Dropshipping is a popular ecommerce business model. It doesn’t require any upfront costs or inventory, and it can be scaled easily.
Like any ecommerce business model, finding a product that is easy to sell can be time-consuming and complex. This is especially true for beginners, who often don't know what to look out for when searching for a dropshipping product.
An ideal dropshipping product needs to meet specific requirements. First of all, it should fit you and match your interests. However, it must also provide decent profit margins, be a problem-solver, or have a "wow factor".
So how do you know which products to dropship? In this article, you will find some tips to help you figure that out.
What is a winning dropshipping product? (5 characteristics)
If you are looking to dropship a product that is as easy to sell as possible, you will need to know the characteristics of such a product, which is also known as a winning dropshipping product.
In short, winning dropshipping products are products that your target audience loves and sell like crazy.
However, finding these products is easier said than done. Considering you have landed on this article, you might be experiencing this yourself too at the moment!
To find a winning product, you need to know about its characteristics.
So, without further ado, let's learn about them!
But that's not all; let's go more in-depth now:
1. The "wow factor"
The first potential characteristic of a winning dropshipping product is a "wow factor".
In short, it's a product that you see and think, “What? I have never seen that before! That’s awesome!”
Here is an example:
2. Problem-solving
Another great characteristic to find in a product is that it solves a problem.
This is because whenever people have problems, they will be willing to pay for a solution.
Your goal is to convince them that your product is the solution to their problem!
3. Good profit margins
A characteristic that you will find across almost all winning dropshipping products is a good profit margin.
A good profit margin will ensure that you will have room to spend money on things like buying the product, marketing, and other costs and still be left with a profit at the end.
Perceived value is something that has a lot to do with this. It will partly determine how much you can charge for the product you are selling.
For example, it could be easier to sell $40 headphones than a $40 cat toy.
Of course, you could market the cat toy in such a way that its perceived value is much higher (like: “Get this limited edition cat toy now. It’s signed by the president himself!”).
The bottom line: think about what price you will have to sell your product for in order to make profits, and take a look at that price is realistic (when considering the product's perceived value).
Tip: If you want to calculate the potential profit margins for your product, try out our profit margin calculator by clicking here or on the image above!
4. Not easy to find in local stores
This one is simple, but most of the time overlooked by a lot of dropshippers.
Many winning dropshipping products are not easy to find in local stores.
This is especially true when looking at winning products from China, because why would people want to wait two or more weeks for a product to get delivered when they can buy it in their retail store next door as well?
However, when you are selling more unique products that people can't get in their local store, many people will be willing to wait multiple days for the delivery!
Here is an example:
Would you wait for 2-4 weeks for a sandwich maker that you can also buy in the store next door?
I don’t think so…
But what if it’s a special sandwich maker, that you never saw before and is also in your favorite color? Would you care if it says you might need to wait for 2-4 weeks before it’s delivered?
From: Dropshipping With AliExpress: Deal With Long Shipping Times
5. High quality
If you want to build a successful dropshipping store for the long term, you need to make sure you are selling high-quality products.
Selling low-quality products will lead to them breaking down early and customer complaints. Once that happens, people who have purchased from your store before won't be tempted to make another purchase at your store.
The best way to check a product's quality is by doing a test order for it. Once the product is delivered, you will be able to feel and test it with your own hands to see how it feels!
Ordering a product isn't just great for checking the quality. Additional benefits include the possibility to check your supplier's shipping time, and it also gives you the opportunity to take your own product images and videos.
How do you know what to dropship?
Knowing about the characteristics of a winning dropshipping product is great, but you are probably now asking yourself how to know what to dropship.
To find out what to dropship, you will need to find a product that matches as many of the characteristics mentioned in this article. But that's not all, for the highest chance of success, you should also consider the competition you will face and think about which supplier will be the best for your business.
Let me explain this in a bit more detail.
The characteristics we discussed above make sure that the product itself has everything it needs to be successful.
Due to the fact that the product can have a "wow factor", solve a problem, have a high perceived value and quality, and isn't available in most stores, it becomes tempting for people to buy it.
However, you will also need to set up everything around the product correctly for your dropshipping business to be profitable.
For instance, you will need a good dropshipping supplier for the product you will be selling. That means working with a supplier that offers excellent shipping times and support.
So, now that you know what you should look out for, let me tell you where you can find new ideas for dropshipping products to sell:
The 4 best product research tools for beginners
Finding a good dropshipping product is generally considered to be pretty hard.
Luckily there are several tools available to make finding a great product a lot easier!
These tools collect many popular dropshipping products, which allows you to get new product ideas and inspiration!
Let's take a look at some of the best product research tools:
1. Sell The Trend
Let's start this list with our personal favorite out of all the product research tools we tried, Sell The Trend.
If you paid attention, you have already seen some product examples coming from Sell The Trend in this article.
Sell The Trend is a relatively new product research tool that comes with many mind-blowing features.
For instance, one of our favorite features they offer is called "The Nexus". In The Nexus, you will be able to find a lot (like really A LOT) of items:
After finding a product that seems interesting, you can click on it, after which Sell The Trend will show you a lot of information about that product.
For example, you will be able to see a graph for each product that contains information about how many orders the product has over time.
The best products will have a graph that is trending up. For example, take a look at this product:
Sell The Trend will surely help you to get a lot of inspiration for things like products to sell, Facebook Ads examples, and dropshipping store examples!
To be able to use Sell The Trend, you will have to pay a subscription fee of $39.97 per month. However, the great news is that you can get a free 7-day trial here!
If you are not 100% convinced yet, take a look at our in-depth review of Sell The Trend here!
2. Dropship
Dropship is a product research tool that helps you find amazing products for your dropshipping store.
It was founded in 2020 by two brothers who recognized store owners had a hard time finding good products to sell.
Dropship offers many useful features, like a Product Database containing millions of products from other ecommerce stores.
And that's not all. Every week on Monday at 12 PM EST, Dropship will add 40 potentially winning products to your portfolio.
And those aren't just any random products from the database.
The products that appear in your portfolio are picked by an advanced algorithm and then manually screened by a team of specialists.
And that's not all! Each product comes with a variety of helpful information, including:
- The product and shipping costs.
- A product description.
- The benefits and drawbacks.
- The saturation level.
- A list of competitors.
- Facebook and TikTok content.
- And much more!
Doesn't that look amazing?
So, with all those great features, you're probably wondering what Dropship costs.
Well, let's dive straight into their three pricing plans:
Tip: You can try out Dropship for free using their 7-day free trial here!
3. Niche Scraper
The following product research tool is called Niche Scraper. It is trusted by many dropshippers to assist them with scanning and searching for winning products on AliExpress and other Shopify (dropshipping) stores.
On Niche Scraper, you will be able to find products that already proved themselves to sell well on other online stores.
Besides Niche Scraper's array of awesome features, many dropshippers choose to use this tool because there is a free version available of it.
Just like Sell The Trend, Niche Scraper can provide extensive data for winning products, such as previous sales numbers and an estimation of the amount of competition for the product.
Other features of Niche Scraper include the ability to easily create simple but unique ad videos and the possibility of generating Facebook interest targeting ideas.
Since Niche Scraper and Sell The Trend are fairly similar, it can be difficult to choose one. If you are curious right now to see which one fits with you, here is what we recommend:
If you are interested in Niche Scraper, then you can click here to create a free account, or you can check out our in-depth review of it here!
Tip: Still can't decide between Sell The Trend and Niche Scraper? If so, check out our Sell The Trend vs. Niche Scraper comparison article!
4. Thieve.co
Thieve is a product research tool that allows you to discover some of the best products on AliExpress.
The products you will find on the platform are hand-selected by a group of awesome creatives around the world, such as bloggers, photographers, designers, and more.
Thieve has always been a free product research tool, but they have now launched a (paid) dropshipping version as well.
This dropshipping version of the product research tool is called Thieve Supply.
Here is a sneak peek inside of Thieve Supply's dashboard:
As you can see, you will be able to discover all kinds of new dropshipping products. Thieve Supply also includes a pretty advanced filter, allowing you to sort the products on category, price, warehouse location, and more.
As I said, you will be able to use Thieve for free. The dropshipping version (Thieve Supply) will cost you $15 or $49 per month, depending on the plan you pick. Paying yearly is also an option, which can save you 20% off of the membership fees.
Note: If you feel like these three product research tools don't fit you, check out this article to learn about some more options!
4 Product research tips to help you find a winning dropshipping product
Finding a winning dropshipping product can be tricky, even when using one of the product research tools we covered above.
You may find so many products that you will feel like you are losing control and don't know how to choose one anymore out of all the options. Or, you may feel like there is not a single winning product in the search results!
In this section, we will give you some product research tips that will help you use a product research tool as effectively as possible.
1. Don't be afraid of scrolling through older products
Some people won't look at older dropshipping products because they think they will have no chance of selling them profitably.
The truth is that most products go through phases.
When a new winning dropshipping product comes into the market, many dropshippers will start selling it.
The competition will keep rising as more and more stores and advertisements are being built and created around the product.
At one point, a relatively large part of the target audience will have bought the product, and advertisements will begin showing signs of fatigue.
Due to this, the product's profitability will start to decrease, and fewer and fewer dropshipping stores will be selling it.
As a consequence, some older dropshipping products will become neglected. But that doesn't mean there is no audience for it.
Audiences for products are shifting all the time, as people obtain new interests and needs. This makes it entirely possible that an older dropshipping product could be profitable today!
For example, don't be afraid of trying to build a store around a dog toy that was popular two years ago. Around 2 million dogs are adopted each year, which means that the potential audience for your product is constantly getting "refreshed"!
2. Don't always believe or blindly use the product insights
Many product research tools will give you all kinds of information about a certain product. This may be information about the product's competition level, its optimal selling price, or its profit margin.
Take this information with a grain of salt because it's almost impossible for a product research tool to track every store, supplier, and order for all the products that they show.
Let me give you an example of this by showing a product example from Sell The Trend:
The statistics on here should only be used as a reference. You can't be sure that this product has received this many orders and sales on all dropshipping stores. It may be more, or it may be less.
Sometimes, the information is completely false. In this example, this is the case with the product cost of $0.26. After finding this product on AliExpress, you will see that the product cost including shipping is at least $10.
Lastly, the given selling price is rarely the best selling price for the product.
In order to set a selling price that will maximize your profitability, you need a pricing strategy.
By using a pricing strategy, you will determine the best selling price for your product based on factors like the product's perceived value, your audience, and the product costs.
To learn more about developing and using your own pricing strategy, check out our complete guide here!
3. Keep potential seasonality effects in mind
You need to keep in mind that some products only sell well in a certain season.
For example, a swimming pool toy may be easy to sell in the summer, but few people will buy it during the winter.
This could also be the case for products related to certain holidays. For instance, Christmas products will be the easiest to sell around Christmas. The same goes for Halloween products, which will receive the most demand before Halloween.
The point here is that you may have found some winning characteristics in a product you saw, but you must also think about the time of the year and the location of the audience you are planning to target.
When choosing to sell a product subjected to seasonality, you will also need to keep in mind that the product won't be easy to sell year-round, and you will probably need to switch to different products throughout the year.
A great tool to gauge interest in a particular product or niche is Google Trends. Learn more about using it for dropshipping in this article!
4. Take a look at stores that are already selling the product
When searching for a new product to dropship, you will automatically start thinking about the ways you could sell it.
You could think about the different marketing angles you could use, which complementary products to sell, or which product images to use.
However, for some products, it's difficult to imagine how they will look inside of your dropshipping store.
In this case, it's great to take a look at other stores and see how they are selling it!
Many product research tools will include links to other stores that are selling the product you are looking at. For example, here is how it looks on Sell The Trend:
3 Examples of a winning dropshipping product for beginners
We have now told you pretty much all information you need to choose what to dropship.
However, sometimes it's even easier when you see someone else doing it first.
This is why I'm going to show you three winning dropshipping products next!
I have found these products on the product research tool Sell The Trend, but I won't just show a screenshot of them and call it a day. For each product, I will point out some reasons why I think it could be a winning dropshipping product.
Let's start!
1. Bathroom dog brush
Products in the pet niche are often well suited for dropshipping.
This bathroom dog brush comes with a compartment for shampoo, allowing you to clean your dog super easily!
Dog owners will know that keeping their dogs clean can be a hassle. Luckily, this product can help solve that problem.
What's more, Sell The Trend shows that the orders trend is constantly going upwards in a continuous line, which is a great sign that the product is selling well for other stores!
2. Auto face tracking tripod
Remember when we told you about the reaction you could get when looking at a product with a "wow factor"?
Often, you will think something along the lines of: “What? I have never seen that before! That’s awesome!”
Well, that's exactly what I thought when I saw this face tracking tripod!
It allows you to place your phone on it, and it will track your face 360 degrees while you are filming yourself. Perfect during Facetime or vlogging!
3. Pet sprinkler pad
Let's end with another product from the pet niche, the pet sprinkler pad!
This product definitely features some characteristics of a winning dropshipping product.
First of all, it has a "wow factor" for people who haven't seen something like this before.
Secondly, it is problem-solving. The sprinkler pad can be used as a cooling mat for both pets and kids in the summer. I can imagine that the water sprinklers will provide a refreshing cooling effect, as well as a lot of fun!
And lastly, it could have a good profit margin. I'm guessing it could easily be sold for $40, maybe even as high as $50!
How do you find a good supplier for your dropshipping product?
You now know everything you need to find a good dropshipping product. But once you have found one, how do you find the best supplier for it?
Finding a dropshipping supplier isn't hard. There is an abundance of suppliers offering their products on the internet.
Most product research tools will include links to AliExpress suppliers, but there are many more platforms out there. To give you an idea, we have collected over 90 dropshipping suppliers in this article!
What is hard tough is finding a good dropshipping supplier that suits your business and product.
The best way to find a good supplier for your dropshipping product is to determine some requirements for yourself. You should decide where you want to sell your products, which supplier traits you value the most, and what you are willing to spend on a supplier. After that, you will be able to find a dropshipping supplier who meets those criteria.
If that sounded a bit short, let me explain it in some more detail.
First, you should decide where you want to sell your product. Are your customers in the United States? Australia? Europe?
If you don't know this yet, take a look at our list of the 10 best countries to target as a dropshipper.
Next up, decide which of the following suppliers you prefer:
- A supplier with cheap products, but slow delivery times
- A supplier with fast delivery times and good customer service, but more expensive products
Chinese suppliers will often correspond to the first choice, while suppliers in the US or Europe will fit in the second option.
Lastly, you should take a look at your budget to see if you can afford to work with a paid dropshipping supplier. Often, these suppliers will have better customer service and more convenient options to connect them to your store.
Once you know these three things, you will be in a much better position to choose a supplier out of our large list of 90+ dropshipping suppliers.
Another thing that will help you to spot a good dropshipping supplier is studying our list of eight indicators. Check them out in this article!
Conclusion
After reading this article, you should be able to go ahead and choose an awesome product to dropship.
You will know what characteristics to look out for when scrolling through products, which tools to use for finding new product ideas, and even where to find good dropshipping suppliers for the products you end up choosing!
Also, when using a product research tool:
- Don't forget to check out the older products
- Don't always believe or blindly use the product insights
- Keep the seasonality effects in mind
- And take a look at other stores selling the product!
If you still come across any hurdle that I didn't discuss while choosing what to dropship, then let me know about it in the comments.
Plus, don't forget to check out this article here, which will go over when you should stop dropshipping a product.
Good luck with finding a winning dropshipping product!
Getting Started with Dropshipping in 2024
So, are you ready to get started with dropshipping? Or maybe you have already started, but you’re looking to get some inspiration?
If so, then I suggest reading this complete Shopify dropshipping guide.
It’s a huge article, but it contains everything that you need to know to create your own Shopify dropshipping store in 2024. It’s like a dropshipping course, but then for free!
Reading this article will surely help you to get started and to stay motivated while beginning and continuing your dropshipping journey.
Just don’t forget that success takes time. Keep improving each and every day!
Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store
And here are the articles I suggest you read next:
- 11 Things to Consider Before Picking a Dropshipping Agent
- The 25 Best Dropshipping Niche Ideas for Your Store in 2024
- The 7 Best Payment Gateways for Dropshipping Stores in 2024
And also, if you didn’t create a Shopify account yet (to get your dropshipping store online), then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!
