Is it legal to under cut the superstore prices?

[beefeater1]

Hi everyone,

Im new to all this and havent actually bought the software but Im unsure at how to first start.

Im looking to sell dog toys and products online, my sister-in law has a pet store in hove and is looking to sell online.

However after a little research there seems to be 10000's of sites online selling the same types of products.

My question is: Is thers anything stopping us (legally) from selling the same products online as well? Im sure we can undercut some of these superstores as they seem to be charging big bucks for the same products she sells?

Any help would be grately appreciated also as were are only going to have 1 store would catalogue be best?

Thanks

Beefy

[Duncan Rounding]

Welcome to the forum. You should be able to sell at any price you wish, although sometimes you are advised to sell at a minimum by some suppliers.

Your choice between Catalog and Business is not only driven by the the ability to have multiple sites but also by additional features - see the product comparisons here: http://www.actinic.co.uk/ecommerce-s...omparison.html

Note - I changed the title of your post to be more informative.

[chris ashdown]

regarding price, it's easy to lower your price to be the cheapest but are you making a real profit

Work out how much you need to earn a year running the site
work out the difference between buying and selling price
now guess your first year sales

Then cut that number in half as nearly everyone new to selling thinks it's easy and fail to get anywhere near their predictions

Use these figures to see how much you would have earned and that is without and costs, shipping, bank charges, card charges, rent, rates, phone, broadband, etc.

Few companies use less than 30% mark-up some fashion chains make 300% mark-up or more, supermarkets make small mark-up on some lines but big profit on others

You do not repeat not have to be the cheapest to win the sale on your own site as few people compare prices on sites except sites like e bay and Amazon where all competitors are lumped together on the same page

[Paul Bulpit]

You do not repeat not have to be the cheapest to win the sale on your own site as few people compare prices on sites

My personal view has always been that if someone is searching for a 'particular product', they may look at the top three or four THEY ACTUALLY FIND, then select the cheapest (also bearing in mind delivery costs). That is not necessarily the cheapest anywhere.

Keeping delivery charges low (at cost or subsidised) could also have an affect. When volume builds, going to things like RM PPI can reap dividends. For instance, I can see that (on average) I could make a profit on "P&P £2.50" when Amazon sets the charge for the seller at a higher fixed charge.

You say

10000's of sites online selling the same types of products

but have you actually tried a direct comparison, placing orders on those sites? It doesn't cost much to place test orders for things you already sell - you simply put them into stock and sell them again. But you can learn a lot.

[Paul Bulpit]

my sister-in law has a pet store in hove

You mean 'Hove, Actually' - local campaign.