Quick answer: pick products you have actually used and can demonstrate on camera, then score each one on search demand, how many creator videos already sit on the product page, commission (including any Creator Connections campaign), product quality signals and availability. Film the highest scorers first, track what earns, and drop categories that never convert.
Product choice decides more about a shoppable video than lighting or editing ever will. A beautifully filmed video on a product nobody searches for earns nothing, while a plain, honest demo on a product shoppers look at every day can keep earning for months.
This guide lays out a repeatable way to choose. It fits inside the bigger workflow covered in our Amazon Influencer Program guide, which explains eligibility, storefronts and how commissions work. Here the focus is narrower: which products deserve your filming time, and in what order.
Start With Products You Can Honestly Show
Every product decision starts with one rule from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides say that when an endorsement suggests the endorser uses a product, the endorser must really have used it. Its plain-language page for creators, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers, repeats the point: do not talk about your experience with a product you have not tried.
For shoppable videos, that rules out filming items straight out of the box and describing how well they work. A product that arrived yesterday can be shown, measured and unboxed, but claims about durability, results or comfort need real use behind them.
Practical ways to build an honest pipeline:
- Film products you already own and use in daily life
- Use items for a set period before filming claims about performance
- Request samples through brand programs only for products you would actually use
- Keep notes while testing, so the video reflects what really happened
Products you know well also make better videos. Shoppers can tell the difference between someone reading features off a box and someone who knows where the lid sticks or which setting works best.
Check Search Demand Before You Film
A shoppable video earns when shoppers land on the product page and buy. Products that people already search for give a video a steady stream of potential viewers. Products with little traffic need you to send every visitor yourself.
On this site, demand comes first. My standing rule is to favor products with the best search volume, because a video on a busy product page simply gets seen more.
Free ways to judge demand without a paid tool:
Amazon search suggestions
Type the general product into the Amazon search bar and note the autocomplete suggestions. Suggestions reflect what shoppers commonly type, so they hint at which product types and features people want. A term that autocompletes quickly is usually a common search.
Best Sellers rank and ratings
Product pages list a Best Sellers Rank within categories. Amazon describes its Best Sellers lists as based on sales, so a strong rank is a reasonable proxy for steady buying. A large number of ratings also suggests a product that has sold for a while. Neither is a perfect signal, so treat them as hints, not guarantees.
Seasonality checks
Google Trends shows how interest in a search term rises and falls over the year. Space heaters, pool floats and holiday decor all have sharp seasons. Filming a seasonal product a few weeks before the peak gives the video time to be reviewed and posted before buyers arrive.
Look at the Competition on the Product Page
Demand alone can mislead. A popular product page may already have dozens of creator videos, and a new one may sit far down the carousel where few shoppers scroll.
Open the product page and look for the videos section. Count roughly how many creator videos are already there and how recent they are. Then sort products into three groups:
- Open pages: steady demand and few or no creator videos. These are often the best targets.
- Crowded pages: high demand and many videos. Worth filming only if you can show something the others miss, such as a size comparison, a specific use case or a real long-term follow-up.
- Quiet pages: few videos and little demand. Usually low priority, unless a Creator Connections campaign makes them worth the time.
Variations matter as well. Some product listings bundle many sizes or colors under one page, so a video may appear across all of them. Others list each variation separately. Check how the listing is built before you decide which version to film.
Weigh Commission and Creator Connections
Commission affects how much each sale is worth, and rates are not the same across categories. Amazon publishes its standard rates by product category in the Associates Program fee schedule, and some categories and products earn a reduced fee or none at all. Check that schedule before building a whole video series around one category.
Creator Connections can change the math. Through the program, brands run campaigns that pay participating creators an added commission on top of the standard rate for a set time. Our explainer on how Amazon Creator Connections campaigns work covers how to find and join them.
My own swap rule for campaigns is simple. A close substitute is fine as long as it is in a Creator Connections campaign, and among the options, pick the one with the highest commission and the strongest sales. A product with a slightly lower rate but far better sales often earns more in the end.
Keep commission in its place, though. A high rate on a product with no demand still earns nothing. Use commission to break ties between products with similar demand and competition.
Judge Product Quality Before Attaching Your Face to It
Shoppers trust video creators more than listing photos, and that trust is easy to lose. A product with obvious flaws can hurt your credibility, and returned items do not earn a commission under Amazon’s Associates terms.
Signals worth checking:
- The star rating and the mix of recent reviews, not just the average
- Repeated complaints about the same failure, such as broken hinges or peeling coatings
- Questions in the Customer questions section that reveal confusion about size or fit
- Whether the brand has a recall or safety notice in the news
- Whether the product photos match what you received
Some categories need extra care. Supplements, skin care with medical claims, children’s products and anything that touches food raise the bar for accuracy. Stick to what you observed and avoid health claims that a brand or regulator has not published.
Make Sure the Product Shows Well on Camera
Some products practically film themselves. Others look the same before and after use, which makes for a dull video.
Products with strong visual stories tend to share a few traits:
- A clear problem and a visible fix, like a stain remover or a cable organizer
- A size or fit question that a hands-on demo answers better than photos
- Several features that are hard to understand from a listing alone
- A satisfying motion, such as folding, pouring, cleaning or assembling
Products that rely on taste, smell or long-term results are harder to show. That does not rule them out, but plan how you will make the benefit visible, such as a side-by-side comparison or a clear explanation of what you noticed over weeks of use.
Phone filming is enough for most of these. Our guide to filming shoppable product videos with a phone covers lighting, framing and audio for a simple setup.
Confirm Availability and Listing Health
A video on an out-of-stock product earns nothing until the stock returns. Before filming, check that the product is in stock, sold or fulfilled by Amazon where possible, and offered with clear shipping. Listings with many sellers and unclear fulfillment can be harder to rely on.
Look at listing health too. Pages with thin descriptions, mismatched photos or many unanswered questions may be poorly managed, and those listings sometimes vanish or merge into other pages. A stable, well-maintained listing protects your work.
After posting, revisit the product page now and then. Stock changes, prices move and listings get updated. A short monthly check of your best performers keeps you from promoting something that has quietly disappeared.
Build a Simple Scoring Sheet
A scoring sheet turns all of this into a quick decision. Open a spreadsheet and add a row for each candidate product with these columns:
- Product name and ASIN
- Honest use: yes, in progress or no
- Demand score from 1 to 5, based on search suggestions, rank and ratings
- Competition score from 1 to 5, where 5 means few creator videos
- Commission score from 1 to 5, including any active Creator Connections campaign
- Quality score from 1 to 5, based on reviews and your own testing
- Camera score from 1 to 5, for how well the benefit shows on video
- Availability check: in stock and stable listing, yes or no
- Total score and filming date
Any product marked no for honest use or availability waits until that changes. Everything else gets a total, and the highest totals move to the top of the filming queue.
Here is how a made-up example would play out. Picture two kitchen gadgets. The first is a popular garlic press with steady demand, a page already full of creator videos and no campaign, so it scores high on demand but low on competition. The second is a silicone lid set with slightly lower demand, only two creator videos on the page and an active Creator Connections campaign. Even with less demand, the second product may earn a higher total and move up the queue. The numbers in your own sheet will differ, but the logic of weighing demand against crowding and commission stays the same.
The weights are up to you. A creator with limited filming time may double the demand score. Someone focused on brand campaigns may weight commission more heavily. Adjust the sheet once real results come in.
Track Results and Refine Your Picks
Picking products is a loop, not a one-time task. After a month or two, compare your scoring sheet with actual results in your Associates reports. Look for patterns:
- Categories that earn steadily versus ones that never convert
- Whether open pages outperform crowded ones for your style
- How seasonal products performed against your timing
- Which Creator Connections campaigns paid off
Those patterns will tell you more than any general advice. For a look at how one creator finds product ideas in practice, see this site’s walkthrough of finding winning products with Viral Vue.
Group related winners into themed collections on your storefront as well. Lists organized around a room, a routine or a problem make it easier for shoppers to browse more than one item. Our guide to Amazon storefront setup explains how to build them.
Frequently Asked Questions
?? Do I have to buy every product I make a video about?
No, but you do need to have used it before you describe your experience with it. The FTC’s guidance for creators says not to talk about experience with a product you have not tried. Samples from brands are allowed, and the material connection should be disclosed.
?? Is it better to film popular products or less popular ones?
Popular products bring more shoppers, but crowded pages can bury a new video. Many creators look for the middle ground: steady demand with only a few creator videos on the page.
?? How do I know how many videos are already on a product page?
Open the product page and scroll to the videos section, which shows customer and creator videos. A quick count gives a sense of how crowded the page is.
?? Should I only pick products in Creator Connections campaigns?
Campaigns add commission for a period, which helps, but demand still matters most. Use campaigns to choose between products with similar demand, or to justify filming a close substitute.
?? Do returned products earn commission?
Under Amazon’s Associates terms, commissions are paid on qualifying purchases, and returned items are not counted as earned. Products with frequent complaints about quality are more likely to be returned, so check reviews first.
?? How many products should I film in a week?
There is no official number. Pick a pace you can keep while still testing products honestly, and let your results show whether more volume helps.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission, Endorsement Guides and Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers; Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement and fee schedule; Amazon Creator Connections program pages; Amazon Best Sellers; Google Trends. Program rules change often, so check the current Amazon pages before acting on any detail.