How to start selling online?

Hi, I'm new here too. I want to start doing drop-shipping on eBay but I'm not sure where to start like what is my first step? And when I have found a wholesale, do I have to find many items from that wholesale or can I start with 2 to 3 items to begin with?

Hi Unnurgudna and welcome to the forum,

Just let me start by clarifying that drop-shipping and wholesale (hole sale) are two completely different supply methods. Drop-shipping provides you with the opportunity to sell products on behalf of a supplier on a per item basis, essentially you act as a salesperson for that supplier. Wholesale requires you to purchase in bulk, meaning that those products then belong to you.

It's very common for new sellers to confuse the two, but they are very different on many levels, that's just the basic difference I have given above. So the very first thing you really need to do is decide which supply method is going to be best for you. Of course buying in bulk requires at least some level of cash flow, so if you don't have that behind you, then drop-shipping may be the best option for you.

Once you know what supply model you are going to use and the sales channel/s you wish to target (in this case it seems to be eBay) then you need to start researching the markets. You need to start identifying product/s that you are interested in selling, then researching those particular products within that sales channels to see what your competition is like.

When you know what your competition looks like, then you can start researching suppliers for those particular products and see what sort of a competitive advantage you can find to see if that product/s are viable in that market.

In regards to how many you list, well that's really a personal thing. One of the advantages of drop-shipping is that you aren't out laying cash up front, so it affords you the ability to be far more flexible with what you can do. Just bare in mind that there may be listing fees to consider, so even though there may not be any products prices up front, there can still be marketing costs you will need to cover.

Cheers

hello Im new , following with this topic, could you recommend sites to compare prices and competitors?

Hi Eliazar, welcome to the forum,

The only application that comes to mind is Terapeak and I'm unsure as to what it's limitations are in regards to those sorts of cross matches across single or even multiple platforms. Perhaps one of our members with some recent Tearpeak experience might be able to shed some light on that for you or someone may well have some ideas on other sites/applications you can use.

Of course you might speak with support at Terapeak as well and they will be able to confirm if their application would be a suitable fit for your searching requirements.

Cheers

Hi I see trainin ebay selling, say that I can sell products of my location but I do not know how do it. And I have not company.

What could I do?

Can you just clarify exactly what you are trying to do so I completely understand.

The part about not being a registered company, you don't need to be a registered business of any type to sell on eBay, you can sell as a private seller.

hello again, Then, how to handle the sending of the products and the payment vouchers?

Are you speaking about drop-shipping products?

YES

but in the training manual, dropshipping on ebay ) Link hidden: Login to view ) also recommend starting sending local products. This is not dropshipping, right?

Drop-shipping is a supply method, it's got nothing to do with location.

Drop-shipping is when you work as an agent for a supplier (drop-shipper) Once you have an account with the drop-shipper, you have the rights to market their products, but that is it your cost. So you don't have to purchase stock yourself, like you would if you were buying wholesale.

So you advertise the product at your price, that is whatever your cost price is from the supplier, plus your margin on top. Now you have to be careful to include your costs into your margin, so any listing fees, sales fees and payment transaction fees of course, plus your profit.

When you make a sale the customer pays you as the seller. You then go to your supplier and pay them the cost price of item, leaving you with the margin you have built into the product. You provide the supplier with the buyer's address details and then the supplier send the item straight to your buyer ... NOT directly to you.

The package is sent blind, this means that there are no supplier details on it for your customer to see.

By using a local drop-shipper you can save on shipping times. If you use an international drop-shipper, then your shipping times will usually be much longer. So these are things you need to consider when choosing to work with a drop-ship supplier.

Cheers

This is no my post....was a mistake of handle this....because I have the same questions about dropshippers...in my case I know the difference in wholesalers and dropshippers, but my huge question is were I can find at least one dropshippers ho have a good inventory, my business idea is fashion brand clothes women and men, plus similar accessories quality.

And for now I didn't get anybody. Plus I would like to have this asesor who offer me before I pay the subscription, because I would like to know other niches with a very profitable product.

My goal in not open in eBay, Everybody focus in that. I want to open my own business and I would like to hear more positive advices for being independent and and tips for grew up and so on.

Thanks in advance

Hi bibihasfura and welcome to the forum,

In regards to finding suppliers, if you aren't able to find what you are looking for in our suppler directory, you can email Link hidden: Login to view with your exact requirements and the support team will do their best to find you some supplier leads to follow up with.

In regards to launching your own website, I think that should be the ultimate goal for any one serious about making a success in e-commerce, however, it's not the easiest thing to do. You'll need to have cash flow behind you to drive the marketing of your site and if you don't have the marketing expertise to do that work yourself, you'll need to find and pay the right people to help you do it effectively or you'll just end up with a website and no sales because of no traffic.

Of course getting traffic to your site is only the very first step, once you have them there, then you need to tick all the boxes that is going to convince them to spend their money at your store.

As I said, everyone should have that goal of developing their own independent e-commerce site sooner or later, but you need to make sure you have all the boxes ticked to make that goal a reality and a success.

Cheers