Having helped hundreds of people with their Amazon FBA businesses, I know that the main area that people struggle with is product research. Discovering, sourcing, and then deciding on a product to sell can be a difficult task, especially if you don’t really know what to look for or you lack the confidence to take the leap because you just can’t settle on a product.
But, if you do know what to look for and you understand the most common mistakes that beginners make when it comes to finding a product, the entire process becomes much easier and far less stressful. So, let’s run through my best tips on how to find an Amazon product to sell and ensure that you’re not falling into the same traps.
Stop Looking For A Perfect Product!
Over the years, I’ve seen hundreds of Amazon FBA beginners set themselves up for failure the minute that they start looking for a product because they’ve set themselves an impossible task of finding a product that simply does not exist aka the perfect product. Looking for a product that ticks all the boxes in every single way is going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack, and it’s going to consume all of your time, energy and motivation, and ultimately mean that you either give up or refuse to ever settle on a product.
As somebody that’s seen thousands of products that are successfully selling on Amazon, I can say with confidence that every single one of them had drawbacks, bad reviews, and in no shape or form was perfect, yet despite that, they’re still successful and making business owners hundreds of thousands in profit.
The reason for that is because of one simple fact that people do not realize when doing their research. The product that you sell doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to have features and benefits that outweigh their drawbacks, it needs to be in line or better than the competition, and it needs to be functional and solve the customer’s problems, putting them in a better position than if they didn’t have the product at all.
A good example of a product that demonstrates this is Apple’s iPhone. It’s one of the best-selling phones of all time, and it has plenty of areas that people complain about, including poor battery life, a restrictive operating system, and a very expensive price tag. But that doesn’t stop millions of people from buying one, and overall, being very happy with their purchase.
Ultimately, an iPhone does exactly what customers need it to do very well, and because of that, they’ll overlook the various drawbacks that it has.
If you can get it into your head that the product that you’re going to end up selling on Amazon isn’t going to be absolutely perfect, then you are going to find settling on a product much easier and quicker. Not being able to get over this mental hurdle is what causes so many people to never get past the process of product research. If you think that’s what’s stopping you from making any progress, just keep the example of the iPhone in the back of your mind and understand that no product needs to be perfect.
Accept Some Level Of Risk
If you’re looking for a way to make some money by selling your own products on Amazon, then you can be pretty sure that you’re an entrepreneur, somebody that, by definition, “takes on financial risks in the hope of making a profit”. The two words to take note of there, are “risk” and “profit”, which both come together as part of a package. No business out there allows you to make a profit without taking on some sort of risk, and vice versa. People’s reluctance to accept this is what leads to them never finding a product or getting their business off the ground.
Now, I’m not saying that you need to be someone that loves taking huge risks in order to be successful with Amazon FBA, but you do need to understand that Amazon FBA, just like any other business model out there, involves some level of risk that can’t be mitigated entirely and needs to be accepted.
Despite all of the analysis and research that I’ve done on every single one of my Amazon FBA products, I have never been in a position where I’ve been able to say that a product would be a 100% success on Amazon, and that’s completely fine because having uncertainties is part and parcel of running a business.
There are always going to be risks and doubts with any product and business, and if you can’t get your head around that and accept it, then you’re never going to be able to settle on a product.
With that being said, you don’t have to be a massive risk taker to find an Amazon product that can sell. There are plenty of ways to reduce any risk exposure to an acceptable level before spending a penny of your own money. You can do this by using tools from Helium 10 so that you can understand sales demand, seasonality and profitability, ordering samples from suppliers so you can test the product’s quality out, and working with an Amazon FBA accountant so that you can manage cash flow and ensure that you’re filing any mandatory documents on time without incurring any penalties.
So, if you’re stuck with product research and you think you’ve got the famous analysis paralysis, make sure that you appreciate that there will never be a situation where you are 100% certain that things will go to plan and that the product will be a resounding success. The sooner you can get to grips with that and the faster that you can attain a positive mindset that sees this entire process as a great learning opportunity no matter what the result, the easier it will be for you to find an Amazon product to sell.
Stop Being Unrealistic!
If you’re struggling to find an Amazon FBA product despite there literally being hundreds of thousands of options out there, then it could be because you’ve set your monthly profit goal to be so high that the only products that you come across are in hugely competitive niches or sell so quickly that they require a huge capital investment, one that you don’t have.
Whatever you’ve set your monthly earnings goal with Amazon FBA as, my advice is to re-assess it. In doing that, keep an open mind and don’t be greedy. I’ve lost count of the amount of times where I’ve been speaking with somebody who has been struggling to find a product because they’ve set their earnings goal at £20k a month, when realistically, they’d be over the moon at making an additional £1000 profit per month, especially from a single product that can be managed in 1 or 2 hours a week.
Take my advice on board, and when thinking about how much you want a product to make you in profit each month, be sensible and realistic, and set it at the amount where you think the work required to make the selling experience worth it.
Remember, with Amazon FBA, you’re not limited to selling just one product. You can sell as many as you want. What I’ve found is that it’s way easier to do product research and look for 5 products making $1000 profit per month each than it is to find and compete for a single product that makes $5000 alone. Keep an open mind with your profit goals and don’t get greedy.
Get More Practice (& Help!)
If you’re getting overwhelmed with the amount of information that you need to remember as you find an Amazon product sell, then you’ll likely find yourself in a position where you keep procrastinating and putting off product research. But, it shouldn’t be that way, because once you know what you’re doing and you put in the house of doing product research, it becomes like second nature and gets infinitely easier.
While product research is hard and can be boring, it does require practice and patience. It took me around a month or so of daily practice before I got the hang of it, and I know plenty of other people where it’s taken even longer. So, put in the hours, keep repeating the steps over and over, and honestly, it will just click and you’ll find more and more selling opportunities.
With that said, If you believe that you’ve put in the hours, and you’re not looking for a perfect product but you still can’t find anything, then here are two more options for you – either look to a product research ideas provider such as AMZ Scout who can provide you with a bespoke product research report that will give you 5 product opportunities that meet your all of your specified search criteria.
If you want to learn how you can create an Amazon FBA business yourself, then check out my free training where I’ll teach you everything you need to launch your first product on Amazon and scale to $5,000+ in monthly profit.
Or if you’re ready to begin your journey and want to start with the best chances of success, apply to become a member of HonestFBA’s training programme where you’ll receive guidance & support from our team of 7-figure Amazon FBA seller experts whenever you need it.
If you want to learn more about my journey (highs and lows), check out my posts on my progress here.
