I suppose it somewhat depends on the cost of the stock against the amount of capital available and whether you can afford to tie it up.

And are you talking about a branded product already on here, well ranked where you can afford to slip in on the same asin at the same price as the competition
Or a PL product on a new listing where someone else is selling a similar product. In which case, do you know what they’ve spent to get that product ranked ?

Remember also that even if you would think it’ll sell 500 a month it won’t instantly. It’ll be a brand noone knows and a product with no feedback,

Does it need testing, ce marks etc?
Have you seen a sample?

Hello @Berto,

I hope this great info helped you in making the best decision.

@Demel, @The_Little_Shop, @Smiley_Guy and @Sequin - thank you for your posts!

Regards
Nickolas

I wouldnt base anything on other sellers attitude to risk, thats a bit weird

If it does sell well immediately, are your aware of the term “velocity factor” ?

A definitive answer to this question does not exist as there are so many variables. I can, however, tell you how my journey went.

I ordered 300 units which began to sell quickly enough for me to have to keep putting the price up to avoid running out of stock (and also to see what market price could be achieved).

I then re-ordered more stock, but did fall short from the original supply leaving me out of stock for a period. So if you can afford to keep your money tied up in stock until sales do pick up, then you will be in a good position, because it will allow you enough time to have more stock manufactured before your existing stock is sold out - that way you will preserve your ranking better than if you had run out of stock.

I think the less risky way is to order some qty between 300 - 500 and use that as your experience. Depending on the sales, you can now increase your next quantity.
If it sells well, you can go full on.
If it doesn’t sell, you won’t loose much money and move to the next product
There is no one size fits all method

Many thanks to everyone for their responses.

It’s been very helpful to get a feel for sellers thoughts on this.

With a new product, not currently on sale, and no clear evidence as to how many will sell, if at all, the question really is how much can you afford to lose ? Selling a new product is a Gamble, and does take time to build up ranking / search results and can take some time even for a very good product.

Business is always a gamble, you do need to take gambles, but also need to make sure you can afford it if it does not go to plan.