How to buy and sell products online - New SaleHoo user seeking your advice

(If this discussion should be in another forum, please kindly let me know. I will move it. Thank you.)

Hello folks. I've used eBay for over twelve years, and only recently decided to take it to the next level. Normally I would just buy items I wanted, or sell items I no longer used. I figure since I am so used to researching the market to see what's hot or not, and I use eBay often, I should find a reputable supplier. This eventually led me to find Salehoo, and I decided to plunge in head first.

So now I am part of Salehoo and would just like some good advice for someone who is learning how to buy and sell products online (legally that is! Hooray for genuine products.)

I'm sure this topic has been started many a time by new users like myself, but I figured it would be a good way for me to learn quickly about how to make the best use of this website.

So to those of you who respond, please accept a "thank you very much" from me in advance. :-)

Hi phantom36,

Welcome to SaleHoo! :)

I am sorry to hear about your experience with a DHGate Supplier.

Dh Gate is a directory where you can find good suppliers as well as not so good ones. As long as you are not sourcing for brand name products, you should be relatively fine. I have to say that there are also members who found good suppliers from DHGate.

Here are some helpful tips and information shared in past forum posts:

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You can easily assess a DHGate supplier by their site’s feedback system, which is quite transparent and useful. You need to read on the feedbacks to know how many satisfactory transactions the supplier actually had, since a 100% rating with one feedback does not reflect an accurate performance. Also, stick to those that allow safe payment methods. :)

With 12 years on eBay you have more experience than most of us. And what I’ll be sharing must be something which you already know. One of the trickiest things about selling online is that you get better wholesale prices if you call the supplier directly and talk to them about your business and what you want to achieve. But the best way to get good wholesale prices is to buy in bulk.

If you don’t have a lot of money to spend at first, then your aim should be to find a niche product where the wholesale prices are better, and there is less competition.

Hope this helps. :)

Hi and Welcome phantom36 - Nice to have you hear with us! :)

It's unfortunate that you had to go through what you did. Personally, I would say that Asia (China) as a whole is a gold mine for resellers. Why? The suppliers or manufacturers you find in this region can provide very cheap wholesale goods for sellers to profit on wildly in the West! Just take note to avoid buying branded goods especially when you are doing business with a Chinese supplier :)

We recommend using Chinese suppliers for no-name brands and products only. A big reason to use Chinese suppliers is simply because so much of the world’s goods are now manufactured in China. You could use a wholesaler in your own country, but he’s probably getting his items from China anyway.

DH Gate is just one of the main suppliers we have based in China. We have other Asian suppliers that can offer you a great selection of products - you can do a random search through the directory to see for yourself.

I would suggest reading your copy of the 'SaleHoo New User Manual' and our handbook on 'How to find Fantastic Suppliers'. You'll find both by going to the Education tab and clicking on Guides.

For more relevant tips, I also suggest visiting our Education tab and blogs!

Also, I thought you might find this forum post an interesting read:

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Like, Irene said with your 12 years of experience, our tips might be info that you already know of :) But we do hope we have helped you somehow...

All the best!

Thank you both for responding. I am currently getting together a list of everything I need to do to obtain a Seller's Permit, so I can sell items legally and not ever go through the problems I had with DHgate again. I agree, that DHgate is pretty amazing for certain non-brand name goods, but absolutely not for brand name goods (in their case, brand name bads!) Anything that is a brand name on that website is counterfeit, which is pretty mind-boggling.

I will read all the articles I can to figure out how to best get a legitimate online business going, so thank you both again for your help. :-)

My best,
Darren (phantom36)

Just to clarify the issue in regards to DH Gate and branded items Darren, it's not just DH Gate, it's mainland China in general. No matter who the supplier is, if they are selling from mainland China, stay well clear of anything branded.

This area is where most people get caught out, and some get caught out quite badly unfortunately. Hard to find a better location to purchase non-branded products if you are purchasing in bulk, but trying to source branded products will only cause you heartache!

: )

Thank you, Marc. I fully understand that now. DHgate just happened to be my first experience with Chinese wholesalers, and it's a shame I bought a few fake brand name items to start with- because the sellers were actually pretty wonderful to deal with. I really did keep a few of products I received, which I still use. Great way to save money if used personally and not for resale!

I am excited to get a small business going though, and I think I may even have a partner. Maybe soon enough I'll be here helping newbies like myself...

Darren

Nice one Darren, sound like you are going full steam ahead.

: )

As I mentioned before, I realize it is illegal to sell items with brand names, especially if they are bought from China (due to them being counterfeit 99% of the time).

But what if I found the same products with the same quality, only with neutral packaging? No brand names listed anywhere. And in my auctions I state that they work with certain models, but that these items are in fact generic and not made by said company? That's 100% legitimate, correct? Just want to make sure. There's such a fine line.

Thanks again,
Darren

It sounds like you are talking about what is called "designer inspired" or brand inspired. For example, a phone that looks almost identical to an Apple iPhone, but it has no iPhone branding.

So long as you are not infringing on any copyright, trademark issues, there is usually no problems at all. Now in most cases these type of rights are tied up in the name or logo, however that's not always the case.

Some companies may have a licence on a design aspect of a product or even on a symbol that they use on a product. This is where it can get a little messy, so knowing what the protected areas of any product are is critical to staying and arms length away from any potential drama.

I think you'll find as time goes by more and more companies will be trying to licence as many aspects of their product as they possibly can, in an effort to reduce the unbranded clone market.

I'm not trying to put you off these types of products, far from it as many do deal in these types of products, and because of the price difference, can do very well with them.

Just know the products you are selling, know them inside out, that's the very first thing would be my advice. Once you know what your legal obligations are in distribution, then you know exactly what you need to look for from a supplier.