7 Product Research Tactics Amazon Seller Should Use in 2025

Successful selling on Amazon starts with one crucial skill — product research. This is the process of discovering, evaluating, and verifying products that can be resold for a profit.

Your mission as a seller is to identify items with high sales potential and strong profit margins — all while avoiding products that could cause issues later on, such as policy violations or excessive competition. In short, your research should focus on finding high-margin, low-risk products.

In this guide, we’ll share 7 powerful product research tactics that will help you source more profitable deals on Amazon.

Understanding the Different Types of Product Research

Product research isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. The strategies you use will depend on several factors, such as your business model — whether it’s wholesale, online arbitrage, dropshipping, retail arbitrage, or private label — and the stage you’re at in your sourcing process.

The tactics outlined in this guide are especially relevant for wholesale sellers, online arbitrage sellers, and dropshippers.

Quick vs. Advanced Product Research

With hundreds of products to evaluate each day, Amazon sellers can’t afford to analyze every item in detail right away. That’s why product research typically happens in two stages:

• Quick Research: A fast, efficient way to screen products and rule out those that don’t meet basic criteria.

• In-Depth Research: A more detailed analysis that focuses on the products that passed the initial screening.

This step-by-step approach helps sellers focus their efforts on only the most promising opportunities.

In the next sections, we’ll break down 5 fast product research methods and 2 advanced research techniques that will help you zero in on high-margin, low-risk products.

Pro Tip: Product research can be extremely time-consuming without the right tools. That’s why many sellers rely on Seller Assistant — an all-in-one sourcing platform designed to simplify and automate this process. It offers multiple tools including three extensions: Seller Assistant Extension, IP-Alert Extension by Seller Assistant, and VPN by Seller Assistant, product sourcing tools: Bulk Restrictions Checker, Price List Analyzer, Seller Spy, Brand Analyzer, API, and different features — all rolled into one tool. Together, these tools help sellers save time and make smarter sourcing decisions.

Advanced Research Checklist

When doing advanced research, consider the following key factors to determine if a product is truly worth reselling:

• Ensure it’s not a private label product

• Check FBA seller count (3 to 15 is ideal for balanced competition)

• Verify Amazon itself isn’t selling the item

• Look into the listing age to ensure it’s established

• Analyze BSR to confirm steady demand

• Assess your chances of winning the Buy Box

• Check for top-selling variations to focus on

• Review customer feedback and avoid poorly rated products

• Confirm eligibility and restrictions on your seller account

• Identify risk flags (e.g. oversized, fragile, meltable, or adult products)

• Estimate realistic sales volume

• Ensure projected ROI exceeds 10%

By carefully reviewing these points, you’ll avoid potential pitfalls and focus only on products that offer real potential and profitability.

5 Quick Product Research Methods

Quick product research plays a vital role in identifying products that offer the right balance of demand, profitability, and manageable competition. This process helps sellers focus their energy only on deals worth deeper analysis.

Here are five effective tactics for fast product evaluation:
Quick View, Reverse Sourcing (Supplier to Amazon), Competitor Analysis, Category Research, and Brand Evaluation.

Tactic 1: Quick View — Instantly Spot Promising Products

Quick View is an essential tool for evaluating products directly on Amazon’s search pages, without clicking through to product listings. It instantly displays critical metrics — making it easy to decide whether a product deserves further attention or should be skipped right away.

Key Metrics to Review:

ASIN
A unique identifier that helps you quickly locate and track products for deeper research.

Best Sellers Rank (BSR)

This figure indicates how well a product sells in its category. A lower BSR means higher sales velocity. Typically, sellers aim for products with BSR between 1 and 50,000.

Eligibility and Restrictions

Not every seller can offer every product. Quick View alerts you with icons showing if you’re eligible to sell the product or if any restrictions apply.

• Green lock: Eligible to sell
  
• Red lock: Restricted

Seller Count (FBA and FBM)

The number of active sellers gives insight into competition.

• 1 seller → Likely a private label → Avoid reselling
  
• 15+ sellers → High competition → May lower margins

Amazon as a Seller

When Amazon itself is competing, it can be hard to win the Buy Box. Quick View highlights listings where Amazon is present with a bright orange icon.

Bonus Features

In addition to data, Quick View also offers productivity tools:

• Like or dislike products for easy recall
  
• Add notes to remember why a product did or did not make the cut

By combining all of this data and functionality in one view, Quick View allows you to quickly eliminate unsuitable products and prioritize the ones with real profit potential — all without leaving the search page.

Ideal for

Online arbitrage sellers and dropshippers who manually review products one by one and need to make fast, informed decisions.

Tactic 2: Reverse Sourcing — From Supplier Lists to Amazon Listings

Reverse sourcing, often referred to as supplier-to-Amazon sourcing, is a powerful approach that wholesale sellers use to discover profitable opportunities hidden within supplier catalogs.

Instead of starting with Amazon and searching for products, reverse sourcing flips the process. Sellers begin with their suppliers’ price lists and work backwards — matching those products with Amazon listings to uncover resale opportunities.

How Reverse Sourcing Works

For wholesale sellers, supplier price lists are goldmines. These lists often contain hundreds or even thousands of SKUs, each with the potential to become a profitable listing on Amazon. The challenge, however, lies in sorting through massive amounts of data to pinpoint which items are actually worth selling.

Manually researching each product is simply not practical. That’s why automation is essential for speeding up this process and focusing only on products that meet your profit and demand criteria.

Tools to Use

The go-to solution for this task is Seller Assistant’s Price List Analyzer.

This specialized tool allows sellers to upload supplier price lists directly into the platform. It then automatically matches the supplier products with existing Amazon listings and instantly calculates essential profitability metrics.

By organizing and analyzing this data in one dashboard, Price List Analyzer makes it easy to sort and filter products by profitability, sales potential, and other important criteria. This saves countless hours and allows sellers to focus only on the most promising deals.

Best Suited For

Reverse sourcing is essential for:

• Wholesale sellers who regularly analyze large supplier price lists and need a fast way to identify profitable products.
• Online arbitrage sellers and dropshippers who research bulk product data scraped from supplier websites.

By automating what would otherwise be a very tedious process, reverse sourcing helps sellers quickly spot the best opportunities and make smarter buying decisions.

Tactic 3: Competitor Research — Gain Insights and Find Opportunities

In the competitive world of Amazon selling, keeping an eye on your rivals is essential. Competitor research allows you to see what others are offering, spot trends, and uncover gaps in the market where your products could thrive.

By understanding your competitors’ strategies and product selections, you can fine-tune your inventory and take advantage of opportunities they may have missed.

How Competitor Research Works

The idea is simple but powerful: track your competitors’ product catalogs and monitor any changes they make. This includes new items they add, products they remove, and how they adjust their pricing.

By analyzing this data, you can identify:

• Products in high demand but with limited competition
• Popular brands that you haven’t sourced yet
• New product trends entering the market
  

This information helps you make smarter sourcing decisions and ensures your inventory stays competitive and relevant.

Tools to Use

The most effective way to perform competitor research is with Seller Assistant’s Seller Spy.

This tool automates the entire process, tracking your chosen competitors and providing detailed reports about their activities. Seller Spy keeps tabs on:

• Which products they add or remove from their offerings
• Pricing changes for listed products
• Which brands they carry
• Product images and ASINs for easy reference

All of this information is organized in easy-to-read reports so you can quickly spot potential opportunities and gaps in the market.

Best Suited For

Competitor research is invaluable for:

• Wholesale sellers

• Online arbitrage sellers

• Dropshippers

Anyone looking to expand their product catalog, discover new brands, or stay ahead of rivals will benefit from this tactic.

Tactic 4: Category Research — Find the Right Niche for Maximum Profitability

Choosing the right product category is a critical part of building a successful Amazon business. Each category presents its own balance of opportunity and competition, so understanding which ones best align with your goals is key to long-term profitability.

Effective category research helps sellers avoid oversaturated markets and focus on categories where they have the best chances of success.

When evaluating categories, keep these three factors in mind:

Category Popularity

Highly popular categories such as Home & Kitchen and Electronics attract massive buyer interest — but they also tend to be the most competitive. While demand is high, breaking into these spaces often requires aggressive pricing and marketing strategies.

According to Jungle Scout, here are some of the most popular categories among Amazon sellers:

• Home & Kitchen — 35%
• Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry — 20%
• Toys & Games — 18%
• Health, Household & Baby Care — 17%
• Baby — 16%
• Electronics — 16%
• Sports & Outdoors — 16%
• Books — 14%
  

These percentages show the proportion of sellers active in each category — helping you gauge potential demand versus competition.

Competition Intensity

The more sellers there are within a category, the tougher it can be to win the Buy Box and maintain profitable pricing.

As a general rule:

• Categories where listings have 15 or more FBA/FBM sellers are highly competitive.
• Categories with moderate competition often offer a better balance of opportunity and profitability.

By analyzing the average number of sellers per listing, you can identify which categories are saturated and which may be worth targeting.

Restrictions and Eligibility

Some Amazon categories have selling restrictions, require approval, or have specific conditions that sellers must meet.
Before committing to a category, double-check that:

• You are eligible to sell in that category
• There are no approval requirements that could slow you down or block your listings

This step ensures you won’t waste time researching or sourcing products you can’t actually list.

Best Suited For

Category research is essential for all resellers, including:

• Wholesale sellers

• Online arbitrage sellers

• Dropshippers

Usually, product sourcing starts with category selection — making this tactic foundational for building your sourcing strategy.

Tactic 5: Brand Research — Selecting the Right Brands to Resell

Choosing the right brands to work with is a vital part of Amazon product research. Not all brands are reseller-friendly, and some may present challenges such as high competition, low demand, or restrictive policies. Proper brand research ensures you only invest in brands that offer a balance of demand, profitability, and accessibility.

How Brand Research Works

When evaluating a brand, it’s important to examine several key factors to determine if selling its products on Amazon makes sense.

Product Variety

Focus on brands that offer a large assortment of products, ideally with at least 200 active listings on Amazon. A broad product range increases your chances of identifying multiple profitable items to resell.

Estimated Revenue

Look at the brand’s total estimated monthly sales. This helps gauge overall demand and profitability. Also, review the average Buy Box price to better understand potential pricing strategies and profit margins.

Competition Level

Examine how competitive the brand’s products are on Amazon:

• If Amazon holds more than 30% of the Buy Box share, this signals tough competition, which can hurt profitability.
• Brands with 15 or more FBA sellers per product typically face saturated competition, which may lead to price wars and shrinking margins.

Brand Presence on Amazon

Avoid brands that sell directly through Amazon or through exclusive distributors. These brands usually enforce strict control over listings, leaving little room for third-party sellers. A brand that appears across multiple sellers usually welcomes resellers.

Customer Reviews and Reputation

Consider the brand’s average product ratings and review counts. Products with strong ratings (4 stars or higher) and a substantial number of reviews generally indicate healthy demand and satisfied customers.

Eligibility, Restrictions, and IP Risks

Before sourcing products from a brand, confirm you are allowed to sell them. Check for:

• Selling restrictions
  
• Intellectual property (IP) claims history
• Other potential compliance issues

Brands that frequently issue IP complaints or restrict listings should be avoided to minimize account risk.

Best for

Brand research is essential for wholesale sellers, online arbitrage sellers, and dropshippers. Typically, this tactic is used after selecting a product category to identify the most promising brands within that niche.

Tactic 6: Extended Research — Deep Dive into Product Viability

Quick product research is just the beginning. To confidently move forward with sourcing, you need a more detailed validation process. Extended product research allows you to verify a deal’s true profitability and uncover hidden risks before investing.

This tactic is crucial for minimizing costly mistakes and ensuring that the products you choose align with your profit and risk expectations.

How Extended Research Works

Extended research focuses on thoroughly examining products that passed your initial quick research. You’ll assess every critical factor — from sales trends to competition levels — to decide if the product is truly worth sourcing.

By following a step-by-step validation checklist, you can confidently greenlight only those products that meet your standards.

Best Tool for Extended Research

The most efficient way to perform deep product analysis is by using the Seller Assistant Extension.
This tool automatically integrates into Amazon product pages and displays all the key metrics you need to assess a deal — saving time and boosting research accuracy.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Clean the Product Link

• Action: Remove any referral tags from the URL.
  Click on the ASIN inside the Seller Assistant Extension to clean the link.

• Why: Ensures that the product data you view is clean, accurate, and up-to-date.

Step 2: Assess Sales Potential

• Action: Check the Sales field based on the product’s Best Sellers Rank (BSR). 
• Indicators: 
• Average BSR over 90 days. 
• BSR Drops: Shows how often the BSR dropped (i.e., sales events). 
• Top Percentage: 
• 0.5% or better = strong seller.
• 1%+ = weaker sales speed.

• Action: Analyze the number of FBA sellers.
  
• Ideal Range: Between 2 and 15 FBA sellers.

Step 4: Identify Amazon as a Competitor

• Action: Look for the Buy Box seller.
• Why: If Amazon is selling the item, they often dominate the Buy Box, making it hard for third-party sellers to compete.

Step 5: Check Listing Age

• Action: Review listing history using Keepa chart.
  
• Goal: Choose listings at least 6 months old to ensure stable sales data.

Step 6: Review Price Points

• Action: Analyze:
  
• Average Buy Box Price (Avg BB)
  
• Lowest FBA Price (Min FBA)
  
• Lowest FBM Price (Min FBM)
  
• Purpose: Helps determine your pricing strategy and expected margins.

Step 7: Analyze Buy Box Dynamics

• Action: Use Seller Assistant’s Offers feature.
  
• Goal: See which sellers dominate the Buy Box and if there’s a chance to share or win it.

Step 8: Check Variation Performance

• Action: Use the Seller Assistant’s Variation Viewer.
  
• Goal: Identify best-selling variations by looking at ratings and review distribution.

Step 9: Evaluate Product Reviews

• Action: Review ratings on the integrated Keepa chart.
  
• Tip: Focus on products with 4-5 star ratings and minimal negative feedback.

Step 10: Verify Selling Eligibility

Step 11: Watch for Product Alerts

• Action: Identify any product risks flagged on the page, such as:
• IP complaints
• Fragility
• Hazmat status
  
• Meltable items
  
• Oversized or adult products

Step 12: Final Profitability Calculation

• Action: Use the FBA/FBM Profit Calculator.
• Target: Ensure an ROI of at least 10% after accounting for:
• Product cost (COG)
  
• Shipping and logistics
  
• Amazon fees

If a product passes all these checkpoints, you can move forward and add it to your inventory with confidence!

Tactic 7: Direct Sourcing — From Amazon to Supplier

Direct sourcing is a powerful product research tactic, especially favored by online arbitrage sellers and dropshippers. The idea is simple but effective: find trending and popular products on Amazon, then source them from suppliers at lower prices to secure profitable resale opportunities.

By leveraging price differences between supplier offers and Amazon retail prices, sellers can generate strong profit margins while keeping their sourcing flexible and scalable.

How It Works

The first step in direct sourcing is identifying high-demand products on Amazon. Sellers typically monitor key lists such as:

• Amazon Best Sellers

• Movers & Shakers

• Hot New Releases
  
• Most Wished For

These categories offer valuable insights into what’s trending and what buyers are actively searching for.

Once you’ve spotted a product with potential, the next move is to find a supplier who offers that item at a competitive price. After locating a supplier, sellers can use Seller Assistant’s Side Panel View to evaluate the deal directly on the supplier’s website, instantly comparing metrics and ensuring the product meets profitability and eligibility requirements.

At this point, you should apply the advanced validation process (covered in the Extended Research tactic) to confirm the opportunity before purchasing.

Best For

Direct sourcing is especially valuable for:

• Online arbitrage sellers — who search for products with high price differences

   

• Dropshippers — who need quick and scalable sourcing strategies
• Wholesale sellers — looking to add trending products into their portfolio based on live Amazon demand

Final Thoughts

Product research is a vital and often complex step in running a successful Amazon business. Sellers routinely review and analyze hundreds of products, and using the right tactics is essential to make informed decisions.

A balanced approach that combines quick research methods — like Quick View, Reverse Sourcing, and Competitor Analysis — with advanced tactics such as Extended Research and Direct Sourcing allows you to thoroughly evaluate each product’s potential. This helps you focus on deals that offer high profitability, steady demand, and minimal risks.

By applying structured and proven research strategies, sellers can confidently build a profitable product portfolio, avoid costly mistakes, and stay ahead in the highly competitive Amazon marketplace.