Wondering what to sell on Amazon ? The better question might be what not to sell on Amazon. Amazon Marketplace sellers list more than 350 million unique products on the platform. Think about your favorite products. They’re probably all on Amazon. Now, think about a product you wish existed. Search for it—there’s a good chance you’ll find it on Amazon.
Yet, you don’t want just any product to sell on Amazon. You want the best-selling products that’ll net you a handsome profit for the least amount of work. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. However, that’s easier said than done because it turns out finding a low-cost, in-demand product is exactly what every other seller wants. Bummer.
You’re going to have to get more creative. Googling “what to sell on Amazon” was a good first step, but you need to go deeper. Fortunately, you came to the right place. Below, we walk you through the top-selling items on Amazon (as of 2023). Woah, woah, woah—don’t skip down the page just yet. These aren’t necessarily the products you want to sell, either. We’re just looking for some inspiration.
Let’s look at the common characteristics of these best-selling products on Amazon. Then, you’ll be ready for our 9 tips to help you find what to sell on Amazon.
WHAT TO SELL ON AMAZON FAQS
How can I find profitable niches or product categories on Amazon ?
Start by visiting the best-sellers page and seeing what's trending in the top 10. Then scroll past the top sellers to see any emerging trends. Find if there are products that you can slightly iterate. You can also research customer reviews to see if customers have complaints or wish the product did something better. That slight differentiation can set your Amazon product apart.
Should I sell products that are in high demand but have low profit margins or vice versa ?
Ideally, you need to sell products that are in the middle. If you have low-profit margins, you'll need to sell enough of them to make a return on your investment. If you're selling a product on Amazon with high demand, chances are your competition will be fierce.
What are the potential challenges or risks associated with selling on Amazon ?
The biggest challenge with selling on Amazon is competing against Amazon. Stay away from product categories where Amazon Basics dominate. The main risk with selling on Amazon is not having complete autonomy to express and curate your brand. If you sell on Amazon, you must play by their rules.
Top-Selling Items On Amazon (As of March 2024)
You can find top-selling items on Amazon by visiting the Amazon Best Sellers page. Amazon updates this page hourly to maintain an up-to-date list of best-selling items. The bestsellers are broken out into 40+ departments, including Baby, Beauty & Personal Care, Electronics, Kitchen & Dining, Sports & Outdoors, and Video Games.
As of March 2024, the top-selling items on Amazon are :
- Bestsellers in Baby : Pampers Diapers Size 4, 150 Count (stocking up on diaper duty)
- Bestsellers in Clothing, Shoes, & Jewelry : Crocs Unisex-Adult Classic Clogs (the ultimate comeback story)
- Bestsellers in Health & Household : Bounty Quick Size Paper Towels (likely related to recent trends on TikTok Shop)
- Bestsellers in Camera & Photo Products :Occer Compact Binoculars for Adults and Kids (perfect for keeping an eye on what your neighbors are ordering from Amazon)
- Bestsellers in Software : TurboTax Deluxe 2023 Tax Software (It’s tax season baby!)
- Bestsellers in Video Games : $10 PlayStation Store Gift Card (summertime b-day gifts)
- Bestsellers in Kitchen & Dining : Stanley Quencher H2.0 FlowState Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler
Common Characteristics of Best-Selling Products On Amazon
Best-selling items come and go (apparently hourly) from Amazon’s bestseller’s page, but there are reasons they make it to the top. Let’s look at what these products have in common to see what we can learn:
- Low Price : All of these products are relatively inexpensive. Almost everything is less than $100. Investing in low-cost items also helps you mitigate risk. Imagine stocking up on 100 Beats by Dre—it’d cost you $15K+. However, stocking up on 100 packs of baby wipes might only cost you $1,500. Now, the profit margins on these items widely vary, but so does the level of risk.
- Recurring Purchase : A chunk of these items will likely be repeat purchases. People will need multiple packs of baby wipes, an annual renewal of antivirus software, the latest Echo accessory, and gift cards.
- Evergreen : Products can go in and out of season, but some are more evergreen. Parents are always going to need baby wipes, and households will always need safety items. However, check this list again in December, and you might find holiday decor and toys to be one of the top-performing categories.
- Positive Reviews : All of the products on this list have 4-star or higher reviews.
- High Review Volume : These products all have thousands of reviews, meaning they’ve had thousands of purchases and (given the feedback of) thousands of positive experiences.
9 Tips to Help You Find What to Sell on Amazon
1. Don’t Compete with Amazon. Just Don’t.
Amazon sells millions of its own products. If the monolith is selling a product, just leave it alone. They’re going to be able to outprice you, and they’ll almost always have the Buy Box. Save yourself the hurt and go after a different product. Focus on more niche items instead of generic products. You’ll have better luck dominating a market for ultrarunners than going after your typical runner. And you’ll likely face less competition selling products catered to vegetarian swimmers than vegetarians at large.
2. Find Demand with Keyword Research
When looking for the right product to sell on Amazon, you’re searching for the right Goldilocks balance between demand and competition. Ideally, you want to sell items with high demand and low competition—but you’re going to have to do a lot of research to find those golden opportunities.
To find demand, you’re going to need to look at specific keywords. Here are popular tools you can use:
- **Amazon Search Bar:** Begin typing a product into Amazon and see what comes up. Amazon pre-populates the text with options based on search volume. If other people frequently search for the same thing, it will appear higher on the list. These are the products you want to go after.
- **Google Keyword Planner:** Another tool you can use to gauge interest is Google’s free Keyword Planner. Use Keyword Planner to find what people are searching for online.
3. Avoid Categories Dominated by Big Brands
Amazon isn’t the only brand you have to worry about. Big players dominate plenty of consumer goods, and they’ll typically have the reputation, marketing, manufacturing, and budget to beat you. Avoid them. Running shoes? Yeah, Nike and Adidas got that covered. Toothpaste? Sorry, Crest and Colgate dominate. Mobile devices? Please, we already have iPhones and Androids. Remember, niche down. If you want to sell toothpaste, find a niche product where the big players won’t run all over you—like glow-in-the-dark flavorless toothpaste. Sounds good. Now you just need to make sure there’s enough demand.
4. Crunch the Numbers. All the Numbers
Your product needs to be profitable. It doesn’t matter if you beat out the competition and win all the sales if you’re not making enough to cover your expenses. Crunch the numbers to see if it works. Factor in your manufacturing expenses, storage fees, packaging costs, and shipping fees. Add it all up. Even if you find a golden opportunity on Amazon, you might not be able to make the numbers work. It happens. Consider using Amazon FBA to lower your overhead—it may be the missing link you needed to make the math fit. Don’t beat yourself up. Move on to the next product idea.
5. Pay Attention to Amazon Customer Reviews
Reviews are everything on Amazon. Even the most affordable products won’t survive if they’re not consistently bringing in positive reviews. Look at the feedback before you invest in an item. Customers who love products will likely make more repeat purchases and fewer returns—and those are the kind of customers you want. You’ll also want to pay attention to the review volume. Ideally, you want to find products with thousands of reviews—that’s how you’ll know it’s a safe bet. However, some other excellent options might not have as many reviews yet. They may only have 50 or so reviews. Read the feedback and see if they’re fake reviews or genuine. If they’re real, the product still might have great potential.
6. Consider the Dimension and Weight of the Product
Large, heavy items will cost more to store and ship. Consider this when you’re researching products. Think about selling athletic shorts—these are lightweight and can be compressed into the size of a tennis ball. They’re cheap and easy to ship, which is exactly what you’re looking for. Now, think about selling picture frames. These come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and weights. They also require protection to ensure they don’t get damaged in storage or transit, which makes them a bit more expensive. Looking back at our list of best-selling items, most of the products are lightweight and durable. You won’t have to worry about shipping or storing items like Crocs or batteries.
7. Pick Products That Cross-Sell Well
When you’re choosing what to sell on Amazon, take a step back and think of the big picture. If you find success on the platform, what
other products could you sell? You don’t need to start selling a whole product line right away, but it’s smart to choose a product that offers growth opportunities down the road. That way, once you establish yourself on the platform, you can quickly launch other products and find more success. It’s easier to cross-sell products that go together than to convince people to buy unrelated items. For instance, if you start selling diapers, you might find success selling baby wipes and bibs. However, if you start selling baby wipes, it might be harder to start selling iPhone accessories later down the road.
8. Find Reputable Suppliers
Your supplier can make or break your business. A faulty supplier may not send you the products on time—or they might not be the quality you expect. If your customers are expecting something else, they’ll make sure to let you (and everyone else) know. Take your time finding a reliable supplier that can consistently deliver high-quality products. You also need to make sure that your supplier can send you the right amount of goods. If you run out of stock, you can lose your Buy Box status, and it might be hard to get back. It’s also smart to have backup suppliers, just in case.
9. Sell Something That Stands Out
Find your unique value proposition. Amazon can be a bit of a commodity marketplace, but it doesn’t have to be. What makes your product unique ? Find a way to stand out. Maybe it’s your product’s packaging, or perhaps it’s your clever name. It could be the actual product itself. Your UVP will help differentiate your brand from your competitors.
Best of luck ! If you need any more help with getting started selling on Amazon, feel free to reach out again !