Looking for dropshippers for eBay

Hi all I am relatively new here and found the site real helpful but I'm stumped. I have several great dvd dropshippers I found here such as Waxworks and Mountain View Movies which I feel have good prices. But when I research on Ebay the prices are under what I would need to make a profit. I've been toying with this for days I really would like to make this work but confused how to do this without losing my shirt and make a profit. I did this years ago and got burned by a foreigner supplier who took my $400 and ran. I know money can be made here but I am limited to how much I can spend and would appreciate any help or techniques. You guys can also reach me on aim at nightjob09 if it's not too much trouble. or my email at Link hidden: Login to view. I have SMC but Ebay is saturated with it. Please help guys if you can I will be most grateful. Much thanks.
Bill.

Hi Bill,

I think your biggest problem at the moment may well be that you are too focused on selling a particular product. Even though you have found suppliers that have good general purchase prices, eBay is a different animal to most all other selling avenues.

You aren't just competing against other drop shippers on eBay, you are competing against some very serious businesses that invest a lot of cash buying wholesale, and then working on very thin margins to gain a solid competitive edge in that market.

If you are determined to focus on this particular area, then perhaps looking at how you can develop a point of difference between you and other sellers. Things like offering bundled package deals and so on.

What you shouldn't do is get yourself locked into a mind set where you want to sell a particular product on eBay without first knowing what the market is like. It's a bit like trying to stick the old square peg in a round hole.

Just because we want to sell a particular product, the market may be such that it's just too hard to compete with the resources that we currently have. Approaching online selling with some ideas on product direction is of course always good, but then market research is key in developing that idea further.

Understand the market you want to sell in, from there you can then research suppliers for those products. Sometimes you can find a market, sometimes you can't, but core market research is always the best place to start in my opinion. After you understand the dynamics of a market, then you can try and match that up with more specific product research to see if it is a viable option for you. If not, back to researching other possible markets that will better suit.

: )

Hi sorry to bother you joined SMC thinking I would be able to sell of the things but as you guys mentioned and I've seen Ebay is saturated with it. I would like to sell childrens items or stuff for school and teachers since I was in the educational field just not sure if it would be something folks are looking for. I'm confused as to what to sell or research sorry if this sounds bad just confused. Thanks again.
yours truly,
bill

Don't worry Bill, you find yourself in the same situation as do most when trying to get started.

You do have some different product ideas, so that's good, it gives you far more opportunity. I'm assuming you are based in the US, if so, have you considered looking at surplus stock as a resource for purchasing.

It does mean some up-front cash outlay, but no where like buying in any sort of decent wholesale volume, and I think you would find a far better margin in it than you will in drop shipping.

When it comes to eBay, the more margin you have in a product, the more competitive you can be.

Things like school gear, I would be suggesting taking a close look at surplus outlets to see what is available.

Of course we're only focusing on eBay here at the moment as well, so you shouldn't over look other selling avenues just because they aren't as popular as eBay.

In regards to online selling avenues, you have things like Graigs List, Bonanza, eCrater and so on. When it comes to using online selling platforms, those like Bonanza and eCrater are well worth considering because they are free to list, so you are in no fear of loosing money if stock doesn't move.

If you did choose liquidated stock, what about a weekend market stall around your area, everyone is always looking for good priced school gear, so perhaps an opportunity there for you also.

I don't really have any knowledge of a good liquidator that deals in a lot of school gear, however if you were interested in that avenue, I would suggest taking a look at via trading. They are a first class surplus supplier, great to deal with.

Titan Liquidations is also a good general supplier, so it might be worth seeing if the boys at Titan could source this types of loads for you as well.

The biggest key thing at this point is not to get stressed about being caught in the fog, not knowing which way is up. That fog can clear very quickly, and all of a sudden you get to see a very clear direction, persistance is what it is all about, especially at the start-up point!

: )

Ok I know I'm being a pest but I think I want to sell dvds probably horror, childrens titles, and sci fi since these are topics I'm familiar with and like. Now my question is I'm going to use Waxworks I set up account with the man Kenny who is very nice but I'm wondering how do price my stuff so I can make a profit. When researching on Ebay using Terapeak it lists the results but my cost is always under the actual going rate on Ebay. Yet I see a lot of top rated sellers selling these items I've sold dvds before and did ok with them but it seems more competitive now so how do I price so that I still make profit. Sorry to bother you but this is the route I want to take. Thanks Marc.

No bother at all, that's what we are here for :)

Quite a simple equation to set a profitable price. It comes back to research, but you need to understand your competition firstly. Know what they offer and know what price they offer that for.

Now you need to source the best possible supplier price. From there you know your buying price and you know what price you will need to sell at to be competitive.

Now you need to factor in your other costs, payment acceptance fees on sales, eBay fees, listing and selling, packaging material for shipping and so on.

Tick off all those added costs, and then take a look at what is left between your costs and what you sales price is going to be. That's your perspective margin (profit) on the item.

Now the equation gets even easier, if you have a margin there that you are happy with after all your calculations have been done, then you have a product to move forward with. If you don't have a margin there that you are happy with, then you need to find a better supplier price.

Bringing your supplier price down is the only way to increase your margin at the core as your sales price is effectively being governed by your competition. If you can't find a supplier at a price that will allow you a margin to work happily work with, then you could only struggle if you moved forward with that particular product.

Cheers