New Buisness Venture questions

[KD1]

Hi all

My name is Keith and i have been using this forum for a few weeks. Firstly thanks to all who have helped with various issues.I am in the middle of designing my first full ecommerce web site using Actinic software which i hope to have live and running in the new year.

From reading lots of your messages i see that many of you are very successful with online selling. It is my goal to be where many of you are in a few years or sooner. I am working very hard to set things up and determined to acheive results.

My site will be selling one main set of products but i would dearly like to add many other items to the site everything from digital products to PC accessories etc.. My question is where do i find wholesalers online selling these type of products to new or existing buisness's. Also is it possible to purchase items from the wholesalers one by one as and when they are brought by clients off my new site. The reason i ask this is so to avoid spending a lot of money buying many products which might end up sitting in my strore cupboard untill a sale comes through of my website. I might be missing the plot here but i am new to this type of selling. You might be asking why not do your home work first. Well i ran a coach buisness for several years which was completely diffrent to this so i am a novice forgive me. I do work full time so im not relying or expecting to have major results straight away.

I realise before you ask that these questions are not directly related to the Actinic software but you guys and girls are the ones in the know and therefore the best people to ask. After all i am using Actinic for my site so i suppose its OK.

Please let me know your thoughts and comments regarding my questions and any other matters that may be relevant.

Thanks to you all
Keith

PS Mery Christmas

[Duncan Rounding]

If you wish to sell without stock then you will need to find some dropship suppliers who will fulfill your order and send the goods directly to your customer. Search on both the forum here and the internet for 'dropship' companies.

Make sure you choose what you consider to be a reputable company and enter into a proper business relationship with them so you know exactly where you stand with stock, deliveries, returns, payments etc.

[pinbrook]

My question is where do i find wholesalers online selling these type of products to new or existing buisness's. Also is it possible to purchase items from the wholesalers one by one as and when they are brought by clients off my new site. The reason i ask this is so to avoid spending a lot of money buying many products which might end up sitting in my strore cupboard untill a sale comes through of my website.

Sadly the info you are asking for will be considered highy confidential to shop owners selling similar products. So I doubt if anyone is going to tell you their secrets to a sucessful store.

Finding good suppliers is the bread and butter of all sucessful sites, and then knowing which items will sell is the jam.

I wish you all the luck, you might like to search the forum as there was a thread a while ago about finding suppliers which may indicate the task in hand

[KD1]

Thanks

Thanks guys

Ill try to do more reserach

[chris ashdown]

A lot of suppliers will dispatch quite small orders to you as their agent, but dont forget that delivery may take up a large amount of your profit for small items.

Also the supplier must see future growth for him to make it worth while, as it cost him about the same time to dispatch 1 or 2 items as hundreds to their regular larger customers

With all dealings with suppliers you must build up a good relationship whithout any bullshit, tell them your plans, how you see your company growing and why you would like to have them as a major supplier.

Expect to pay up front untill you have an established record with the supplier maybe 3-6 months, and a large initial order can often help things along saying you are serious

Dropship is another route for some type of supplies but I think you need a track record andquite high sales to make it work
If you search for the manufacture company their web site will often list the distributers, but finding the manufacturer is the proverbial problem, I have spent two years trying to find the company who makes or distributes my pen clips as we have to pay from another retailer to get them

[KD1]

Thanks Chris for the advise

[Hendrik]

Some wholesalers will have a minimum order value. A typical amount for the people I deal with might be £150. Related to this point, but not quite the same, is that there might be a minimum quantity that you have to buy of a particular item, and in addition that larger quantities often bring the unit cost down - there may be several price breaks, if you order say 50, 500 etc.

Given that the internet makes it very easy to compare prices, you may find that you are working at a disadvantage if you buy very small quantities, since if you match other people's prices, you are likely end up with a lower margin.

Hendrik