Product Research (Wholesale & Private Label)
Product research is a filtering job, not a discovery job. There is no hidden product nobody has found. What exists is a small set of products where the demand is real, the competition is beatable and the numbers still work after every fee — and a very large set where one of those three fails.
We do the filtering, and we show you the failures as well as the shortlist, so you can see what was rejected and why.
The four filters
Every candidate goes through the same sequence. Most products die at the third.
Demand that is real
AND STABLE
Not a spike, not a seasonal peak read as a trend, not a category inflated by one dominant listing. We look at demand across a long enough window to tell the difference.
Stable mid-volume demand beats a high-volume category with erratic history almost every time.
Competition you can enter
THE HONEST TEST
Review counts, review velocity, Buy Box rotation, how many sellers hold stock, and whether the top listings are actually beatable or simply entrenched.
A category with three listings at 12,000 reviews each is not a gap. It is a wall.
Numbers that survive the fees
LANDED COST MODELLING
Cost of goods, freight, duty, prep, FBA fees, referral fees, storage, returns, and the advertising spend a launch actually needs. Margin calculated before all of that is fiction.
We model it fully and show the working, so you can change an assumption and see what happens.
Risk you can live with
WHAT KILLS ACCOUNTS
Restricted categories, IP and design registrations, hazmat and battery rules, fragility and return rates, oversize tipping points, and compliance requirements like UKCA, CE or EPR.
A product that clears every commercial test and fails here is not a near-miss, it is a no.
Wholesale research and private label research are different jobs
For wholesale, the question is which of the brands you are approved to sell has lines worth buying: sell-through rate, seller count, Buy Box share, price stability and how quickly your capital comes back. Margin matters less than turn.
For private label, the question is whether there is a defensible position in a category you can enter — an unmet complaint pattern in competitor reviews, a size or bundle nobody serves, a design that can be improved rather than copied. This is a longer and more expensive process, and we are direct about that before you commit to it.
What you receive
- A shortlist with full working, not just a verdict
- Landed cost and margin model per candidate
- Competitive landscape and entry assessment
- Supplier or distributor routes where identified
- Compliance and restriction flags
- The rejected list, with the reason for each
The rejected list is not padding. Knowing why forty products failed tells you more about your category than knowing that four passed, and it stops you re-examining the same products next quarter.
How we work
Set the brief
Budget per line, capital available, risk tolerance, categories you will not touch, marketplace, and whether the goal is fast turn or higher margin. A brief this specific is what makes the output usable.
Screen wide, then narrow
We start from a broad pool — approved brands and distributor catalogues for wholesale, category and keyword scanning for private label — and cut hard against the four filters.
Model the shortlist properly
Every surviving candidate gets a full landed cost model and a competitive read. This is the slow part and the part worth paying for.
Hand over and decide
We walk you through the shortlist, including what we are unsure about. You decide what to buy. If nothing on the list is good enough, we say that rather than dressing up a weak candidate.
What we will not tell you
We will not give you a guaranteed monthly profit figure for a product, because that number depends on your buying price, your advertising and your competitors' behaviour after you enter. Projections we provide are modelled ranges with the assumptions visible, and you should treat any agency's single-number forecast with suspicion.
Common questions
Do you source the supplier as well?
For wholesale, yes — identifying the brand or authorised distributor and approaching them is part of the same workstream, covered in more depth under ungating and brand approval. For private label we identify manufacturer routes and support the vetting, but the supplier relationship stays yours.
How many products will you find?
It depends entirely on your brief and your approvals. A tight budget in a competitive category may yield two viable lines from sixty screened. We would rather hand you two good ones than pad a list to look productive.
Can you research a product I have already picked?
Yes, and it is often the more useful engagement. We validate it against the same four filters and tell you plainly whether the numbers hold — including when the answer is no.
Do you use tools like Keepa and Helium 10?
Yes, alongside Amazon's own data and distributor catalogues. Tools narrow the field quickly, but they also mislead on fees, seasonality and competition depth, so nothing goes on a shortlist without being checked by hand.
Is this a one-off or ongoing?
Both. Wholesale accounts usually want it running continuously as new brand approvals come through. Private label is normally a defined project per launch.
Get a second opinion before you buy
Send us your storefront link or the products you are considering. The free audit comes back as a video covering what we would check and where the risk sits.