How to find product to sell on Amazon

How to find products to sell on Amazon is one of the most common questions new sellers ask.

Not only new sellers ask this question. There are also people who already sell on Amazon who also struggle with finding profitable products to sell on Amazon.

I have been selling physical products on Amazon since the summer of 2017. I thought I should address the issue of the difficulties of sourcing for products in this post.

The business model you adopt will determine your product sourcing method.

There are various models anyone who wants to sell on Amazon or eBay can adopt. You can either do all the business model or do some of them.

Retail Arbitrage

This is when you walk into a retail shop like Tesco or Asda in the UK and buy a product which you can resell on Amazon or eBay.

In this case, you want a product that sells for more money on Amazon than they sell for in the shop.

For example, assuming a particular toy in the shop sells for £8. Let’s say the same product is been sold for £32 on Amazon.

If you buy such product and sell on Amazon or eBay, you should earn a healthy profit after fees are deducted from your sales price.

How to find products through Retail Arbitrage

Discounted and Clearance Products

Finding products through retail arbitrage is one of the simple ways to find products to sell on Amazon or eBay.

After registering to become a seller on Amazon. You will have access to download Amazon Seller App.

You can literally walk into any retail shop and use your Amazon Seller app to scan any product.

When you scan the barcode, you will be able to see these three important things

1) if the product has already been listed on Amazon

2) the price the product is selling for on Amazon

3) Best Seller Rank (BSR) of the product.

The image below shows the important information you will come across when you scan a product with your Amazon Seller App. 

The BSR is what helps you to know how quickly you will be able to sell the product when you list it for sale on Amazon.

And there are also features on Amazon seller app that will help you calculate profit. This will help you to make an informed decision about whether to buy the product to resell or not

Products not on discount

One of the mistakes I have seen a lot of new sellers makes is this. They go for retail arbitrage sourcing and they are only looking for products in the clearance section of the shop.

Actually, I have been able to find products that are not on sale or clearance which I currently sell on Amazon.

The main logic of retail arbitrage is that you are looking for products that you will buy for less than it is been sold for on Amazon.

It doesn’t mean that you can only find the product in the clearance section of a store.

You can deliberately go to any section and scan as many products as possible.

Other Tip

One of the good hacks I have used is searching for a product on amazon seller app instead of scanning.

Using this method will help you find some listings that are hidden to a lot of sellers on Amazon.

Online Arbitrage

This is very similar to retail arbitrage. The only difference is that the exact process in retail arbitrage is done online. Instead of going out to the brick and mortar shop, you go on the retailer websites online and search for deals on their website.

How to find products through Online Arbitrage

Product research tools/ software

What has worked for me in finding products through online arbitrage is the leveraging software.

Sign up for any sourcing software you can find.

 

Your initial strategy should be to take advantage of the trial periods of the sourcing software.

Sign up for one trial at a time.

The thing is this, when you find a product on sourcing software, it will lead you to rabbit holes of product discovery.

After you get the ball rolling you can decide to cancel subscriptions. I know software is expensive. However, they will help you to scale.

Sourcing software and deal sheets will also give you the foundation of product discovery.

I have to admit that personally, I don’t sign up for any software permanently, I am usually in and out of them.

I only have a permanent subscription to only two software. One is a sourcing software which helps me in a great deal with scanning wholesale list and it is called FBA Wizard

The other software I use regularly is Zoho which I use for my accounting.

If you are having difficulty in finding DEALS, sign up to a trial of one of the software, when the trial ends, sign up to another one. There is no way you won’t find at least one deal.

These are the sourcing software I in the arbitrage world which I have used.

✔️ FBA Wizard – product finding software
✔️ Tactical Arbitrage – product finding software
✔️ Source Mogul – product finding software
✔️ FastTRACK FBA – selected product list
✔️ Online Arbitrage Deals – selected product list

Manual Sourcing

Sourcing for a product through the manual method is a very unique way to find products to sell on Amazon.

This method offers a lot of advantages which makes it so worth it.

One of the disadvantages of using tools and software is that a lot of people also use them. This means many people will be finding the same products using the software. If a lot of sellers are finding the same product. This can make competition to be very high when selling those products on Amazon.

With manual sourcing method, you can reduce competition.

Manual sourcing is as simple as searching for deals on retailers websites or just by searching on google.

Go direct to a retailer online shop

For example, if you can go to the clearance section of Argos website. You can easily browse to find deals.

You simply copy the product description of a product and paste it on Amazon. You will easily see how much the product is been sold on Argos and how much it is selling for on Amazon.

You can then use Amazon profit calculator to check if the product will be profitable or not.

The downside of manual sourcing is that it takes a lot of time and you can be there for a lot of hours trying to find deals.

Internet Search Engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo)

You can use specific keywords to search for deals on google. These are keywords that will target a specific product, brand or a specific store.

These are examples

-Tesco 3 for 2 (retailer example)

-Boots 3 for 2 (retailer example)

-Argos 3 for 2 (retailer example)

-Playmobil discounted (brand example)

-Blender deals (product example)

You can do this in a number of ways. The longer you do it the better you are at devising your own way and method to find deals online.

You should not limit yourself to only Google. You can also try other search engines like Bing.

Wholesale and Distributors

A lot of brands and manufacturer usually have distributors or wholesalers across the country who are between them and the retailers.

These distributors will get the products from the manufacturer.

Retailers will then buy from wholesalers or distributors. If you sell online, you are a retailer.

You can buy products from a lot of wholesalers or distributors and sell them on Amazon or eBay.

A lot of wholesalers or distributors will not sell to you if you are not a business. Majority of wholesalers and distributors only want to sell to a business. They often call it Business to Business (B2B).

If you are serious about selling online, it makes sense to register a company. It is not difficult to register a company. If you make a start and it looks like something you really want to do, you can find out information about how to register a company.

Most wholesalers will only allow you to register with them to buy products from them if you have a registered company.

It is not compulsory for your business to be VAT register before you can source from a wholesaler.

But having a company that is VAT register also gives another level of credibility to your business which makes some wholesaler to want to listen to you.

How to find a wholesaler

Finding a wholesaler is one of the challenges people who want to start selling online face.

It took me a very long time to figure this out.

The mistakes most people face is that they are not using the right tactics when finding wholesalers.

Use Internet Search Engine like Google

This might not be the best way to find a wholesaler. But, it is still one of the good ways to find a wholesaler.

Most information we want is online. However, we do not get the right results most of the time because we are not searching the right way or not using the right keywords to search.

For example, if I am looking for a wholesaler, it will not make sense for me to type just the word ‘wholesale’ or ‘wholesaler’ on google.

The word wholesale is too broad and will not likely give me the right result.

What you could do instead is to add a category of product to the word wholesale like one of the below

‘home decor wholesale’

‘home decor wholesaler’

‘wholesale home decor’

‘home decor distributors’

‘home decor suppliers’

‘home decor + wholesale’

You can really be creative and use a lot of different variations and combinations of keywords to search on google. The chances are, all of the above and some other method you adopt will come up with different results on google.

Going further to be a bit more specific might help you to find a wholesaler. You might consider searching for wholesaler or distributor for a specific type of product or a particular brand.

Instead of randomly looking for any wholesaler. You could go on google and look for wholesaler for some specific type of products.

For example, if in my product research, I find out that candle sells very well online. I can try and find a wholesaler or distributor for a candle. My search criteria on google might look like this.

‘candles wholesaler’

‘candles distributor’

‘candles supplier’

‘candles  + wholesaler’

‘candles  + distributor’

‘candles  + supplier’

And you can even be a lot more specific to search for wholesaler or distributor of a specific brand. So in the example above, instead of just candles, you can put the name of a brand. Yankee Candle is a very big brand name in candle selling. You might have a search like this

‘Yankee candles wholesaler’

‘Yankee candles distributor’

You can just be clever and creative with your search keywords and hopefully, you might be able to find wholesalers. I have been able to find a lot of wholesalers using these methods.

One very good tip is that, don’t stop on page one or page two when searching on google.

Another tip is to explore other search engines. Google is by far the largest search engine but we often forget there are other search engines like Microsoft Bing. You might want to also do some searches on Bing.

If you are searching for a particular product or brand which are likely to have a distributor or wholesaler outside your country. You might want to change your location on a search engine.

For example, if I am looking for a distributor for a brand and I know the home of that brand is Germany. I would try some searches with Germany as my location on google. In your browser settings on google, you can restrict Google to let the result of your searches come from only a particular country you choose.

Tradeshow

We all automatically assume that we can find every information we want online. As great as the internet is, not all information is online.

You will be surprised there are a lot of wholesaler and distributors who still do not have a website. And some of them who have a website do not know about Google Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). So, their websites will not easily be found on google.

In fact, the best way to find wholesalers is through the Tradeshows. There are Tradeshows for various industries.

You can find Tradeshows for beauty and cosmetics, trade shows for homes and gardens. And there are Tradeshows that cover a wide variety of sectors.

Even in this age of the internet, speaking to real people and building relationships is a great way to do business.

When you attend Tradeshows you will be able to speak to businesses in person and you might be able to find a wholesaler for a lot of very niche products.

One of the big Tradeshows in the UK is the one that usually takes place in the Spring at the NEC in Birmingham.

It’s great to attend Tradeshow in person if you can make up the time. But you don’t have to attend to have access to the lists of companies that will be at the Tradeshow.

If you register for the Tradeshow online. They will send you a brochure or leaflet which will have lists of companies that will attend the show, you can then visit the websites of those companies and see if you can register with them to source products from them.

Advertisements

Pay attention to advertisements you see around when you are out and about. There are wholesalers or distributors who have their own delivery networks. Some of them have a lot of trucks and lorries which they use to move goods around.

It is very easy to spot the names of distributor or wholesaler on a vehicle when you are outside home.

I am not saying you should stand by the motorway and looking for a lorry with a distributor name on them. I am just saying you should be observant, you will never know, you might find a wholesaler by consciously paying attention to delivery lorries and vans.

I have managed to find a wholesaler through this method.

There are also magazines which are specifically for a particular industry or sector. Inside some magazines, if you look very well, some distributor does advertise in trade magazines.

Private Label

It is now easier than ever to build a brand in a low-risk way.

Anyone can create their own eCommerce website and sell a product they create on that website. The usual problem is getting customers to your own website for them to buy your products.

One of the easiest ways to find customers that will buy your product is to use established marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. These platforms have been existing for a long time.

they have build trust with customers. In fact, customers already have their payment details registered on Amazon for convenience click and buy.

Starting your brand on Amazon might be a low-risk way to gain traction.

How to find a product to private label

Product Research Tool

It can be very challenging brainstorming ideas for products to private label.

Softwares are now used in various areas of our life.

One of the benefits software and tools offer is that they help reduce the time we spend on tasks.

They help to simplify our life. As well, they help remove the guesswork from our decision-making process and help us make an informed and data-driven decision.

You can set a lot of criteria in tools and they will search amazon product catalogue and brings you results based on the criteria you set.

From the result, you get you will then be able to filter and select potential products you can private label.

There is a lot of software I have used which have been very helpful.

• Jungle scout 
• ViralLaunch
• Hellium10

Out of the three listed above. Jungle Scout is the one I have personally used which has helped me to find products to sell on Amazon.

They are the first product research tool for finding profitable products to sell on Amazon.

If you are interested in using Jungle Scout to find a product to private label. Please click on the link to go to Jungle Scout website.

Amazon Best Sellers List

If you have a lot of time in your hands, you can go through the list of Amazon Best Sellers products.

Amazon regularly creates lists of products that sell very fast on its platform. Looking at this list will give you an idea of the types of products that sell well.

Selling on Amazon is now very competitive. One of the ways to beat the competition is to differentiate your own product.

While it might be useful to use Amazon best sellers list to get an idea of a product that sells well.

What will not be good is to exactly copy a product on the bestseller list.

What might be useful to do is to check the existing products customer product reviews and feedbacks. If there are some particular problems that are mentioned in the customer’s feedback.

You can try and address those problems in your own product when you approach a manufacturer that will produce the product.

When using Amazon bestseller list. It could be useful to go deep down in the subcategories.

There will be a lot of people looking at the same best sellers list. A lot of people are lazy in their product research and they only stay at the surface, they don’t go deep.

If you are able to go deep, you will be able to find what others are not finding.

Passion and Hobby

If you are passionate about something, there is a good chance there will be a lot of other people in your country or the world who are also passionate about that same thing.

Let’s say you like fishing. There will be a lot of people out there who love fishing.

You can brainstorm ideas of products that people who are involved with fishing cannot do without. There will be a lot of products which people who have fishing as their hobby requires.

Get a pen and paper and start writing. Create some list and check those products on your list for demands on Amazon.

One word of caution about this method of finding a product is this. If there is no demand for the product list you have, there is no point in wasting your time creating the product.

A big factor in success in eCommerce is that whatever you are selling you must check that it is a product customers are looking for.

Do not be emotional about any product.

Don’t choose a product because you like it and get attached to it emotionally. Because you like it does not mean customers will pay for it.

Brainstorm Idea from your house

You will not believe there are a lot of product ideas in your house.

There was an exercise I did last year which helped me to find a product.

I asked my kids to get a pen and paper. I asked them to go everywhere in the house and write down everything they could see.

You can do this exercise also. Go into every room and write as many things as you can see.

Go to the kitchen, check the cupboards. Check your bathrooms, your bedrooms.

You are likely to come up with a lot of products which will fall in different categories.

You can then filter down trim the list down. The next stage will be to check your final lists of products idea on Amazon for demands.

Example of products you can come up with which might lead you to another product are

-Bedroom: table lamp, lunch box

-Bathroom: hand cream, vanity mirror, kids bathroom toys

-Kitchen: herbs, coffee, food storage container

-Living room: coffee table, photo frame, cushion cover

The above are just examples and I am not saying you should private label or not to private label these products.

If you can have some creative thinking, there are a lot of products you can private label.

Opportunities are limitless.

Curiosity

My final point here is all about curiosity.

Intentionally watch out for product ideas when you see an advert on TV or in a magazine. Just be conscious of your environment and problems that need to be solved.

There are problems all around us which the solution is a product someone will produce. You might be the one to improve already existing products.

Final thought

Finding a product to sell on Amazon requires a lot of work and it is a continuous process.

For anyone who has a business selling on Amazon, you can not stop finding products.

One of the reasons why you can not stop is that there is competition. There are a lot of other sellers who are working hard on new products.

As well, once you stop researching for products, your business will not be making progress.

All the various methods outlined above for finding products are methods I have personally used.

There are are a lot of other methods which you will come across. You just need to do things differently sometime and device your own method.