Online Shopping for Men: 10 Items They Can’t Resist

5 min. read
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Even as far back as ancient times, shopping was never quite the buzzword for men as it was for women. The primitive-communal setup of our ancestors developed women as meticulous gatherers, while men were trained to be skilled hunters. Women had to be conscientious not to pick the wrong berries, as they might poison the whole group.

Men, on the other hand, needed to act quickly or their kill might duck away. This ancestral imprint gives us a clue as to why women tend to shop more than men. But, just as they aggressively targeted their prey during primitive times, modern men don't really shop, they just buy. That Cro-Magnon, fast-twitch, impulsive hunting instinct has translated into simple impulse buying in the age of information.

That's the exact reason why online shopping for men has been driving the world of e-commerce to greater heights. In a recent study involving 19 million affluent men who shop online, results revealed that 70 percent of men do the majority of their purchasing on the Internet. Not only that, but 25 percent of those who have were surveyed make weekly purchases, which proves that men can be a very profitable audience when it comes to e-commerce and dropshipping.

Creating your own online store for men could be a very financially rewarding endeavor. However, deciding what items to sell could be a challenge, especially if you don't have any ideas about the items men commonly buy, or those that carry decent profit margins.

When starting an online shopping business for men exclusively, you don't have to sell the things that everybody else is selling. Neither do you want to sell items that no one wants to buy. Instead, you want to play in a field where the competition is low, but the demand is consistent.

Here are the 10 items you should consider selling that men buy consistently, but aren't carried by that many online sellers.

1. Camping Backpacks

Most men need to get out of the house on a pretty consistent basis. If they aren't much for yardwork, then mountain hiking and long distance trekking are healthy alternatives. Funny how active men will choose to do adrenalin-pumping outdoors activities for hours, but they don't much feel like scouring for quality backpacks in shopping malls. What's more, the outdoors adventuring niche is filled with passionate buyers.

2. Toolboxes

Men want to keep everything in one place, including their car maintenance tools. However, not all men's online stores today offer toolboxes for their audience. You can start your e-commerce business by selling toolboxes, and later expand your sales to car maintenance tools for bigger market opportunities.

3. Motorcycle Helmets

The aftermarket for motorcycle helmets and accessories is very profitable. Major helmet brands offer different helmet types, such as modular, dual sports, half, and full-face helmets, and can also dropship the items straight to your customers. This is a great option, as it taps into a popular niche and serves a dual purpose of being functional and stylish.

4. Hand and Power Tools

Try selling trusted hand and power tool brands, such as Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch and Delaware, and you will notice how sparse the competition in selling these items online. According the data in the SaleHoo Research Lab, the competition rating for power tools is extremely low while the successful sales rate is over 40 percent!

5. Grooming Products

Everyone needs them, but many men feel outright silly buying lotions, scrubs, and the like in public. By selling such items on the Internet, you are not only increasing your chances of sales, you are also helping those men who fear they will be seen as vain or feminine by their bearded brethren.

6. Shoes

Although there are already a lot of e-commerce sites selling almost every kind of shoe imaginable, there are still a lot more men searching the Internet for the perfect pair of footwear. You definitely don't want to join in the competition and just be another face in the crowd.

You can create your own niche by trying to sell one specialty shoes at a time. Become a niche authority on a certain type of shoe, like running, soccer, or basketball. Specializing in certain categories gives you all sorts of interesting content marketing opportunities. You don't need to add to the chaos of competing online men shoes' stores, what you need is to cut through the noise and be a different voice.

7. E-Cigarettes, E-Cigars, and E-Pipes

An increasing number of men are now choosing e-cigarettes over conventional ones due to the absence of tar. This is a great option because the number of accessories makes cross-selling easy. These items are also perfect for gifts, and so selling them online could mean loads of bucks.

8. Watches

Brand-name watches, such as Piguet, Rolex, Concord, Accutron and Chopard, have among the largest numbers of bids on eBay and on several other online selling sites. It stands to reason, then, that looking for a trusted supplier to provide you with these items could be a great opportunity for income. Brand-name watches such as these provide enough room for profit. Plus, you get fewer listings than bids, which means the probability of purchase is high enough.

9. Gaming Accessories

Because electronic gaming products are already a popular item for many online selling sites, including it in your roster might not be an excellent idea. For you to stand out in the stiff competition of electronic gaming products, you can side-step a little bit and instead sell some gaming accessories that are sure to captivate your male audience.

10. Earphones

Although mobile phones and other gadgets come with earphones as an accessory, men are searching for earphones for a variety of reasons. Maybe they are looking for style that fits their taste, activities, and lifestyles, or maybe they want to keep another pair on hand, or they are looking for the best possible sound experience. It doesn't help that earphones are constantly prone to getting lost. Whatever the case may be, they are a great item for your men's online store, as the success rate for selling this product is surprisingly high.

Do you have any product in mind that you think would be a great hit for your men's online shopping store? Tell us more about it in the comments section.

 

About the author
Simon Slade
CEO of SaleHoo Group Limited

Simon Slade is CEO and co-founder of SaleHoo, a platform for eCommerce entrepreneurs that offers 8,000+ dropship and wholesale suppliers, 1.6 million high-quality, branded products at low prices, an industry-leading market research tool and 24-hour support.

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8 Comments
  • Matthew Cirino 24th of August
    Too bad the wholesalers on this website do not have competitive pricing I was better off with google looking for wholesaler's probably will be canceling my account soon.
    • Richelle Monfort SaleHoo Admin 27th of August
      Hello Matthew,

      Sorry to hear that you feel our wholesalers are not offering you competitive pricing. I'd to know if you have actually been in contact with them directly? Many would take the listed price on the supplier's website to be the final wholesale price and in most cases it's not. You have to remember that in wholesale its the volume of your order that will determine your final wholesale price so the higher the volume the lower your per unit price will be. This is the main reason we encourage our members to contact wholesalers directly so that the wholesale price will be tailored to their order volume.

      I agree there are many suppliers which you can readily find on Google, but how sure are you that these suppliers are legit and not just there to take your money (quite willingly)? That's where SaleHoo stands out. All our suppliers have been prescreened and drilled to ensure that our members have access to only the legitimate and safe ones.

      Feel free to drop us an email at support@salehoo.com and we will be more than happy to help you find suitable suppliers.

      All the best!
    • Nathalie Stacy 14th of March
      Yea... just paid today and ... I spent a month... googling.... and everything is here..
      I don't think that they are doing a better job that I deed. Anyway, not better than me. I can find most of the wholesalers and droppshipping companies that I already know.
      I will give few days... and see if I can really find something worth the USD70.
      • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 15th of March
        Hi, Nathalie!

        All comments go through moderation so that we can stop spammers from bloating our blog posts with useless commentary. That's all. =)
      • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 15th of March
        In addition, if you're having trouble finding suppliers and fully taking advantage of everything we offer, please don't hesitate t contact our support team!

        www.salehoo.com/support
    • Nathalie Stacy 14th of March
      Why is my answer not posted?
  • Rene 29th of August
    I am from the Philippines who plans to sell products on my website, mainly to American customers in the U.S. since most of these suppliers are American companies. Do I need to have a trading number registered in the U.S. to start doing this?
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 31st of August
      Hi, Rene --

      The answer depends on a lot of things. If you plan to buy wholesale, store product in your own warehouse, and ship it that way, you are going to have to register in whatever state you're in, because you'll have a "nexus" -- basically, a base of operations. Even using Fulfillment by Amazon technically gives you a nexus. But if you're dropshipping, this isn't going to be an issue.
  • Rene 29th of August
    Hi, it's me again.
    As a follow up to my previous inquiry... do I need to register my business locally here in the Philippines, then? Thanks.
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 31st of August
      Hi again!

      Honestly, I don't know what the tax situation is in the Philippines. I'm going to guess yes since it's technically your home base. But the best way to get answers to this question, and the rest of your questions, is to talk to a tax specialist.
  • Rene 29th of August
    Aside from getting a trade name, is it also mandatory for me to get a tax ID in order to sell in the US, even though I am from the Philippines?
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 31st of August
      This should only apply if you have a nexus in the US. Commerce is mostly regulated on a state level. A handful of states don't even charge sales tax at all. So it depends on what kind of business you run and where you plan on base your operations stateside.
  • bednartamara 20th of September
    I'm just stating out on my adventure selling on line and I'm having a very hard time knowing were to start I just spent some money to be a member and then more down loading product base now there asking for more monly to build a online store. I'm getting very overwelhmed. Please help!
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 20th of September
      Hi, Tamara!

      If you're confused about ANYTHING related to SaleHoo, our support team will help you sort it out! You can reach them via phone or email, and all the information is here on this web page:

      http://www.salehoo.com/support

      I hope this helps. Good luck!
  • Max 27th of January
    Hello there I am absolutely loving Salehoo so far. Is it possible to pay for my account monthly instead of the full annual fee?
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 28th of January
      Hi, Max!

      I'm glad to hear you're a fan! Unfortunately, we only offer the yearly subscription option, no monthly payment.

      If you have any questions or need help with something, don't forget you can reach out to our support team! http://www.salehoo.com/support
  • Nathalie Stacy 14th of March
    Why is it submitted for moderation?
  • Rosa Hall 14th of November
    What distibuters and wholesalers sell these products?