What can I sell on Amazon as a new seller?

1. Small and lightweight Amazon products
2. No moving or multiple parts
3. Avoid selling Amazon electronics
4. No fragile products, sell solid Amazon products
5. Avoid Amazon big brands
6. Avoid seasonal products

New sellers should look for Amazon FBA products that are lightweight, small, and in an ungated category. Do not sell electronics, fragile items, or items with small parts. Don’t sell the cheapest item, or the most expensive. Instead, find a product that will achieve the best profit margin. Also, don’t favor a product with high sales volume over one with consistent sales volume, as you won’t be able to compete with products that are already popular.

In summary, here’s our formula for the best products to sell as a new Amazon seller in 2024. Use it to test your product idea:

UNGATED + LIGHTWEIGHT + SMALL + ONE SOLID/ FLEXIBLE PIECE + CONSISTENT SALES VOLUME

NOT

ELECTRONIC or FRAGILE or HIGH COMPETITION

Find a balance between:

CHEAPEST vs. MOST EXPENSIVE = BEST PROFIT MARGIN

This article will show you the six types of products you should sell on Amazon as a new seller. It also provides important information to consider if you want to sell on Amazon. This includes brief discussions about ungated vs. gated products, high sales volume vs. consistent sales volume, and profit margin considerations. Additionally, this article will help you pinpoint where to find products to sell on Amazon if you're a beginner. Lastly, it will introduce you to a business model that may be more successful than selling on Amazon.

What Can I Sell on Amazon As a New Seller? (6 Type of Products You Should Sell)

1. Small and Lightweight Amazon Products

Choose a small and lightweight product to avoid a high Amazon FBA fee. These items are cheaper to buy from a manufacturer. They’re less expensive to ship. And, since they’re small, they won’t take up as much space in the Amazon warehouse. 

The standard Amazon FBA box is 18 inches x 14 inches x 8 inches. And, a shipment over 2 pounds is more expensive than a lighter product. If the product weighs 20 pounds, the fees will skyrocket. So, instead of a couch, try selling something like this:

2. No Moving or Multiple Parts

Products with moving parts can break easily. There’s a chance that they won’t work at all. Likewise, a product with multiple parts might lose pieces. Or, some pieces might arrive broken. So, unless you have a great relationship with your supplier, stay away from products like keyboards and cell phone holders for your car. 

Instead, try something that has a much smaller chance of breaking or not working. Something like this is a great example, though this exact product has far too much competition for a new Amazon seller to beat:

3. Avoid Selling Amazon Electronics

As a new Amazon seller, avoid selling electronics. Even though this is a best seller product category, there are too many things that can go wrong. For instance, your manufacturer might create a product that doesn’t work. This won’t be your fault, but all customer reviews, returns, and issues will reflect on you. Negative reviews and multiple returns all impact your Amazon metrics.

In addition, electronics and electronic accessories lose value. After all, no one is looking for an iPhone 7 case anymore. So, unless you can liquify your Amazon inventory quickly, you will lose money by storing a product that nobody wants. 

Instead of starting your Amazon business with electronics, find a product with less space for error that won’t stop being useful, like these laundry bags:

4. No Fragile Products, Sell Solid Amazon Products

Sell solid products that won’t shatter during delivery, like those made of glass or ceramics. 

If you really want to sell this type of product, make sure you have (and possibly pay extra for) exceptional packaging. Order a test product and see how well your packaging does by tossing the box down your stairs.. Doing this will reduce your chance of receiving negative reviews. 

Instead of glass, consider something made of plastic or even wood. Home decor is a good place to start, as you can offer different styles. This allows you to settle into a niche when you find the right one.

NOTE: You do NOT need to focus on a single niche, nor should you. If all of your products complement each other, Amazon will group them together. This can be very beneficial. But overall, trends are constantly changing across these categories, and you should choose the product that will make you the most money overall. If you follow your interests only, you may not be as profitable.

1. Ungated vs. Gated Product

Amazon has restricted, or “gated” product categories. They do this to provide their level of quality service across the Amazon marketplace. There are ways to get ungated, which usually include finding and paying for specific documentation, like FDA testing. But usually these methods take up more time and money. FDA testing can cost upwards of $1700.

Here’s a list of the ungated categories as of 2022. But remember: just because they are ungated doesn’t mean they meet all the other qualities you should look for as a new FBA seller. In the list below, categories with a thumbs up coincide with the rest of our list.

Make sure your product is in one of our recommended Amazon FBA categories. Then, cross-reference them with shoppers’ categories. This trick will show you what categories are hiding the most amount of shoppers with the least amount of professional sellers. Once you find this sweet spot, think about what will make money consistently.

2. High Sales Volume vs. Consistent Sales Volume

There are 3 ways to break down this part of Amazon FBA product formula. 

1. As a new seller, you won’t be able to sell products that are currently selling very high.

2. Avoid selling a product already dominated by a big brand.

3. Don’t sell seasonal products.

Why High Selling Products Won’t Sell For You As a New Amazon Seller?

Just because a product is a “best seller” doesn’t mean you will make a profit off of it. In fact, gurus will often show crazy numbers for a product, and make it seem like this is what you need to sell. Look at this Helium 10 capture of popular dental flossers:

Even though this image shows that water flossers can make a lot of money, there’s no way you can enter this space as a new seller and match these numbers. First, you won’t be able to purchase enough stock to stay in the game.

You would also have to invest in Amazon PPC, which is the Amazon advertising available to you through Amazon Marketing Services. To even scratch the audience shown above, you’d have to spend thousands, and that will only grow. Look at the Marketplace Pulse Amazon CPC evaluation:

3. Profit Margin Considerations

Do you want to buy the cheapest possible item and sell it at the most expensive price possible? Actually, cheap items don’t have great profit margins. This is because Amazon forces third party sellers into price wars to stay competitive. Also, items that are priced at $20 or lower will make very little money because of Amazon fees, but if you list a cheap plastic item for $50, it won’t sell. 

Expensive items also don’t sell quickly. Items priced over $200 especially hurt your sales velocity. Some sellers suggest selling uber-expensive products, which has advantages. Less sales at a higher margin means less customer service work for the same payout. But, I wouldn’t suggest this as a new seller. Instead, keep this in mind down the road as you scale.

For now, find a middle ground. It’s far less risky to start with a product in that $20-$100 range. And again, when you find an inexpensive item, test it before you sell it to customers.

Where Do You Find the Right Product to Sell on Amazon As a New Seller?

For other Amazon FBA business models, especially wholesale and private label, try:

Here’s a look into JungleScout’s product research tool. You can see how many of the things we broke down above on their dashboard:

When using these tools, look for:

• Average monthly sales

• Number of other sellers

• Sales history and trends

• Expected sales margins

• Keywords with a high number of searches but low competition

• Reviews in the low hundreds (shows that there is room for you to enter the space)

What Are Reasons Selling on Amazon FBA Is Hard As a New Seller?

Some reasons selling on Amazon FBA is hard as a new seller is because of the intense competition and high costs. The Amazon marketplace has about 1.9 million active sellers. These include major national brands like The Disney Store and Lands’ End. Also, many Chinese sellers with better margins fill Amazon. According to EcomCrew, 63% of Amazon sellers are from either China or Hong Kong. New sellers also compete with Amazon’s own private label brands, which make up about 40% of sales. Amazon’s financial power lets it sell products at lower prices, making it hard for new sellers to compete. FBA fees are also high. It takes up to 50% of a seller’s revenue. The costs for inventory storage and shipping are also rising, squeezing profit margins further.

Product research, advertising, and logistics add to the challenges for new Amazon seller. Finding a winning product requires expensive tools and lots of time. High competition increases advertising costs, with pay-per-click prices averaging $1.20. Amazon has also strict packaging and prep rules. It makes logistics complicated. Managing inventory is tough because of the need to balance stock levels and avoid high storage costs. Many product categories and brands require approval before they can be sold. This leaves new Amazon sellers with few sales opportunities.