.
One of AMZScout’s greatest assets is being able to analyze trends and data. Meaning it will show you which products will sell and which ones won’t do so well.
Although it has the ability to show you these resources, it can not guarantee your success as an Amazon seller, but it will give you a much better chance to profit, and it will be a faster product research process.
You can try AMZScout for free which allows you to do up to 10 searches per month. There are also paid options starting at $16.49 a month.
Using Jungle Scout
The Jungle Scout Chrome browser extension is a platform designed to make selling on Amazon as easy as possible.
Jungle Scout gives you the tools to find the high-demand products to sell on Amazon. Not only does it allow you to research product keywords, but you can also track the product to see its overall performance over time.
The platform even has a tool for evaluating the profit you could make from a particular item, even taking into account the seller’s fees associated with the item.
However, you are trading ease of finding a product for the cost of finding a product. Doing your own research on Amazon, the only cost associated is that of your time. And it is up to you to determine how much your time is worth.
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How to Source the Best Products To Sell On Amazon FBA
Now that you have the rersources to find best Amazon FBA products to sell, it is time to figure out how to source the items.
There are several sourcing options that depend upon what your business model is. Are you looking to quickly turnover small inventory or are you planning to buy products in bulk?
Quick Inventory Turnover
For items that you want to do a quick turnover, you may not have a specific item in mind. Rather, all your product research happens on the fly.
What is in the clearance aisle of a store? What has been hugely discounted online? Are there products that have recently been discontinued that you can find at a liquidation store?
But, wait? If these items are on clearance or discontinued, why would you want to buy them and then try to sell them for a profit on Amazon? Because consumers are creatures of habit.
If there is a product they love and use all the time, they will be looking to secure more of their favorite items before they completely disappear. And that is how you make money. This method is a great way to start an Amazon FBA business with little money.
For these products, you need to look at the cost of purchase versus what you can sell them for on Amazon. Is the product reduced by 70% but you can sell it for 3 or 4 times more than what you paid? If so, you have a winner.
But just because something is on clearance doesn’t mean that you can turn a profit. It may be on clearance for a reason.
So, you will need to do some quick research on your phone to see if you are holding a winning product in your hand.
If you have a winning clearance item and you happen to be in a big chain store (i.e. Target), try to get to as many of those stores as possible to try to increase your inventory count.
Outlet malls are another great option for finding bargains where you can possibly turn a profit.
But if you don’t have the time to drive to multiple stores and do research in the aisle, you can still shop for discounted items online. Practically every ecommerce website features a sale/clearance section.
Using Drop Shipping Companies
If you have a more specific product in mind, you can always use a business-to-business company that can drop ship products directly to Amazon on your behalf.
Many of these companies are based in China. But they offer wholesale prices making their products ideal.
Though Alibaba is the most recognized wholesaler, they are not a good fit if you are just starting out.
They have large MOQs (minimum order quantity) making it a costly investment for you.
When getting your feet wet for selling the best products for Amazon FBA, you want to start small. Not only is your financial investment smaller, but so is your risk.
Rather, try taking a look at Chinabrands or DHgate. Both companies operate without a MOQ on orders making it perfect for your first-time selling product on Amazon FBA.
If you are leaning towards this method for sourcing products, make sure that you start with small orders.
It is good to get a feel for the company and how they work. Plus, you want to make sure that the product ordered is of the quality you are expecting.
And, as a first-time seller on Amazon FBA, you want to test the waters. Both with your supplier, the product you chose, and learning how to sell on Amazon FBA.
Just like any business, selling on Amazon FBA requires a lot of thought and planning. Don’t go in thinking that this is a get-rich-quick-scheme. To succeed, you really need to do your homework.
There are a lot of individual sellers on Amazon, so you need to be smart about finding the best things to sell on Amazon FBA.
If you want to be successful, you need to really understand the customer demand and buying pattern.
Everything you need to succeed is listed above. Once you sit down and start brainstorming, you are on your way to finding the best Amazon FBA products to sell. And before you know it, you will be creating your first listing. So, happy selling!
