Are you starting out your business on Amazon? Fretting over what kind of products you should sell? Not to worry, I am here to provide you with some directions on finding the correct products to sell on Amazon!

As a general rule-of-thumb, I will advise you to hold on to the below principle when generating your product ideas:

Follow your passion!

Clichéd as it may sound, I strongly recommend selling a product you are passionate about. This is because of the following reasons:

1. You know what you like the best
2. You know what you will hate to see in this category of products
3. You will be able to empathize with your target audience and know what theywant

By selling products that you have some levels of personal interest in, you will find that you can talk about your products enthusiastically and the necessary improvements your products should have will come along to you naturally. Other than that, you will be passionate during the promoting process – any business owner will tell you that this is a big plus point when doing business.

Sharing a Great Method for Generating Product Ideas

Generating good product ideas to sell on Amazon is not an easy task. Though I believe that being passionate can give you a hefty boost, the sad truth is, it can really only get you that far. Hence, the next best thing to do after recognizing your own passion is to depend on systematic research/brainstorming processes to help sustain and maintain an evergreen business.

Below is one of my favorite research methods:

Rely on your industry knowledge, personal experiences

I particularly like an old adage: fight no battle unprepared. What this translates to is relying on your own industry knowledge and experience when doing a startup on Amazon. Perhaps you have worked in the electronics industry for more than 20 years. I will then advise you to start off by choosing an electronic product to sell on Amazon. This is because it is crucial to be able to answer customers’ questions and inquiries on your products confidently.



Other than that, think back to your personal responsibilities. Say, you may not have experience with selling children’s toys, but you are a loving parent of three kids. Tell me, what are the things your kids like the most? If you find yourself rattling on non-stop, that’s it – this is already what I call ‘understanding consumer demands’, which is a crucial step when generating product ideas!

Now that you know the rationales for generating product ideas – following your passions and relying on your experience – let’s get into the specifics of how to do so.


Here is a step-by-step guide for your brainstorming process:

1. Take out a notebook and list your interests, hobbies, or responsibilities. Write it down and recognize your own passions/best experiences.
2. Think back to the products you have worked on/come across before. List them down on your list, and match them with the ideas you get in Point 1.
   
   
3. Over time, gather a shortlist of at least ten product ideas in that list. Look at each product and list down possible improvements (say, adding on any special features?) that you think will be great for them.
4. Research existing products, consumer demand, and selling prices for those products online, especially on Amazon. Is there space for one more seller?
5. If there is no evidence of consumer demand, but you still think you can sell it (especially after making your unique improvements on those products), then follow your gut feeling.
6. Move onto the next product in your list of ideas.

The more you research and think about products, the more new ideas you will have. Keep writing down your ideas, updating your shortlist, and researching the products on it. Work on this regularly, and over time you will find your product niche to develop on.