Evaluating Competition and Demand for Your Product Ideas

6. 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.

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).

Analyzing Top Competitors and Demand on Amazon

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).

1. Check the Top Sellers' Performance

• 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

• 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. Can I Make a Better Product? 

• 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

• 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.

• 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

• 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).

• 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

• 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).

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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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).

Compiling and Using Research Data

• 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.

• 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.

• 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).

• 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.

Creating and using the Etsy Revenue Calculator 

• 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.

Conclusion

• 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.