The Amazon Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is a an important metric for Amazon sellers to gauge product sales performance. It’s a numerical rank displayed on every product’s detail page, indicating how well the product is selling relative to others in the same category.
A lower BSR means more sales e.g. a product ranked #1 in Home & Kitchen is currently the best-selling item in that category. Because BSR reflects real-time demand, sellers use it to spot hot products, track trends, and make stocking or marketing decisions.
The screenshot below from the product detail page shows where BSR appears on a product page (under “Best Sellers Rank”) and in which categories:
BSR is often misunderstood. It is not a star rating or review count, it is purely tied to sales. Amazon explicitly states that BSR is calculated from sales volume data, giving heavier weight to recent sales than older ones.
A sudden surge in purchases (for example, due to a promotion or seasonal demand) will drop the BSR rapidly, signaling momentum. Page views or customer reviews do not influence BSR. This means even a highly-reviewed product will have a poor rank if it’s not selling, and vice versa.
How Amazon Calculates Best Seller Rank?
BSR is calculated based on sales volume specifically recent versus historical sales data. This calculation has three key points:
1. Recent Sales Carry More Weight
Amazon gives more importance to sales that happened in the last 24–72 hours. A product selling well today will rank higher than one that only sold well a month ago. The biggest weight is on what happened TODAY”, with a rolling 48–72 hour window also counting significantly.
This means a product can jump to #1 after a strong sales day and drop quickly if sales slow down.
2. Historical Sales Matter Less
Older sales still count but diminish over time. In practice, BSR is not a lifetime total or cumulative ranking as it’s a snapshot of recent sales success relative to competitors. Once sales slow, rank can slide.
3. Multiple Categories, Multiple Ranks
A single product ranks in main product category and subcategory, each with its own BSR.
For instance, the screenshot below shows that a multi-vitamins product is ranked #5 in “Multivitamins” and #327 in the broader “Health & Household” category. Amazon reports each applicable rank on the product page.
Similarly, BSR is marketplace-specific: a product can rank #1 in the US store while ranking #25 in the UK version.
Overall, then, BSR is a relative sales rank within categories. In other words it shows how your product ranks against similar products in the same category. In practice, this means:
- Selling more units in a given period will lower (improve) your BSR.
- A single sale on a slow-selling item can dramatically improve its rank, whereas high-selling products move more slowly in rank.
(For instance, a sale might move a product from BSR 3,000,000 to 1,000,000 if few products exist around that level.) - Time is also a factor: if you stop selling, your rank will drift upward as other products outsell you.
3. BSR vs. Organic Search Ranking
Many sellers confuse Best Seller Rank with Amazon’s search ranking. These are separate metrics. BSR ranks products within categories by sales while search ranking orders results by relevance to a query (using Amazon’s A9/A10 algorithm).
A top BSR does not automatically give your product a top spot in search results. Conversely, being well-optimized for keywords may increase search ranking but doesn’t guarantee sales (and thus doesn’t guarantee a low BSR).
In other words, Search Ranking = SEO + Sales and BSR = Sales Only. Both ultimately reflect sales volume, but they serve different purposes. Amazon itself clarifies that “top BSR doesn’t always equal a high organic search ranking”.
In practice, however, a good search ranking helps in your ranking, which can drive sales and indirectly improve BSR. Likewise, a great BSR (indicating strong demand) might help you win a Best Seller badge or appear on Best Seller lists, which can boost sales and thus help search rank too. But the metrics are not the same.
How Often Is BSR Updated?
Best Seller rankings are updated “at least once per day” and changes “may take one to two days to appear”. In other words, Amazon processes sales and updates BSR on roughly a daily cycle. However, the updates happen much more frequently. BSR changes “constantly” and can update “hourly”.
How to Check Amazon Sales Rank
To find out your Amazon Seller Rank, simply scroll to the bottom of your product page. There, you’ll come across a section titled “Product Details.” Within this area, you’ll spot the Best Sellers Rank where your Amazon BSR is displayed.
It’s worth noting that for newer products, your BSR might not be immediately visible until you’ve accumulated some sales. Once you start making sales, your sales rank will appear in this section.
Strategies to Improve Amazon Best Seller Rank
Because BSR is a measure of sales rank, the only way to improve (lower) BSR is to increase sales. Still, certain strategies can make that more likely. Based on Amazon’s guidance and best practices, here are key actions to boost BSR:
1. Optimize Your Category
Always elect the most specific, relevant category and subcategory for your product. This gives you a better chance to rank highly.
If you can realistically reach #1 in a niche subcategory, you also earn the Best Seller badge (which can further drive customers to click your item).
Ensure all product variations (size, color, etc.) are under the same parent category so sales aggregate properly.
2. Improve Your Listing (SEO & Content)
Although reviews and keywords don’t directly factor into BSR, they improve sales, which improve BSR.
Invest in listing optimization to capture organic traffic. Use relevant keywords in your title, bullet points, and description so shoppers find you in search.
Add high-quality main image, secondary images and A+ Content (Amazon-enhanced brand content) to improve conversion rates.
Better listings mean more purchases, and more purchases drop your BSR.
3. Competitive Pricing
Price can significantly influence sales velocity. Research similar products and experiment with pricing.
Lowering price (within profit limits) can trigger a surge in sales, lowering your BSR.
Some sellers use Amazon’s Automate Pricing tool or third-party repricers to dynamically adjust prices. Use dynamic pricing to find the sweet spot: “price point that results in greater sales and a BSR boost”.
4. Run Promotions and Advertising
Advertising (like Sponsored Products) and deals can spike sales. While ad spend doesn’t directly change your BSR, any sales from ads are treated the same as organic sales by the algorithm.
For example, launching a lightning deal or a coupon can flood your listing with buyers for a brief period but your BSR will plunge accordingly.
Likewise, a well-targeted PPC campaign can increase organic ranking and orders. Use a mix of organic and paid tactics to drive conversion rate and ultimately, a better BSR.
Be careful: only sustainable sales gains will help BSR in the long run. A one-day promotion gives a temporary rank spike that can recede if sales don’t continue.
5. Improve Customer Experience
Encouraging positive reviews and repeat purchases won’t directly jump your BSR, but it helps build momentum.
Products that delight customers sell more over time and thus maintain a stronger BSR. Also, minimize returns and cancellations, as high return rates could signal issues that slow down sales.
6. Maintain Inventory
Stock-outs can kill your BSR. If you run out of stock, your product will stop selling and its BSR will soar (since it’s no longer the best seller).
It may also disappear temporarily from Best Seller lists. Keep track of inventory so you don’t miss out on sales velocity.
7. Fulfillment Method
Opting for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and offering Amazon Prime can significantly enhance your product’s appeal.
Products fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for Prime shipping, increasing their attractiveness to Prime members and improving sales velocity, which, in turn, can boost your Amazon BSR.
8. Use Brand and Analytics Tools
If you have brand registry, Amazon’s Brand Analytics and business reports can help you pinpoint the keywords and campaigns that bring sales.
You can then double down on what’s working to move more units. While these tools don’t show BSR directly, they connect insights (keyword popularity, click-to-purchase rates, etc.) to sales, which you can use to influence BSR indirectly.
Improving your Amazon best seller rank (BSR) involves a mix of strategies, and a thorough grasp of the ins and outs of Amazon’s marketplace.
How to Use BSR for Product Research
Amazon sellers often use BSR as a market research tool. It can help answer questions like “Is this niche saturated?” or “How well is this competitor doing?” Here are some ways to use BSR in research:
1. Identify Hot Products
Browse the Best Sellers and Movers & Shakers lists in your category to spot trending items. A suddenly falling (improving) rank on Movers & Shakers can indicate a product gaining popularity.
If a competitor’s product has a very high sales rank (low BSR), it likely has a lot of demand.
2. Gauge Category Sales
Tracking the BSR of a best-selling item can give you a sense of sales volume for that niche.
For example, if the #1 item in Outdoor Grills drops to BSR 500,000 after a week, you know that category sells a lot of units quickly.
There are sales estimator tools (like Jungle Scout’s Rank Calculator or AMZScout) that use historical BSR data to approximate sales volume.
These tools rely on averages, so they are only rough estimates, but they are popular for vetting product ideas.
3. Analyze Competitors
Check the BSR of products similar to yours. A high (good) rank with moderate reviews might suggest a product has room for improvement.
Also look at the “BSR history” graph available through seller tools (e.g. Keepa or Helium 10) to see how a product’s rank trends over time – seasonal spikes, declining interest, etc.
4. Spot Market Gaps
If several products are dropping in rank but have common customer complaints, there could be an opportunity for you to launch a better solution. Use BSR as a lens: a product dropping out of the top 100 might mean demand is shifting.
5. Benchmark Performance
Once you have your own product’s BSR, watch it over time as you run promotions, ads, or price changes. A sustained improvement in BSR means your strategies are likely working.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Is a Good BSR on Amazon?
A “good” Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is highly relative to the specific category you are selling in. Because BSR is a comparison against other products in the same niche, a lower number is always better.
For example, ranking #1 means you are the best-selling item in that category. In high-volume categories like Home & Kitchen, a BSR of 2,000 might still indicate excellent sales, whereas in a smaller niche, you might need to be in the top 100 to see significant movement.
2. How Running Out of Product Affects Your BSR on Amazon?
Running out of stock can severely damage your ranking. Since BSR is calculated based on recent sales history, if you have no inventory, you cannot generate sales. As a result, your rank will “tank” (meaning the number gets higher and worse) as competitors continue to sell. If you are out of stock for too long, you may also disappear from Best Seller lists entirely until stock is replenished and sales velocity picks up again.
3. Why My Amazon Product Has No BSR?
If a product page shows no Best Sellers Rank, it usually means the product has not made a sale yet. For newer products, the BSR is not immediately visible. The rank will appear in the “Product Details” section once the item accumulates its first few sales.
4. How to Find Category of Amazon Product?
You can find the category and the specific BSR for a product by scrolling down to the “Product Details” section on the Amazon product page. In this section, Amazon displays the numeric rank alongside the specific main category (e.g., “Health & Household”) and any applicable subcategories (e.g., “Multivitamins”).
Amazon also display the category node when you open a product detail page as shown in the screenshot below.
5. How to Change a Product Category on Amazon?
To change your category, you need to edit your listing details in Seller Central to ensure you have selected the most specific and relevant category for your item. If the new changed category does not reflect, you have to go and open a case with Amazon. First, note the specific category you want, give them the category details in the case, and they will immediately change it for you.
8. Does Price Affect Amazon BSR?
Yes, price significantly influences BSR because it drives sales velocity. Lowering a price or running a promotion often leads to a surge in purchases. Since BSR relies heavily on recent sales (last 24–72 hours), a strategic price drop can cause your rank to improve rapidly.
