Parents will do anything for the safety of their children. According to AAA, "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for all children". From baby's first trip home, you'll realize that a car seat is the most important piece if equipment for securing a baby while on the road.
Car seats are also a hot commodity in the SaleHoo Labs, appearing several times in the Baby section. The Labs help us discover the feasibility of selling car seats by calculating the sell rate, average retail price, and competition in the market. Using other resources as well, we can learn more about the market viability of car seats and see if it's the right time to sell them online.
We've previously featured other successful baby gear products on our eCommerce blog. This blog will tell you if car seats are another niche worth diving into.
Types of Car Seats
Car seats come in different shapes and sizes depending on the need, preference, or the child's age and size. They all serve a main purpose of protecting children from serious injuries in vehicle accidents. Let's explore the different types below:
- Rear-facing car seat: Infants are required to ride a rear-facing car seat until they reach the weight and height allowed by the car seat's manufacturer. Normally, this type has a limit for 2 years or more.
- Convertible (forward-facing) car seat: Recommended for toddlers and preschoolers who have outgrown rear-facing car seats.
- Booster seat: This type is for school-aged children who can use the car's seatbelt with the booster seat providing the extra height they need.
- 3-in-1 car seat: This type is convenient for parents looking for an all-in-one package. This serves as a rear-facing, forward-facing, or as a booster when the car seat's harness is removed. This type can be used from infancy, until a proper seat belt is appropriate for children (around 4 ft 9 inches).
Why Sell Car Seats?
Of course when you want to sell online, you want to know ahead if the product you're selling can make real profits or not. Thankfully, we have SaleHoo Labs that figures out the essential aspects when selling online - sell rate, average price, and competition. Let's take a closer look at 3 random results of car seats below.
High Sell Rate
Sell rate allows sellers to gauge how certain products are selling on popular online marketplaces, such as eBay and Amazon. With a solid sell rate of 100% for all 3 examples, this shows that there is indeed a high demand for car seats. Results may vary for other types of car seats but based on the given examples, this can actually tip sellers off to what the market is after.
Look closely and you'll find that Graco is a well-loved brand, while infant car seats (or rear-facing type) are also types that are more saleable. Minor details may not be obvious initially but they are very useful for identifying target markets for a specific niche. This will eventually help sellers realize where the market is spending their money.
High Average Selling Price
The main goal of selling is to earn a decent profit. With car seats having an average price between $223 to $252 for these examples, there is potential to make good money for each sale, even if your profit margins are low. The good thing about high-priced items is that you have greater control of your margins while still being able to compete with other sellers. A lot of this comes down to your negotiations with suppliers and manufacturers.
A good tip for sourcing car seats is to purchase these items in bulk, as this lowers down your buying price compared to single purchases. When dropshipping single items, it's best to sell these at your own online store to avoid competition from saturated selling platforms such as eBay.
Low Competition
Selling products that have low competition gives you business the greatest chance at success. These 3 examples of car seats show low competition which means you don't have to engage in price wars, which is bad for your profits.
If you're new to selling online, selling low competition products, such as the car seats above, can help you stand out among other sellers. You can even attract potential buyers by learning the ropes of marketing your products to capture the right market.
The General Demand
Driving traffic to your site is one of the essential steps of making a sale. With AffiloTools Keyword Research tool, it suggests keywords or search volumes (local volume) used by people to search for "car seats" on Google, for example. With high search volumes, you can use their keywords for your listings to easily get found by your target market.
*Note: The keyword search results will give you a long list, but below are 7 top examples
We target a local volume of at least 1,000 to realize a high demand for car seats. With the current result, brands such as Chicco, Baby Trend, and Graco have piqued consumers' interest to at least 1,900 to 22,200 searches. Infant car seats and convertible types are also popular here with 3,600 searches for both Baby Trend infant car seat and Chicco convertible type. As with the Lab results, this gives an impression that there is a higher chance of making fast sales with these types and brands due to the current demand.
Make online selling easier by using multiple resources to research and study current market trends. This makes it easier to target your own market and eventually develop a strategy that successfully attracts potential buyers.
Tips on Selling Car Seats
When selling car seats online, you can draw more attention to your listings by offering other baby gear products such as strollers, or even accessories like those dangling baby toys that attach to the car seat. This can help you gain additional sales and eventually increase your revenue. Normally, suppliers carrying car seats also stock other baby products and if you purchase them in bulk, you can even get better wholesale rates.
Selling at your own web store is one thing to avoid competition. Putting up new and updated blog contents with safety tips for babies can even add more interest to your site. This strategy can bring in more traffic and can eventually land you a sale from the products that you promote.
Over to You!
We have car seat suppliers that ship globally and have been verified as safe and legitimate. You can access them instantly here in our directory.
Let us know if you're selling car seats online and share your success story with us! Also, please feel free to leave your comments below and let us know if we've missed something.
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Disclaimer: The information published here is strictly for informational purposes. All above items are only suggestions for possible products which we believe will sell favorably, and this article should be used as a guide only. At the time of writing, all above products were researched using methods recommended by SaleHoo and found to be potentially profitable for sellers. All sellers are encouraged to conduct their own market and product research.