Finding a product to sell with Amazon FBA is definitely one of the most challenging parts of the process, and out of the everyone that I’ve spoken to about the topic over the years, I’ve discovered that it’s the main reason that people quit and give up on their dreams of becoming an Amazon FBA seller.
Over the past few years and after helping thousands with their product research, I’ve come to realise that one of the most frequent reasons that people struggle with finding a product, is because they’re either approaching it in the wrong way, or overcomplicating the process all together.
As someone that’s done hundreds of hours of product research and launched more than 20 successful products over the past 4 years, I wanted to share with you some tips for making the process of finding a product much easier, which should help improve your mindset, your motivation and your ability to find something to sell on Amazon without further delay.
1. SET REALISTIC GOALS
Before you even think about starting to look for a product to sell on Amazon, you should ensure that you’ve completed the essential task of setting a realistic goal in terms of how much you want to earn per month from Amazon FBA.
If you miss this part of the process out, then you’re going to find the product research process much more drawn out and tougher than it needs to be, because each time you come across a product that you like the look of, you won’t know whether the profits that it generates are going to meet your monthly earnings target, delaying your thought process and ability to decide on whether to investigate the product further.
If you haven’t done so already, decide what you want to get out of your first Amazon FBA product by writing down the MINIMUM monthly amount that you’re looking to earn from selling your product online.
One common trait that I see beginners making is listening to the sensationalized figures that the gurus say they’re earning on Youtube, and then stating that THEIR earnings goal is going to be £10k profit per month, when realistically, they’d be more than happy with an extra £500. Setting ridiculously high earnings goals for a single product is a big factor In making product research way harder than it needs to be.
Make sure the that you are realistic in the earnings goal that you set, otherwise you’ll either end up reducing the amount of products that you can consider because they don’t meet your profit target, or you’ll only be shown the products that everybody wants to sell due to their really high demand, which typically are incredibly competitive and in saturated markts.
Don’t forget that with Amazon FBA you’re not limited to selling a single product – you can sell as many as you want, and if you do want to eventually earn 10k a month, then that can easily be done by launching more and mor eproducts over time. You’re far more likely to stay motivated & achieve success if you set realistic goals that give you some sort of an additional earnings stream early on, which you can work on increasing as your experience and the number of products that you sell grows.
2. CHANGE RESEARCH METHODS
Product research in a nutshell is the process of searching for new product ideas to sell with Amazon FBA, and then verifying that what you’ve found meets various selling criteria. One of the biggest traps that people fall into when looking for ideas is using the same search methods over and over again, which inevitably results in long research sessions where you’re bored senseless because there’s just no variety in what you’re doing, and you’re consistently shown the same product ideas.
To avoid falling into the trap of seeing the same type of products over and over, try switching between idea generation methods every 1-2 hours that you conduct product research. That way, your mind will be kept stimulated as you won’t be endlessly scrolling through a list of products that all look the same, and you should be shown fresh product ideas each time you look. Idea generation methods for you to rotate between can include:
- using Helium 10’s Black Box tools, which allow you to search Amazon’s entire product database using criteria that you set
- browsing Ali Baba’s list of suppliers and their top sellers,
- and viewing Amazon’s sub-category best seller lists, which you can find by clicking on the best sellers button on the home screen
Of course, there are tonnes more methods available to discover on Youtube and within the Smashers Academy, so research those and try to learn and then rotate between them as often as you can.
3. STOP LOOKING FOR A PERFECT PRODUCT
One of the biggest obstacles that is going to stop you from finding a product to sell, is your brain. A lot of people’s brains are hardwired to be cautious and risk averse when it comes to spending money, and that can become a problem when it comes to deciding upon a product to sell because you end up over analysing and then talking yourself out of every idea that you have, no matter how good it is, which results in you getting frustrated and eventually giving up.
This over assessment of products – or analysis paralysis – is pretty common so don’t worry if you’re thinking right now that that’s exactly what you’re experiencing. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had somebody send me a great product idea that they’ve found, which they’ve then decided not to sell because of something that in reality, no customer would ever care about. This issue of looking for a perfect product means that you’ll be forever trapped in the product research phase, because news flash – the perfect product doesn’t exist.
To help you get beat your brain and get over the mindset that you need to find a perfect product in order to succeed with Amazon FBA, think of literally any product that you’ve bought in the past that you’re happy with, and then consider whether that was perfect, or whether it actually does have downsides. Your answer is more than likely going to be yes it does have downsides, because there is always room for improvement and no product is perfect, which is something that every customer on Amazon knows. Just look at the iphone for example – it’s the best selling phone in the world, yet users, myself included, know full well that its not perfect and there’s lots of things that can be improved about it, such as its battery life, screen size, and so on. But on the whole, its functional, it serves its purpose, and it does a better job than many of its competitors.
And that is essentially how you need to think about any product that you find on Amazon to sell. It needs to be something that customers will be able to use, and on the whole be content enough with their purchase for the price paid, that they’ll be willing to overlook any negatives it may have. If you can train your mind to approach products that you find during your research in this manner, then you are far more likely to become an Amazon FBA seller, instead of over analysing ever idea, getting frustrated and then giving up.
4. TAKE REGULAR BREAKS
When searching for a product to sell on amazon, it’s important to take regular breaks. Whilst that might sound obvious, you’d be surprised at how many people get drawn in by the big numbers that Amazon sellers can earn, and then in their attempt to get selling as quickly as possible, they try to cram and completely overdo their researching, resulting in burn out, de-motivation, and giving up.
So- if you feel like that might be you, don’t be afraid to take a break. Remember that Amazon is not going anywhere, and e-commerce is still very much in its infancy – in fact, the latest statistics show that only 1 in 5 purchases are made online, so there is plenty of growth left in the tank.
You’re much more likely to stay focused and committed to your goals if you do your research and work on your Amazon business during set hours in the day with regular breaks. Don’t think that because you’re doing 12 hour marathon sessions every single day that you’re likely to make faster progress than someone that takes regular breaks, because in reality, you’re much more likely to make slower progress or give up entirely due to getting frustrating and overwhelmed with the amount of work that you’re doing. My advice is to take things slow, set realistic & time bound goals, and don’t do research for more than 1 to 2 hours per day.
5. SEEK HELP
If you’re really thinking of giving up with your dream of becoming an Amazon FBA seller because you just can’t find a product to sell, then why not seek guidance from somebody else? Even a second opinion from someone experienced over what they really think to a product you’ve found, or their thoughts on how you’re doing your research, is likely to help you improve, keep motivation high & make progress.
I run a beginner to advanced Amazon FBA training programme called the Smashers Academy, that not only includes step-by-step video tutorials on how to discover products to sell, but also on how to verify and then select the ones that are likely to give you the best chances of success. You’ll also have me as your sparring partner, so if you’re unsure about a possible decision you need to make, you can reach out for a expert opinion from an experienced 7 figure seller:
Alternatively, if you’d just prefer to outsource the process of product research entirely, then there are plenty of options out there. You can find people that are willing to hunt for products for you on sites such as Fiverr or Upwork, or if you want an experienced company to do it for you then you can use AMZ Scout, who offer a tailored service where they will send you 5 exclusive product ideas that their experts have vetted for the marketplace that you want to sell in.
Once you’ve got your ideas, you can even go a step further and get another company to actually the source the product from a supplier & negotiate for you. I’ll put links for my recommendations for each of these below each below this video.
CONCLUSION
Now that I’ve run through these tips you should use them to help you break through any barriers you’re facing with product research, which are likely to result in you eventually giving up. Getting to the point of being an amazon seller is a challenge, but if it was easy, everybody would be doing it and there would be no opportunity. So keep at it & think of the huge reward for doing all of this work up front – I’m telling you, it is absolutely worth it.
If you’d like to be mentored by me & keep that motivation high – check out the Smashers Academy; a complete beginner to advanced Amazon FBA course!
You can also check out my free training here, to give you more of a flavour of what Amazon FBA is about.
Here’s my latest review of Amazon FBA
