Need help, just starting out!

friendlyvender wrote:I know what you mean I felt this way too. I never thought much of it when I was starting out but I should've done more research. I thought since I wanted to drop ship my situation would be different. I came to find salehoo through youtube where I saw good reviews for this site.

I still think this is a good directory and company, I like it here, but I do feel a little ill-prepared as I feel naked in comparison to everyone else. I don't know why I would've thought that I wouldn't need a tax ID.

I'm still figuring out my next steps

I have the same problem i am trying to learn how this works. Not living in the the USA and getting involve in this kind of business i was thinking this would be a smart way to start my company. But just like many like myself that do not know all information before getting involve have come to a complete stop. Until we understand how where and what to do... to obtain TAX ID number ...... [quote]

Hi Winston and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you would benefit from our education centre Link hidden: Login to view I would suggest running through that to give yourself a good understanding of what, where, how and who. If you need advice at anytime, we're never too far away to offer help.

I've been reading and watching videos on SaleHoo for the past month and when you offered a discount on the membership I decided to join SaleHoo. I've read the reviews and it took me awhile to decide to sign up, because I've signed up with others and it didn't work out for me. DSD (DropShipDirect.com) is one of them. Items I sold were out of stock and my buyers gave me a negative feedback and ruined my reputation on ebay. I don't want that to happen again.

By joining SaleHoo, I hoped to get the help I need here. Right now I've gone through the education, training, etc. and tried to research some of the wholesale, drop shippers directory on SaleHoo and not sure which ones to choose from.

Being I'm new at this, what can I start with first? Like you said I need to find a supplier that has no minimum order, doesn't require a fee to become a client and starting out small is the best thing. No bulk orders to start and dealing with a drop shipper is the best way to start out, because drop shippers store all stock on site and process, package and post your orders individually as you make sales.

The benefits of drop shipping are: not having to store stock on site, having all packaging and postage taken care of, and, because you only pay for the stock you sell, the risk of holding stock and being stuck with it is removed. Another big advantage of drop shipping is no minimum order, so you don’t need to have a lot of cash to get started.

The biggest thing that stood out for me is: the risk of holding stock and being stuck with it is removed. What do you think? I don't want to get stuck with an out of stock item and finding out that it's not available and then get a negative feedback on my account. Is health and beauty a good start for me? I'm really into eating right, what's healthy and what's not, etc. I really don't have an interested in any one product.

I love computers, but that's very competitive. I'm just starting out and want to choose the right niche for me. Also, my feedback on ebay is only 8 (85.7%) and I created an account on ebay since Jan 1, 2008, but didn't really sell anything since then. I just started selling for the first time this year. Being my rating is not very high, I want to start small and work my way up. Can you give me some advice and input as to where I can start first? I want this to work.

Thank you!

It says I joined SaleHoo on Dec 9, 2013. I didn't join as a full member since Dec 26, 2013. What's the difference?

Hi there. When starting with your niche idea, you don't necessarily have to go with something you are interested in. Maybe do a window shopping trip to major stores where you live, Costco, Walmart, etc, take a look at what they sell and take notes on things they DON'T sell. Things that people would like to buy, but they can't get easily. Most retail stores will carry stuff that is high volume, high turnover and generic. For example, if you are in a department store that sells golf clubs, they might have just a few different brands, sets and a very limited line of products with each. If you wanted to find something specific, like maybe left handed golf gloves, you would most likely have to go find a golf specialty store for that specific item. That's where you come in; YOU can be that specialty store. I find that the hardest part would be to think about the niche you will go with. It isn't about what interests you, it's what will be in demand and profitable to make your business thrive. When you do think you have a good idea, make sure that you do a very extensive research on it. Use multiple methods with your analysis(adwords, google searches for competitors, etc) cuz I find that sometimes the market analysis tool will show a great success rate, but there aren't any suppliers(I have run into this problem a few times already). If that happens, just contact someone from the SaleHoo team and maybe they can help with that. One possibility is that the manufacturer does not do drop shipping, and you may have to contact them directly yourself and see if they would make an exception.

Thank you for the advice. What you have suggested seems too complicated. I did research some of the SaleHoo Wholesale suppliers that SaleHoo offers and found a few of them. Is it better to find suppliers that directly do drop shipping. What if I find a few suppliers and they are strictly wholesalers? I checked out the SaleHoo reviews on some of them. Reading some of the reviews that SaleHoo gives is very helpful. SaleHoo gives you a heads up on some suppliers either positive or negative. There were a few suppliers that SaleHoo thought was better than others. I bookmarked those. I found about 11 suppliers, because of the reviews that SaleHoo gives. For example, SoapGoods.com seems to have a very positive feedback from SaleHoo and they are highly recommended. I read where if you choose products that interest you, then it makes it a lot easier to narrow it down for yourself. I need to start small and work my way up. Some suppliers require no minimum order (which is good), some require a resellers permit, which I'm not sure where to get one of those. I'm not ready to start a business yet. I just want to sell a few items and see how it goes first. I would like to talk to someone that can step me through this on the phone or email. I need a coach!
Thanks for your help!

Hi Erin,

We're always happy to advise where ever possible, so feel free to pose any questions at all you may have.

Being that you are so new to this and looking like you are slightly lost, I'm going to give you a really simple marketing analysis exercise that I think would really benefit you.

It's called S.W.O.T.

S - Strengths
List all of your strengths, that is everything you feel will be a strength in your business.

W - Weaknesses
List all of your weaknesses, areas in business that you know are you weak areas.

O - Opportunities
List any areas where you have identified opportunities that may benefit you business

T - Threats
List all of the threats, as you see them, to your business

Now don't just take 5 minutes to do this, give it a day or two and really think about about it. Try to get as many points listed under each category as you possibly can.

The idea of this type of exercise is to clearly identify areas where you have an advantage and areas where you need to improve. Of course what you want to end up with are far more strengths than weaknesses and far more opportunities than threats and if you don't, then you need to develop strategies to counter those areas of concern.

It is a good little exercise because it really can focus you and that gives you something to build on. I know it's not so much product related, but this is a business and sometimes people forget that. Treat it like a business, give yourself a good business foundation to start from and you may find it will then become a lot easier to actually develop from there.

Hi Marc,

Thank you for the advice. I will try to work on this. It may take me a few days, but once I think about it and get the list together, I will let you know. Not sure how, but I will try.
By the way, I found a SaleHoo Dropshipper (iceboxcalendars.com) on your wholesale directory that I really got excited about and even emailed them. I want to work with them and purchase their products, selling them on ebay, amazon, etc., because their products are exactly what I want to sell and work with. I love calendars, positive sayings, quotes, etc. They seem to have all of that. Got on their website, posted a positive comment and told them that I'm interested in their drop shipping program and want to work with them. This is what the owner Tony said:
Thank you so much for your kind words about IceboxCalendars products! Unfortunately, I do not offer drop ship any more. I had corrected my status on Salehoo some time ago, so I will check to see if they have updated it. If you are looking to purchase some at wholesale, I have the option on my business calendar page of purchasing 25 at the price of $4.75 each and that includes free shipping. The calendars go through 2015, so there is a lot of sale time with my products. I can sale my products throughout the year because of this. Below is the link to that page if you are interested. You would simply "Add to Cart" the quantity you would like to purchase and send the images numbers you would like to have to my email. Thanks again for your interest in IceboxCalendars and may you have a blessed year ahead!
Now what do I do? They don't do drop shipping any more and only do wholesale.
Marc,
Isn't your opinion on wholesalers someone to stay away from? How does working with wholesalers work and what's the difference from wholesalers vs dropshippers?
My thoughts are wholesalers sell to you at wholesale price and ship the items to you and you have to take care of the rest? Where drop shippers take care of everything, even the shipping, right? Is there a disadvantage to working with wholesalers? I really want to work with this company iceboxcalendars.com. I love their products and am interested in something like this to sell or something similar to it. Thank you!

Hey Marc,

I emailed SoapGoods.com. They are listed on SaleHoo in your Wholesale Directory. They responded by saying:

Greetings,

We appreciate your interest in our products. Currently we do not have any programs like this, we are trying to figure out how we got listed on Salehoo!

Thanks again
Allan
Soapgoods

On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 9:28 PM, Erin Hester <eh932011@gmail.com> wrote: I wrote this before they responded:

How do I sign up to become a reseller for your drop shipping program? I'm a full member with SaleHoo and would like to know the details. SaleHoo gave you a highly recommended and positive review. Is there a fee? Is there a minimum order? How does your drop shipping work? I'm interested in selling on ebay, amazon, etc. What is the % of profit, etc.? Can you provide me with your requirements? I'm new at this and would like to join up with you. Can you help me?

Thank you!

What's up with that? I wanted to get established with them also. Unfortunately they don't have drop shipping and can't figure out how they got listed on SaleHoo. What do I do now? I filled out their application on their websites and inquired about becoming a reseller and they say they don't do that or not doing drop shipping anymore.

Hi Erin,

With your second post. A directory listing is by application only, so one of our support staff are going to call them and clarify the situation.

It's unfortunate that the other supplier has stopped his dropshipping program. We did check his directory details and he has indeed had them updated to wholesale, no longer Dropshipper. However, he didn't change his order MOQ to reflect the wholesale purchasing, he still has that set as zero. So that's where it looks like the confusion has come from, you would have seen no MOQ I would imagine, assumed they dropshipped. We're changing his MOQ to 25, as per his response to you and I'll make sure our directory is amended.

In regards to wholesale vs dropshipping, I've just dropped in a post that directly relates to this, so I'll drop the link in here for you to read

general/what-s-the-best-supply-resource-for-me-t15293.html

Hey Marc,

Regarding the post you dropped in relating to wholesale vs dropshipping and the link you provided for me to read, do I copy and paste the link? Because the link does not work when I click on it? Is it suppose to work when I click on it? I would love to read the post. Thanks!

That one should do it

Link hidden: Login to view

Thank you Marc! Wondering though, is it benefical to work with Wholesalers too? I'm at a loss here trying to find a decent drop ship supplier through SaleHoo. I really don't want to search out a drop ship supplier on my own for fear I might run into scammers. I would rather go through SaleHoo, because you guys search them out and investigate them deep down making sure these companies are reputable. Are there any drop shippers that are listed in your directory that have a positive review from SaleHoo and works? I don't want to deal with Wholesalers that you have to be responsible for the merchandise (handling, shipping, etc.). So far I have searched out your directory in one category I want to work with (Candles and Scents) and have gotten to the 11th page. I'm still searching. Sorry I type a lot of words. I'm a detailed person and want to make sure I don't miss anything. You probably think I talk too much, HA, HA!
Thanks, Erin

fudjj wrote:That one should do it

general/what-s-the-best-supply-resource-for-me-t15293.html

Hi Erin,

If cashflow wasn't an issue, I would suggest wholesale will give you a far better opportunity to compete in far more markets that dropshipping will. That said, you have to go with what you're more comfortable with and that seems to be dropshipping for you.

In regards to positive reviews in our directory, you shouldn't be concerned about that. Bad news travels faster than good news, so people are more likely to leave negative feedback for a supplier if they feel they have been done wrong, rather than leave positive when they have had a good experience. If they are listed in our directory then that means that have been verified by us through the application process and passed as safe to deal with. No that doesn't mean we have tested their level of customer service or things like that, it means that they have been verified as genuine, they aren't scammers and are quite safe to trade with.

Btw, you can never type too much, we're here to help wherever and whenever we can, so you are more than welcome to ask whatever you like, whenever you want :)

Thank you. I don't want you to think I'm a pest when it comes to constantly asking ?'s. In my case, I can't afford to buy wholesale right now. I don't want to buy wholesale, because I'm just getting started and want to try this by buying one item at a time. Not in bulk lots. Do you suggest I continue to search for drop shippers through SaleHoo and go with that? I'm a little hesitate in working with drop shippers, because if I post some of their merchandise on ebay, it may not sell and if it does, it might be considered out of stock. I read through your training that check with the drop ship supplier before you sell and make sure it's plentiful, right? I signed up with one of SaleHoo's suppliers and they had a long list of out of stock items. I've saved about 17 suppliers through SaleHoo that I read where they are good and had a good review through one of your staff through SaleHoo and they are drop shippers. If I choose one drop ship supplier and go with that, I could start small and try to sell one item at a time on ebay, amazon, etc. See if it sells and go from there, right? I've never listed anything on Amazon before. Can't remember what other websites Salehoo listed to try to sell items? Ebay, Amazon, ?. Besides Ebay and Amazon, what other ones are there? Any other one's you recommend selling on? Thank you for your time! Erin

Another thing Marc,

Can I call the 800 # SaleHoo provides and talk with someone for support? I tried today and I guess the hours you are available is in the evening after 6pm, right?

Hi Erin,

You can reach us at 1800-322-7952 within USA (For outside of USA, you may dial 310 776 7533) from Mondays thru Fridays at 11am-7pm NZ time and we'll gladly do our best to assist you. Please note that we are available to receive calls and return calls only during this time zone schedule - 11am-7pm New Zealand time.

You can also choose to have an online chat with a member of our team. To do this please visit Link hidden: Login to view and after a short while (about 45 seconds) you should be able to chat,live,with a member of our team (if it doesn't pop up it might be because all the chat lines are full at the time).

eh932011 wrote:Thank you. I don't want you to think I'm a pest when it comes to constantly asking ?'s. In my case, I can't afford to buy wholesale right now. I don't want to buy wholesale, because I'm just getting started and want to try this by buying one item at a time. Not in bulk lots. Do you suggest I continue to search for drop shippers through SaleHoo and go with that? I'm a little hesitate in working with drop shippers, because if I post some of their merchandise on ebay, it may not sell and if it does, it might be considered out of stock. I read through your training that check with the drop ship supplier before you sell and make sure it's plentiful, right? I signed up with one of SaleHoo's suppliers and they had a long list of out of stock items. I've saved about 17 suppliers through SaleHoo that I read where they are good and had a good review through one of your staff through SaleHoo and they are drop shippers. If I choose one drop ship supplier and go with that, I could start small and try to sell one item at a time on ebay, amazon, etc. See if it sells and go from there, right? I've never listed anything on Amazon before. Can't remember what other websites Salehoo listed to try to sell items? Ebay, Amazon, ?. Besides Ebay and Amazon, what other ones are there? Any other one's you recommend selling on? Thank you for your time! Erin

Definitely do your research, dealing with a supplier who has good stock control measures is a good idea. You have to remember with dropshipping that it's not the dropship supplier that takes the heat when there is an issue, it's you, so you need to be as confident with a dropship suppler as possible when doping business with them.

My suggestion would be to start with about 10 items, multiple suppliers is fine if required. That starts to give you some good reliable data you can work from. Page hits, watch counts, sell through rates, that type of thing and it won't cost you a fortune. The really big successful dropship sellers usually have dozens of items listed. Not suggesting you do that to start out, but that's where most end up.

Good little comparison chart for the best performing sites Link hidden: Login to view My opinion, if the site offers free listing and you have the time to spend listing, then go for it. Load that sucker up to the max, costing you nothing unless you sell. Sure, some of these free sites are smaller ones with low traffic, but again, if it's costing nothing to be there, then nothing to loose and everything to gain.

One site I would suggest taking a look at, bonanza.com. Used to be free listing, hopefully still is!

Thank you so much Marc! So are you saying find a reliable drop ship supplier/s associated through SaleHoo (10 different drop ship suppliers and 10 different items they have available), sign up with them, find out if they have good stock control, pricing, support, etc.? Not sure what you mean by Page hits, watch counts, sell through rates, that type of thing and it won't cost you a fortune. So it's better to list several items, instead of one at a time? If I list the items on Bonanza.com, which I've never worked with before, I could sell items there without hurting my feedback on ebay, right? That's my concern is if I list items to sell on ebay, I might get negative feedback from buyers and that wouldn't be good. My feedback is only 8, which isn't very high right now. Do I need to increase it higher, if I can before I sell anything? The more I list drop ship suppliers items, the better? Like you said load it up, HA, HA! I want to protect myself from negative feedback. The only thing I'm concerned about is if the supplier has really good stock control and if they are reliable. I've been convinced that SaleHoo is the one to work with to obtain a good drop ship supplier. I know you guys research and investigate all of your suppliers, which is good.
Right now I will browse Bonanza.com, continue to research further for several drop ship suppliers that SaleHoo provides in your directory and go from there, right ?
Wanted to mention the supplier that I signed up with and checked out their products and website is: SNEDCOWHOLESALE.com. They have 21/2 pages of out of stock items already. What is your opinion on them? They are one of your suppliers listed in your directory. They have a ton of items. Not sure if they offer free listings. I will check that out and let you know.
Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate all the help I can get to do this right. Erin

By the way, I'm Central Standard Time. What are your hours of operation according to Bettendorf, Iowa? That's where I live. Thanks!

Hi Erin,

It doesn't have to be 10 different dropshippers, it can be one or it can be as many as you like. I just suggest starting with 10 products to give yourself a decent chance, without getting burnt on listing fees. The most important thing is that you research the products on eBay or wherever you list them. You still have to make sure you are competitive with your choices.

Page Hit = How may times your page gets viewed
Watch Count = How many people put your item on their watch list
Sell Through Rate = How well your item sells per times listed

For example, if you list a product 10 times and get five sales, then you have a 50% sell through rate. It's a way to measure how popular your products are. High sell through rate usually indicates you're doing something right, slow sell through rate usually indicates your business needs fine tuning in some areas.

These are mostly relevant to eBay, but other sites may also have these types of tools to help you manage your business. In regards to listing on other sites, no effect to eBay feedback whatsoever, they aren't interlinked at all.

A high feedback score with good ratings is always a plus, but everyone has to start somewhere and a feedback score of 8 is fine, so long as you have a high satisfaction rating.

In regards to that supplier, that is a very high proportion of out of stock items. I'll get our support team to check that out and see if we can find out why they are running like that for you.

In regards to time zone, I'm not quite sure to be honest, but I would suggest calling after 1pm your time. If that doesn't work I'll get you to PM me your number and I'll have someone call you to assist.

Cheers

Hi Marc,

Thank you for being so flexible and willing to work with me and answering my ?'s. The drop ship supplier SNEDCO WHOLESALE, which is listed in SaleHoo's wholesale directory, their out of stock list was last updated on 1/3/2014. I counted how many and they have over 90 items out of stock right now. That's a lot of items they don't have. Like you said maybe you can check them out on this? I sure don't want to work with them, if they have that many. I'm going to research further in your directory and keep looking.

Hi Erin,

We are looking into that out of stock issue with the company for you, we would expect a better level of service for our members than that, but won't judge until we find out what the problem is being caused by.

I've just spoken with Support and the very helpful Irene is going to give you a call, so you will be able to discuss anything you like with her. I'll edit out your number as well so she's the only one you hear from lol

Thank you Marc! I appreciate all your help.

Welcome Erin, anytime :)

I got an email from Irene. She said she called my cell phone and I told her I did not see a # that I recognized or got from her. She said she did call, but didn't leave a voice mail for me. I told her I had to go out of town today and wouldn't be available to talk today. Her email came across to me as being defensive and letting me know that she called. Her words seemed not very helpful or maybe I took it that way. Anyway, I emailed her telling her that I had a # on my cell phone that I didn't recognize and thinking it was hers. I do screen my calls. The # was: 661-748-0240. I told her that I didn't recognize that # and it came through yesterday 1/6/2014 evening @ 10:16pm CST. Not sure what time zone that is where you guys are? She seemed kind of upset in her email. I told her I hope to talk with her soon. Looking forward to it. She wished me a safe trip, which I thanked her for. I'm sorry I missed her call, but I couldn't help it. I asked her to provide her # so I'm able to recognize it when she calls. I do work full time and sometimes not able to answer while I'm working, you know? i hope she didn't take it wrong, being I didn't answer my cell phone right then and there. I confirmed my Cell# with her.

Thank you,
Erin Hester

Hi Erin,

Sorry to hear that first attempt didn't go so well, but I can assure you that Irene's email wasn't meant in any way, other than to let you know that she had called, so you didn't think she had forgotten. I'm sure that when you do get back and the two of you get the opportunity to speak, you'll find Irene very helpful in any way she possibly can be.

Enjoy your trip : )