Invested 4 million but got stuck! Amazon sellers were screwed by the hot selling product

Stress relief toys are extremely popular in the United States, and are likely to surpass fidget spinners. A post-90s entrepreneur who specializes in this type of product has an annual revenue of up to 15 million! However, stress relief toys also have a high risk of infringement. It is difficult to catch up with hot products, so you need to be cautious when entering the market!

At the same time, some sellers have recently fallen into the trap of two other hot-selling products - epidemic prevention card holders and barbecue grills. After investing 4 million yuan, they were unable to sell the goods and were stuck, ultimately ending up with a mess.

Sellers clear out the anti-epidemic card sets at low prices

Due to the epidemic, Vaccination card protectors dominate the Amazon hot-selling list. Currently, in the office supplies category of Amazon, Vaccination card protectors still dominate the index archive product sales list, with considerable sales.

At the end of March this year , the popularity of epidemic prevention card holders soared, and many sellers caught onto this hot item. In addition, the threshold and cost were low, so some people seized the opportunity and rushed into the market.

In mid-April, the popularity of Google searches for vaccine card holders in the United States reached its peak; in early May, the search popularity of Vaccine Card Protector and Vaccine Card Holder both rose to 100, and the search volume for vaccine card holder amazon, covid vaccine card holder, and vaccine card holder walmart also soared. The popularity of the product then declined, and what happened next once again verified that "it's hard to chase hot spots, so you still have to dig deep into your own category."

A seller recently shared this failed product selection case. Because he could not resist the temptation, he stepped into the trap of epidemic prevention card sets, and now he is clearing out the stock at a low price. The seller in question analyzed that there is indeed a demand for epidemic prevention card sets, but the problem is that too many sellers have flocked in at the same time, resulting in 90% of the sellers having to end up in a hurry.

One operator was helpless: "The boss placed an order for 100,000 units." Another seller was even more bitter: "I still have 200,000 units that I can't handle. I have never been so stupid. I simply can't do this anymore."

Sellers analyzed that the price war started as soon as the anti-epidemic card sets were launched. The entire industry can see it by searching the basic plug-in. For this kind of product, you still need to make a prediction in advance. For example, if you see someone selling a set of 5 for $10 and enjoying super high profits, if you want to develop it at this time, you must be prepared for the price war to start when more sellers come in the future. You can directly develop a set of 20 and promote it at a reasonable profit price.

Based on this lesson, the seller in question concluded: If you encounter the following types of products in the future, remember to be vigilant and don’t act impulsively! Sellers who are not in the first batch will basically suffer a loss:

1. Products with a sharp increase in demand

2. The initial profit is considerable

3. No threshold

4. Exposed too quickly, dominating the charts

5. Demand cannot be sustained for a long time

6. No upgrades and too much differentiation

Sellers can refer to this when selecting products. In addition, another hot-selling product, barbecue grills, is also stuck in the quagmire.

The seller invested 4 million to make a barbecue grill but was trapped

Recently, a seller in the industry received the following request for help from a peer:

Last year, I opened a US section on Amazon to sell party supplies, such as barbecue grills. I made a little money last year, so I invested 4 million this year and have shipped the goods to the US warehouse. Now I can't sell them and am stuck. Is there any way to remedy this? Isn't the outdoor category very popular now? Why can't I sell barbecue grills?

This level of stocking has surprised many sellers who have been immersed in Amazon for many years. One of them said with emotion: "I started last year, and I dared to invest 4 million this year. I don't take the top sellers in this category seriously at all. I am really ignorant and fearless. In the US site, it is already difficult to squeeze into the barbecue-related product category. I have a barbecue hood, and it took me several years to get a little ranking and traffic."

Why are barbecue grills not selling anymore?

First of all, barbecue supplies are not consumables and only need to be purchased once every few years; secondly, the most popular outdoor item last year was the Firepit (barbecue grill), and barbecue grills sold very averagely. Americans are used to using American barbecue grills. If Chinese barbecue grills are stocked, the only target audience will be Chinese people.

What should be done with the goods piled up in the US warehouse? Sellers suggested that low prices, off-site sales, outlets, bulk clearance, etc. can all be used, and they can even be cleared during the Member Day promotion. "Otherwise, they will be rotten after July." said a seller.

Sellers have their own procedures for selecting products. Sufficient market research and trend judgment of popular products in the early stage are compulsory courses. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into traps if they blindly chase hot spots or spend a lot of money to stock up.

In addition to the above two products , the recent hot-selling decompression toys have also caused some sellers to fall into traps.

Stress relief toys are a hot item in the US, with 95% of sales coming from Chinese sellers

Recently, CCTV.com paid attention to the popular decompression toys in the United States, and said that this Chinese-made product has become a hit in the United States. One of the decompression toys is a hot seller on the Amazon platform, and the top 95% of the sales volume on the entire platform is occupied by Chinese sellers.

One of the sellers born in the 1990s from Shenzhen said that his shop mainly sells stress relief toys, which account for about 70% of sales, and sales have increased by 20%-30% recently. Last year, the company's revenue reached 15 million, and this year it is expected to double. It must be said that Chinese manufacturing and Chinese sellers are awesome!

The seller further introduced that since December last year , several decompression toys have been very popular in the United States and Europe. They have long been ranked in the top ten of major sales charts, and this data has increased recently. The seller has registered a patent for this type of toy in Europe and has jointly developed it with upstream suppliers, releasing an average of one new model per week.

Currently, this type of product is at the top of the sales and rising list on Amazon US, and one of the most popular products is Pop It. According to Google Trends search popularity, the popularity of Pop It and fidget toys continues to soar.

On the Amazon platform, decompression toys are selling like hot cakes. Sellers on Amazon describe this type of product as suitable for people of all ages. Many people give high praise to the product after purchasing it. One seller left a comment: "My daughter is clamoring to buy it. She loves this toy so much!"

Decompression toy products mainly include tangles, fidget pea pods, marble mesh, silicone poppers, squishy balls, etc. The range of products is constantly expanding, and toy sellers can use their imagination to create novel and fun product types.

Social media has contributed greatly to the popularity of this wave of de-stressing toys. A user on TikTok opened an account dedicated to sharing de-stressing toys in February this year. By April, she had accumulated more than 680,000 followers and received 9.3 million likes.

It was also from April this year that decompression toys entered a period of rapid growth. There were dedicated sharing accounts for "fidget toys" on major social media, and the number of fans of these accounts was growing rapidly, which also confirmed that the attention and demand for this type of toys are constantly increasing.

Seeing the popularity of the product, many fellow sellers are eager to try it. One seller said that he was a little panicked. He recently looked at the ABA (Amazon backend brand analysis function) ranking and purchased some pop it that ranked first.

It is worth noting that this type of product has a high risk of infringement, and sellers need to enter the market with caution.

Warning of high infringement risk for popular products, cross-border sellers should be careful

A seller recently shared his experience: He was a pioneer in rodent control in the toy category. He had previously made a product that used the keyword pop it and was complained about, resulting in the link being removed from the shelves. He later made a new product that avoided this keyword, but still received complaints, indicating copyright infringement. The seller believed that he was being spoofed by his peers.

In fact, this type of hot-selling rat exterminator does infringe copyright, and some sellers have already been affected. One seller received a complaint email.

According to relevant information, Foxmind has complained about the special type of Rat Killer on the European site . The complainant is Redpoints, but the initiator is not Foxmind, but an agency that specializes in helping others file complaints and protect their rights. The type of infringement reported is copyright infringement, and this type of product has also been complained about trademark infringement before.

The style of the product being complained about for infringement is not the round and square shape of FoxMind's original product, but a special unicorn shape. This shape can also be caught, which also shows that FoxMind's complaints are no longer limited to product styles.

Hot-selling products have their own moat, so sellers who blindly follow hot topics need to be cautious.

Amazon, hot sellers