Sell Essential Oils Online: A ‘Natural Products’ Niche With Low Competition

Essential oils have their place in our homes just the same as cooking oils do, but you don’t ever want to make the mistake of confusing them! Essential oils are extracted from the leaves, roots, bark and flowers of all kinds plants. The oils contains the aroma and properties of the plant it was extracted from. Most essential oils have antibacterial, anti-fungal, or antiviral properties, so they make an excellent addition to your stock of natural remedies and even cleaning agents.

With ready to use over-the-counter medicines and commercial cleaning agents, you may wonder why essential oils have become so popular. One of the main reasons is that more people prefer using all-natural products today than ever before, leading to the oils’ rise in popularity. Anything chemical-free is always a welcome addition to the home, especially if it means everyone will be healthier.

Are you ready to smell the sweet aroma of success? Join us as we discover more about the growing market of essential oils using our very own SaleHoo Labs.

Types of essential oils

There are many kinds of essential oils, each with their own unique benefits. Here are some of the most common essential oils and their uses and benefits: ​

• Tea Tree Essential Oil: This essential oil is considered by many as a “medicine cabinet in a bottle.” It has a fresh, camphor-like scent and its main uses are to treat conditions ranging from toenail fungus and dandruff, to helping prevent scarring from boils, warts, and acne.
• Rosemary Essential Oil: This type is commonly used for cosmetics and cleaning agents. It’s said to work wonders in giving your memory a boost as well as in treating mood swings. It’s ideal for respiratory issues, muscle pain, to soothe digestive discomfort, reduce headaches and treat coughs. Even commercially it is a popular choice for hair care products, and you can certainly use it in your own.
• Peppermint Essential Oil: This oil has an invigorating scent and it’s commonly used in air deodorizers, as well as a flavoring agent for toothpaste, chewing gum, tea and ice cream. It can also be used to help relieve tummy aches, treat digestive issues and heartburn, cure bad breath, relieve headaches and treat respiratory problems. When applied to the skin it can help soothe aching muscles. Paired with lavender it is great relief for rashes.
• Lavender Essential Oil: Lavender is popularly known for its calming effects so it is ideal for relieving insomnia. It has a pleasant floral aroma that is agreeable to most people. You can use this oil to treat anxiety, respiratory problems, minor burns, wounds, insect bites, earaches, acne, hair loss and a number of women’s health issues. It’s also a natural mosquito repellent when combined with olive oil.
• Oregano Essential Oil: The oregano plant is widely known for its culinary uses, but it also has many health benefits. The oil extracted from it has a warm, spicy, herbal and camphor-like aroma. It helps treat fungal infections, athlete’s foot, sore throats, sinus congestion, muscle sprains, arthritic pain, tendinitis, cysts and warts. It can even be used to minimize acne. Diluted oregano oil can also alleviate itchy skin.

Why sell essential oils?

The SaleHoo Labs has presented us with very enticing numbers — a high sell rate in a market with low competition, and reasonable prices. However, even if our research shows essential oils as a potentially profitable niche, you have to prepare yourself for any possible challenges that you may encounter, such as locating a reputable supplier for truly natural oils as well as finding ways to outsell your competitors.

High sell rate

According to the numbers presented by our market research lab, essential oils have sell rates between 60% and 79%. That’s quite high considering our usual target sell rate is 50%. Avoid products with success rates lower than 50%, as you’ll have a hard time making a sale.

Average selling price

Essential oils are a lot smaller than the appliances and electronics we have been featuring in our Monday Markets of the Week, and so they have a much lower cost. But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn a profit! Find a supplier who offers high quality and great wholesale prices to maximize your margins. Buying in bulk will get you the best price and they won’t require a large storage space, which can keep your profit margins higher. Larger bottles will command higher prices over all but are less expensive per ounce. Contact a supplier directly to ask for volume discounts, which will ensure you’re getting the best wholesale prices.

Low competition

A low-competition market means you’ll encounter fewer sellers and fewer product listings. With fewer options available to consumers, your chances of landing a sale are much higher. This holds true for most niches — high demand with low supply equals success!

General demand

Driving viable traffic to your listings is all about keywords. To help us find the best keywords, we will be using our very own AffiloTools Keyword Research tool. Below are some of the top-ranking keywords when people search for “essential oils”.

Based on the keyword research results, it seems there are many people searching for “essential oils for anxiety” with search volume reaching 6,600 searches. Cinnamon essential oil is also popular with a search volume of 4,400, while “essential oils for high blood pressure” has a search volume of 2,900. You can also see that people are trying to find out more about essential oils with information-type keywords such as “essential oil diffuser recipes” with 1,000 searches. This type of interest will usually lead to sales as long as you use a solid marketing strategy to guide them towards a purchase.

 Tips on selling essential oils

When you look at all the data together, it is fairly easy to see that essential oils is niche where you can sell, and sell well. These oils are all natural and have a wide range of benefits for your home and your health. Relaxation and healthy living are important to people, which is no doubt feeding the demand. But don’t relax too much; otherwise you might lag behind your competitors! Always check that your listings are highly optimized and that your shopping carts are ready to take all those orders.

Bundling is a great way to stay competitive and make yourself stand out. For example, you can offer essential oil packages targeted for general relaxation, wellness, or any other purpose. You can also offer related products in your listings, such as oil burners or aroma diffusers.

With the rising prominence of the natural, healthy lifestyle, people are enjoying the opportunity to get out, do some walking around, and maybe find a few treasures at events such as flea markets or local bazaars. Expand your inventory with not only essential oils but room humidifiers, and diffusers that let consumers get the most from their essential oils, and they can go home with everything they need. You can prepare some tester bottles so that your potential customers can sample the oils. Since essential oils come in relatively small bottles, you can carry a large stock with you without needing too much space, and setting up and breaking down your table will be so much easier!

Over to you!

We have essential oil suppliers that all ship globally and that we have verified as safe and legitimate. You can access them instantly here in our directory.

Let us know if you’re selling essential oils 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.

Disclaimer: The information published here is strictly for informational purposes. All above product items are only suggestions for possible products which will sell favorably, and should be used as a guide only. At the time of writing, all above products were researched using methods recommend by SaleHoo and found to be potentially profitable for sellers. All sellers are encouraged to conduct their own market and product research.