To sum up:
The 3 essential sources: advertising spying with Copyfy, marketplaces (Amazon, AliExpress) and social networks (TikTok, Instagram)
Criteria for a profitable product: price between 50-80€, gross margin 60-70% (coefficient x4 to x5), solves a concrete problem, rising trend
Mandatory validation: search volume >500/month, uptrend, some competitors active in advertising, traffic from leaders >100k per month
Niches that are a hit: beauty and well-being, animal products, health and fitness, eco-friendly
The fatal error: start without testing yourself = losing money. ALWAYS order a sample before selling
Do you want to launch your online store but you don't know what product to sell? Do you spend hours scrolling through AliExpress without knowing if your idea will really work? We understand you perfectly. The success of an e-commerce store does not depend on your website or logo, but on the product you choose to sell.
The truth is that 80% of dropshipping failures come from the wrong product choice. Many get started by blindly copying what they see on TikTok, without validating real demand, competition, or margins. Result? Hundreds of euros lost in advertising for nothing.
In this guide, we share with you a concrete, tested and proven method for finding winning products in 2025. You will discover the tools used by professionals, the precise criteria for a profitable product, and how to validate your idea before investing a euro.
What do we mean by “product research” in e-commerce?
Product research is the process that allows you to identify products that have real sales potential before offering them in your store. It is the difference between having a simple idea and having a validated product that will generate sales.
Many people confuse “having a product idea” with “having a winning product.” One idea is, “I think this yoga mat could be liked.” A validated product is “I have verified that there are 5,000 searches per month, 10 competitors advertising on it, and a margin of 40%”.
The complete product research cycle is divided into 4 steps:
- Ideation : find product ideas through various sources
- Validation : check that there is demand and that it is profitable
- Test : launch a first campaign to measure real interest
- Launch : scale what works
The classic mistake? Jump directly from idea to launch without going through validation. It's the best way to lose money fast.
The main ways to find a product for sale:
1. Spy on successful ads, the best method!
If a store has been spending money advertising for several weeks on a product, it is because it is profitable. Point. Nobody pays to advertise a product that doesn't sell.
Ad espionage tools allow you to see exactly what is working with your competitors:
- Use specialized tools like Minea or Dropispy. They're effective, but often require separate subscriptions, which increases your fixed costs before you've even made a sale.
- Use an integrated platform.
That's why we have integrated an advertising espionage tool directly into Copyfy. The objective is to centralize your search: you detect a winning advertisement, you analyze the competing store, and you find the supplier... all in the same place, without multiplying subscriptions.
How do I use Copyfy?
- Filter by engagement (comments + shares)
- Watch the ads that have been running since more than 30 days (sign of profitability)
- Analyze the video format, script, marketing angles
- Note the products that come back regularly
Chez Copyfy, we have directly integrated a high-performance advertising espionage tool so that you can detect winning ads in a few clicks, without multiplying subscriptions.
2. Observe trends
Trends are your best allies in identifying fast-growing products. The objective? Catching a wave before it becomes a tsunami of competition. It is crucial to determine whether your product or the niche in general is growing or progressing stably.
Use these tools to detect rising trends:
- Google Trends : you type in a keyword (ex: “facial cleansing brush”) and you see if the curve has increased over the last 3-6 months. If it's stable or up, that's a good sign.
- TikTok Creative Center : this free tool shows you which videos and hashtags are exploding right now. It's a gold mine for detecting what's going to go viral.
- Pinterest Trends : Pinterest is 3 to 6 months ahead of other platforms. What's trending on Pinterest today will be trending on Instagram and TikTok tomorrow.
Practical advice: always filter by country (France, Belgium, Switzerland) and look at seasonality. A product that rises in October may be linked to the end of the year holidays, be careful not to launch too late.
3. Explore marketplaces
Marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy or AliExpress are living databases of what is being sold actually. No theory here, only concrete figures.
Here's how to use them:
On Amazon:
- Go to the “Best Sellers” section of your category
- Look at the products with over 1,000 reviews and rate those whose reviews are increasing rapidly (a sign of recent sales)
- Analyze the average prices: between €40 and €80, this is the ideal zone for dropshipping
On AliExpress:
- Use the “Dropshipping Center” (space dedicated to dropshippers)
- Filter by “Orders” and sort in descending order
- A product with +1,000 orders and shipping from Europe is a good candidate
On Etsy:
- Look for handmade or niche products
- If you see few competitors but a lot of sales, it's a jackpot
4. Validate the request with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) tools
Trends and ads are good. But Are people really looking for this product on Google? That's where SEO tools come in. Very useful in case you want to advertise on Google Ads and place yourself at the top of the search results organically.
What to check:
- The monthly search volume (how many people are looking for this product)
- La SEO difficulty (is it easy or difficult to position yourself)
- Les related keywords (to understand specific needs)
The tools to use:
- Ubersuggest (free, perfect for getting started)
- AnswerThePublic (to see what questions people are asking)
- Ahrefs or Semrush (more professional, but not free)
- SEObserver (to monitor your site and those of your competitors on each keyword)
Concrete example:You find the product “anti-stress collar for dogs”
- Search volume: 2 400/month
- SEO difficulty: low (20/100)
- Related keywords: “calming dog collar”, “pheromone necklace”
It's a great signal! There is demand, little competition, and variations to be exploited.
5. Find products on social networks
Social networks have become real gold mines for product research. What goes viral on TikTok can generate tens of thousands of euros in a few weeks.
Where to look?
- TikTok : hashtags #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, #AmazonFinds, #MustHave
- Instagram Reels : follow the curation accounts produced
- YouTube Shorts : unboxings and product tests are a hit
Social Commerce (buy directly on platforms) exploded in 2025. The products that are buzzing on TikTok Shop or Instagram Shopping are often bombs for classic dropshipping.
The different criteria for a good product
Now that you know where to look, you still need to know What to look for. Not all products are created equal. Here are the criteria that make the difference between a flop and a success.
Economic criteria
Ideal selling price: between €40 and €200
- Below €40, your margin will be too low to make advertising profitable
- Above €200, you will have a hard time convincing on an impulse purchase
- The sweet spot? Between 50€ and 80€
Target gross margin: 60-70% (coefficient x4 to x5)
This is THE golden rule that most newbies don't know. You should aim for a multiplier of 4 to 5 times your total purchase cost
Simple formula:
Gross margin = (Selling Price - Buying Cost - Shipping)/Selling Price × 100
With an 80% margin, you can spend up to 30-40% on advertising and remain profitable. That's what allows you to scale.
Why is it so important? Without this margin, you will never be able to invest enough in advertising to get your store off the ground. A margin of less than 60% makes profitability very difficult to achieve, especially at the beginning when you are optimizing your campaigns.
ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) to aim for: For cold traffic (new visitors), aim for a minimum ROAS of 1.3, i.e. each euro invested in advertising must bring you at least €1.30 in turnover. With the margins recommended above, you remain profitable even in the test phase.
Market criteria
A winning product should check these boxes:
Solves a concrete problem (not just “it's pretty”)
Unique or differentiable (you can create a specific marketing angle
Rising trend (not a saturated or declining market)
Scalable : each euro invested must be able to bring in more than it costs, with a broad audience potential (minimum 500,000 targetable people)
Fast Time to Market : you must be able to position yourself quickly on the market before the competition becomes too dense
Fast delivery possible (ideally from Europe for returns and customer satisfaction)
No legal restrictions (attention to CE standards, electrical products, etc.)
Visual appeal (the product sells well in video/photo)
The criterion that everyone forgets: the ease of creating content. If your product is not “Instagrammable” or difficult to stage, you will struggle with advertising.
Validation of market potential, two key metrics to take into account:
1. Monthly search volume
- Minimum: 500 searches/month on the main keyword
- Ideal: 2,000-10,000 searches/month
- Tool: Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner
2. Traffic from competing stores
- Target a market where leaders make 100,000 to 200,000 visitors/month minimum
- This is the sign of a market with real financial potential
- Tool: Copyfy
Why is it important? A product may have few Google searches but a lot of sales via social networks. Conversely, a product that is highly searched for on Google may not convert. Analyze both metrics to get a complete picture.
List of profitable niches to use in 2025 and beyond:
Some niches perform better than others. Here are the ones that are trending right now and will continue to explode in 2025 and beyond:
Why do these niches work?
- They meet real and daily needs.
- The products are simple to understand and to present
- There is a high potential for viral content (transformations, before and after)
- The target is broad and accessible in advertising
The beauty and wellness niche remains the most accessible for beginners: high demand, comfortable margins, and young women (18-35) are very active online and buy easily. Be careful though with this niche, a lot of products have been over-used and you will have to be very inventive about your commercial approach to convince your potential customers, use new marketing angles in order to differentiate yourself from the crowd!
How do I validate a product before launching it?
Found an idea that you like? Perfect. Now, don't get started right away. Validation is the step that will save you hundreds (or even thousands) of euros.
Here is the 6-step process:
1. Define the problem solved AND understand the psychology of the customer
Ask yourself this question: “What concrete problem does this product solve?”
If you can't answer clearly in one sentence, give up. Gadget products with no clear purpose no longer work in 2025.
“Why would my customers buy NOW?” Understanding the deep motivations, emotions, fears, and desires of your target audience is more important than product characteristics.
Pro tip: Infiltrate Facebook groups in your niche, read comments on competing pages, analyze Amazon reviews. What is it that frustrates people? What do they love? That's where the real selling points are.
Working on human psychology will allow you to anticipate buying behaviors and align the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
2. Study the demand using keywords
Use Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner:
- Minimum volume: 500 searches/month
- Ideal: 2,000-10,000 searches/month
- Trend: stable or increasing
3. Check the competition
Competition is NEEDED. If no one is selling this product, that is a bad sign (no demand or logistical problem).
Take a look:
- How many stores sell it?
- How long have they been advertising?
- What are their marketing angles?
- Their monthly traffic?
The sweet spot: 5 to 15 competitors active in advertising (proof that it works, but not saturated).
4. Order a sample
NEVER sell a product that you have not tested yourself. That is the golden rule.
Order 1 or 2 samples for:
- Check the actual quality
- Test the delivery time
- Take authentic photos/videos or use artificial intelligence
- Understand the product intimately: handle it, test it, have it tested by those around you
- Identify the strengths to highlight in your communication
A poor quality product will destroy your reputation and your conversion rates. Quality is what makes the difference between a short-term business and a sustainable brand.
💡 To go further: Discover our complete guide to e-commerce sourcing and logistics to learn how to find the best suppliers, negotiate prices and optimize your delivery times.
5. Launch of advertising tests
The reality: You need a minimum budget of €500 for a first test (ideally 2000-3000€ in total to have really reliable data and to be able to test several products and creatives).
Why? Because:
- You have to test several creatives (3-5 videos minimum)
- Let the algorithm learn (Facebook/TikTok learning phase)
- Have enough data to make a decision
Test process:
- Create 3-5 videos with different angles</u> (use AI or your smartphone)
- Broad target (general interests)
- Let it run for 3-7 days minimum
- Measures CTR (click through rate), CPM, and especially ROAS
Objectives to be achieved:
- ROAS > 1.3 for cold traffic = good signal
- CTR > 2% = the audience is interested
- CPM < 15€ = your targeting is relevant
- A few additions to the basket = validation of interest
Important: Only test one variable at a time. If you change the product, the creative AND the targeting at the same time, you will never know what worked and what didn't.
6. Measure real interest and iterate
Analyze your test data:
- How many clicks to the product page?
- How many additions to the basket?
- How many purchases?
- What comments under the ad?
- What creative angle performed best?
Attention: a winning product is never set in stone. You must constantly test new angles, improve your offer, refine your product page based on customer feedback. E-commerce is about permanent optimization.
The various mistakes to avoid
We have supported thousands of e-retailers at Copyfy. Here are the mistakes we see again and again:
Mistake #1: Not testing before investing
Have you found a product that you think is perfect? Great. But Your first 50 euros in advertising will tell you if you are right or wrong. Do not order 500 units until you have validated with real sales.
Mistake #2: Underestimating the real costs
Many people calculate: “I sell €50, I buy €10, I make a €40 margin.”
Wrong Here are the real costs:
- Product: 10€
- Shipping: 5€
- Advertising: 20-30€ (on average)
- Platform fees (Shopify, etc.): €1
- Payment fees (Stripe, PayPal): €2
- Returns/after-sales service: 2-3 €
Real margin: 7-13 € on a sale at 50€
Never forget that in your calculations.
That's why you should aim for margins of at least 60-80%. With a lower margin, you lose money on each sale, especially during the test phase.
Example with the right margins:
- Sales price: 75€
- Total cost (product + shipping): 15€
- Gross margin: €60 (80%)
- After all expenses: 25-35€ net margin
There, you have the margin to invest massively in advertising and scale calmly.
Mistake #3: Copying a saturated product
“I'm going to sell rings that change color, it works for everyone!”
Yes, it worked... 2 years ago. Now it's saturated. You will have to pay for your ads 3x more for 3x worse results.
Look for products that are in a growth phase, not in a phase of decline.
BUT BE CAREFUL: there are cases where “saturated” products still work very well by changing:
- The target audience (ex: a classic beauty product, repositioned for active moms)
- The marketing angle (ex: instead of talking about “losing weight”, talk about “regaining your energy”)
- The Time to Market : positioning yourself at the right time (back to school, holidays, summer) can bring a product back to life
Mistake #4: Forgetting customer differentiation and understanding
If you sell exactly the same thing as 50 other stores, why would we buy from you?
You need to have a different angle:
- Better content (photos, videos)
- A unique positioning (e.g. “special active moms”)
- A bundle or an exclusive offer
- A better customer experience
- A deep understanding of your customer : you know his problems, his frustrations, his desires better than anyone
The real difference is in the customer relationship and the quality of your offer, not just about the product itself.
Mistake #5: Neglecting the product sheet
You can have the best product in the world, if your product sheet sucks, you won't sell anything.
A good sheet contains:
- A clear title with the main benefit
- 5-7 professional photos (including at least 1 lifestyle)
- A demonstration video
- A profit-oriented description (not characteristics)
- Customer reviews (even if you're just starting out, find a way to get them)
The tools we recommend:
You don't need 15 tools. Here are the ones that are really worth it:
🔍 Product search:
- Copyfy (our all-in-one platform: ad espionage + store analysis + AI site generation)
- Exploding Topics (to detect emerging trends)
📊 Market validation:
- Google Trends (free, essential)
- Ubersuggest (for keywords, free version is enough)
- TikTok Creative Center (free, real-time trends)
📦 Sourcing:
- AutoDS the official Copyfy partner for your sourcing 30-day trial for $0.99
- Spocket (EU and USA suppliers, fast shipping)
- Zendrop (dropshipping automation)
- BigBuy (European wholesaler, pro quality)
🎨 Content creation:
- Canva (visual design, templates ready)
- CapCut (mobile/desktop video editing, free)
- Replicate or Runway (AI video generation to create ads quickly)
At Copyfy, we built the platform we would have liked to have had when we started: everything centralized, simple, and without breaking the bank in multiple subscriptions.
What you need to remember:
Product research is not magic. It is a method.
Remember the 5 pillars:
- Identifying trends (via tools, social networks, competing ads)
- Validate the request (keywords, search volume, competition)
- Have the right margins (minimum coefficient x4-x5, i.e. 60-80% of gross margin)
- Test quickly (mini advertising budget, product sample, results analysis)
- Understand Deeply your customer
The perfect product does not exist. What exists is the validated product that you will improve continuously thanks to customer feedback.
Now you have everything you need to find your first winning product. The most important thing? Take action today. Start by analyzing 3 products using the method in this guide. Write everything down in a file. Compare. Pick the best. Start a test.
Whoever acts fast and tests intelligently wins. Anyone who thinks for 6 months stays at the starting point.
Ready to find your product?
👉 Try Copyfy free for 5 days and access our winning product base + advertising espionage + AI store generation
