Product Research Checklist
Must-Haves:
Low-to-medium competition on Amazon:
The first 10 sellers in the results of the keywords
you searched should have fewer than 500
reviews combined. And at least three of those
sellers should have no more than 50 reviews.
High demand: The first 10 sellers in the results
of the keywords you searched should be selling
at least 2,000 units combined per month.
Market depth: Sales of the first 10 sellers
should be evenly distributed. Avoid products
where one brand makes 75% of the combined
total sales.
No potential legal issues: Check to make sure
the product you’re considering doesn’t have
any trademarks, copyrights, or patents.
High search volume: Exact keyword search
volume should be at least 8,000 and broad
keyword match volume should be at least
15,000. These numbers show that people are
searching for the item.
Good profit margins: Use the FBA Profit
Calculator to determine the potential profit
margins for a product before moving it to the
sample stage. As a general rule, look for items
that can sell for triple what you pay for them
from the manufacturer.
Nice-to-Haves:
Small and lightweight: By sticking to products
that fit inside of a box and can be classified
as ‘Standard Size,’ you are minimizing your
shipping and storage costs.
A solid BSR: At least three products in the first
10 search results should have a Best Sellers
Rank (BSR) of 5,000 or less.
Simple and durable: Stay away from glass or
anything with a lot of moving parts. Items like
that can break easily during shipping or regular
use, leading to negative product reviews.
Jungle Scout Product Reasearch Checklist | JungleScout.com
Mid-range price point: As a general rule,
you want the product to sell for $20-$50 to
allow for healthy profit margins. Below $20, it
can be difficult to generate a return on your
investment. These are also typically the types
of products that become oversaturated quickly
because they are so inexpensive to source.
And sometimes, if the product is inexpensive
and small, Amazon will classify it as an add-on.
On the other hand, if you price your products
above $50, they could be more costly to ship
and store, and some customers are unwilling to
spend higher amounts on a brand they
don’t recognize.
It can be improved: During your research,
make sure the products you’re looking at can
be improved, have variations and/or can be
bundled with other products. You want what
you sell to stand out from the competition.
Easy to source and ship: Ideally, the basics of
your product will be something suppliers are
familiar with, and the packaging is easy for
manufacturers to create and ship. For example,
large, heavy products are more expensive to
ship, and items you’ve invented and that need
to be produced from scratch would be difficult
and more expensive to source.
Low seasonality: Find products that have
steady sales year round. You can use a tool like
Jungle Scout’s Extension to check an item’s
historical sales and seasonality.
We Don’t Recommend Selling:

Highly competitive products: If your keyword
search leads to search results full of sellers, and
has thousands of reviews on the first page, the
product has so much competition that it will be
difficult to gain market share.
Clothing, shoes or handbags: When it comes
to these items, most people want established
brand names. Newly launched, unknown
brands tend to go unnoticed in
these categories.

Highly seasonal products: New sellers should
avoid items that only sell during certain
holidays or specific seasons.
Food, drinks, supplements or topicals:
In addition to these types of products having
a significant amount of liability tied to them,
they’re also highly regulated.
Media: Books, music, video games, movies,
and TV are more difficult to sell because you
have to be a licensed reseller, create them from
scratch, or compete with a lot of other sellers.
Patented or requires licensing: Patented
products are protected by law, so if you find
a potential product that turns out to have a
patent, scratch it off your list. The same goes for
licensed products. If you need permission by
the brand owner to sell the item, move on.
High-potential-liability items: Avoid offering
products that have the potential to break and/
or harm a user during its use (for example, a
baby car seat).
Trends or fads: Unless you get in on the
ground floor of a trend or fad, it’s best to
avoid them altogether. For example, fidget
spinners were big sellers for quite a while, but
most sellers who started offering the spinners
halfway through the fad’s timeline were left
with a lot of unsold inventory.
Breakables: Selling products that are easily
breakable is dicey at the best of times. Since
breakables are often damaged during shipping,
offering these items will decrease your ability to
make sales and profit.

Complex products: Selling electronics,

computers, appliances, watches, etc. is risky.
A lot can go wrong with these types of items,
both during shipping and with normal use, and
many of these products require certification.

More questions to consider:

1. Do the reviews about this product indicate that improvements to the product are necessary?
2. Will making these changes cause customers to buy my product over the competition’s?
3. Can my product be bundled? Is there a complementary item customers want that I could sell along
with your product?
4. After taking into consideration my FBA fees, costs of goods, shipping and marketing fees (PPC),
is the profit margin workable?
5. Are suppliers manufacturing this product for a reasonable price?
6. Are the manufacturers I’ve contacted willing to make adjustments for me?
7. Does Google Trends show an upward or steady search trend for this item?

Start your research now with Jungle Scout!

Jungle Scout Product Research Checklist | JungleScout.com