Keep your eyes and ears open
I am asked most often ‘what should I sell?’ and too much choice can sometimes be worse than not enough choice when it comes to
selecting a niche market or a product to resell for a profit. And choice there is when it comes to selling online so it can definitely be hard to know where to start.
That’s why I thought I’d let you into a method that helps me out frequently when I’m looking for a new product idea. This is really simple stuff but it will help you to get going so read carefully and follow my step by step instructions to kick start your online selling if you are looking for a new niche or product ready for when sales kick back in during September.
Create a list
The first thing to do is to simply look around you right now and start making a list of the different items that you can see. Depending on where you are right now you’ll see a multitude of items that have possible potential. Even if you’re reading this on the move on a Smartphone you can still start to make a mental list! Consider the different types of clothing that the people around you are wearing, the backpacks that they use to carry their possessions, the car seats used to secure the children. You get the picture! And don’t feel silly about writing down even the little things that you can see around you because you’ll whittle down the list in the next step.
Reduce that list
Once you have completed step one you will probably have a list of many products but don’t be daunted because now is the time to go through that list and highlight between five and ten of the items that particularly catch your attention. This could be because they are something that you are interested in such as cooking, clothes or computers, or just something that you might know a lot about. There will definitely be a few options that will jump out at you or that you are drawn towards.
Spending just a few minutes on this task will give you ideas about prospective products that you can research with a view to sourcing to resell. Remember that these items don’t necessarily have to be within a niche market that you might already operate in online as you can always sell from different venues – ebay, Amazon or your own website or all three together! On ebay inparticular it’s very easy to set up a new selling ID if you want to keep your niches separate.
Choose and Research
Ok, so you have a list but you still need to know if there is a general demand for the products that you have in mind.
To work this out, head over to ebay first and search for one of the products that you highlighted earlier on your list. Look out for the following
- How many other sellers are offering similar items?
- Are any of these sellers running big stores that you may struggle to compete with?
- Look at the completed listings; how many of the items are selling?
- What sort of price did the seller receive for each sale?
You will now be able to see whether the product has potential.
Be aware
Once you get into the right frame of mind and start looking at every scene as an opportunity you will soon be overflowing with ideas just by being aware of your surroundings. For example:
- Look at magazines and the supplements that come with the papers because they are full of innovative product ideas that can be investigated further.
- Look all around you. What are the high street stores promoting this week? Is there a product that you can take inspiration from?
- What are your friends talking about? What are your children talking about? Is there a particular item or subject that they can’t stop raving about or that crops up in conversation over and over again?
- I also strongly recommend that you keep a notepad with you whenever possible so that you can jot down ideas as they come to you. This way, every time you think, ‘I could sell that!’ you can write it down and look into it later. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the success of this simple strategy!
Of course, if you don’t really want to constantly be on the look out for new products and ideas or you haven’t got the time, there is an even easier way. The Source Report includes my own research into products and suppliers including full profit calculations of products you can sell online – and you’ll find that I’ve done all the hard work for you.
If you haven’t signed up yet please take a look. I’m keeping memberships to a minimum but there are a few places available now. You’ll find all the details here: