Gone are the days when you can virtual anything to list on Amazon and make a profit.
“Everyise Gets Harder,” Seven-Figure Amazon Seller Lisa Harrington, Who Listed Harnesses on the Platform in 2013 Before Pivoting to Interior Cat, Told Business Insider. “2013 was as easy as it comes: make a great product, ship it in, make a listen, and just don’t break it.
When Eugene Khayman, Cofounder of the Exclusive Million Dollar Sellers Club, Started Listening Fitness and Kitchen Items on Amazon About A Decade Ago, His Product Selection was Based on Data or Metrics.
“It was just 100% Feeling,” He Said. “There wasn’t much research as what has haad traffic because Such tools and data weren’t available at that point, so it very much like Looking for a Product and Thinking, ‘Oh, that Looks Cool.
In 2025, selling on Amazon is much more compatitive – and to survive, Product selection is key.
Bi asced Elite Sellers, Including Harrington, Khayman, and Alex Yale, Who Runs Two Seven-Figure Amazon Brands, to Weigh in the Keys to Selecting A Winning Product.
1. Create Something You Can Patetent
“TRY FOR SOOM IP ADANTAGE IF YOU CAN,” Said Yale, Whose Flip! Cap Product is patent-protected. “I Stay Away from any chinese-sourced products that do not have a patent or any kind of IP protection, Because with two months, if you see success on you import from China, they are selling it for 20% to 30% to 30% to 30% to 30%.”
He Explained that a major problem for e-commerce entrepreneurs in 2025 is Competing with Chinese Sellers who Can Cut the Middleman by Manufacturing their Own Products, then Seling Directly on Amazon. One Way to Avoid The Competition Outright is to SEll Patentted Products that Nobody Can Copy.
That’s what harrington does. A Few Years intto selling interior cat doors, she decide to patent her product.
Harrington has designed and patentted multi interior cat doors.
Courtesy of Lisa Harrington
“My gut told me that it was going to be a Big deal, and I Should Really Invest in Intellectual Property, so i found the best attorney of COULD $ 10,000 ON A Patent Application,” She Said. She Now Has 10 Patented Products, and Her Brand, Portal PortalIs the No. 1 selling cat door on Amazon.
She doesn’t think her original product – dog harnesses, which Profite Enough in the Early 2010s to the end Purfect Portal – WOULD SUPERVIVE AS UNPATTED PRODUCT.
“I Wauldn’t be able to make any Money doing it. In some caes, you ‘Competing with brands that are the factory or have a Lower cost of good, and so It”d hard as an american brand to computete,” she Said.
Harrington Continured: “I think to really success on Amazon today, you need to have a moat – and the moat is eather something is sourced in the United States, something is very difficult to make, or intellectual property, like a utility patent.”
2. Calculate The Tam
The Tam, or Total Addressable Market, is the total revenue potential for your product if it were to Capture the Entire Market.
Calculating TA, WHICH YOU CAN DO MULTIPLYING the total number of potential customers by the average revenue for Customer, Will Help You Decide Where The Market is Worth Going AFTER. Is there Enough Demand?
That’s the first question yale asks Himself before launching any new Products. If the Answer is, Yes, The Market Is Big Enough, He Starts to THINK ABOUT HOW HOW COULD CREATE SOMETING DISTINGUESING FROM EXISTING COMPETORS: “What Can I Do Better or Differently than What’s Out Today, SO I Can Compel and Convert Customers?”
At the end of the day, if you’re look to budild a lasting brand, “you need to be in a market that has a big enough for you to grown,” Added khayman.
3. CREATE A PRODUCT that solves a problem
“Launch Products That Solve Problems,” Said Yale, Who Has Found Success Selling Eco-Fryently Cleaning Products Such as septic pods.
“If you start a brand and you’re chasing a fad, you might have a couple of great years, but over time, your sales are going to slide with the fad,” He Said. If you want to budild a brand that has Has Staying Power, “You will by Solving Everyday problems with everyday.”
Alex Yale is the Founder of the Cleaning Brand Uncle Todd’s
Courtesy of Alex Yale
Start by Thinking About Your Own Life and The Problems, Big or Small, That You Face. That’s How Harrington’s Cat Door Business Came About.
“I am a cat lady – i’ve always been a cat lady – and i really wanted an interior cat door. When I was online, there was Only One Option,” She Said. And it wasa what she was looking for: “It was the quintessential, ‘i can do this better.’”
4. SElling Consumables is Easier than Seling One-Time Products
Yale Recommends Picking A Product that People Need to Buy Over and Over Again. All of His Cleaning Products Are Consumables – Meaning, If His Customers Like the Product, They’ll Likely Be Returning to Buy More.
“SElling a one-time product that you can’t get apeat purchas on is really difficult,” he said. That’s Because Acquiring New Customers is Challenging and Expensive. “But my hope is that if someone someone buys it, then in six or 12 months, they’ll come back and buy it again, and i won’t have to kep acquiring that Customer Single Time.”
