Trying to start an online business - Where do I start?


robritt02
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7 May 07 10:41:32 pm
Hi everyone, I am trying to start a online business but I don't know where to start. I am hoping that someone could help me to jump start my online business. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.


grace-salehoo
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8 May 07 01:38:57 am
Hi robritt02,

You might find these Salehoo blog articles useful:

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The first thing you need to do is research: have a look at what others are selling online and how they are selling. Analyze what you do and don't like about their selling methods. Get to know the online marketplace, how it works, and what Internet buyers are looking for.

Then start thinking about what you would like to sell. Ideas can come from conversations with friends, hobbies & interests, reading articles, magazines and newspapers, and using eBay's Want It Now. The more you read, the more you'll start to get a feel for the trends.

With an online store, your aim is to find a niche and then gradually broaden your product range to provide customers with a lifestyle.

There are heaps of good tips on the forums - don't hesitate to ask more questions as you go along :)


Grace


dropshipwholesalers
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8 May 07 02:18:13 pm
It also depends on whether you want to start selling on auction sites or your own website.

What do you prefer?


satina07
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20 May 07 04:59:53 am
Hello all.

I thought I'd up this thread, as I'm also looking to sell items online. I've been reading over some of the previous threads and have gotten some good information from them. Thanks!

I'm a female singer/entrepreneur and I would like to sell alternative clothing through a dropshipper. The problem is that I can't seem to find any. I see sites claiming to sell wholesale, but they're just another online retailer drop shipping items. At this point in time, I'm not looking to have a large online store. More so, a small selection of of items that express my music and fashion style (Groove Rock) from the band site.

Since I am new to this, and I know I'll have more 'stupid questions', I was also wondering if there was anyone out there who is willing to be an online mentor.

Thanks
Satina


bayericlowe
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22 May 07 10:49:14 am
Hello all.

I thought I'd up this thread, as I'm also looking to sell items online. I've been reading over some of the previous threads and have gotten some good information from them. Thanks!

I'm a female singer/entrepreneur and I would like to sell alternative clothing through a dropshipper. The problem is that I can't seem to find any. I see sites claiming to sell wholesale, but they're just another online retailer drop shipping items. At this point in time, I'm not looking to have a large online store. More so, a small selection of of items that express my music and fashion style (Groove Rock) from the band site.

Since I am new to this, and I know I'll have more 'stupid questions', I was also wondering if there was anyone out there who is willing to be an online mentor.

Thanks
Satina


Hey satina, that's a sexy cool name!!

Glad to have you aboard! :D

Anyhow, there's not really much to starting a business online.

The real hard part is, making it successful.

See anyone can start a business. But only people in the know or connected in some way, get out and succeed.

Although alot more people are succeeding now by just doing a little bit of work, an eensy bit of work before hand.

You need to do an extensive amount of research about the marketplace first, make it a homework assignment. Find out how often it sells for what, find out why, find out who. It could take some time. You got to locate your niche like they said. Once you've got your niche down, such as alternative clothing, you want to find your source- and start to getting to know them. Know your supplier like you would know yourself.


Try this place for instance...
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See what you notice about them. Ask them good questions, thing that you would want to be asked if you were on the receiving end. Such as 'How long have you been around?' and 'What kind of shipping rates do you offer?' and of course, 'How old are your particular clothing stocks?'

You want to ask simple, straight questions and get good answers from the supplier. The key is to develop a trust based relationship with your suppliers, and if they give good answers, then you are on your way to finding a good supplier.

But if they don't give any answers or dodge the questions, you want to turn around fast. And you want to avoid getting scammed, avoid unreliable people, and most importantly...develop your niche.


Your niche will be your big success...like an extension of you, basically. Its a store right? So stock it with everything they want in that niche, and then send virtually everybody to that store. You'll be more than on your way, and you will learn how to take credit cards in no time.


(PS: Always a big issue online is address. You'll find you want to always make sure billing addresses match shipping addresses, like someone has with the bank, and you'd want to correct this often too. People try all kinds of fraudulent scams online, and really the only way to be protected, is to verify who someone is. Addresses do that most of the time. Its pretty hard for anybody to fake their address by US Postal mail, so you'll screen out virtually all the bad scams and be untouched.)


bayericlowe
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2 Jun 07 02:17:18 am
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