How is a rookie supposed to build connections?

Hello Salehoo! I am new to the business, I was introduced to this industry by a colleague and I have had a few conversations with him about it, he started doing this full time now for almost a year and has been selling brand name clothing/shoes (Ed Hardy, Lacoste, Adidas, etc.) as far as I know he does his business strictly on eBay. He seems to do very well and has a lot of suppliers.
I have been doing a lot of research and stumbled onto Salehoo which I really like and have found a lot of good info and tools on here. My question is my colleague talks about how he gets phone calls and direct emails about new products and sales from his suppliers, are his suppliers the same types of suppliers that are listed on salehoo? It just seems that he has a very personal relationship with his suppliers, a very salesperson/customer relationship, to the point that his suppliers pay for him to go to tradeshows give him great deals and even tell him what the hot items and styles currently are. I know a lot of this comes with time, but I just want to know these websites that I find on Salehoo, some of them do not seem like they could be very personal. He really wouldn't mention any of his suppliers which is not surprising and I am fine with, I just want to reach out and build my contacts and would like to know the best way of going about it. Who are the people that I would need to talk to (customer service reps?) what are the type of conversations I would need to have, since I have yet to sell a lot of merchandise yet.

Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Thank You,

Paul

Welcome!! All I could say is you came to the right place. Salehoo has so much information. The information and advice is very worth my money, being that i am also a newbie. Read! Read! and read some more! absorb as much information as you could get.

Hi Paul,

I couldn't agree more with dinasour230! Research is one of the major keys to your success here. So research and read all the info and tips that you can get your hands on.

We do have a number of suppliers that may likely become your next best friend, but like you said this may take time (and a lot of research!).

Here's something that you may find helpful:

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Also don't give up when the going gets a bit tough, just keep on going :)

Welcome to SaleHoo! Glad to have you on board..cheers! :)