Getting started

[paul2978]

How do you get started do you go about contact wholesalers? do you just call them up and say hey I want to sell your stuff, or do you have to be more tactful than that?

How do you go about arranging discounts with them to then sell on as retail?

Sorry I’m a complete newbie to this, and my partner and I are looking into setting up a ecomerce business.

Can anyone give me some advice or recommend some good books or website to help me get started.

Thanks

[Cheapprices4u]

depends on products you want to sell
sometimes it is as easy as buying a products and seeing contact details on the back
there is a magazine called the trader fortnightly
there are also websites for dropshippers
some products have dedicated magazines

computers lingerie just a couple of examples

or you could just pop round the wholesalers
strangeways/anncoats in manchester area
birmingham also has a lot

happy hunting

[chris ashdown]

First must come the selection of what type of thing you want to sell

Second you do your research by doing a full business plan on who what where you will sell and how many people you think will buy from you

This will include where you buy your stock from, Most goods are brought from either wholesellers or distributers and they will have floating prices dependant on how much you spend, but dont expect much if you are just buying a few hundred pounds worth of gear, they are looking for customers who spend thousands per year or month

Another option is in some goods you can get them sent direct from your suppliers called drop shipping your customer deals and pays you, you notify the other company who send out the goods directly to your customer

Be reasonable with your expectations you will not say start in computers and be able to challenge DELL or MISCO but you could possible be great at selling portable memory sticks or graphic cards

Very hard to find some wholesellers or distributers, you can try asking the major companies in your chosen area who they are, but most dont advertise that much as they would upset their retailers if they started selling direct to the public. Best bet try trade shows and trade publications

[parklifeclothes]

Or as some cheeky beggars do, send an email asking for contact details for our suppliers. We have spent the best part of a year tracking down suppliers so we so now protect contact details like gold dust

As Gareth said look around, buy some trade mags, buy a product that you would want to sell and then have a look at the packaging, instructions and gleam the info from there, it's all there, just need to do a bit of homework.

[pinbrook]

I'm curious to see where the current storyline in coronation st goes, it sems that Liam is going to set up ecommerce.... watch it

[RuralWeb]

is he using actinic ???

[freakmode]

is he using actinic ???

Too funny

[RuralWeb]

I heard the other day that tesco are now using actinic on one of thier sites - not a joke either.

[Jan]

I heard the other day that tesco are now using actinic on one of thier sites

That's true as far as I know.

Regards,

[CymraegKev]

I heard the other day that tesco are now using actinic on one of thier sites

Every little helps!

[Buzby]

Go to trade shows and place orders in person.

We make sure that when we visit a trade show that we do not have Internet, Ecommerce etc on our badges as we have found it difficult to open new accounts. Instead we usually opt for independent retailer or something like that.

Go and make a big order with a supplier that you want and pay in advance if possible. If you do not quite meet their criteria when they get back to the office and research you they will have to send your cheque back. We have taken on accounts on this basis and as yet have not had an account closed.

We now find it a lot easier now we have some good brands on-board and can pick and choose who we wish to buy from.

Kind regards

Jason

[Buzby]

Or as some cheeky beggars do, send an email asking for contact details for our suppliers.

We get this a lot. We also get jewellery shops who sell the same brands as us contact us to say as an item is out of stock with the supplier and we have stock can we forward one to them at cost price.

My favourite though is an online competitor who nicked our images and descriptions under cut us then contacted us to ask where we sourced some of our other products.

Kind regards

Jason

[LabelKing]

Look in a magasine such as the 'trader' for wholesalers who are actually looking for new customers (why else would they spend money advertising themselves) as these should be easiest to get into.

As soons as you have a supplier get the ecommerce website up and running, and then look for some better wholesalers. It's a lot easier to approach them when you are already in business as an 'established' trader than just someone starting from scratch who may just waste their time.

Also, once you've been online for a while you may find that they start calling you. We got our 2 best distributors this way, and what's more because they come to you and they know you already have a supplier you are in a much better bargaining position on prices...