Originally published June 21st, 2022
Last updated May 22nd, 2025
Whether you’re just starting to research what product you want to sell on Amazon or have been selling for a while now, we’re pretty certain you want your products to succeed rather than fail.
After all, you’re investing valuable time and money, and would hate for it to all be for nothing. For beginners, launching an ecommerce startup on Amazon can feel like a big leap, but avoiding common mistakes is key.
While there are certainly many factors that go into determining how successful a product is, we want you to know some of the key pitfalls to avoid that are common among failed products. This step-by-step guide breaks down the common reasons Amazon products flop, so you can steer clear.
So, without further ado, here are five (in no particular order) of the biggest reasons Amazon products fail. Let’s dive into this tutorial to help Amazon FBA sellers boost profitability and avoid bad reviews.
Mistake #1: Offering a Product No One is Looking for on Amazon.
Amazon is the Google of online shopping, where many people start in their search for a product. As an Amazon seller, you’re tapping into a massive ecommerce platform where market research is your best friend.
No exaggeration, Amazon is the world’s 3rd largest search engine, and as a seller you can optimize your listings with Amazon SEO just like you can optimize your website for Google SEO. Using SEO to optimize your product listings can make your Amazon product pop up when customers search.
They rose to this status because they are very good at giving customers what they want. The Amazon algorithm loves matching your FBA product to the right target audience, so get it right!
Customers enter something in the search bar, and Amazon’s algorithms work to show them what they’re most likely looking for. That’s great for sellers, too, because it means they have a lot of potential customers. Running PPC campaigns through Seller Central can give your new product a visibility boost.
The caveat, though, is that products don’t sell if people aren’t searching for them, no matter how good they are. Without solid product research, your Amazon FBA business might launch a product nobody’s looking for.
Even Amazon advertising is driven by the customer’s search, so it’s difficult if not impossible to advertise your product to people who aren’t already looking for it. Amazon ads like PPC work best when you’ve nailed your market research to find high-demand products.
Avoid making the mistake of offering a product that gets too low of search volume to be worth it. Low search volume is one of the common reasons FBA products fail, so do your homework.
Before launching a product, do keyword research on your product market to be sure that there are enough potential customers searching for it. Tools like Helium 10 and Jungle Scout make product research a breeze for spotting hot Amazon products.
You can utilize tools like Helium 10, ZonGuru, and Jungle Scout to see how many searches different keywords get per month, and to get a very accurate estimation of how many units a particular listing sells per month. These tools give you in-depth metrics to predict profit margins and avoid flops.
With enough data, you can almost guarantee that a product will sell when you launch it if you assess the opportunity properly.
Mistake #2: Trying to Compete Where You Don’t Have the Resources to Compete.
This mistake is the flipside of the previous one.
Instead of offering a product no one is looking for, this involves offering one that is getting a lot of search volume, but already has well established competitor products taking the lion’s share of sales. Going head-to-head with big players in private label or arbitrage can be tough for new sellers.
Reviews don’t necessarily impact search results ranking beyond a certain degree, they do matter to customers and often serve as a tiebreaker in the purchasing decision.
A product with thousands of reviews that seems similar enough to your product will most often win.
Beware of trying to enter markets that already have 5+ products with over 1,000 reviews. High competition markets can eat up your cash flow if you don’t have the resources to fight for sales.
In such situations, customers tend to gravitate toward those leaders, and marketing is more expensive.
Of course, with the right differentiation and plan, you could potentially overcome barriers to entry. A unique business model, like a niche private label product, can help you carve out a spot.
Just be careful that you don’t put yourself up against competitors who are already well ahead and more resourceful than you.
As a seller, you want to find your sweet spot of the products you want to sell.
With data from other listings, you can estimate how many units per month you predict to sell to help determine how much you should initially order and when you’ll have to get a restock going.
Mistake #3: Having a Product that is Not Differentiated in Your Market.
Imagine you want to buy AA batteries from Amazon. What is it you really need? Do you want fancy designs? Should they glow in the dark? Most likely, you don’t care about those things and just need some batteries; plain and simple.
In fact, aside from the difference between rechargeable batteries and otherwise (and sizing), in the customer’s eyes there really isn’t much that makes one set of batteries different from another.
In this example, people are looking for utility, and will probably buy whatever gets the job done for the lowest price.
For sellers, competition becomes centered around whoever is offering the lowest price, meaning lower margins and potentially getting priced out of the market.
There are plenty of sellers in countries outside the U.S. (e.g. China) that can simply offer certain products at lower prices than American sellers can compete with.
To avoid competing on price and bringing in low margins, choose a product category where you can differentiate your product.
For example, people looking for clothes don’t just want utility and won’t gravitate to the cheapest option; they’ll shop around to find something that suits their taste.
Aside from choosing a high taste, low utility market, another way to differentiate is to go after a different part of the market.
For instance, rather than trying to reach the broadest market with the most competitors and lowest prices (and margins), consider going after the smaller but often just as profitable market segment of wealthier buyers who are willing to pay premiums for higher quality.
Serving your specific niche, branding, and innovation are your keys to success selling on Amazon.
Mistake #4: Lacking Product and/or Listing Quality
To be successful selling on Amazon you have to make two things “happy”: Amazon’s algorithm (through Amazon SEO) and human customers (through great listings with great pictures).
Make the algorithm happy and more people will see your listing. Make people happy and more people will buy your product, which gives you a ranking boost and increases potential word-of-mouth sales.
Failing to make either one “happy” will mean either that no one is seeing a great product, or that lots of people see a not-so-great product that gets bad reviews and quickly fades into obscurity.
To avoid that mistake, first make sure you have a quality product.
Business in general is all about meeting customer needs. Do your best to understand the needs your customer wants your product to meet, and make sure it does it well.
Beyond that most important step, you’ll also want to ensure that your listing is optimized for success. Amazon’s algorithm looks at elements of your listing such as title, bullet points, description, and more to determine what customer searches will result in your product being visible, and how high on the search page it is shown.
Once again, keyword research is vital to ensuring that your listing best matches what customers are really looking for, giving your product the highest chance of being seen by the most people.
Not only should you optimize the words in your listing, but your photos and video (video is only available to Brand Registered sellers) also.
Photos, in their ability to portray product quality and information, are the single biggest factor from a customer’s vantage point influencing what they purchase.
In summary, you want to have optimized listing words so that you get ranked highly in search results, great photos and detail in your listing so customers actually buy your product, and a great product that people are happy with and will leave good reviews for and buy again.
Mistake #5: Jumping into a Fad Market
As tempting as it can be to jump into a new market with massively increasing demand, don’t.
Many sellers get caught on the tail end of fad markets with tons of inventory that no one wants anymore.
The classic example of an Amazon fad market in recent history is fidget spinners. Sales grew exponentially, and a lot of money was made by the earliest players. But just as soon as it rose, demand plummeted back to earth and soon fizzled out.
Sellers with thousands of dollars in inventory couldn’t find buyers, even when lowering prices to sell at or below cost just to get rid of it. While it can pay to be among the earliest movers in a fad, making purchasing decisions in that kind of environment is risky, and effort put in won’t bring long-lasting results. Instead, focus on products in more stable markets where you’re confident demand will last.
If you are looking for some inspiration on coming up with your first product ideas, we have a post going over how to get started selecting products.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon can be hard enough, don’t make it harder by making these mistakes. Spend the extra time upfront to do good keyword and market research, be careful which products you commit to, and invest in product quality. In doing so you’ll be more likely to enjoy successful products and watch all your hard work pay off!
