Many products are terrible to sell on Amazon (Ex. iPhone cases or charger cords) but of course there are many products that areamazing to sell on Amazon. When I am looking to expand my empire, there are three things I look for in a product.
1. Little to no electronics. They are annoying. In fact, the less moving parts the better. They just give an opportunity for things to go wrong. I can promise if you receive a shipping container full of electronics from China that they will not all work. Everyone I know has had the experience of buying the cheapest iPhone charger possible just to have it not work two weeks later. Its annoying to deal with returns and, no one likes an unhappy customer.
2. Size matters. This can go two ways. One approach and the more common approach is to sell the cheapest, lightest products possible (Ex. Iphone cases, Charger Cords). This can be great because it cuts down on shipping costs and if you choose to fulfill through Amazon, you can send one pallet a year and not have to worry about anything. The problem with this approach is that small products that are usually high in competition.
The other approach and the route I usually take is to sell large bulky and heavy products. You need to have some capital saved up to do this approach but it is much more successful. Also if you have a place to store your products or money to rent a storage space it can be very lucrative. It also is surprisingly cheap if you fulfill through Amazon. Look at this recent example:
656 pounds for under $100 bucks. That is two pallets and 78 different boxes. It comes out each box cost $1.22 and weighed 8.41 lbs on average. If I shipped those boxes individually, it would cost me around $1000.
It is a double edged sword because not only do I save money by fulfilling through Amazon, but it also makes my product eligible for Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime is amazing. It instantly boost sales and allows you to control the buy box. When you are in the market for a product over 25 pounds wouldn’t free 2 day shipping be a high priority? Lastly bigger products bigger margins. So if you have the space, selling large and bulky products allows you to enter the low competition niches.
3. No brand dominance. You don’t want to sell a product where people only buy brand name. It is almost impossible to sell something like golf clubs that are a brand no one has ever heard of. Focus on stuff that if asked, someone couldn’t even name a brand name (Ex. Garden tools or ping pong paddles).