The best things to sell online to make money

What are the best things to sell online for making money?

The best products to sell online are consumable or digital products with good profit margins and high sales volume. Consumers buy products which provide value and solve a problem, like coffee or entertainment.

Imagine, being able to start an online business selling products for profit. Everyday products are being sold, which means money in your bank account.

Successful resellers know which products are profitable and which to leave alone.

Luckily for you, I’m going to show you how to find good products to sell online. I’ll even show you which products you should avoid so you don’t waste time or money. With any luck, you’ll be making enough income from your side hustle to quit your 9-5.

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How to find good products to sell online?

Good products for selling online are products people are naturally interested in. Evaluate product potential by looking at Google Trends and existing reviews. Evaluating the trends and existing interest of a product is usually a good indication of how a product will sell.

Products must be interesting and sell themselves 

Making money is easy when products literally sell themselves. These are the products that showcase immense value, so buying them is a no-brainer decision. When looking for products to sell online, ask yourself if people would line up on Black Friday to buy.

Think about the Instant Pot. When the Instant Pot was first released, finding one in-store was incredibly difficult.

Facebook mom groups exploded with news of the Instant Pot. Instant Pot recipes were pinned everywhere over Pinterest. Thousands of people wanted this product and the internet was buzzing with new information and hype.

At the end of the day, the Instant Pot is just a pressure cooker. There are hundreds of other options, but the IP is the one with brand recognition.

Another example is coffee, a product that sells itself. People recognize the value of having coffee and purchase it regularly. A lot of people aren’t brand loyal when it comes to coffee, it just needs to wake them up.

Use Google Trends

Google Trends is good for comparing different items in terms of popularity or seasonality. Ecommerce stores can even identify which states are searching for specific terms the most. Therefore, you can use Google Trends to help identify a marketing strategy to meet areas of demand.

For example, maybe you’re not sure if you should be reselling AirPods or Beats by Dre. You can input different terms to see which product is most popular among consumers.

As you can see, AirPods is by far the largest searched query. Therefore, you can assume that AirPods has a larger demand than Beats.

However, Google Trends is especially useful if you’re an Etsy seller. You can see which states are the most interested in your products. Therefore, you can create a better targeted advertisement when you know which regions are more interested.

Let’s assume that you sell tea light candle holders and lanterns. Per Google Trends, candle holders are more popular than lanterns. I can see that Florida and Texas are searching for tea light candle holders the most.

Check Amazon and Ebay best sellers

Reviews and best seller lists are giving you the inside scoop to what’s popular. A product that is listed on a best seller list obviously sells well. However, product reviews are another good indication on what products are selling.

When doing product research, the best selling product list is a good place to start. You are getting an insight as to what products consumers are interested in.

For example, I’m looking through the Home and Kitchen best seller list on Amazon. Water purifiers are four of the top 20 selling items. Therefore, you might have some good luck selling water purifiers.

Additionally, product reviews are going to be a good indication of what people are buying. Only a small percentage of people leave a review. 

On Amazon, you can sort product reviews by most recent. Going through the reviews, you can count how many reviews were left in one year and get an idea of how many sales are made.

Obviously, counting reviews won’t give you an exact sales estimate. However, the number of reviews is a good way to estimate a product’s popularity. Someone is buying the product and then maybe 2-5% of people leave a review.

What are the best things to sell online to make money?

The best products to sell online are consumable or digital products people are interested in. Ideally, the product has good profit margins and high sales volume. Look for products that have good reviews with little sales competition.

Consumable products lead to repeat purchases. You’ve bought the product once, liked it, and now need to buy it again. 

Digital products are easy to create and have low overhead. Once you’ve made the product, you can keep selling it again and again.

The ideal product has good profit margins and high sales volume. A product might have a good profit margin, but only sell one per month. Alternatively, a product could sell well, but only make you $0.01 per sale. 

You need to find the right balance of profit and sales frequency.

However, you also need to consider the marketplace competition with product demand. Are you selling a product with demand? Is there a lot of people selling the same or similar product on the same marketplace (e.g. Etsy)?

For example, you might want to sell a seahorse necklace on Etsy. You estimate that 200 seahorse necklaces are sold on Etsy each month. 

Sounds good, right? 

How many people on Etsy are selling the same or similar seahorse necklace? If 100 other vendors are selling the same product then there might be too much competition.

Example of good products to sell online include:

1. Dog Treats
2. Matches
3. Toothpicks
4. Digital Courses
5. Ebooks
6. Straws/disposable dishes
7. Jewelry, Clothing, and Fashion Accessories

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What products are difficult to sell online?

Avoid selling products online that are large, heavy, have bad reviews, or are slow sellers. Bulk and weight add substantial shipping or storage fees. Bad reviews can be a sign of low-quality products and lead to returns or chargebacks. Most of all, slow sellers will halt your cash flow and slow business growth.

Physical products that are large or heavy can be costly to ship or store. Companies like Amazon will limit how much product you can store in their warehouse. Therefore, keep your products small, lightweight, and easy to ship.

Products with bad reviews can negatively impact your store. People don’t want to buy cheap or low-quality products and they’re more willing to leave bad reviews.

I once made a mistake of buying a large quantity of portable chargers. They had a good profit margin, but I didn’t realize they were slow sellers. As a matter of fact, they never really sold so I’m stuck with product I don’t want.

Make sure the product is going to sell! Otherwise your cash will be tied up in products, not making you money.

Where can I find products to sell online?

Find products to sell online by using a dropshipping supplier, retail arbitrage, or wholesaling from the manufacturer. Dropshipping is ideal for low-cost startups and retail arbitrage can make quick profit. Wholesale suppliers can give you the opportunity to find long-term profitable products.

Dropshipping Supplier

Companies like Spocket allow you to set up an ecommerce store when integrating with Shopify or WooCommerce. You set up an online store, drive traffic to your site, and fulfill orders with suppliers.

The beauty of dropshipping is that you don’t have to have any physical inventory. When someone orders a product, you order it from your supplier directly to the customer. Therefore, you can start an ecommerce site very inexpensively.

Retail Arbitrage

Retail arbitrage is the art of finding the best deals on clearance and selling them online. You spend the day shopping, scanning barcodes, and finding products with profit potential. After buying the product, you list it for resale on marketplaces like Amazon or Ebay.

For example, Christmas items were 70% the day after Christmas. Someone might buy a $20 piece of Christmas decor for only $6. Next October, you send it into Amazon and list the product for $20.

Obviously, seasonal items are one way of doing retail arbitrage. You can find good products through regular retail shopping or online arbitrage.

Wholesale

Wholesale is a challenge, but it can be very profitable when done right. With wholesale, you are buying directly from the manufacturer or distributor for a discounted price. Once you’ve found a good product, it’s just a matter of keeping the item in stock.

The problem is that most wholesalers don’t want to work with just anyone. At some point, companies make more money when they can land big clients like Walmart. Why would they want to sell you products at wholesale when you can only buy $500 worth of product?

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Summary: The best things to sell online to make money

As you can see, the best products are already popular products that need no additional advertising. Products that make money showcase their value, making it easy for people to spend hard earned money.

In order to find good products, consult Google Trends and Best seller lists. Make sure you analyze sales volume, competition, and profit margin. Ideally, your products will be digital or consumable to maximize profits.

Avoid selling bulky, heavy, and low-quality products or products with low sales volume. You could spend more money in shipping, storage, or chargebacks. Even worse, your money might get tied up into a product that won’t sell.

Find products depending on your ecommerce setup. You can take advantage of dropshipping, retail arbitrage, or finding wholesale suppliers.