New to this gig and feeling overwhelmed

Hi. My name is Amber and I'm a 20 yr old from Queensland Australia. One of my main motivators for starting an ebay, online or dropshipping business (haven't really decided the best platform yet) is the fact that I suffer from Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. This pretty much means that I physically cannot work in a full time office job.

I have been looking into consumer electronics, tablet pcs, external hardrives etc. Recently been ripped off by someone on alibaba, thankfully it wasn't too much money but in this day and age every cent counts. I was hoping that someone on here would be able to give me a hand. Just a little push in the right direction would be wonderful as I am so totally lost its not funny.

I am currently reading through all the education posts on here and the guides so that should help me a long way.

I really do appreciate any help that is given.

Confusedly,
Amber

Hi Amber,

Welcome to SaleHoo! It's nice to have you here with us :)

First off, Alibaba.com is not a place you would want to invest time and money in unless you personally know the seller or personally know someone who bought from a particular supplier. Here's an article about Alibaba.com that you may want to have a read - Link hidden: Login to view

I think another great place for you to continue reading would be on the forum - you'll be amazed that how much you'll learn from the posts!

Here are a few posts from other members which are quite similar to yours - (Hope you find the tips in the posts useful!)

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You've chosen one of the toughest categories - consumer electronics. Is there anything else you might be interested in selling?

Looking forward to talking more with you... Cheers!

Hi Richelle,

I'm honestly interested in selling anything, but electronics are what I know. As long as I can make a profit I'm happy.

Hi Amber,

Yes, electronics seems to be one of the top categories that most sellers will choose.

You might consider selling something that you are interested in. Is there a particular hobby or interest that seems promising? It is often easy to market and sell a product/s when we as sellers have interest in them or are passionate about them.

You might also like to experiment a bit by trying to sell a few things from around your home and see which products sell well. This way you can have other options and practice your skills too! And may not need too much effort since all you have to do is look around your room/home :) In the process, you will often stumble across items that sell really well that you would never have otherwise picked!

Here are some products we have found to have good profit margins:

- Clothing
- Skin care (e.g. anti-ageing & acne treatment)
- Vacation-related items (swimsuits, crocs, sunblock)
- Homewares (towels, sheets)
- Accessories for electronics
- Crafts & hobby items
- Sporting goods
- Computers & computer parts
- Auto & motorbike
- Unique items/collectibles

I hope you've read our guides on how to find products to sell on eBay, if not here are the links for your reference -

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Hope this helps. Good luck :)

Hi Amber,

Welcome to SaleHoo! Just want to share with you that electronics is actually one of the most competitive markets online, especially if you are into brand name products. The electronics industry has always run on very low margins from wholesalers to end users and marketplaces such as eBay have only tightened the margins even further. You will notice that most electronics sell at the wholesale price or below wholesale on eBay, that's how intense the competition is!

If you do wish to stick with the electronics industry, then here is what we suggest:

* Use liquidation suppliers to get bulk lots at prices well below wholesale.
* OR: Purchase from wholesalers in very large quantities (and when we say very large, we mean a spend of $200,000 or more) - this is how the big eBay powersellers do it.
* Increase your feedback and get powerseller status BEFORE entering the electronics market. This will give you more visibility in the search.
* Sell via your own website or your eBay store if possible, as buyers generally pay more from these venues than eBay.
* Add third-party extras and up-sells to your orders. These will help you bump up your margins to a much more acceptable level.
* Better still - consider selling accessories for electronics rather than electronics themselves. Accessories are very popular, have less competition, cost less to ship and have much greater margins.

If you need a list of China based suppliers for non branded electronics, we’ll help make one for you, just let us know. :)

Have a great day!

I was originally looking at selling portable external hard drive, and 10" keypad cases for the iPad and ZT-180 Android and then hopefully move in to selling the ZT-180 tablet and the Windows 7 tablet. I was also looking at selling the laser projection keyboards but the development companies are having a bit of trouble with the software supposedly so I have given up on that idea for now.

Hi AmberW,

Check out these drop ship suppliers, they can send internationally -
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Link hidden: Login to view USA based, iPad covers

Cheers!