Finding the right products can be one of the most challenging parts of starting a dropshipping business. With countless items to choose from, getting stuck in analysis paralysis is all too common. The good news is that you don't have to figure out how to sift through all these options alone. This article will show you how to find dropshipping products that are winners. You'll learn how to quickly identify high-potential products that can drive sales and profits for your dropshipping business with minimal time and effort.
One way to make the process of finding winning products easier is by using Shophunter's Shopify sales tracker. This tool helps you pinpoint high-demand dropshipping products by uncovering the sales data of Shopify stores. That means you can find products already generating revenue and skip straight to building your online business.
What is a Winning Dropshipping Product?
Successful dropshipping products are in high demand and generate significant profits for dropshipping businesses. Winning products are:
In high demand
Have a unique selling proposition
Are not readily available
To identify winning dropshipping products, you can:
Research popular and trending products
Conduct keyword research
Analyze your competitors
Study consumer behavior
Identifying Winning Products: Using Market Tools to Stay Ahead in Dropshipping
You can also use tools to identify products that are gaining popularity among consumers, like:
Google Trends
AliExpress
Social media platforms
It’s crucial to note that winning products can vary depending on the niche and target audience. Therefore, conducting thorough research and analysis is essential to determine which products will succeed in your dropshipping business. Consistently updating your product offerings and staying on top of market trends will increase your chances of finding and selling winning products.
Considerations When Choosing Winning Dropshipping Products
Demand
The first and most crucial factor to consider is the demand for the product. Look for products with high search volume trending in the market. You can use tools to research products and their demand, like:
Google Trends
Amazon Bestsellers
Social media platforms
Profit Margin
Considering the profit margin when choosing products is essential. Calculate the cost of the product, shipping fees, and other expenses to determine the final cost. Ensure your final price covers all expenses and leaves you with a reasonable profit margin.
Competition
Analyze the market competition to determine the product’s viability. Look for products with low competition and high demand. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush to research keywords and analyze your competition.
Niche
Choosing a niche can help you specialize in a specific category of products, making it easier to target and attract a particular audience. Choose a niche you are passionate about or have the experience to help you create a unique value proposition.
Product Quality
Product quality is essential to customer satisfaction and retention. Choose products that meet high-quality standards and have positive customer reviews.
Shipping Time
Shipping time is a critical factor in customer satisfaction. Choose products that can be shipped quickly and efficiently to minimize delays and potential customer complaints.
Customer Reviews
Positive reviews can help increase sales and build trust with potential customers. Look for products with high ratings and positive thoughts to increase customer satisfaction.
Seasonality
When choosing products, consider the timing and market trends. Some products may only sell well during certain seasons, so it's essential to choose products that are not too seasonal or can be sold year-round.
9 Tips to Find Winning Dropshipping Products
1. Don’t Limit Product Selection to Top-Rated Products on Amazon or eBay
People new to the dropshipping industry sometimes limit their selection of items to the top sellers on websites like Amazon and eBay. Those new to dropshipping occasionally commit the fallacy of restricting their choice of products to the top sellers on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
They are thus subjected to such competition that every newcomer has a chance of surviving. Picking items with promise but few sellers would be a much better choice for a freshly founded firm in a market where profit margins are already pretty slim. Nevertheless, you may get specialized ideas from sites like Amazon or eBay, but you shouldn’t think of selling the same thing as them. You may not be able to compete with them.
2. Look for Older Products
Some people refuse to look at older dropshipping items because they believe they cannot sell them economically. The majority of products go through stages. Many dropshippers will begin selling a new successful dropshipping item as soon as it is available. As more businesses and commercials are developed and constructed around the product, the competition will continue to increase.
At some time, a sizable portion of the target market will have purchased the product, and promotions will lose their appeal. As a result, the product will become less profitable and be sold by fewer dropshipping businesses. Then, some older dropshipping items will go unnoticed. Yet, that doesn’t imply that there isn’t a market for it. Customers for products are constantly changing as new wants and interests develop. Due to this, an outdated dropshipping product is currently lucrative!
3. Analyze the Competition
When you start looking for new products to dropship, you’ll naturally begin considering the selling methods.
You may think of:
The many marketing strategies you could employ
The complementing items you could offer
The product imagery you could utilize
Nonetheless, seeing some things as they appear in your dropshipping business may be challenging. In this situation, checking out other retailers to see how they sell them is a terrific idea!
4. Don’t Rely on Product Insights Blindly
Product research tools may give you a wealth of knowledge on a particular product. This could include:
Product competition details
Excellent selling price
Profit margin
Because it’s virtually impossible for a product research tool to keep track of every retailer, supplier, and order for all the items it displays, take this information with a grain of salt.
The suggested selling price is rarely the best one for the product. You require a suitable pricing plan to determine the selling price to optimize your profits. Using a proper pricing strategy will help you choose the optimal selling price for your product based on the product’s perceived worth, your target market, and cost.
5. Be Mindful of Potential Seasonality Impacts
You should be aware that some products perform best during a specific season. For instance, offering Christmas items throughout the holiday season will be simplest—the demand for Halloween-related goods, which peaks before Halloween, is the same. The key takeaway is that while a product you saw may have some appealing qualities, you must also consider the season and the location of the audience you intend to reach.
If you decide to offer a product susceptible to seasonality, remember that it won’t be simple to sell the product all year long, and you’ll probably need to transition to new items during the year. Google Trends is an excellent resource for determining consumer interest in a specific item or market.
6. Use Efficient Dropshipping Tools
Selecting the products you want to sell via dropshipping might be complex. Fortunately, a good dropshipping tool has several resources that may assist you in determining which products would be the most excellent fit for your dropshipping company. Also, they can assist us in keeping track of inventories and costs, enabling us to choose products with knowledge. These technologies will enhance your company’s marketing and research initiatives while saving you significant time and money.
7. Low Costs to Draw Consumers
Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable and ethical today, especially regarding online buying. As a result, price comparison between different sellers is the first step individuals take when making purchases online. You may decrease the prices of your dropshipping products by picking suppliers that give reasonable offers and choosing a supply chain that doesn’t contain unneeded intermediaries or mediators.
Streamlining Your Dropshipping Supply Chain with AliExpress and DSers
Consider choosing a shorter, more compact channel with minimal intermediates. Since the cost of your product will increase with each new intermediary, the shipping procedure will only get more complex and inefficient. One of the most significant places for this is AliExpress.
DSers can support you in your endeavor. It has a sizable database with over two million AliExpress items, tens of thousands of niches, and over 800,000 businesses associated with various niches with their statistics. The numerous criteria would:
Simplify
Expand accessibility
Speed up product search
8. Consider Weight, Dimensions, and Shipment Country
While choosing the items for your dropshipping business, it would be wise to consider factors like:
Product size
Weight
Country of distribution
These details can seem minor to a novice, but seasoned sellers can see how they can influence how well or poorly your dropshipping business ultimately does. Try to select items that:
Don’t weigh a lot
Compact
Supplied from a nation that you know has effective and quick delivery
This will lower your shipping expenses and, consequently, the ultimate rates for end customers.
9. Use Social Media Networks to Your Advantage
Having a strong internet presence has several advantages. Social media gives you a powerful platform to communicate with your current consumers and find new potential clients. If you properly market your company, you’ll soon notice a difference in your sales. Via community trends, you may get a good indication of the most popular things while product-hunting on social media. You may also monitor your rivals to see which items generate the most significant interest.
How to Find Winning Products for Dropshipping in Less Than 5 Minutes
1. How to Find a Winning Product Using TikTok
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. But how can I leverage the app to find winning products and add them to my store? Well, there are surprisingly easy ways with a high success rate. Plus, it only takes 5 minutes or less. I am pumped to show you how!
Download TikTok
Use the app store on your phone or tablet and search “TikTok” to download the app. If you do not have a mobile device, you can skip to “Step 3” and use your computer to search from tiktok.com in your browser.
Open TikTok and Create An Account
When you open the app, complete the TikTok onboarding process by creating an account and choosing your interests. This helps the TikTok algorithm find the best videos that may interest you. It also helps to save videos (this will come in handy). You can also follow other accounts to see their account activity and what they are posting.
Learn How the App Works
I call this step 2.5 because it is optional but can help significantly if you are unfamiliar with the app. If you have never been on TikTok, take some time to:
Learn the app
Scroll through videos
Learn how all the tabs work
Look at the comments section to get a good idea of how the community works and talks. This will help you when finding the golden product.
Search One of 5 Given Phrases Below
Go to the “Discover” tab on the bottom of your phone and search for one of the five phrases given below. These phrases (or “hashtags”) will bring up viral products and reviews to help you find them.
#tiktokmademebuyit
#amazonfinds
#coolgadgets
#amazonreview
#productreview
Filter the Searched Results
Phew, we are almost there. To bring up the filter menu, hit the filter icon at the top right corner of your screen. See the “Date Posted” section.
It will be set to show you the top videos from “All Time,” but for relevance’s sake and since trends do exist, we need to see the newest and most prime products. Set the “Date Posted” tab to “Last Three Months” (if you do not see this preset, hit the “more” dropdown). Now press the pink Apply button and continue to “Step 5.”
Search for Trending Videos of Products
Hit the “videos” preset in the menu bar. Start your search for winning products. Scroll through to find videos with product reviews and more than 100,000 likes (not views) indicated with the heart icon.
Once you find a product that catches your eye and has over 100k likes, tap the heart icon to “like” the video. This will save the video to your liked videos section in your account settings so it doesn’t get lost and can be viewed later. You’re welcome!
Leveraging TikTok for Product Validation in Dropshipping
All TikTok traffic is natural. If this many people like the product without any paid advertisement, it helps validate the product as a winner. Imagine how well it would do with paid traffic! For more about validation, go to the bottom of this tutorial under the “Validation” section. Here are some general searching tips that helped me:
The more likes a product video has, the better it is
Check the video's comments: Why do people like this? Is it because it is cool or because it is stupid? Are people asking where they can get this? (that's very important)
“Followers” to “likes” ratio: The more likes the video has and the fewer followers the account has, the more likely the product will be a true winner. This is due to the TikTok algorithm.
Is the product light, small, and suitable for dropshipping? Or for storage in a (3PL) warehouse?
Source the Product
To source the product, you first want to find it on Amazon or a similar marketplace. Usually, you can find a link to the product from the creator's “bio.” If you cannot find the link in the creator's “bio,” search on Amazon for your best guess of the product's name. For this example, I would search for a a “Vacuum broom.”
Finding Winning Products with Cross-Platform Sourcing Tools
Once you find the product on Amazon, go to AliExpress or Alibaba Dropship and search for the product in their search bar. Once you see it, import it to your store, and you are done! You found a winning product just like that.
Note: If you cannot find the product on AliExpress or Alibaba Dropship, try searching with Google Lens or using Amazon product pictures to search on a Tineye platform.
2. How to Find a Winning Product Using Amazon
Free ways to find a winning product using Amazon
The Amazon Movers and Shakers list shows which products are trending upwards the fastest. Although they may not be bestsellers, the products are rapidly trending. This is a great place to see what is starting to trend.
Go to the Amazon Movers and Shakers List
I don't know if it is just me, but for some reason, I always struggle to find this page. Here is the direct link for you: Amazon Movers & Shakers List. Make sure you are on the correct tab (not the “best selling products” or “most wished for” tab).
Browse the Categories
Browse categories like “Baby”, “Electronics” “Pet Supplies”,“Sports And Outdoors,” and so on to look for winning products. Those are all categories you can browse through to look for potential products.
Look at Top Moving Products
Look at products in the categories that interest you and find ones you think will do well. Look at the reviews for the products and see how many they have. The higher they are, generally, the better. When you find a product you think will do well:
Validate it.
Do your research.
Are there lots of other people selling?
Is it easy to ship?
Are there good reviews?
Source These Products
Go to AliExpress or Alibaba Dropship and search for the product in their search bar. Once you find it, import it to your store, and then you are done! You found another winning product just like that.
Repeat With Other Categories
Repeat these same steps with multiple categories, like “Bestsellers,” “Most Gifted,” “Hot New Releases,” and “Most Wished For.” My personal, most successful category is “Most Gifted.”
3. How to Find a Winning Product On Facebook
Let’s find a third winning product using Facebook ad spying. It’s an old, proven method to spot trends and find your winning products, but it can also be expensive. But what if there is a free way to do it? I will show you how to spy on competitors' ads for free!
Add Ecom Radar to Google Chrome
The funny thing is, I don't know who owns this or how I know about it, but I know I have succeeded. Go to the Google Chrome Web Store and search for Ecom Radar. Add Ecom Radar to your Chrome browser, and create an account to activate the extension for free! Thanks, Ecom Radar!
Turn Your Facebook AD Data
First, we need to reset our Facebook Ad history. To do so, go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity, then click “View.” From here, you can clear your Facebook Data.
Turn On Ecom Radar
You must open your Facebook “Home Page” and refresh your browser. From there, click Extensions (the puzzle-piece-shaped icon on the top right of the browser), click on Ecom Radar, and then Sign in.
Browse Competitor Ads On Your Feed
Go through competitor ads on your feed. Look for products with more than 1000 likes. If a product has more than 1000 likes, it performs well. This is an easy and fast way to determine whether a product is hot. After finding the product with lots of traction, do further product saturation and validation research.
Source Product
Go to AliExpress or Alibaba Dropship and search for the product in their search bar. Once you find it, import it to your store, and then you are done! You found another winning product just like that.
4. Use a Product Research Tool
There are many free and paid product research tools that you can use to find winning items for dropshipping. Most of them feature:
A web scraper
Browser extension
Database of handpicked items
Typically, web scrapers and browser extensions allow you to research any product on sites like Amazon and Aliexpress with a click. They can reveal necessary information about:
Sales
Revenue
Growth rate
Spotting Trends and Winning Strategies with Shophunter’s Ad Spy Tool
For example, Shophunter's ad spy tool monitors advertising activity across stores. This combination lets users spot trending products and successful marketing strategies early on. ShopHunter aims to streamline product research and reduce the risk of investing in low-performing items, whether you're:
A dropshipper
Shopify store owner
Someone looking to enter the e-commerce space
Unlocking Amazon Success with MZScout’s Product Research Tools
MZScout is one of the most popular research tools for finding winning Amazon products. The company has a free Amazon dropshipping extension for examining any item on Amazon. It will provide you with a breakdown of:
Price history
Selling fees
Profit margin and more
Exploring AliInsider and Niche Finder for Access to Winning Product Databases
If you’re looking for a database of winning products, AliInsider and Niche Finder are great options. These sites feature hundreds of winning products with links to suppliers, competitors, and more. These are just a few examples of the many product research tools available. Please read our guide on the best dropshipping research tools and software to find more options and alternatives.
5. Try the Google Trends Tool
Google Trends is a free tool for discovering popular search terms on Google. It’s also an excellent resource for finding winning dropshipping products. Some of the biggest dropshippers in the industry use Google Trends. To get started, simply visit the Google Trends website. There, you will input some broad keywords related to your niche. The tool will instantly provide you with a breakdown of the interest in the search term over time.
Using Google Trends to Uncover Unique and Trending Dropshipping Products
Further down the page, you will find a list of related topics and queries. These are more specific phrases that are popular or trending now. This is where you can find some incredibly unique products with huge potential. For example, the top 3 related queries when searching for a dog toy on Google Trends were as follows:
Tough bear dog toy
Floppy lobster dog toy
Crawling crab dog toy
The floppy lobster dog toy is sold on Amazon and various other stores for around $20 or more. It’s also available to source from websites like AliExpress for less than $10 with free shipping. Using Google Trends, it’s easy to find winning dropshipping products. One of the best things about this technique is that Google provides real-time information on the hottest products and searches right now.
6. Explore Videos on YouTube
YouTube is a great place to start when looking for winning product ideas. It features thousands of videos about tending products on websites like:
Amazon
eBay
AliExpress
Alibaba
You will find an almost endless content selection if you search for winning dropshipping products on YouTube. Most of the videos include winning product examples or tips on how to find winning items. Once you have a few ideas, you can check with your supplier to work out costs and profits. You can also search for the items on Google, Amazon, or eBay to understand the current selling prices.
Further Product Validation
If you want to explore product validation more and determine whether a product is a good one to sell, these tips will help you do just that! They are more like boxes you can check off before you attempt to sell the product.
Shipping
How much is shipping, and how long will it take? If the product has shipping costs on top of the product cost, you can build them into your selling price. Generally, you want to offer free shipping. If you cannot offer free shipping, try to get the items shipped as cheaply as possible.
Weight
Is the product somewhat light? A general rule of thumb is that smaller, lighter products are better for dropshipping. Avoid huge products that will cost a lot of money to ship. If you decide to ship something heavier, ensure that you build the shipping cost into your selling price.
Markup
Make quick price comparisons and look at what others sell that product for. Generally, you will want a minimum of $15-$20 markup, although some products have exceptions. You will want to ensure the markup will pay for the ad cost and still give you a profit!
Natural Validation
Use some common sense and think through it without any data. I know… thinking is a lot of work, but ask yourself questions like,
“Is this something somebody needs?”
“Do I think it's a good product?”
“Will someone I know buy this product?”
“Does it solve a problem or make life easier?”
Determining a Product’s Saturation
Saturation, many times, comes down to common sense and experience. But this is only sometimes the truth. The first thing I will do when determining product saturation is to search on Amazon. Ah, yes, we love Amazon! You should tell how many people are selling by scrolling through and looking at how many of your products are for sale. If the product seems unclear or you second-guess me, this is another way to tell if a product is saturated. I use a free Chrome extension called “Keepa,” which tells you the price history of a product.
Assessing Product Saturation Through Price Trends and Stability
Another factor in determining whether the product is saturated is whether the price has fallen or stayed steady. Take, for example, a Fidget spinner, one of today’s most saturated products. The price has a significant drop-off. Now, comparing the fidget spinner to a less saturated item, “The Pocket Chainsaw,” we can see a much more steady price increase, showing there is not as much competitive pricing for this item.
Evaluating Product Saturation with Price Analysis and Free Tools
This gives us an excellent idea, but it must still be something to rely on 100%. Many things can increase or decrease the price of a product, but this is still an excellent way to determine a product's saturation if you need more clarification. Other Chrome extensions like the “Saturation Inspector” can also help assess saturation. Extensions like these are easy to use but feel unnecessary to pay for.
Where Should I Source My Products From?
AliExpress & Alibaba Dropship
AliExpress and Alibaba Dropship are great options for finding and sourcing cheap products.
Pros
Easy to find products
Easy to dropship
Cheap Prices
Cons
Long & expensive shipping times
Quality control is rigid to facilitate
US/Country Sourcing
It is possible to source high-quality products from the US or your country of residence. Check out about sourcing US products here.
Sign Up for a Free Trial (no credit card required) to Our Shopify Sales Tracker to Find Your Next eCom Opportunity Today!
ShopHunter's Shopify sales tracker offers a unique tool for ecom founders, particularly those in the Shopify ecosystem. At its core is a custom algorithm that estimates sales for both entire stores and specific products, helping users quickly validate product potential. The platform goes beyond basic sales tracking, featuring an ad spy tool that monitors advertising activity across stores.
This combination lets users spot trending products and successful marketing strategies early on. ShopHunter aims to streamline product research and reduce the risk of investing in low-performing items, whether you're:
A dropshipper
A Shopify store owner
Someone looking to enter the e-commerce space
Sign up for a free trial (no credit card required) of our Shopify sales tracker tool to find your next eCom opportunity or to level up your current eCommerce store by learning from your competitors.