At least half of the questions readers send me go something like this…
“I’ve been struggling to find a product for weeks now. Can you help me? How do you find products that make you money? Why can’t I find any profitable products!?”
And MY GOD! It’s getting old…
There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a recurring question come up. That means I’ve failed to answer something.
Luckily, I finally nailed the common thread in all the frustration.
This blog post will answer “Why can’t I find a good product to import” once and for all.
The Common Problem
After answering several hundred emails along those lines, I think I’ve discovered the common problem would-be importers are having.
They’re all looking for a silver-bullet product that does the work for them.
Let me explain…
Many people are still in the “get-rich-quick” phase of their entrepreneurial careers.
Apply that mentality to importing, and you get people that try to play the arbitrage game.
Arbitrage is simply buying something for less than you are selling it for.
Arbitrage products are goldmines; they have great margins and basically sell themselves…
And you can make money with arbitrage products.
For a while…
Your margin is my opportunity. – Jeff Bezos
It’s only a matter of (increasingly spare) time before a big player uncovers your goldmine, and eats it up for themselves.
This is the sad state of importing today, years after the “wild-west-ecommerce” days of 1995-2005.
Any Hope?
This is surely bad news to anybody in that mindset.
Is there any hope left for small time importers? The kind that are just getting started, with little capital to invest…
Spoiler alert – There is!
But it’s going to require a shift in your mindset and how you think about importing.
What Makes a Product Good?
Sure, you want your product to have healthy margins. Great margins even.
And yea, it would be good if it was easy to ship, reliable, had a factory warranty. Sure, all of that is a plus for any product.
But none of that is going to make your product sell over a competitor who will take slimmer margins.
The Right Questions
Most people waste weeks (if not months) of their time looking for a miracle product that will build their business for them.
They are asking themselves the wrong questions, and looking at things from the wrong angle.
What you need to be thinking about is the other side of the transaction…
How are you going to sell your products?
Why would somebody buy your product over the competitors?
How will you acquire and retain customers in a cost-effective way?
These are the questions you should be thinking about while doing product research.
Bubble-Burster: This Is Business…
Many people seem to have the impression that importing is a quick road to easy riches…
It’s not.
It’s a business, like any other.
There’s a lot of things to worry about when starting a business. But when thinking about what you’re going to sell and how you’re going to sell it, you need to think about competitive advantage.
Competitive Advantage Cheat-sheet
You need some sort of competitive advantage that nobody can steal from you.
This means new importers have to focus on a few things.
Advantage 1 – Your Brand
Building a brand that your target customer loves is a sure-fire way to keep an edge on the competition.
In fact, building a good enough brand will even allow you to charge a premium price.
The examples here are endless…
Practically every “counterfeit” you can buy from China is a company that can charge a premium because their brand is so valuable.
Another example I often use is my friend Kevin Schlenker, who built the Skar Audio brand around his importing activities.
The only thing to make sure of if you take this route is to register your trademark.
Advantage 2 – Your Product
Another place you can provide value in ways nobody else can is the product itself.
I’d encourage any importer to really get to know his target customer, and then try to build in new product features that will make the target customer’s life better.
Small things can go a long way here. For some products, something as small as a color change can make a world of difference.
Sometimes, you’ll have to negotiate with your supplier directly and see what’s possible. You’ll be limited by his capabilities, your budget, and your imagination.
And of course, you could always go all out and create your own product. But I’ll save that for another blog post 🙂
Advantage 3 – Your Marketing
Simply put, if you can build an audience and a sales funnel; you can pretty much sell whatever you want.
Example – I was just talking the other day with somebody who built a lead-machine for the baby niche.
Before he had anything to sell, or any desire to make money off of it, he just decided to build a few websites and try to get “hot baby leads” (as he calls them).
Now he is out shopping for baby products, knowing that he can sell anything he chooses.
He hasn’t decided if he will start his own brand, begin drop shipping, or get into affiliate marketing. But no matter what he chooses, I’m confident he’ll make money 🙂
Advantage 4 – Your Capital
This won’t apply for many people reading this article.
It actually applies more to the guys you want to avoid in importing. Or beat!
It’s definitely possible to spend your way to the top in importing.
Somebody with deep pockets can quickly negotiate the best prices with the best suppliers. They can also afford to set up a more efficient distribution system.
Luckily, they’re easily defeated with the other competitive advantages (usually).
Advantage 5 – Your Contacts
Your network of contacts can also be a big competitive advantage.
This applies everywhere in business, but perhaps even more in importing. Personal relationships play a huge role in Asian (especially Chinese) culture.
If a Chinese factory owner likes you, you get the friend discount and best quality.
If they don’t like you, you get scammed.
It’s just the way it is…
The relationships you don’t think of are often the ones with the most potential.
Do you have a friend who was put in charge of buying 250 pool chairs? I’d look into pool chairs…
Does your Dad work at a company that uses a limitless supply of zip-ties and box cutters? Try to find out what they’re paying and pitch them otherwise.
Relationships like this can be solid gold.
It’s Tough Work
Any way you spin it, importing is a tough gig.
It’s a lot of fun, and has tons of potential.
But it’s far from a “get-rich-quick” solution.
I hope this guide helps to clarify what really makes a product profitable.
If you have any questions or want to be an awesome person, leave a comment below.
I’ll be sure to respond!
Additional Resources:
The Ultimate Guide to Learn How to Sell on Amazon
186 Comments
Well...I'll be rethinking things now, to say the least. Another life changing importing post from you Will, it seems like you are becoming the world expert on small scale importing. I'm glad to have found you guys - keep it up!
Thanks Will, i know that not easy to make it clear for this topic. I think "time" and "good mindset" (yes, i got it from your article) 'd help me to find it.
Haha, I don't know about life changing! Glad you could get some value out of it anyways though, thanks for the kind words Pieter :)
No problem, hope you liked it!
Another out of the park blog post. I love the way you spell it out the information so clearly. My kids are reading your blog instead of school books!
Thanks Dom, hope it doesn't bore the kids! They will definitely have a full ride to StartupBros University :-D
Boring compared to books on religion,latin and ancient history for a kid...i think not:)
Great post Will. You really lay things out well. A lot of this information must be almost second nature to you but I guess it's all things you've learned over time. I'm pleased you very clearly noted the mind set of having to work at it and not just "get-rich-quick". And I'm hoping to put your tips to good use soon. Thank you.
I think I found a ton of good products, but the problem is the disparity between MOQ and the number of products I could sell. I found a nice product that I could get cheap if I bought 500-1000, but looking at traffic on Amazon and eBay I would be lucky to sell 1-2/week. Suppliers don't want to sell me 100 pc. The last thing I want is to get stuck with inventory and to wait 1-2 years to recoup the initial investment. Any ideas on how to find products that sell at a high volume?
Haha, maybe you're right. Latin was my least favorite personally, wish they had Chinese instead! Your kids will probably be more likely to pick up a language they find valuable if you give them the freedom - sounds like some good kids :)
Thanks for reading Leo, glad you thought it was an easy read! Hope you got some value out of it. I guess one of the benefits of not selling anything is that I don't have to cover up the ugly parts, like hard work and risk. :)
Well Will, I was one of those people that emailed you and spent more hours that need to be remembered searching. Thanks for the good stuff. We appreciate it greatly. -Josh
Thanks for the comment Keenan! You could try to find one of the distributors that works with that supplier and go through them. But you may be competing with larger purchasers than you then. It's important to think about what your business or product will do differently, that will make the target customer look twice and consider you over the competition. Hope this helps!
That's exactly what I mean. You give it to us straight. No curve-balls. The honesty is refreshing.
Couldn't agree with you more Leo, I'm happy I haven't become "one of them" yet. I think I can hold out for a while, just promise you'll let me know if I start slipping up! :)
Hi Will; My gut tells me that most of the folks who can't find products are simply too afraid to get out there and try. I just sent off 3 inquiries to several companies, about potential products this morning. I have sourced several but I want to start small so I can control everything. We have to approach this like a new business. and we all know it is NOT easy to start a new venture. But as a wise man once said; "If you don't Quit, you can't Fail." Look guys you can always try one of the products will outlined and go from there. I know it seems a bit foreign (pun intended), but sometimes you just have to go ahead and try it. I will give you a head start. Here are some products I have researched and planned to source. I give them to you. don't worry I know that there are thousands more products out there so we don't have to compete. 1. micro needle roller 2. earplugs 3. silicon baking mat 4. magnesium fire started 5. fogless shower mirror 6. lipstick cellphone charger I know these are not glamorous. And they may not be stuff that you would buy; but check them on alibaba, amazon and Ebay and you will see that folks are selling them and making money. I hope this helps some of you get started Bill
Hi Bill, That's definitely a big reason people over-analyze product selection, great point! I may go back and add that in somewhere :-D I couldn't agree with you more, it's all about taking action. You almost don't even have to learn if you're just in the zone taking action. Or better, you'll just Google the information you need when you need it, and not get caught analyzing in fear as you said... Wow, that's quite the symbolic show! I agree with you 100%, there's a limitless supply of products out there if you know how to sell. You giving away your first couple profitable niches should shake up the would-be importers too afraid to take the leap :) Thanks for the awesome comment, Will
Thanks for the follow up article. I think I have reasonable expectations about how much work is involved in importing and re-selling. However -- having trouble deciding how much is a "reasonable" margin. I mean, if I could sell a million items and make a dollar per unit, is it worth the effort of packing, shipping, customer service, etc? Or would that be considered reasonable based on the volume? Ebay completed listings are not very helpful to me, unless I'm not looking at the right thing. Plenty of completed listings are of things that didn't sell. Is that my clue to look elsewhere? But some people sold those items . . . . Also, not clear by what you mean about your friend's "baby lead" websites. Can you give us a link (if that would be self-explanatory)? Maybe I need to go back and re-read your prior articles . . . . .
No problem Laura, sorry it didn't answer more of your questions. It's tough to say what a reasonable margin is, but I would try to achieve a 50% margin. The closer you can get, the better. eBay's completed listings will only give you a feel. The only way to actually see the data is to try Terapeak, which is a pretty hardcore product analytics tool. Worth checking out for anybody doing product research. I'd love to show the site, but I couldn't get permission. He was worried that the site and niche would be stolen. But basically, it's just a very nice blog. Sort of like StartupBros. The concept is that if you can build an audience first, it's easy to know what to sell and to sell it. Hope this helps, Will
I think importing can potentially be "Get rich quick", it just can't be "Get rich easy" ;)