Evaluating Competition and Demand for Your Product Ideas

2025-11-27

In this chapter, we will learn how to identify the number of competitors on Amazon for a specific niche product idea and how to assess demand on other platforms like Etsy. This process will help you fill out key columns in your product research spreadsheet, including the number of competing products and the estimated revenue on Etsy. The goal is to gather multiple data points (Amazon competition, Amazon search volume, Google search volume, Etsy demand, etc.) to inform decisions on which product idea offers the best opportunity.
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
  • Manually count how many direct competitors (similar products) appear on Amazon's first page for your target keyword.
  • Use SellerSprite tools to gather additional data, such as Amazon search volume and competitors' sales estimates.
  • Estimate the sales and revenue of top products on Etsy for the same niche (to gauge cross-platform demand).
  • Update your product research spreadsheet with competitor counts, Etsy revenue, and search volumes.
  • Interpret these findings to prioritize product opportunities.
Let's break down the process step by step.

Counting Competitors on Amazon 

One of the first things to evaluate for a product idea is how crowded the Amazon market is. We do this by looking at how many similar products already appear on the first page of Amazon search results for your target keyword. A high number of competing listings means a more saturated niche, while a low number could indicate an easier entry point for a new seller.

How to count competitors manually:

  1. Search for the Keyword on Amazon: Go to Amazon.com and enter your product's primary keyword (for example, "tea infuser mug") in the search bar. Use the exact long-tail keyword that describes your product idea.
  2. Ignore Sponsored Results: On the search results page, you will see a mix of sponsored products (ads) and organic results. Sponsored products have a small tag or label like "Sponsored" beneath the product image or title. Do not count these, because they are paid placements and not organically ranking competitors. You can mentally skip them. (Tip: If you use the SellerSprite Chrome extension or a similar tool, it may offer a feature to hide sponsored products from the results, making this step easier.)
  3. Identify Relevant Products: Now, look at the organic search results (the ones that are not marked as sponsored). We want to count only products that match the same type as the ones you have. This is important because not every result will be a direct competitor. For example, if you searched for "tea infuser mug," you might see:
    1. Actual tea infuser mugs (the product you are interested in).
    2. Other related items, such as plain tea infusers, tea strainers, or travel bottles that are not mugs.
    3. Duplicate listings or variants of the same product.
You can only count the listings that are truly the same product type you intend to sell. In our example, we would count a listing for a mug with a built-in tea infuser, but we would not count a standalone tea infuser ball or a regular mug without an infuser if they appear.
  1. Count the Results: Scroll through the first page of results and keep a tally of each relevant product listing. You can do this with pen and paper, or by simply counting in your head as you scroll. Remember:
    1. Skip sponsored listings (ads at the top or mixed in the results).
    2. Skip irrelevant products (those that are not the same type as your target product).
    3. If the same product appears multiple times (for example, a duplicate listing or a variation of the same brand), you may count it only once if it represents the same competitor. (Usually, distinct listings are different colors or bundles, but it's up to you if you consider them separate competitors or not. Generally, treat each listing as one competitor, even if they are from the same brand.)
  2. Use Filters if Available: Amazon often shows 48 results on the first page. If there are many ads or you want to ensure accuracy, you can use the search filters. One helpful trick is to use the Amazon filter for "Hide Sponsored" if you have a browser extension that provides it. SellerSprite's extension, for instance, can help filter or indicate which listings are sponsored versus organic. If you don't have an extension, be diligent in manually skipping the sponsored ones.
    Amazon search results page for ‘tea infuser mug’ with SellerSprite Chrome extension overlay showing keyword metrics, search trends, ABA rank, and product analysis data
  1. Note the Competitor Count: The number you end up with is the count of organic competitors on page 1 for that keyword. Write this number down in your product research spreadsheet under the "Amazon Page 1 Competitors" column (or similar). For example, you might find around 39 competitors for "tea infuser mug" on page 1. If you search for a more specific niche, say "cat tea infuser" (tea infusers shaped like cats), you might count around 34 competitors on page 1. And for a more specific niche like "dog tea infuser," you might find only about 14 competitors on the first page.

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Interpreting the competitor count:

  • If the count is very low (single digits), this is a sign of a potentially underserved or low-competition niche. For instance, if you only find 5 or 6 relevant products on page 1, it means not many sellers are targeting that exact keyword. This could be a great opportunity if the demand (search volume) is there. In our process, anything below about eight competitors on page 1 is an excellent sign and worth investigating further. These might be highlighted as "green" in your spreadsheet (indicating an easy or ideal opportunity).
  • If the count is moderate (say 10-30), the niche has some competition but might still be manageable. You will need to assess how strong those competitors are (their reviews, ratings, quality, etc.) to decide whether you can compete. These might be your "yellow" opportunities: not the easiest, but still potentially viable with the proper differentiation.
  • If the count is high (30+ competitors on page 1), the niche is saturated on Amazon. This doesn't automatically mean you should abandon the idea, but it does suggest you'll face a more formidable challenge to stand out. High competition means you must have a significantly better or unique product and strong marketing to gain market share. These would be flagged as more difficult for a new seller (a "red" level of competition).
For example, our "tea infuser mug" idea had about 39 relevant products on page 1 (after ignoring sponsored ads and unrelated items). This is a lot, which we expected because it’s a popular item (it had high search volume on Amazon, which we'll verify soon). On the other hand, "dog tea infuser" (a sub-niche of tea infusers focusing on dog designs) had only around 14 relevant results on the first page. Fewer competitors can make it easier for a new product to rank well and be noticed by customers, provided enough people are searching for it.
Record your findings: Continue this process for each of your product ideas (keywords). It may be a bit time-consuming to search and count manually, but it is free and only needs to be done once per keyword. If you have an extensive list of ideas (say 50+ keywords), you can consider outsourcing this task to an assistant or dividing it over multiple sessions to avoid fatigue, since accuracy is essential. Write the competitor count for each idea in your spreadsheet. This gives you a quick, at-a-glance indicator of Amazon's competition level.

Analyzing Top Competitors and Demand on Amazon

Illustration of digital product research tools with magnifying glass, dashboards, charts, and market analysis icons representing e-commerce keyword and competitor research.
Counting competitors tells us quantity, but we also need to assess quality and demand. In other words, how strong are the existing players, and how much are they selling? A niche with five competitors could still be difficult if those 5 are very dominant brands. Conversely, a niche with 20 competitors might be feasible if many of them are weak (poor reviews, low sales).
Here’s how to analyze the top listings on Amazon for your keyword:
1. Check the Top Sellers' Performance: After you search for your keyword on Amazon and identify the relevant products, take a closer look at the top one or two organic results (ignoring the ads). These are the products that rank highest for your keyword, often indicating the best sales and relevance. You can click on the top result, or better yet, use a tool to extract its sales data without leaving the search page. SellerSprite offers a product analysis tool (via its Chrome extension or web app) that can estimate a product's monthly sales revenue, number of sales, price, and other key metrics when you view it on Amazon.
  • Using the SellerSprite extension, you can scan the search results page for "tea infuser mug" and see the analytics for each listing. For instance, the top organic listing for "tea infuser mug" might be generating an estimated $150,000+ in monthly revenue. SellerSprite will show this estimate, along with how many units that equate to, the product’s price, review count, etc.
  • Similarly, you might see the data for the second or third listing. Note these down if relevant. Often, just by looking at the top seller, you get a sense of how much demand there is (a high revenue figure indicates a lot of sales in this niche).
  • For example, in our research, the #1 tea infuser mug was roughly doing $160k per month, which is an astonishingly high number. That indicates strong demand on Amazon. Meanwhile, let's look at the niche "dog tea infuser". The top product (which, in this case, might be a listing for a dog-shaped infuser) was also making over $100k/month, but interestingly, the second- and third-best-selling listings in that niche were making far less (only a few thousand dollars a month). This suggests that one product is dominating the "dog tea infuser" niche, while other competitors haven't gained much traction, possibly due to weaker designs or a smaller niche.
2. Evaluate Competitors’ Quality: Data is one side of the coin; product quality and customer satisfaction are the other. Click on a few of the top listings and examine:
  • Ratings: What is the star rating? (e.g., 4.5 out of 5 stars). If most top products have very high ratings (4.5+), it means customers are generally happy, and the products are of decent quality. If you see some top results with lower ratings (say 4.0 or below), that indicates room for improvement. Those products have issues you can solve.
  • Reviews count: How many reviews do they have? Hundreds or thousands of reviews can be a barrier for a new seller, as it means incumbents have a lot of social proof. But if the top sellers only have a few dozen or a few hundred reviews, a new product can catch up more easily.
  • Review content: Read some of the reviews (especially the 3-star and 4-star ones, as well as 1-2 star if any). Please be sure to look for common complaints or suggestions. Perhaps customers love the concept but wish the material was better, or they complain that the product is smaller than expected, or that a specific feature is missing. These are opportunities for you to differentiate your product.
3. Ask: Can I Make a Better Product? This is a crucial question. After seeing what the existing products are like, consider your resources and ideas:
  • If the current options have apparent weaknesses or are all very similar, you can stand out by addressing those gaps. For example, suppose every "cat tea infuser" on the market is made of single-color silicone, and customers say it is a bit hard to clean. You might come up with a design improvement, like a heat-sensitive color-changing silicone cat infuser (that changes color when the tea is steeped, just as an example) or one that's easier to open and wash. Or, if all current designs look unappealing or generic, you could create a cuter, more charming cat design that cat lovers would adore.
  • If you feel the top products are already excellent and you don't have a clear idea for making something better or different, then that product idea may not be the best choice to pursue. It could be tough to convince customers to switch to your product if it doesn't offer something noticeably superior or unique. In such cases, it might be a good idea to move on to another idea on your list.
  • On the other hand, if you have identified a way to beat the competition (through better design, higher quality, bundling, improving a feature, etc.), the idea is still alive, even if the competitor count is high. You'll need to do well to stand out.
4. Use Data and Creativity Together: Striking the right balance between data and creativity is key in product research. The numbers (search volume, competitor count, sales estimates) will guide you to niches that are promising, but it's your creative twist that will help you win within those niches. As a new seller, you typically want to start with niches that don't require you to reinvent the wheel completely but where a modest improvement can make you the best option.
For example, from our analysis:
  • The tea infuser mug had high demand, but also many competitors and similar designs. To launch a new tea infuser mug, you'd have to come up with something truly special (a new design, a better value bundle, a unique material, etc.) because customers already have dozens of choices.
  • The cat tea infuser (just the infuser, not a mug) had moderate competition. Many existing products were repeating the same concepts. A fresh design (like a color-changing tabby cat infuser, or a set of different cute cat shapes) could attract buyers in this niche. You'd have to validate that cat owners or tea lovers like your new idea, for example, by showing a concept image to potential customers and asking for their feedback (using an online survey or a focus group).
  • Dog tea infusers had fewer competitors, but one product dominated sales. That product might even be part of the same series as the cat infuser (perhaps from the same brand offering multiple animal designs). If the top-dog design isn't appealing to customers (which might be why only one listing is doing exceptionally well while others lag), a better-designed dog infuser could capture some of that demand. Would you rather compete against 34 similar products (like in the cat niche) or against 14 (like in the dog niche)? All else being equal, fewer competitors are advantageous if you can make something customers want.
So, fill in your spreadsheet columns for each idea with:
  • The number of page-1 competitors (from the earlier step).
  • The approximate revenue of the top product (or top few products) on Amazon for that keyword, which you can get from SellerSprite’s tool. (This gives a sense of the best-case scenario demand. For example, a top product doing $120k/month vs another doing only $10k/month are very different niches in terms of opportunity.)
  • (Optional) You can also note down the average rating of top products or a brief note on what differentiation might be possible. This isn't a formal part of the spreadsheet, but it helps in decision-making when you review the data.

Using SellerSprite to Gather Keyword Data

While the focus of this chapter is on competition and cross-platform demand, it's worth mentioning that you should also have the search volume data in your spreadsheet, as that goes together with competition. By now, you likely collected some of this earlier (in a previous step or chapter), but if not, here’s how to get it:
  • Amazon Search Volume: Use the SellerSprite Keyword Research tool to find the approximate monthly search volume for your product idea's main keyword on Amazon. For example, you might find that "tea infuser mug" is searched 19,857 times per month on Amazon.
    These numbers show how many customers are actively searching for those products on Amazon each month. Higher search volume usually means higher demand, but remember to consider it alongside competition.
    • Enter your keyword in SellerSprite's keyword tool. It will display the search volume, possibly a trend graph, and related keywords. Record the main keyword’s volume in your spreadsheet (e.g., under "Amazon Search Volume").
    • You may also want to note the trend or seasonality if SellerSprite provides it (for instance, some products peak in certain seasons).
  • Google Search Volume: It's also helpful to see how many people search for this product on Google. This can indicate broader interest beyond Amazon. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner or an SEO tool to get an estimate of monthly Google searches for your keyword. For example, "tea infuser mug" might have around 2,900 monthly Google searches. Note that Google searchers might be looking to buy (in which case they might end up on Amazon or other stores) or just looking for information. But it's still a good indicator of interest. Add this number to your spreadsheet (under "Google Search Volume").
  • Other Platforms: If you have data from multiple platforms (e.g., an Etsy search volume tool or Pinterest search data), you can include it, but it's optional. In our case, instead of Etsy search volume, we're going to directly look at Etsy sales, which can be more insightful for demand (since search volume on Etsy might not be readily available, we'll derive demand from actual sales/revenue using a clever trick).
At this point, your spreadsheet for each product idea should have entries for:
  • Amazon search volume (monthly searches on Amazon).
  • Google search volume (monthly searches on Google).
  • Amazon competitor counts (number of similar products on Amazon page 1).
  • Top Amazon product revenue (monthly estimate in $ for the top seller or an average of top sellers).
  • Next, we'll fill in the Etsy revenue for the product.

Estimating Product Demand and Revenue on Etsy

Etsy analytics dashboard showing sales metrics, demand metrics, revenue charts, product performance graphs, and shop insights connected around the Etsy logo.
Why look at Etsy? Etsy is a central e-commerce platform that specializes in handmade, vintage, and craft items. It’s smaller than Amazon, but it can still reveal useful information:
  • Suppose a product (or a particular design/style) is popular on Etsy. In that case, it might do well on Amazon, especially if the product type or design is not yet saturated there. You can sometimes discover trending or unique product variations on Etsy and be one of the first to offer them on Amazon.
  • Conversely, if even the crafty/artsy community on Etsy isn't interested in a particular product, that could mean the demand is limited overall (unless it's a product that clearly fits Amazon but not Etsy).
In this step, we'll "hack" Etsy to estimate the sales and revenue of products similar to our idea.

How to find and evaluate a product on Etsy:

  1. Search for the Product on Etsy: Go to Etsy.com and enter the same keyword (or a very close description of your product idea) in the search bar. For example, search for "tea infuser mug" on Etsy.
    1. If your product is handmade or custom-designed (like a mug or an accessory), you're likely to find results on Etsy.
    2. Suppose your product is very utilitarian or industrial (e.g., "waterproof leg cast cover"). In that case, you might find few or no results on Etsy, because the marketplace leans toward handcrafted and design-focused items. That's okay; not every product will be sold on Etsy. If you don't find your item there, you can mark "N/A" for Etsy in your spreadsheet or skip this analysis for that idea.
  2. Filter Out Irrelevant Items: Just like with Amazon, skip the ads (you'll see "Ad by Etsy seller" on promoted listings). Also, glance through the results to ensure they are indeed the same type of product. You might see some unrelated products if the keyword is broad. Focus on the listings that match your product idea.
  3. Identify Top Competing Listings on Etsy: Unlike Amazon, Etsy doesn’t show sales or revenue directly for listings. But we can get clues from review counts and a bit of math. Start by looking for listings with a high number of reviews, as these tend to correlate with higher sales.
    1. Scroll and look for products that have several reviews displayed. For example, you might see some listings with "500 reviews", "120 reviews", etc., underneath the product thumbnail. Make note of 2 or 3 listings that have the highest review counts in your search results (these are likely the best-sellers for that keyword).
    2. Open each of those product pages in a new tab.
  4. Record Key Data from Etsy Listings: For each Etsy listing you opened, gather the following information:
    1. Item Reviews: Look at how many reviews this specific product has. When viewing the product page, please scroll down to the section where it shows the reviews. At the top of the reviews section, Etsy will say something like "X reviews" for that item (or you might have to scroll a bit to see the number of ratings).
    2. Shop Name and Total Shop Reviews: On that same product page, near the title or under the seller's name, you often see the shop's rating and the number of sales or reviews. There are two numbers we might use:
      • The shop’s total sales (Etsy shows, for example, "2,828 sales" on the shop page or under the shop name).
      • The shop’s total reviews or ratings (often shown next to the shop name as a number with a star icon, e.g., "97 reviews" for the whole shop).
    3. Price of the Item: Note the price the product is selling for. If there are multiple options (variations), note the cost of the primary or most common option.
It may help to create a small table or use a spreadsheet to keep track. For example:
Comparison table of two Etsy listings showing item reviews, shop reviews, total shop sales, and item prices for tea infuser products.
(The above is example figures for illustration: "Shop A" and "Shop B" represent two different Etsy shops. The first product might be a handmade ceramic mug with an infuser, and the second might be a small silicone cat-shaped tea infuser. You can see that the first product had 13 reviews on its listing, the shop had 701 reviews in total, and 860 sales for $60. The second had 31 reviews, the shop had 97 reviews in total and 2,828 sales, at a price $6.)
  1. Calculate Estimated Sales and Revenue for the Etsy Listings: Now we use a bit of math to estimate how well each of those Etsy products has sold:
    1. Assumption: The percentage of reviews a single product has, out of the shop’s total reviews, is roughly equal to the rate of that product’s sales out of the shop’s total sales. In other words, if a particular product accounts for 10% of all the reviews the shop has received, we assume it made up about 10% of that shop’s total sales.
    2. Using the data you collected, calculate the fraction of the shop's reviews that belong to the item: Fraction = Item Reviews / Shop Reviews.
    3. Apply that fraction to the shop’s total sales: Estimated Item Sales = Fraction * Shop Total Sales.
    4. Finally, estimate the revenue by multiplying the item’s price by the estimated number of sales: Estimated Item Revenue = Estimated Item Sales * Item Price.
Let's do a quick computation with the examples from the table:
  • For the Ceramic Tea Infuser Mug (Shop A)
    • Fraction of reviews = 13 / 701 ≈ 0.0185 (about 1.85% of the shop's reviews are for this item). 
    • Shop’s total sales = 860. 
    • Estimated sales of this item = 0.0185 * 860 ≈ 16 sales (lifetime). 
    • Price = $60. 
    • Estimated revenue = 16 * $60 = $960 (approximately $1,000 total revenue for that product on Etsy so far).
  • For the Cute Cat Tea Infuser (Shop B)
    • Fraction of reviews = 31/97 ≈ 0.319 (about 31.9% of that shop’s reviews are for this item; it’s a significant chunk). 
    • Shop’s total sales = 2,828. 
    • Estimated sales of this item = 0.319 * 2,828 ≈ 902 sales. 
    • Price = $6. 
    • Estimated revenue = 902 * $6 ≈ $5,412 (approximately $5,400 total revenue for that item on Etsy so far).
These estimates indicate that the second item (the cat-shaped infuser) has sold far more units (over 900) at a low price, generating around $5.4k in revenue. The first item (the fancy ceramic mug) sold maybe 16 units at a high price, about $1k in revenue.
  1. Find the Top Etsy Product’s Revenue: Among the listings you chose, figure out which one likely has the highest estimated revenue. This is probably the best-selling product on Etsy for that keyword. In our case, the cat tea infuser had a higher revenue than the ceramic mug. So, we would take $5,400 (approximately) as the top Etsy product’s revenue for the "tea infuser" niche. This is a lifetime revenue number (since the shop’s total sales are cumulative). If you want a rough monthly figure, you could divide by the time the product has been selling (not always easy to know). Still, for simplicity, we use lifetime cumulative sales as an indicator of demand.
  2. Enter Etsy Revenue in Your Spreadsheet: Now, input the estimated top product revenue from Etsy into your main product research spreadsheet under an "Etsy Revenue" column (or "Etsy Demand" column). This number gives you a comparative sense of how well this type of product has done on Etsy. For example:
    1. Tea Infuser Mug: top Etsy listing ≈ $5,500 in revenue (lifetime).
    2. Cat Tea Infuser: the top Etsy listing had a similar revenue (also in the low thousands of dollars).
    3. Dog Tea Infuser: top Etsy listing ≈ $1,000 in revenue (lifetime; a smaller niche on Etsy).
(If you cannot find any product on Etsy for a particular idea, you can mark it as not applicable. The absence of Etsy data isn’t a deal-breaker; it just means Etsy isn't a big channel for that product.)
Note: This manual calculation method is a workaround because Etsy doesn’t openly display sales per product. There are third-party tools that try to estimate Etsy sales directly, but they often cost money or have limited data. Our method above uses publicly available information (reviews and total sales) to provide a reasonable estimate for free. It might not be 100% precise, but it's typically good enough to compare one product with another on Etsy and gauge relative demand.

Compiling and Using Research Data

After completing the above steps for all your product ideas, you will have a wealth of data in your product research spreadsheet. Here's how you might use it:
  • Finalize the Spreadsheet Columns: By now, your sheet might have columns like:
    • Product Idea (Keyword)
    • Amazon Search Volume (monthly)
    • Google Search Volume (monthly)
    • Amazon Page 1 Competitors (count of competitors)
    • Top Amazon Product Revenue (monthly $ estimate)
    • Etsy Top Product Revenue (total/lifetime $ estimate)
      (You might also have added other columns, such as notes on product differentiation or average rating of top listings, etc., depending on your process.)
  • Identify the Most Promising Niches: Look for product ideas with healthy demand and limited competition. For example:
    • Amazon search volume is decent (enough people search for it each month).
    • Amazon's top-selling revenue is attractive (indicating people are spending money in this niche).
    • Amazon's competitor count is relatively low (not many alternatives for buyers to choose from).
    • Etsy's revenue is present or moderate (meaning the niche has some cross-platform interest, indicating broader appeal beyond just Amazon).
    • Additionally, you have some ideas for differentiating and creating a better product than what's currently offered.
Any idea that meets many of these criteria could be a "green light" for further development. These are the ideas to get excited about because they represent potentially underserved demand: people want the product, but current options are limited or not ideal. You can step in with an improved offer.
  • Be Cautious of Red Flags: Also, notice cases like:
    • High demand (huge search volume, strong sales from top sellers), but also very high competition (lots of competitors, all with excellent products). This scenario is challenging for a newcomer. If you pursue such a niche, know that you'll face an uphill battle.
    • Very low demand (low search volumes on both Amazon and Google, minimal Etsy sales), even with low competition. This could indicate a niche with an insufficient customer base. Launching a product that nobody is searching for is risky. You might create the best product in the world, but if few people want it, it won’t sell well.
  • Use a Grading System: Sometimes it helps to color-code or score your ideas:
    • Green (Good): meets most criteria (solid demand, low competition) or clearly has a path forward with differentiation.
    • Yellow (Moderate): has some potential but also some challenges (maybe medium competition or only moderate demand). It could be pursued if you have a strong angle or if your top choices (greens) are not feasible for some reason.
    • Red (Poor): either too much competition for the demand level, or too little demand even if competition is low, or no feasible way to stand out. These are likely not worth your resources as a first product.
Since you now have quantitative values, you can sort or filter your spreadsheet. For example, you might sort by Amazon search volume (descending) and then look at those with competitor count < 10. Or sort by competitor count (ascending) and see which ideas still have at least, say, 3000+ searches a month on Amazon. The combinations of metrics will help you narrow down the list.
  • Make the Decision: Pick the top few ideas from your research that look the most promising to investigate further. The following steps involve further validating the product concept, checking supplier availability and costs, calculating profit margins, and prototyping or testing the market (e.g., through a landing page, a small-batch release, or a poll to your target audience).
Example Outcome: From our running examples:
  • Dog Tea Infuser: Low competition (~14 competitors), moderate Amazon search volume (~800/month), and one big seller dominating. If you have an excellent idea for a new dog-themed infuser design, this could be an opportunity. It's not as large a market as a general tea infuser mug, but you could capture a niche audience of dog lovers.
  • Cat Tea Infuser: More competition (~34 competitors) but also high demand (likely higher search volume than "dog tea infuser", and the top seller does around $120k+ per month on Amazon, which is enormous). If you can significantly differentiate (e.g., a novel design or much better quality), you could still enter this space, but expect to invest in standing out.
  • Tea Infuser Mug (broad market): High competition (~39 on page 1, and probably many more beyond page 1). Demand is very high (top products making $150k+/month). As a new seller, unless you have a unique angle or innovation, this is a very competitive space. It might be better to niche down (for example, focus on a specific theme or user group for the mug) or skip this as a first product. This one would be flagged as a difficult niche for beginners, even though it clearly has customer interest.
Another example from earlier research: "Twin milestone blanket" (a baby photo prop) might have moderate demand and moderate competition. If our data shows, say, 16 competitors on page 1, good search volume, but the top sellers aren't too dominant, it could be a decent opportunity to consider. On Etsy, it might have only a few hundred dollars in total revenue for the top listing, suggesting Etsy isn't a big channel for it (which is fine, since baby products might do better on Amazon anyway). The key would be whether you can create a design that stands out to new parents.

Creating and using the Etsy Revenue Calculator 

To make your own Etsy Revenue Calculator sheet, set it up like this:
  • Columns: Product Listing URL, Item Reviews, Shop Reviews, Shop Total Sales, Item Price, Estimated Item Sales, Estimated Item Revenue.
  • For each Etsy listing you analyze, fill in one row with the data:
    • Paste the listing URL (optional, for your reference).
    • Enter the number of Item Reviews (reviews for that product listing).
    • Enter the number of Shop Reviews (total reviews for the seller's shop).
    • Enter the Shop Total Sales (found on the shop’s page, e.g., "2,828 sales").
    • Enter the Item Price (the current selling price of the product).
    • Use a formula to compute Estimated Item Sales. For example, in Excel/Sheets: 
      • = (ItemReviews / ShopReviews) * ShopTotalSales (Make sure to use the cell references in your formula corresponding to the row.)
    • Use another formula for Estimated Item Revenue: = EstimatedItemSales * ItemPrice.
  • After inputting the data, the sheet will calculate the estimated sales and revenue for each product you listed. You can easily see which one is highest.
  • Transfer the highest (or the most relevant) revenue figure to your main product research sheet for that idea, so you have all the information in one place.
Using a spreadsheet like this saves time when analyzing Etsy listings for multiple products and reduces calculation errors. Plus, you can use it for any new product idea you'd like to evaluate on Etsy in the future; please plug in the numbers.

Conclusion

By thoroughly researching both the competition on Amazon and the demand on platforms like Etsy (and considering Google searches), you now have a multi-faceted view of each product idea on your list. This data-driven approach, combined with your insight and creativity, will help you pinpoint the opportunities that are worth pursuing.
Remember:
  • Low competition + sufficient demand = an auspicious opportunity, especially for a first product.
  • High demand + high competition = possible, but requires strong differentiation and more effort to succeed.
  • Low demand (any platform) = be cautious, because even if you can rank easily, it won't matter if not enough people want the product.
Always cross-check the data with your intuition and knowledge of the niche. Sometimes a niche has moderate numbers, but you have personal expertise or passion for that area, which could give you an edge in developing a better product or marketing strategy. Other times, the numbers look great, but you discover the market is dominated by a patent or a couple of big brands. So be sure to do additional due diligence, like checking for patents or trademarks, if something seems too good to be true.
Now that your product research spreadsheet is filled out with all these data points for 50-100 ideas (or however many you've brainstormed), you should start to see clear patterns. The most promising ideas will stand out, and you can focus your energy on those. In the next chapter, we will dive deeper into validating product ideas and ensuring that when you pick a product to launch, you have the best possible chance of success.
Good work on completing this comprehensive research. This effort will pay off by guiding you toward a winning product idea!

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