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Hello All,

Super excited to have discovered this forum, I've already learned so much in such a short amount of time. A little about myself: I'm a New Jersey native with an app business, PuxApps, and I'm trying to branch out in this eCommerce field by selling actual physical products. I already have some products listed on Amazon that I sourced from AliExpress and AliBaba, however, I know there are better (more efficient/profitable) way of sourcing items. I've identified two niches that I'd like to get started with and my questions to you all are:

What, in your opinion, have you found to be the most efficient/least risky way of obtaining an initial inventory for your stores? I have money to spend on this inventory, however, each product that I'm considering selling requires an MOQ that makes me unable to stock many different items, making it a risky venture. Did you all start off with few products and gradually increase your inventory over time? How much does dropshipping figure in your stores and do you find it to be an efficient/profitable way of selling online?

Thanks in advance for all your help. Feel free to PM me, I'm open to any and all advice at this point.
#dropshipping #importing #inventory #questions #sourcing
  • Profile picture of the author Riccur
    Most of the online niche businesses I own I started off very wider, but didn't order deep in certain products. As I started selling the items, I would get deeper into the ones I was selling a lot of and sell out the ones I was not selling the most of. I also expanded the inventory quickly in order to retain repeat customers and broaden the amount of product I had.
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    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Unfortunately you are a victim of one of the most prevalent myths regarding sourcing physical products. The myth is that you have to buy large quantities in order to buy direct from manufacturers overseas.

      NOT TRUE. I tell my book readers to ignore the big MOQs quoted, because it is possible to get genuine manufacturers to supply smaller orders.
      • Also, you are looking in the wrong place. Most suppliers listed on Alibaba and most other popular sourcing sites as manufacturers are NOT. They are traders, wholesalers and agents.
      • I have taught hundreds of people how to get real manufacturers to agree to small orders.
      • Traders and wholesalers are mostly very inflexible when it comes to Minimum Order Quantities. (MOQs) I can explain why if you want to know. Manufacturers can be more flexible but will only agree to small quantities if you approach them the right way.
      • Traders and wholesalers buy from the manufacturers and add a substantial margin before they sell to you. You can pocket that extra margin yourself.
      • Big MOQs are there primarily to deter newbies and wannabees. Most newbies blow it in their first contact with suppliers, and complain that they don't get a response.
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      Use emotions and perceptions to build a great brand. Ask me about my book LabelsThatExploit. For safe sourcing and easy importing from 41 countries globally, see https://provenglobalsourcing.com
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      • Profile picture of the author fiestafigaro
        Originally Posted by Importexport View Post

        Unfortunately you are a victim of one of the most prevalent myths regarding sourcing physical products. The myth is that you have to buy large quantities in order to buy direct from manufacturers overseas.

        NOT TRUE. I tell my book readers to ignore the big MOQs quoted, because it is possible to get genuine manufacturers to supply smaller orders.
        • Also, you are looking in the wrong place. Most suppliers listed on Alibaba and most other popular sourcing sites as manufacturers are NOT. They are traders, wholesalers and agents.
        • I have taught hundreds of people how to get real manufacturers to agree to small orders.
        • Traders and wholesalers are mostly very inflexible when it comes to Minimum Order Quantities. (MOQs) I can explain why if you want to know. Manufacturers can be more flexible but will only agree to small quantities if you approach them the right way.
        • Traders and wholesalers buy from the manufacturers and add a substantial margin before they sell to you. You can pocket that extra margin yourself.
        • Big MOQs are there primarily to deter newbies and wannabees. Most newbies blow it in their first contact with suppliers, and complain that they don't get a response.
        Thanks so much for the helpful reply. Yes, I had a feeling Alibaba was not the way to go about obtaining a supplier. I'll be trolling around this forum some more gathering info as well as possibly checking out your book. It's refreshing to get some sound advice on this matter and for that I thank you all.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    Importexports makes some excellent points above! I have read some of his other posts on this forum and I believe he does indeed know just what he is talking about.

    As for Alibaba you may want to read this post about them - http://www.warriorforum.com/ecommerc...ibaba-com.html

    You mentioned that you "have some products listed on Amazon" but you did not mention if you are using their FBA business model. Doing FBA will definitely boost your sales, lower your shipping costs and simplify your life IMO.
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    • Profile picture of the author fiestafigaro
      Originally Posted by DWaters View Post

      Importexports makes some excellent points above! I have read some of his other posts on this forum and I believe he does indeed know just what he is talking about.

      As for Alibaba you may want to read this post about them - http://www.warriorforum.com/ecommerc...ibaba-com.html

      You mentioned that you "have some products listed on Amazon" but you did not mention if you are using their FBA business model. Doing FBA will definitely boost your sales, lower your shipping costs and simplify your life IMO.
      No, I'm not using FBA yet but I fully intend to. Do you first test the waters with a small quantity of items not via FBA and then go FBA with a larger quantity if the item is selling? With one product, I sold 4 items in roughly two weeks without FBA, just taking that into consideration does this seems like a viable product to sell, in your opinion?
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      • Profile picture of the author SaanviRao
        Banned
        Well, I would like to say only one thing according to my personal experience, if you are thinking about to start your business with FBA, then you are going in the right direction. The reason behind this is, you can increase your sales as well as get good clients' feedback, if you provide them better service. If I talk about my personal experience, I have got the 50% boom in my business, after listed my product with FBA.
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      • Profile picture of the author DWaters
        Originally Posted by fiestafigaro View Post

        No, I'm not using FBA yet but I fully intend to. Do you first test the waters with a small quantity of items not via FBA and then go FBA with a larger quantity if the item is selling? With one product, I sold 4 items in roughly two weeks without FBA, just taking that into consideration does this seems like a viable product to sell, in your opinion?
        I would set up your FBA account and then send in a small quantity of your inventory at first, just a few items. There is a small learning curve of getting your inventory listed into your seller central account and shipping the packages in. Amazon will tell you what gets sent to which of their warehouses.

        See how it sells and learn how it works and then send in more inventory if it is working for you. Learning to set your prices correctly and wining the "buy box" is a very important part of the learning process.
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  • Profile picture of the author ZanyZebra
    Start as small as you can. Consider your first inventory as purely a test. If it sells, only then go bigger.

    By the way, don't accept at face value the MOQs that you see stated by manufacturers. I've never yet met a minimum MOQ when starting a new product and i've been very successful on amazon with them.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author fiestafigaro
    Yeah, I'm about ready to pull the trigger on FBA. The MOQ I received from the manufacturer was rather high: 500pcs of an item at $5.85 each. Way too much for a testing of the waters, preliminary order in my opinion. Thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    As mentioned by ZanyZebra above start your FBA business as small as you can. I still go to Target and buy a few clearance items and then sell for full retail. Just last week I bought the only two units they had of an item for $21 each and they just sold today for $59 each.

    Not huge numbers but doing something like that is "starting small" and you will learn how to maneuver in the world of FBA. Later make bigger inventory purchases once you know the ropes.
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