More people are discovering the huge opportunities offered by selling their own private label products on Amazon FBA.
So, how do successful sellers find the best private label products to sell on Amazon?
In this post, we’ll look at what Amazon private label is and then show you how to quickly build a list of viable Amazon private label product opportunities.
From this list, you can then select the best private label products to sell on Amazon FBA. 🤩
The Selling Guys is a reader-supported publication. We may receive a commission when you click on links in this article (at no extra cost to you). Learn more here – Affiliate Disclaimer.
Here are the 3 main steps we will be looking at:
- Step 1: 8 Essential Criteria for Your Amazon Private Label Product
- Step 2: Use Amazon Product Research Tools to Conduct Analysis
- Step 3: Use Amazon as Your Starting Point
Want to take a shortcut?
We use Helium 10 to quickly find popular low competition Amazon FBA private label products. Helium 10 can save you time and help you avoid costly mistakes.
What is Amazon Private Label?
To ‘Private Label’ or ‘White Label’ means creating your own branded products. You can sell either generic off-the-shelf products with your branding on or design and manufacture your own original product from scratch.
Your Amazon private label product is then usually sourced from China using sites like Alibaba or AliExpress.
Step 1: 8 Essential Criteria for Your Amazon Private Label Product
These are the 8 most important criteria for choosing the best private label products to sell on Amazon:
- A Product that is Small and Light
- Select a Product with Low Seasonality
- Select a Product with No Licenses, Trademarks, or Patents
- Avoid Complex Electronic Products
- 100-500 Amazon Product Reviews
- A Product That Sells for $20-$80
- A Product That Has Plenty of Room for Improvement
- The Potential to Create a Range of Products
🟢 1. A Product that is Small and Light
The best products to Private Label are usually “Smaller than a loaf of bread,” and “Lighter than a pair of Shoes.”
Shipping costs from overseas tend to be based on unit volume (weight x dimensions). You need to be aware that shipping larger products will cost you more and eat into your profit margin.
Remember that Amazon has an oversize limit, and this limit is 18 inches x 14 inches x 8 inches. If you go oversize, you will pay a lot more in monthly storage fees.
Sellers often get caught out with stock levels on their first product. It is a big advantage to have a product that can be priority shipped from China by air in an emergency without costing a fortune.
🟢 2. Select a Product with Low Seasonality
When selling private label on Amazon, you should aim for a product with solid all-year-round demand. Selecting a product like Halloween costumes would limit you to only 30-60 days before demand dropped significantly.
Having seasonal products also severely limits your cash flow, which will prevent you from scaling up your new Private Label brand.
🟢 3. Select a Product with No Licenses, Trademarks, or Patents
The last thing you want is a letter or call from a lawyer asking you to ‘cease and desist’ from selling your product on Amazon after you have invested thousands of dollars!
Use the United States Patent and Trademark Office database (called TESS) to search for existing trademarks. Google has a patent search tool that can help you locate patents on a specific product.
We have more information on Trademarks here: Amazon Private Label: Searching for a Trademark
🟢 4. Avoid Complex Electronic Products
It is best to avoid electronic items, or those operated by batteries (of any kind, but especially lithium).
🟢 5. 100-500 Amazon Product Reviews
Try to focus on products that are getting roughly 100-500 reviews. This indicates that there is demand for the products but not too much competition. You can then create your own branded version with a reasonable chance of success.
In the example below, we used Jungle Scout to analyze a product and it actually shows the average number of reviews to help you decide on the viability of a product.
PRO TIP: Look at the number one product on page one of an Amazon search and record the number of reviews. Then look at the rest of the products on page one. What is the range of reviews on page one? If one product has over 500 reviews, but all the others have just a few, then there is room for you on page one and it is likely you will be able to compete for one of these page one spots.
🟢 6. A Product That Sells for $20-$80
The best products to sell on Amazon normally have a sales price point of between $20 and $80 USD. Consider that Amazon takes a big chunk of your gross profit in fees.
Expect to pay Amazon anywhere between 35%-50% of your gross profit in various selling fees. This can be closer to 50% if participating in Sponsored Ads or Amazon Marketing Services.
Understand that generally, the higher the price range, the higher the profit margin, but also, the more you will have to pay for inventory.
🟢 7. A Product That Has Plenty of Room for Improvement
When you sell Private Label on Amazon, you want products where you can make improvements on the quality of the existing listings or product itself.
You should look for products where the average feedback rating is below 4.0 stars. If you look at the reviews, you will see the problems people have had with the product, which stopped it from getting a full 5 stars. If you fix these problems with your product, you can hopefully outsell the original.
PRO TIP: You should actually read the reviews of potential products to see what the problems are and whether it is something that can be easily rectified.
🟢 8. The Potential to Build a Range of Private Label Products
Finally, remember you are building a brand, not just selling a single product. Look for products where there is the potential to create an entire range of related products.
For example, maybe you decide you want to sell a dog collar. Dog collars need dog leashes. And dog leashes might need dog harnesses. If you have a dog, maybe he is old and needs some all-natural supplements. Pretty soon, you could have a full range of products in the dog’s niche.
The benefits from this really come into play once you are building up your website and social media presence. If you start building an email list, you can promote your new dog-related products to your existing customers.
The opposite to this would be to pick a fad toy that may be popular for a year or two at best (anyone remember fidget spinners?), and then as more competition floods the space, it rapidly becomes a race to the bottom in terms of price.
This is something you want to avoid as a private label seller. The point is to think about long-term sustainable profits, not short-term skyrocket sales.
Step 2: Use Amazon Product Research Tools to Conduct Analysis
There are several tools available for Amazon sellers which cut your research time drastically. The way you use these tools can mean the difference between picking a winner or picking a dud, so let’s be sure we understand how each one works and what you can use it for;
1. Helium 10 😍- We use Helium 10 (free to trial) to easily find related keywords associated with your product and find other related traffic growth trends.
2. Jungle Scout 😍 – We use Jungle Scout to determine the average selling price, number of reviews, feedback score, and your estimated net profit after FBA fees.
If you are trying to choose between these two, then please read our comparison review: Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout.
3. Keepa – Use this free Amazon tool to scope out recent sales volume and price for a product.
4. Google Trends – Use the Google Trends site to determine if there is seasonality to your product. If you see peaks and valleys in the trend over a 1-year period, it means there is seasonality and you should not select this product. You will also know if the product is generally increasing in popularity.
Using the Amazon Best Sellers Rank to Select a Product
Many first-time Private Label sellers will look at BSR (Best Sellers Rank) to estimate the sales volume for a particular product.
When you are looking at BSR, be aware of the product category you are evaluating. We recommend you then use free tools like the Jungle Scout Estimator to give an estimate of how many units of a product are selling each month.
These estimation tools tend to exaggerate the sales volume slightly. Actual sales will usually be less than forecast, as so many other factors will come into play.
Using browser plugins like CamelCamelCamel and Keepa will enable you to view a product’s Best Seller Rank over time. These tools are also helpful for highlighting seasonality patterns on specific products.
We use the FREE Jungle Scout Sales Estimator to get monthly sales volume for any product being sold on Amazon – test it out here – Jungle Scout Sales Estimator
Step 3: Use Amazon as Your Starting Point
Amazon is where you want to sell your products, so Amazon is where you should go to find what customers are buying. Rather than scratch your head wondering “what should I sell”, approach it from the angle of “what do people WANT?“
So how do we find out what people are searching for on Amazon? Take a look at the following sections first;
Amazon Hot New Releases
The Amazon ‘Hot New Releases’ list displays products across all categories that have just entered the Amazon marketplace and are already “selling like hotcakes.”
This gives you an indication of what is in demand right now. It may not be an indication of long-term success, so take this information with a grain of salt.
View Amazon Hot New Releases here: Amazon Hot New Releases
Amazon Best Sellers
What sells on Amazon? Amazon ‘Best Sellers’ lists the top 100 best-selling products in each category. This is updated hourly and based on sales velocity.
You can see what products are selling consistently well over a longer period of time. You can then drill down into sub-categories to get even more ideas and inspiration.
View Amazon Best Sellers here: Amazon Best Sellers
Amazon Movers and Shakers
The Amazon ‘Movers and Shakers’ is like a sub-category of ‘Amazon Best Sellers’. It shows trending products on Amazon that are moving quickly up the best-selling ranks denoted by green arrows and a percentage increase (similar to stock signals).
This is valuable for pinpointing Amazon best sellers that are trending more so than others in a particular category.
View Amazon Movers & Shakers here: Amazon Movers & Shakers
Amazon Most Wished For
Amazon keeps track of what people put on their wish lists. The ‘Most Wished For’ category is what people REALLY want. So why not use this list as inspiration for providing them with exactly what they have always been looking for?
View Amazon Most Wished For here: Amazon Most Wished For
Amazon Most Gifted
Amazon has gift-wrapping services available and allows merchants to provide this service for their customers.
Amazon tracks the sales that include gift wrapping, so they know which products are being bought as gifts. This gives another good indicator of which products might be good to Amazon Private Label.
View Amazon Most Gifted here: Amazon Most Gifted
PRO TIP: If you are a private label seller using Amazon FBA, you should have “gift wrapping” and “gift messaging” checked in your seller central backend for your products! This doesn’t cost anything to you as a seller and is another value-added benefit that can set your product apart from the competition.
Summary
As you can see, finding the best Private Label product to sell on Amazon FBA involves an organized process.
With the right tools and strategies, you can easily build a list of viable products to select from and begin the process of sourcing your chosen private label product.
Now it’s your turn! Use this guide as a starting point. Remember, do not be tempted to skip any steps. And be sure to check out our Facebook group, the Amazon FBA Masters.
Private Label Products to Sell on Amazon FAQs
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James is an ecommerce entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience selling online. He has a wealth of knowledge in selling on Amazon FBA, eBay, and building ecommerce websites.
Despite running a successful business, James has decided to share his expertise with others by offering guidance through his website, “The Selling Guys,” "The Selling Guys Facebook Page," and his “Amazon Selling for Beginners” Facebook Group.
James now has three children, two dogs, and a cat. 👨
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Thank you good and simple English to understand I will starting my PL in a few weeks
Great information 😍😍😍😘
Thank you. If you have any questions please just ask here or in the Facebook Groups – thanks