Amazon FBA Product Research – A Complete Guide for Finding Profitable Products in 2024

Are you struggling to figure out the best products to sell on Amazon? You’re not alone, Amazon FBA product research is one of the most critical and challenging steps in building a successful Amazon business.

With over 2 million active sellers and tens of millions of available products competition on Amazon has never been steeper. Success in today’s marketplace starts with Amazon FBA product research. By identifying high-demand, low-competition products and carving out a unique niche, you can set yourself apart from the competition.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll show you the intricacies of product research from what criteria to look for, how to validate a product idea, how to calculate potential margins, and some key mistakes to avoid. Whether you’re a beginner not sure where to start or an experienced seller looking to refine your process, this step-by-step guide will help you discover profitable opportunities, avoid common pitfalls, and stay ahead of the competition. Let’s dive in!

Why Effective Product Research is Key to FBA Success

Anyone looking to create a successful brand on Amazon has to start with product research. While topics like listing optimization and PPC advertising get a lot of airtime neither is as important as product research.

Effective product research can be the difference between a life-changing new product launch and a wasted investment. As FBA fees continue to rise and PPC gets more expensive it’s clear the days of launching a subpar product and seeing success are gone.

Successful Amazon FBA product research makes everything easier. Cheaper clicks from your ad campaigns, easier organic ranking, and most importantly more sales. By making smart product decisions based on data and not just intuition you can find opportunities that other sellers can easily overlook.

Characteristics of a Profitable Amazon Product

While we’ll discuss the step-by-step process later, let’s quickly go over some of the most important metrics to look for when performing Amazon FBA product research. While every business is different and every seller has different preferences this is a list of core ideas you can apply to any product in any category.

• Healthy Profit Margins: While each “guru” has a slightly different figure generally you want to find products with a minimum profit margin of 30%. If 30% seems high to you, keep in mind this does not include PPC costs. By starting at a potential 30% margin even after including advertising costs you should still be making a healthy profit.
• High Demand & Low Competition: While easier said than done, finding products with a high number of monthly searches and a small number of competing sellers is a great first step. To find high-demand products look for niches with at least 5 sellers making $5000 in revenue each month. For low competition look for a niche where the average number of reviews on the first page of search results is 250 or less.
• Several High-Volume Keywords: Finding products that appeal to different demographics or interest groups is also important. This gives you more flexibility with both organic and paid search. For example, a seller offering compression socks can target “compression socks for nurses,” “compression socks for travel,” and “compression socks for men.” These varied keywords help more customers find your product and ensure you’re not dependent on one specific audience.
• Higher-Priced Products: Unless you are selling products with recurring revenue (Subscribe & Save) it is best to avoid products priced below $20. One main reason for this is PPC advertising. Amazon PPC has become a necessary part of selling on Amazon and is even more important when launching a new product. With the costs of advertising rising each year, it is increasingly difficult for lower-priced products to remain profitable when factoring in advertising costs.
• Leverage Unique Selling Points (USPs): Focus on niches or products with strong sales metrics but below-average review scores (4.4 or lower). These products lack important features, providing opportunities for improvement. Analyze competitors’ reviews to identify common complaints or desired features. By addressing these gaps, you can improve product quality, create a compelling USP, and stand out from competitors.
• Avoid Trademarked, Patented, or Restricted Products: Selling products with any of these criteria can result in your listing being removed or potentially much worse. Use tools like Google Patents or USPTO to check if a potential product is already patented or trademarked.

Why an Amazon FBA Product Research Tool is a Smart Investment

The short answer is convenience and time. Product research tools are what allow us to quickly filter through millions of products based on the exact criteria we’re looking for.

While there are free tools available like Amazon’s own Product Opportunity Explorer, most sellers choose to use a third-party tool. The ability to set criteria like revenue, price ranges, competitor metrics, variations, and seasonality can save hours of work by quickly generating a list of products that meet your requirements.

Additionally, many tools include features to help with product validation as well. Historical sales data can help you notice trends within product niches, keyword extraction gives you access to a product’s top organic and PPC keywords in seconds, and supplier information makes it easy to calculate costs and fees.

Again, it is possible to do most of these things manually using free tools and an Excel spreadsheet. The major difference is the time investment and the convenience a single all-in-one tool can provide.

If you’re on a budget, consider using an Amazon FBA product research tool for just one month. Instead of paying for a year-round subscription, subscribe for a single month to conduct your product research. Cancel the plan afterward and renew it only when you’re ready to research or launch another product. This way you save significant manual research time while avoiding the long-term expense of a monthly subscription.

While we won’t go over any specific tools in this article I recommend checking out our list of the 5 Best Amazon Product Research Tools for information on specific tools and software.

How to Conduct Amazon FBA Product Research

Conducting Amazon FBA product research effectively is the first step to a successful brand on Amazon. This process involves more than picking a trending item — it requires strategy, data analysis, and a clear understanding of your target market.

In this section, we’ll go over the steps in finding a potential product that has the potential to become a long-term brand. We’ll start by choosing our product research tool.

1: Choose A Product Research Tool

The first step on our Amazon FBA product research journey is choosing a product research tool. There is a wide selection of tools on the market ranging from juggernauts like Helium 10 to more specialized tools like AMZScout. If you’re not sure where to start we have an in-depth article breaking down the five best Amazon product research tools currently available.

If you’re looking for a free product research method you can find the Product Opportunity Explorer from within your Seller Central account. While it doesn’t have the full feature set included with paid software it has the benefit of using sales data and insights directly from Amazon. While we will not be using the Product Explorer in this article it is definitely a viable option for sellers on a tight budget.

We won’t go over the specifics here but one major factor when choosing a tool is whether you want an entire software suite or an exclusive product research tool. The most popular tool for product research is probably Helium 10’s Black Box but keep in mind with Helium 10 you are also paying for around 30 additional tools that you may or may not have a use for. This is the same with other software platforms like Jungle Scout. On the flip side tools like AMZScout and ZonGuru don’t have as many additional tools and are generally cheaper if your only focus is Amazon FBA product research.

2. Define Your Product Criteria

The next step is to select the specific criteria you’re looking for in a product. We discussed what to look for in a winning product earlier, but we’ll quickly recap some of the basics.

• Price Range: Products priced above $20 are often ideal for healthy profit margins.
• Profit Margin: Aim for at least 30-40% profit after costs.
• Size and Weight: Focus on small, lightweight items to minimize FBA fees.
• Demand: Look for steady demand, avoiding overly seasonal or trendy products.
• Competition: Products with manageable competition but room for improvement.

Besides the basics, there are other criteria that many Amazon FBA product research tools include that can help you narrow down your list of potential products. Some of these include:

• Review Count: Many product research guides recommend targeting products with a maximum review count of 250–350. This advice stems from the idea that high-sales products with relatively few reviews often signal low competition. However, this approach is now widely known and overused. As a result, these “low-review” niches quickly become saturated. By the time your product is ready to launch, competition may have increased significantly as other sellers target the same opportunities. We’re not saying you shouldn’t use this filter just keep in mind that just because a product has few competitors now doesn’t mean this will be the case months from now when you’re ready to launch.
• Average Review Score: A great way to find products with room for improvement. Products with good sales numbers and average to below-average review scores signal opportunity. These products often have a key issue or design flaw that customers are dissatisfied with. If you can create an alternative that addresses these issues you can solve this pain point and carve out your niche in the market.
• Search Volume: Most people would assume that a higher search volume equals a better product idea. This is not always the case. The higher the search volume, the higher the sales velocity, which leads to higher inventory requirements. If you’re a seller with a limited budget, you shouldn’t consider a product with tens of thousands of monthly searches. In most cases, it is best to choose a product with between 6000 – 10000 monthly searches which will lead to lower inventory and start-up costs.
• Variations: In most cases, you will want to limit your search to products with 2-3 variations at most. Choosing products with dozens of color and size variations is a recipe for headaches and higher inventory costs
• Number of Product Images: If you’re using Helium 10’s Black Box you can filter products based on the number of product images available. By selecting a low number of images you can quickly find profitable products with unoptimized listings. This gives you the opportunity to launch a similar product with a fully optimized listing and quickly gain market share

The category and type of products you select will depend on your experience level and your comfort zone as a seller. For beginners, it’s best to focus on simple, straightforward products that are easy to source and launch quickly.

More experienced sellers might consider Subscribe & Save products, which can be extremely lucrative and generate recurring revenue month after month. However, these products often require more management and effort, making them better suited for those with established systems and expertise.

3. Analyze Competitor Listings

Once you have a list of potential products that match your criteria it’s time to take a closer look. Most Amazon FBA product research tools display a list of products with links to their respective product pages. As you scroll your list of potential products find the ones that interest you and click through to view the listing.

Once you’re on the product page consider the following:

• Does the product have a high number of five-star reviews? It can be difficult to launch a new product and compete in a marketplace full of already happy customers with established brands
• How good is the product listing? Does it have high-quality photos and bullets? How is the A-plus content? Could you improve on the existing product listing?
• What do the negative reviews say? Is there a common trend among unsatisfied customers? Can you use this information to create a superior product or market your product in a better way?

Analyzing the product listing page can give you a better idea of how difficult it will be to compete with the current products on the market. Look for products with strong sales but poorly optimized listings or below-average reviews, these present excellent opportunities. By addressing flaws in existing products and optimizing your product page, you can gain a competitive edge and improve your chances of success.

4. Validating Your Product Niche

After looking at the Amazon product page it’s time to get a better idea of the niche as a whole. Remember, although it’s referred to as “product research” what we’re really doing here is niche research. Your goal as a seller should not be to find a “winning product” but to build a long-term brand. To do this, you need to understand the niche you’re entering. Assessing the competition helps determine if you can stand out and successfully challenge existing brands.

To find the top brands in a potential niche do the following:

• Use a Keyword Tool: Use a tool like Helium 10’s Cerebro or Data Dive to extract all the keywords the potential product is currently ranking for. In most cases, it’s as simple as copying the product ASIN and pasting it into your keyword tool
• Filter the List of Keywords: The keyword tool will most likely display a list of over 500 keywords. To find the main keywords you’ll want to filter this list by choosing keywords where the product ranks in the top 20 of organic results and there is a relatively high number of monthly searches
• Visit the Search Results Page: Click the link in your keyword tool or open Amazon and type one of the top keywords in the search bar.

On the Amazon search results page begin analyzing the competition. Some things to look for are:

1. Does A Single Brand Dominate the Niche?

If your product research tool includes a Chrome extension use it to analyze the first page of search results. Check to see the sales breakdown for all organic listings. If there are 5 or more products with healthy sales figures this is a good sign.

You want to avoid niches where 1-2 recognized brands dominate the market leaving few sales for remaining competitors.

2. Can Your Budget Compete in the Niche?

When evaluating a product niche, consider the average revenue of current sellers to ensure it matches your budget. A good rule of thumb is to multiply your budget by four. This gives you a rough estimate of the monthly revenue figure you can sustain at launch.

For example, if your budget is $5,000, look for niches with average monthly revenues around $20,000 or less. Higher-revenue niches, such as those averaging $30,000 per month, require larger inventory investments to maintain sales. One of Amazon’s most important ranking factors is sales velocity, consistent sales are critical for improving organic rankings. If you can’t afford to stock enough inventory to support $30,000 in monthly revenue, your sales volume will fall short. This makes it difficult to rank competitively in search results and capture a share of the niche.

3. Is There Room To Stand Out?

When you look at the first page of search results check if several of the products have similar main images, colors, or packaging. This can give you ideas for potential ways to separate your product from your competition.

Something as simple as using bright colors on your packaging can be enough to stand out if everyone else is using dull or plain designs.

4. What is the Average Price Point?

This is important for our next step where we will look at potential profit margins. In most cases, you will want to be able to price your product at around the average price in order to compete.

Many Amazon gurus advise positioning your product as “a premium option.” While this approach can work, it only succeeds if your product truly delivers premium value. Achieving this requires better branding, upgraded packaging, and an overall superior product compared to competitors.

Simply labeling your product as premium to justify a higher profit margin is not enough. Without real value to back the claim, this strategy is likely to fail.

5. Check Profitability and Costs

After finding out the average price range of products in your niche you can begin to calculate potential profit margins. This is an important step in our Amazon FBA product research journey. A simple formula can help determine whether a product is worth pursuing:

Profit Margin (%) = [(Market Price – Landed Cost – FBA Fees) ÷ Market Price] × 100

Landed cost includes manufacturing, shipping, and import fees, while FBA fees cover Amazon’s fulfillment and storage charges. This calculation ensures the product aligns with your profit goals, typically a margin of 30% or more. Let’s break down the steps to gather these numbers and validate your product idea effectively.

• 1. Find Manufacturing Costs: Start by researching suppliers for your product. Use platforms like Alibaba, Global Sources, or ThomasNet to find the estimated costs for manufacturing and shipping your product to Amazon
  • Search for similar products: Look up your product or a similar product to get an idea of typical pricing.
  • Contact multiple suppliers: Message suppliers to ask for quotes, including costs for bulk orders, shipping options, and lead times.
• 2. Use An FBA Calculator: Input the supplier information as well as the Amazon listing information into a free FBA Calculator. We recommend Helium 10’s but there are many available online.
  • This will generate a product’s potential net profit, profit margin, and ROI per unit

While exact costs vary, this estimate gives valuable insight into a product’s potential profit margin. Use this information to decide whether to investigate further or move on to the next product on your list.

6. Test Your Product Idea

At this point, you have found a product that matches your list of criteria, analyzed the product niche and the brands within it, and estimated the potential profit margin for your product. It is here where the Amazon FBA product research journey ends and product design and testing begins.

Take the data you’ve learned along the way to come up with ways to separate your product from existing products on the market. Here are a few ideas on how to move forward:

• Take A Closer Look at Product Reviews: Use tools like VOC AI or Review Insights to get a deeper understanding of your target market. These tools can quickly find the most common things customers like and dislike about the current products on the market. Use this data to improve on current products and create a USP (unique selling point) for you product.
• Shop Around For Suppliers: Don’t settle for the first supplier you find. Most suppliers will provide sample products for you to analyze. Find a supplier that provides the best combination of a great price and a top quality product.
• Use Customer Insight Tools: Tools like PickFu, ProductPinion, and Intellivy are great for market research and getting feedback from your target market. Create polls to find what designs or features customers value most. Test out potential branding ideas to find what resonates most with your target market.

Avoiding Common Product Research Mistakes

After learning the step-by-step process for conducting effective Amazon FBA product research, it’s equally important to recognize common mistakes that could derail your efforts.

This section will highlight the most common pitfalls many sellers fall into and tips for avoiding them.

1. Chasing Trending Products

If you aim to build a long-term, sustainable brand it makes sense to focus on products that will be around for the long haul.

Trending products may prove successful in the short term, but their popularity often fades just as quickly. While some sellers made millions selling products like fidget spinners and hoverboards, others faced substantial losses. Many invested tens of thousands of dollars in inventory, only to find that the trend had passed, leaving them unable to recoup their investment.

Instead of relying solely on trends, aim to target products with consistent, long-term demand. Most product research tools include historical sales data. This is a great way to check a product’s sales history and demand. Look for niches with stable or growing interest rather than short-lived spikes.

Another free tool is Google Trends. Google Trends tracks search interest for a product or niche over time. By analyzing data from different periods, you can identify trends and gauge long-term demand, helping you assess whether a product has consistent interest or is part of a passing fad.

2. Overlooking Product Reviews

Product reviews are a goldmine of potential information when it comes to Amazon product research. By reading and analyzing what real customers have to say you can quickly find what customers value most in a product.

If analyzing reviews is not part of your product research pipeline you are missing out on a great opportunity. By reading through 1 and 2-star reviews you can quickly find the most common issues with existing products on the market. This information can then be used to improve your own product and solve a pain point for potential customers.

For example, imagine selling a water bottle where many low-star reviews mention that the lid leaks when tipped. By analyzing this feedback, you could identify an opportunity to create a water bottle with a leak-proof lid. You could then market the “leak-proof design” as a key feature of your product that sets it a part from the competition.

3. Choosing Products Outside Your Budget

We talked about this in the “Validating Your Product Niche” section but it is worth repeating. One of the most common mistakes sellers make when doing Amazon FBA product research is choosing niches where the monthly revenue is just too high.

If you have a limited start-up budget you should not be targeting niches where all the top sellers are doing tens of thousands each month in revenue. If you can’t afford the inventory costs to support these kinds of sales figures you will have a very difficult time increasing your organic rank or competing with PPC.

Instead, target niches where the average monthly revenue falls within your budget. If you’re using a product research tool like ZonGuru you even have the option to filter potential products based on your start-up budget. This is a great way to limit your potential product pool to listings where you can be competitive on day one.

4. Underestimating Product Fees

It’s very important to double-check that you are including all potential fees and costs when estimating a product’s profit margin. The last thing you’d want is to move forward with a new product idea only to find you’ve significantly underestimated the costs.

When estimating your profit margins for a potential product remember to include:

• Accurate Shipping Size: Most supplier websites like Alibaba will include the shipping dimensions on their product page. Use this information to get a better calculation of FBA shipping fees
• Manufacturing Costs: In this case, you may want to ignore the price listed on the supplier’s website and message them directly. In many cases, the actual cost will be higher than what’s listed so make sure you message the supplier directly to get accurate pricing information.
• Amazon Referral Fees: If you’re using an FBA calculator (you should be) this is already factored in. If you’re not the referral fee will be between 8-15% depending on the product category. You can see Amazon’s full referral fee chart here.
• FBA Fees: FBA fees will also be automatically calculated if you’re using an FBA calculator based on your product’s weight and size.

Building a Brand Through Smart Product Research

Mastering Amazon FBA product research is the first step in creating a profitable and sustainable Amazon business. With a clear process and the right tools, you can identify high-demand products, reduce risks, and position yourself for long-term success.

If I can leave you with one thing from this article, I hope it’s this: effective Amazon FBA product research is not just about finding products—it’s about building a strong foundation for your brand.

Instead of focusing solely on “winning products,” try to approach product research through the lens of long-term brand development. Consider how you can differentiate yourself from competitors and create lasting relationships with your potential customers. Successful brands aren’t built on quick wins but on delivering consistent value and a clear identity.