Ideas are rarely the problem for digital sellers. Most have a notes app full of them. The hard part is choosing, because every idea looks exciting at the start and you cannot make them all. Picking on gut feeling alone often means making the idea you enjoy most, which is not always the one buyers want.
A better approach is to ask every idea the same five questions and score the answers.
The five questions
- Demand: are people looking for this? Type the idea into your platform's search and look at the suggestions as you type. Check whether similar products have sales or plenty of reviews. Look for buyers asking for it in reviews, forums or groups.
- Competition gap: can you do something better or different? Lots of competition is fine if the existing products have clear weaknesses. Read the three-star reviews of the best sellers. They often tell you exactly what is missing.
- Quick to make: how long will it really take? Be honest about the skills and tools you have now, and about the hidden work of mockups, listings and instructions.
- Fit: does it suit your shop? A product for the same buyers you already serve is easier to sell, pairs with your other products and builds your reputation in one area.
- Profit potential: what could it earn, and for how long? Think about a realistic price, whether it could be part of a bundle, and whether it sells all year or only for a few weeks.
Score each from 1 to 5
Give each idea a score from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong) on each question. Writing down a reason for each score, such as "only two similar products, both poorly reviewed", stops you from scoring your favourite idea generously.
You can also decide that some questions matter more than others. A seller with little spare time might give Quick to make more weight. A seller building a shop around one audience might weight Fit more heavily.
A worked example
The score works like this. Each answer becomes a share of that question's points: 1 is 0%, 2 is 25%, 3 is 50%, 4 is 75% and 5 is 100%. Each share is multiplied by the question's weight, and the results are added up. In this example the weights are Demand 25, Competition gap 20, Quick to make 15, Fit 15 and Profit potential 25, which add up to 100. So an idea scoring 1 on everything gets 0, and one scoring 5 on everything gets 100.
Here are three ideas scored on the five questions, in the order above:
| Teacher planner for supply teachers (4, 4, 3, 4, 4) | 71 |
|---|---|
| Wedding budget spreadsheet (5, 2, 4, 3, 4) | 68 |
| Garden planner (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) | 46 |
For the supply teacher planner, that is 75% of 25 for demand (18.75), 75% of 20 for the competition gap (15), 50% of 15 for quick to make (7.5), 75% of 15 for fit (11.25) and 75% of 25 for profit (18.75). Together that makes 71.25, which rounds to 71.
The wedding budget spreadsheet has the highest demand, but the market is crowded with good products, so it scores lower on the competition gap. The supply teacher planner has slightly less demand but a clear gap: most teacher planners assume you spend the whole year at one school. That gap is what lifts it to the top.
The garden planner is not a bad idea, but it is seasonal and does not fit this seller's other products. Parking it for now is a decision, not a failure.
Look closely at the competition
Before committing to your top idea, note down three to five similar products: their price, what they include, how many reviews they have, what they do well and what they are missing. Patterns appear quickly. You might notice that every product is US focused, that none includes instructions, or that the popular ones all cost more than you expected.
Use what you see to shape your product and your price, rather than to copy anyone. The free Pricing Calculator then helps you check that the price you have in mind leaves enough profit after fees.
Common traps
- Mistaking a crowded market for demand. Thousands of listings can mean thousands of sellers rather than thousands of buyers.
- Ignoring the hidden hours. Mockups, listings and support can take as long as making the product itself.
- Scoring before researching. Ten minutes of looking at search suggestions and reviews makes every score more honest.
Keep your ideas in one place
The free Product Idea Scorer scores your ideas on these five questions, lets you change the weights, ranks everything automatically and includes a sheet for noting competitors. Once you have made your chosen product, the True Hourly Rate Tracker shows whether it was worth the time.
Scores are only as good as the evidence behind them. They help you compare ideas consistently, not predict exactly what will sell.