What's the best supply resource for me?


fudjj
Site Admin
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  • Joined: 27 Jul 07
  • Karma:
2 Jan 14 10:51:49 pm
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The downside, storage space and being left with out of date stock. Storage space is always a concern if you have none, being left with out of
date stock is more of a concern if you are dealing in special occasion or seasonal stock, For example, Christmas items or fashion items,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 Link hidden: Login to view.

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


Mark (fudjj)

Community Manager
SaleHoo.com

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Last edited by richelle_salehoo1 on 22 Apr 16 05:53:56 am, edited 5 times in total.
Added content

riverwanderer9
Free Member
  • Posts: 3
  • Joined: 16 Aug 14
  • Karma:
14 Sep 14 12:30:37 am
I agree that yard sales/estate sales and the like are where it's at. I've been doing this full time for about a year. Every month you get more and more experienced and develop a better eye for what sells. What's one person's junk can very often sell for hundreds of dollars. That old beat up vintage fan sitting in the corner? It could possibly go for a few hundred dollars. Or that tiny little rhinestone empty perfume bottle from the 40's? Hundreds of dollars. It is incredible the value on old vintage items. I often times turn one handful not into two, but into three four, five and more handfuls. I've very often spent 1 dollar, yes one dollar, and turned it into hundreds. Now I'm good at it. A very thrilling experience. Now I'm turning my eye to other modes of business and opening up my Ebay account to drop shipping (as I'm in a position to do so with all the great feedback from the last year). But I'm trying to find quality companies I can trust. I'm new to Salehoo, and look forward to finding some good suppliers through you guys! I know one bad supplier means my entire record could be ruined on Ebay. So hoping for the best!


 

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