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The Best Selling Products on Amazon that New Sellers Can Learn From
The first thing new sellers often want to know is what are the best selling products on Amazon. And it’s a valid question. You want to sell products that are in demand and there is plenty you can learn from analyzing which items sell the most on the platform.
By looking at the top-selling products on Amazon and finding out why they’re so popular, you’ll be better able to choose items to sell that will generate a high amount of sales. Just remember that what sells really well in one country might not sell well in another.
For example, an item that’s a best seller in the US and Canada won’t necessarily perform well in the UK, Germany, or India. So, when you’re doing your research make sure you’re looking at the marketplace you plan on selling in.
With that being said, here’s how to determine best selling items on Amazon and what you can learn from these products.
Table of contents
How to Find the Top-Selling Items on Amazon
While Amazon doesn’t release exact sales numbers for the products sold on its website, they do have a number of best seller lists that let you know what products are most popular at that moment. There are also several software tools that can estimate sales numbers with a very high level of accuracy.
When looking for best selling items, remember that you don’t need to be selling products in the top 100 or at the top of the all-time sales. Even products that rank in the top 1000 or 10,000 can still be profitable.
With that in mind, here are three ways to identify Amazon’s best-selling products:
The Amazon Best Seller Lists
To start, you can go to the Amazon Best Sellers page where you’ll be able to quickly find the most popular items on the website. The list is based on sales volume and is updated hourly with their most recent data. It’s divided by category so you can see which products are most popular in every Amazon category.
It’s important to note that while this list is useful, it’s more of a reflection of what’s hot or trending at that moment. If you analyze the Amazon best seller list over many months the number one thing you’ll learn is that just because a product is selling well at that moment doesn’t mean it will stay popular forever.
In order to find the best selling products that sell consistently over time, you’ll need to use more sophisticated tools.
AMZScout Web App
If you’re wondering what is the best way to search for products on Amazon, this might be what you’re looking for. The AMZScout Web App is a powerful product search tool that lets you use a variety of filters to quickly discover products that meet your criteria. These filters include sales, reviews, category, size, weight, and more.
To find the best selling products, you can use the sales filter to only search for products that have sales greater than a certain value (for example, monthly sales greater than 1000). You can also use the category filter to see which products are selling best in each category. The real benefit of this tool is that it allows you to go beyond just identifying which products sell well. You can also add a bunch of other criteria to find items that have the best potential.
For example, you can use the reviews filter to find products that sell well but have relatively low review totals (this means there’s an opportunity to gain more reviews and overtake them). Or you could use the weight filter to find products that sell well and are also light, making them cheaper to ship (oversized products lead to more costs for sellers).
The additional search options provided by the Web App make it a better option for finding the top-selling products on Amazon than simply using the best seller list.
AMZScout Pro Extension
We mentioned before that the problem with the Amazon best seller list is that it only tells you what’s selling really well right now. However, if you’re selling on Amazon you need to know where to find some statistics that show you how an item has sold over the last year. You want to know that your product isn’t just a flash in the pan and will continue to drive consistent sales for you.
To find this out you can use the AMZScout Pro Extension (currently available for a free trial). This handy Google Chrome extension allows you to view historical sales data on any Amazon product. Simply install the tool, go to Amazon.com, browse the site for the product you’re looking for, then click the AMZScout icon in the top right corner of your browser to get a variety of valuable insights.
In addition to historical sales trends, you’ll also be able to see monthly sales, reviews, average sales price, and more. To see if a product is really worth selling you can use the Pro Extension to estimate your profit or look at the niche and product scores to see the level of demand and competition.
For those wondering how to see in-depth sales data and track sales over time, this digital tool is the best way to do it.
The Top 5 Best Amazon Categories to Sell In
It’s not enough to simply know how to check what the best selling products on Amazon are. You need to know what category you should choose to sell in. Not every category is equal and some categories are better to sell in than others.
We’ve listed our picks for the best Amazon categories below, along with what you can learn from the best selling items in those categories.
Books
If anyone tries to tell you the written word is dead, they’re wrong. Books are more popular than ever, and that includes physical books as well. While e-book sales are growing, paperback and hardcover sales remain strong as well. Selling new and used physical books is one of the best ways to get started as an Amazon seller, making it one of our favorite categories.
The reason books are great to sell is because they’re easy to source and they have a great profit margin. Whether you buy your books from a wholesaler, a big sale at a used book store, or a yard sale, there’s the potential to make a great return on your investment by selling them on Amazon.
What You Can Learn from the Best Selling Books
Books are one category where you do need to stay on top of trends. By looking at the top-selling books you’ll be able to see which current titles are hot at that moment. However, you can gather a few more insights as well.
Authors
When you analyze the best sellers using the Web App and Pro Extension, take note of which authors are near the top. Oftentimes, when an author has a best seller it also increases the popularity of their previous titles. So, it might be a good investment to stock up on other works by best selling authors. You can also look at sales trends to see which authors sell the most consistently over time so you know who to invest in the most.
Genre
Genre is another important thing to consider. By analyzing the best seller data you’ll be able to see which genres are the most popular. That way you’ll be able to better identify books that will sell and books that you should avoid.
Trends
Finally, analyze historical trends to identify classic books that always sell well. These are books that are extremely popular and will always continue to generate sales. Try to stock up on these books as much as you can.
Toys & Games
No matter how busy people get, they eventually need to relax and have fun. Because of this, you can always depend on the Toys & Games category to generate a large number of sales.
The great thing about this category is that many of the most popular items are relatively simple and cheap for sellers to purchase. Things like card games and board games won’t set you back a ton and can be resold on Amazon for a good profit. Plus, these types of products rarely come with any defects meaning you’ll be able to avoid a lot of customer complaints.
What You Can Learn From the Best Selling Toys and Games
Like books, the Toys & Games categories also largely depend on trends. There will always be a new hot toy or game that everyone wants. Analyzing best seller data will help you stay on top of what’s popular in that category and capitalize on surges in popularity.
Of course, for sustained success you want to find items that have consistent sales all year long. This is where looking at historical trends can be really helpful. By analyzing which toys and games have sold the best over the entire year you can identify items that are always popular and will consistently produce sales.
You can also look at the best sellers to see which categories within Toys & Games sell best. This could allow you to identify a niche within the category and focus on that.
Home & Kitchen
Home & Kitchen is one of the most popular categories and generates a massive amount of sales. So naturally, it’s one of the best categories to choose to sell products in.
There are plenty of options when it comes to products. Some of these items are complicated and expensive, but there are also plenty of products that are relatively simple and won’t set you back a ton. Things like kitchen utensils, oven mitts, and measuring cups all make for good products to sell.
What You Can Learn from the Best Selling Home & Kitchen Products
Timeless
Unlike the other two categories we’ve talked about so far, things don’t change a lot in Home & Kitchen. Things like kitchen knives, mixing bowls, and aprons are always going to be popular and there isn’t a whole lot of innovation happening when it comes to these sorts of products.
Reviews
What really determines whether a product will sell in this category is the quality and how well made it is. So, when looking at the top-selling items in this category it’s a good idea to read the reviews. What do people like about these products that make them so popular? What do people wish could be improved?
By analyzing what’s working and what’s not you’ll be in a much better position to come up with a winning product.
Beauty & Personal Care
Everyone wants to look their best, so you can always count on the beauty category to drive sales. Plus there are always new products being released, and even an emerging men’s market, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to grow your inventory.
You’ll want to stay away from anything that could be a health risk, such as skin care, hair products, beauty supplements, and other chemical-based products. Even if what you’re selling is organic there are still risks. However, there are plenty of smaller more simple products that are great choices for sellers. If you stick to these you’ll have a much better chance at success.
What You Can Learn from the Best Selling Beauty Products
As we all know, fashion is constantly evolving. The best selling products will usually tell you which direction the industry is going so you can plan accordingly. Luckily, trends in the beauty industry usually last longer than those in the toy industry, so if you catch a trend early you can usually ride it out for a while.
As with any category, you’ll want to identify which products have consistently sold well over the last year. You can also use historical trends to find the most popular brands so you can focus on those (if you aren’t selling your own products).
Sports & Outdoors
Sports & Outdoors are a great category for the same reason as Toys & Games: everyone needs to have fun every now and then and enjoy some recreation time.
You do need to be careful about which products you sell in this category, as there are some that are a little more complicated, on the larger side, and simply too heavy. But there are also plenty of simple items that are great choices for individual sellers.
What You Can Learn from the Best Selling Sports and Outdoors Products
While sports equipment more or less stays the same, the fitness industry is full of trends that are consistently evolving. So, looking at the category’s best sellers is a good way to stay on top of what’s popular.
By using tools like the Pro Extension to look at the best sellers in this category over the past year, you’ll also be able to see which products are seasonal and which ones sell all year round. Just because something sells well at Christmas doesn’t mean it will sell great in the summer. Many sports are seasonal so try and find products that can be sold any time of year.
Other Categories to Consider
In addition to the categories above, you should also consider selling in:
Patio, Lawn, & Garden
Pet Supplies
Camera & Photo
Electronics
Baby Items
Office Supplies
If you plan to sell homemade or handmade items, try making products for one of the categories discussed above.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon is a great business strategy. With so many people having Amazon Prime memberships, and sales continually growing, they are easily surpassing other retailers like eBay and Etsy. It doesn’t look like the retail giant is slowing down so you might as well jump on board.
Looking at the best selling products on Amazon can teach you a lot about what items you should be selling on the platform. Just remember that it's not enough to simply look at what’s selling best today, this week, or even this month. You need to know what’s been selling all year.
Using tools like AMZScout’s Web App and Pro Extension will allow you to take a deeper look at the top-selling products and find items that will be profitable. This is the best strategy if you want to make money through your Amazon FBA, dropshipping, or affiliate business.
