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Is Competition a Bad Thing?

By: Simple Market Research

You know, we humans are an awfully territorial bunch. But it’s natural. Our businesses represent income; income that we need to survive. The problem is our territorial instincts often get in the way of the reality of the situation.

I've had people tell me they are looking for a product with no competition at all. A ‘secret product’ that no other business knows about. A little treasure trove of a product that I can sell and everyone will have to come to me to buy it! Har Har Har! It’s kind of cynical when you think about it. Looking for a product with no competition gives new sellers an unhealthy tunnel vision during their research.

The reality is; a product will not survive in the market if there are not multiple retailers selling it. Instead of looking at competition from our own "retailer’s perspective", let’s look at it from a "Supply Chain" perspective…

Manufacturers spend a lot of money to MAKE the product and wholesalers spend a lot of money to buy and warehouse the product. In order for a product to survive in the marketplace Wholesalers and Manufacturers need many retailers selling the product. Without multiple retailers there wouldn’t be enough sales to support production and distribution costs. Without multiple retailers the supply chain breaks. Actually the supply chain goes bankrupt because it can’t afford its own operating costs.

There's a lot you can actually learn from competition research; from good ideas to help your own store or auction to bad ideas that you can avoid wasting time on.

But always remember when it comes to competition:

1. Just because other people are already selling that product does NOT always mean that market is flooded. The internet is a big place with lots of buyers and can handle multiple sellers selling the same product.

2. *Who* your competition is is often more important than *how many* competitors there are. There are tons of niche markets, that at first, look as though there may be too many sellers/sites but as you begin your competition research you find that they are not competition to worry about at all.


Learn more about researching competitors and finding the best product niches for your business to sell at SimpleMarketResearch.com