Sales Rank Matters!
You care about Sales Rank. Items with a killer Sales Rank can be huge moneymakers for your business. But they can also be a total bust. Why? Because an item’s SR at any given moment isn’t indicative of of its potential future performance.
You need to look at an item’s historical Sales Rank to get the full picture. An item’s SR history tells a story.
You may find that an item with a great SR is actually a very slow seller that just had 2 sales in a short period of time. Or you may find that an item with a terrible SR is actually a hot item every Valentine’s Day and will start selling again soon.
We’ve identified 5 of the most common Sales Rank trends. Keep reading to find out what they are, and how looking for them can help make your business more profitable.
What is Sales Rank?
Items in the Amazon catalog are assigned a Sales Rank. Sales Rank fluctuates over time and allows you to compare an item to other items in the same category. You can see an item’s Sales Rank under Product Details:
The lower an item’s Sales Ranks, the better. Think of it like college football rankings, #1 is ranked higher than #25.
Be aware that there are Sales Ranks for sub-categories. While these can be very useful as well, here we’ll be focusing on an item’s Sales Rank in it’s main category.
Remember that since different categories have different numbers of items, you can’t compare Sales Rank for items in different categories. Compare books to books and toys to toys, not toys to books.
The Seasonal
The Seasonal is an item that’s only popular during a given time of year or on a predictable cycle.
After a period of high sales, it quickly drops to the bottom of the pile, only to come back again in the future. Recognizing seasonal items is easy if you have their history.
Look for deep valleys and high peaks on a regular cycle. If you’re buying a Seasonal item, you want to make your purchase before the boom begins, not as it’s ending.
The Steady
Items with a steady Sales Rank are the bread and butter of successful Amazon businesses.
The Steady is an item that consistent stream of sales that you can count on. You likely won’t be the only seller on a Steady item. But when purchased at the right price and in volume, you can turn Steady items into steady profits.
Don’t forget that if you can win even a fraction of a Steady item’s sales, you’ll be earning more than if you have all the sales for an item with a consistently low Sales Rank.
When looking at historical Sales Rank, Steady items have very few deep valleys and few high peaks. Instead their sales rank stays relatively flat over time.
What’s Next?
Check back next week, when we’ll look at the Sales Rank shapes to avoid and more!