What Should I Sell pt 2
Posted 01-16-2009 at 12:47 AM by Debbie Songster
In part 2 of What Should I Sell, we will look at physical products.
If you are selling products that you manufacture yourself, such as handmade crafts, then your shipping and handling costs should be thoroughly researched before you launch your business. You must have sufficient shipping material on hand prior to selling, because if you fail to deliver orders you will lose business fast. Remember, people who purchase online want their products "yesterday".
Service is extremely important. Also, you need to factor in the cost of shipping and packaging materials when you set your retail prices.
Most Internet shoppers expect to pay a shipping charge for physical products ordered online, but make sure you mark up the price enough to cover the packaging you’re sending your product in. Excessive shipping charges will kill a sale so try to spread your expenses out among product price and shipping.
You may choose to sell products through an affiliate or associate program. In this case, the affiliate company will typically drop-ship orders to your customers right from their warehouse—so as a merchant affiliate, you will never have to bother handling the merchandise yourself.
Just be careful of what drop shippers you use. Some charge a yearly or monthly membership fee to belong. These really aren't the best drop shippers to deal with as most of them are just "middle men" and this cuts into your profit margin.
Generally they sell you products at a price that is higher than the typical wholesaler would charge. This makes it difficult for you to charge a decent retail price and still be competitive.
The reason why you are doing this is not to make the drop shipper rich.
There are plenty of regular wholesalers out there that will drop ship for you.
Expect to pay a "per address" fee - this is normal.
The best place to find products either to buy and hold in inventory or for drop shipping is at the trade shows.
If you find products you want to deal in, shop around. There are different prices with different vendors. It will surprise you the difference in price that's out there. The sole purpose of a wholesaler is to move product. They typically work with smaller margins then retailers do. Volume is what they deal in.
What a real education? Sign up for a trade show and go talk to the vendors. You will learn lots.
If you are selling products that you manufacture yourself, such as handmade crafts, then your shipping and handling costs should be thoroughly researched before you launch your business. You must have sufficient shipping material on hand prior to selling, because if you fail to deliver orders you will lose business fast. Remember, people who purchase online want their products "yesterday".
Service is extremely important. Also, you need to factor in the cost of shipping and packaging materials when you set your retail prices.
Most Internet shoppers expect to pay a shipping charge for physical products ordered online, but make sure you mark up the price enough to cover the packaging you’re sending your product in. Excessive shipping charges will kill a sale so try to spread your expenses out among product price and shipping.
You may choose to sell products through an affiliate or associate program. In this case, the affiliate company will typically drop-ship orders to your customers right from their warehouse—so as a merchant affiliate, you will never have to bother handling the merchandise yourself.
Just be careful of what drop shippers you use. Some charge a yearly or monthly membership fee to belong. These really aren't the best drop shippers to deal with as most of them are just "middle men" and this cuts into your profit margin.
Generally they sell you products at a price that is higher than the typical wholesaler would charge. This makes it difficult for you to charge a decent retail price and still be competitive.
The reason why you are doing this is not to make the drop shipper rich.
There are plenty of regular wholesalers out there that will drop ship for you.
Expect to pay a "per address" fee - this is normal.
The best place to find products either to buy and hold in inventory or for drop shipping is at the trade shows.
If you find products you want to deal in, shop around. There are different prices with different vendors. It will surprise you the difference in price that's out there. The sole purpose of a wholesaler is to move product. They typically work with smaller margins then retailers do. Volume is what they deal in.
What a real education? Sign up for a trade show and go talk to the vendors. You will learn lots.
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