# Vetting Leads Getting shown a lead is the easy part. Knowing whether to actually buy it is where most new sellers struggle — and where most mistakes happen. Here's how to vet a lead properly before you spend any money. *** **ROI — your starting point** ROI (Return on Investment) is the percentage profit you make relative to what you spent. It's the first number to check. As a general rule: * **30% ROI** is a solid baseline for most products * You can go lower — 15 to 20% — if the product sells thousands of units a month and will flip quickly * You should go higher — 35% or more — if the product only sells 50 to 100 units a month, because you need buffer room for price drops The logic is simple. Fast moving stock forgives thin margins because your money comes back quickly. Slow moving stock needs higher margins because you might be waiting weeks or months to sell through — and prices can drop in that time. *** **Sales per month** Always check estimated monthly sales before buying. Aim for a minimum of **50 sales per month**. Below that and you're taking a gamble on how long your stock will sit. Sometimes it's worth it — but only if your margins are strong enough to justify the wait. *** **Product size and weight** Bigger and heavier products come with higher FBA fees and higher shipping costs to get stock into Amazon. Check the dimensions and weight before buying — what looks like a decent margin on a large item can evaporate quickly once fees are factored in properly. *** **The Buy Box graph** In SAS, go to Charts and open the Buy Box history. Look at the last three months. What you want to see is a Buy Box price that has stayed consistently above your target sale price. If it's been stable, that's a good sign. If it's been all over the place or regularly dropping below where you need it to be, that's a red flag — your margin isn't as safe as it looks today. *** **The Seller graph — IP risk** Also check the Sellers graph in SAS. What you're looking for is sudden drops in the number of sellers on a listing. If sellers keep disappearing, it usually means the brand is issuing IP complaints and getting third party sellers removed. That could be you next. Avoid listings with a history of this unless you're confident you have the right supplier documentation to back yourself up. *** **SAS alerts** At the top of the SAS panel you'll sometimes see alerts. Don't ignore these: * **IP Risk** — the brand may have a history of complaints against third party sellers * **Hazmat** — the product contains restricted materials and needs special handling * **Oversized** — higher FBA fees apply * **PL** — likely a private label product, meaning a brand owner who probably doesn't want you on their listing Any of these doesn't automatically mean don't buy — but they all mean do more research before you do. *** **Competing sellers** Scroll down in SAS to see who else is selling on the listing. Pay particular attention to the Buy Box Analysis chart. The key thing to check: is **Amazon Retail** on the listing? If Amazon themselves are selling it and consistently holding the Buy Box, walk away. You won't win against Amazon on their own platform — they'll always price you out. If it's a handful of third party FBA sellers sharing the Buy Box, that's a much healthier situation to jump into. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://behind-the-buybox.gitbook.io/behind-the-buybox-docs/vetting-leads.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.