How to research a product on Amazon before you buy stock
Before you order a single carton, a product has to pass four tests: people are looking for it, the sellers already there can be beaten, the numbers leave you a profit after every fee, and nothing about the listing will get you into trouble. This guide walks through each one in order, using figures you can check yourself.
1. Is anyone looking for it?
Start with what shoppers type. Autocomplete suggestions on Amazon, Google, YouTube and TikTok show the phrases people are actively searching right now. A phrase that appears on several of them, near the top, is a stronger demand signal than one that appears on one site, far down the list.
Be honest about what this is: autocomplete shows that people search a phrase, not how many people. Treat it as a signal to investigate, never as a sales figure. If you are a brand owner, Amazon's own Search Query Performance report is the only place you will see real search counts for your products.
- Collect the phrases buyers use, in their words, not yours.
- Note which marketplaces each phrase shows up on - demand in the UK does not prove demand in Germany.
- Watch the phrase for a few weeks. A one-day spike is news, not a market.
2. Who is already selling it?
Search the main phrase on Amazon and look at the first page. For the top products, note the Best Sellers Rank, the price, the number of reviews and the number of sellers on each listing.
- If every top listing has thousands of reviews, a new listing will struggle to be seen.
- If Amazon itself sells the product, winning the Buy Box is hard for anyone else.
- A rank that has been steady for months means steady sales; a rank that jumps around often means seasonal or promotional sales.
3. Do the numbers work?
Work out what you keep from one sale, not what you charge. From the selling price take off VAT (if you are registered), the referral fee, the fulfilment fee, storage, your cost of goods and shipping to the warehouse. What is left is your profit; divide it by your cost to get your return on investment.
Do this at the price the product actually sells for today, not at the highest price you have seen. If a fee cannot be worked out - for example the size is unknown - leave the answer blank rather than guessing zero. A profit figure with a missing fee in it is the most expensive mistake in this whole process.
4. Can you sell it safely?
Check whether the category needs approval, whether the brand restricts resellers, and whether the product counts as hazardous. Read the listing for claims you could not make yourself, such as medical benefits. Finally, read the one- and two-star reviews of the top sellers: they are a free list of the problems your version needs to fix.
Putting it together
A product worth buying passes all four tests. Write the numbers down, decide in advance what return you need, and say no to anything that only works if every estimate goes your way.