When getting into online selling, you have essentially 4 main supply resource avenues open to you, but each is different and it's important to find the one that best suits your requirements.
1. WHOLESALE Possibly the top of the tree. Wholesale gives you the ability to purchase in volume, which in turn provides you with far better pricing than
buying a single unit, which is essentially retail. So your benefit is in your cost saving, making you far more competitive than you may other
wise be.
The downside, storage space and being left with out of date stock. Storage space is always a concern if you have none, being left with out of
date stock is more of a concern if you are dealing in special occasion or seasonal stock, For example, Christmas items or fashion items,
these two markets are very much seasonal.
Dropshippers should not be confused with genuine Wholesale suppliers, despite the use of the word "wholesale" often being used. If there
are no MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) requirements, then you are not getting a genuine volume wholesale price.
2. SURPLUS (liquidated) STOCK Follows the wholesale model, however with much lower MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) amounts. Another benefit is that the stock is much
cheaper than new, however there is always a reason why it has been liquidated, so the devil is often in the detail when it comes to dealing in
this market.
My recommendation, do plenty of research first if you are going to deal in this market. Plenty of opportunities, but just as many pitfalls for
the inexperienced
3. DROPSHIPPING Without doubt one of the most popular forms of supply. Of course the benefits are low to no cash outlay, you make the sale first and then
you pay for the item and have the supplier send direct to your customer. Nice clean, simple and cheap way of doing business.
Of course there are some negatives. As you are not purchasing in volume, the prices you are will be purchasing at will reflect closer to retail
than wholesale. You also have to remember that you are not in control of your own business, you are relying on the supplier doing the right
thing by you and your customers. Issues such as poor stock control and slow or in accurate shipping will reflect on you, not on them.
4. SECOND HAND One of the oldest avenues of supply, and still one of the best in my opinion. If you've got the time to get out on a weekend and do some
garage (yard) sales, hit the markets and auction houses, you can turn a hand full of cash into two hands full, so long as you know what you
are buying.
You still have to be smart with what you buy and what you pay for it, but there are opportunities all over the place when using a second hand
supply model, and the big bonus is, you get away from the PC and you can have some fun getting out and about!
Learn more about sourcing second hand products
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Here is more information on Wholesale and Drophipping should you decide to source your products via these sources - general/the-difference-between-wholesale-and-dropshipping-t15146.html
