15 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
15 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

So many Failures

by MoneyMang
14 replies
  • ECOMMERCE
    • |
I just can't get my head around how to become successful in ecommerce.

Dropshipping

Margins are generally smaller and it makes sense because the dropshipper is taking care of most of the legwork. Since, the margins are small. There is no margin to pay for 3rd party seller fees (amazon and ebay). Stand alone site- no margin to payoff website costs or even start an advertising campaign. It seems like you are far in the negative before making any. Another scenario is that the wholesale price is very good, but then the shipping price is outrageous and competitors are selling at the actual retail price (you can still compete), but then the shipping price and you are blown out of the water. I still have not found numbers to ever work out in dropship model. A lot of people might say I'm working with middlemen and that I can't profit. Then, how do these middlemen do business for years?So somebody has got to buying from them and making a profit. It just doesn't make sense. The supplier will have a good business if us (the retailers) are selling well. If our business is good, then we buy more inventory from the suppliers. But the numbers never workout. Currently, selling a manufacturers product and not a single sale. The total retail price and shipping price to our customers is about 3x the price of competitor products in the same category. I have contacted numerous suppliers. It's just a 100% fail methodology. I keep trying to find a logical way to make this work, but it just doesn't. I'm a logical person.

Wholesale

Margins a lot better and can actually take a hit from seller fees, advertising campaigns and website costs. Doing this right now. For every $100 I spend on adverts, I get $20...Free google adwords code. Stopped immediately. The google adwords was a test how it would workout. Obviously if I was spending my own money, I would be severely negative. I am using Shopify for these wholesale branded products. Did the SEO and setup all the social media pages.

The only small success I have had is importing products from aliexpress. They buy from me because I am the only person selling in the US. Making like a $2-3 profit per item. About ~25 sales month. This is only on ebay. This model can't work on a standalone for obvious reasons.

Please can someone help me with ecommerce. I will die for success. I see so many success threads and with my determination, how have I not made a success thread yet? I am willing to die so I can work for myself. I have sacrified full force 2 years of my life for this and little no traction. Sorry guys, I'm just getting dramatic and fustrated and ranting. Note, I have been doing this for two years. I'm desperate.
#failures
  • Profile picture of the author Splatterfox
    Originally Posted by MoneyMang View Post

    I just can't get my head around how to become successful in ecommerce.

    Dropshipping

    Margins are generally smaller and it makes sense because the dropshipper is taking care of most of the legwork. Since, the margins are small. There is no margin to pay for 3rd party seller fees (amazon and ebay). Stand alone site- no margin to payoff website costs or even start an advertising campaign. It seems like you are far in the negative before making any. Another scenario is that the wholesale price is very good, but then the shipping price is outrageous and competitors are selling at the actual retail price (you can still compete), but then the shipping price and you are blown out of the water. I still have not found numbers to ever work out in dropship model. A lot of people might say I'm working with middlemen and that I can't profit. Then, how do these middlemen do business for years?So somebody has got to buying from them and making a profit. It just doesn't make sense. The supplier will have a good business if us (the retailers) are selling well. If our business is good, then we buy more inventory from the suppliers. But the numbers never workout. Currently, selling a manufacturers product and not a single sale. The total retail price and shipping price to our customers is about 3x the price of competitor products in the same category. I have contacted numerous suppliers. It's just a 100% fail methodology. I keep trying to find a logical way to make this work, but it just doesn't. I'm a logical person.

    Wholesale

    Margins a lot better and can actually take a hit from seller fees, advertising campaigns and website costs. Doing this right now. For every $100 I spend on adverts, I get $20...Free google adwords code. Stopped immediately. The google adwords was a test how it would workout. Obviously if I was spending my own money, I would be severely negative. I am using Shopify for these wholesale branded products. Did the SEO and setup all the social media pages.

    The only small success I have had is importing products from aliexpress. They buy from me because I am the only person selling in the US. Making like a $2-3 profit per item. About ~25 sales month. This is only on ebay. This model can't work on a standalone for obvious reasons.

    Please can someone help me with ecommerce. I will die for success. I see so many success threads and with my determination, how have I not made a success thread yet? I am willing to die so I can work for myself. I have sacrified full force 2 years of my life for this and little no traction. Sorry guys, I'm just getting dramatic and fustrated and ranting. Note, I have been doing this for two years. I'm desperate.
    The business is not "logical" and its not a given law that you HAVE to succeed if you just work on it. With numerous competition, people entering the market everyday and anyone just focusing on the very basics, its normal that the absolute vast majority fails. Of course in all thread you only see the bright side of the business, the 95% of fails doesn't make a thread about it.

    Its not about pure execution and following simplified guides. You have to be creative, persistent, be ready for a lot of trial and error and more. Just doing the same very simple things over and over again CAN make you successful, but most likely won't.

    This doesn't mean that you cannot make money in dropshipping, but with buying in bulk you have higher chances of success, since you have lower costs, faster shipping, the ability to customize products. Of course this also comes with the disadvantages of having a (small) upfront risk and more work.

    I recommend you watch my video about the common eCommerce mistakes. The quality is a bittle low but gets better in the other videos:


    Cheers
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10939835].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author virtualglobalphone
    @ MoneyMang; the unbearable competition only mean that you are one in many. Their is a saying when the whole world is going right side ... try the opposite one.

    Why cant you take the present experience and choose one unique product , not many just one.

    You do direct and also put that in amazon etc. Have local presence in each country with Phone number .. and put your best effort on SEO. I am sure with passion and hard-work handy you can break-even sooner than expected.
    Signature
    Introducing Click to Call.
    https://www.virtualglobalphone.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10939869].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author marada
    Check out "The 10x Rule" by Grant Cardone. Whatever you think it will take, it will take 10x more.

    Do you have any mentors that have done this before or have been successful in ecommerce? Find some in your city and offer to take them to lunch. You'd be surprised what you can learn in 30 minutes.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940074].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by marada View Post

      Do you have any mentors that have done this before or have been successful in ecommerce? Find some in your city and offer to take them to lunch. You'd be surprised what you can learn in 30 minutes.
      You might also be surprised to learn that you can't learn how to run a successful business in a 30 minute conversation. I have seen numerous people fail because they think they have learned enough by reading a lot of forum posts, where they have spent heaps more time than just 30 minutes.

      As Splatterfox wrote: "With numerous competition, people entering the market everyday and anyone just focusing on the very basics, its normal that the absolute vast majority fails. Of course in all thread you only see the bright side of the business, the 95% of fails doesn't make a thread about it."

      Many experienced and successful business operators such as him have posted such warnings, but the majority don't want to know that. They go on with starry eyes blindly accepting what clever marketers tell them about what a great success they have been, and why people should therefore buy their training courses.

      The OP has made a basic mistake in buying "wholesale" from Aliexpress. That is a retail site, and however low the prices might seem they won't provide the huge margins you can get if you buy direct from genuine manufacturers in China or other exporting countries.

      I have taught hundreds of newbies how to safely source products direct from the factories at ex-factory prices, but rarely on Alibaba, and never on Aliexpress.

      See my thread here Ask Me Anything About Product Sourcing And Importing For Profit. ― Veteran Importer Here. for a lot of information on safe sourcing and easy importing. Ask me there any questions. Over 16,000 views, so it must be worth reading.

      Walter Hay
      Provenchinasourcing.com
      Signature
      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
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940418].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author MoneyMang
        I actually went to Alibaba first and their prices were higher. So thats why I chose aliexpress for these products and plus its the only success and place where I actually get an ok margin compared to all the other stuff.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940496].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Walter Hay (a.k.a. ImportExport) is right. If you are dropshipping from Ali Express you are doomed for failure. Inferior products, long shipping times, no customer service and middleman - not true wholesale prices - is what Ali Express is all about. You need to dropship directly from the manufacturer or a real authorized brand's distributor. Otherwise, you will do far better buying wholesale as Walter teaches in his course.
    Signature
    BizSellers.com - The #1 place to buy & sell websites!
    We help sellers get the MAXIMUM amount for their websites and all buyers know that these sites are 100% vetted.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940526].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MoneyMang
      Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

      Walter Hay (a.k.a. ImportExport) is right. If you are dropshipping from Ali Express you are doomed for failure. Inferior products, long shipping times, no customer service and middleman - not true wholesale prices - is what Ali Express is all about. You need to dropship directly from the manufacturer or a real authorized brand's distributor. Otherwise, you will do far better buying wholesale as Walter teaches in his course.
      Should have clarified, Dave and everyone else. I am not dropshipping on on AliExpress. I wholesale about 100-200 units. It's my only success thus far. I have been trying to drop ship brands in the United States. Still impossible to get competitive pricing even with the direct manufacturer of the products. Middlemen still exist plentiful. So somebody has got to be making a profit and buying from them. My mind is surprised how, because their prices are way too high.

      Yet there is an insanely popular thread going on about Somebody dropshipping Harry Potter counterfeit from aliexpress and making money pretty quick.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940658].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Importexport
        Originally Posted by MoneyMang View Post

        Should have clarified, Dave and everyone else. I am not dropshipping on on AliExpress. I wholesale about 100-200 units. It's my only success thus far. I have been trying to drop ship brands in the United States. Still impossible to get competitive pricing even with the direct manufacturer of the products. Middlemen still exist plentiful. So somebody has got to be making a profit and buying from them. My mind is surprised how, because their prices are way too high.

        Yet there is an insanely popular thread going on about Somebody dropshipping Harry Potter counterfeit from aliexpress and making money pretty quick.
        Whatever you do, don't even think of selling counterfeits. That can lead to confiscation of the goods, possible fines, sometimes even imprisonment. The brand owners will catch you eventually and you could be bankrupted.

        At the very least Customs will flag your name and address, as well as your supplier's identification and every subsequent shipment will be delayed for thorough inspection. That can be very costly, and even if you stop importing counterfeits, your legitimate shipments will be delayed.

        If the prices you found on Alibaba were too high, you were dealing with traders pretending to be manufacturers. Where do you think the traders on Aliexpress buy? The same places the traders on Alibaba buy - They buy from the real manufacturers, add a big margin, and then sell to you.

        See this thread If your secret B2B portals are so safe why don't you share? for a step by step guide, but remember, you won't learn all you need to know on forums. I can't publish all 133 pages on the forum.

        Walter Hay
        Provenchinasourcing.com
        Signature
        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
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940723].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Shay S
      Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

      Walter Hay (a.k.a. ImportExport) is right. If you are dropshipping from Ali Express you are doomed for failure. Inferior products, long shipping times, no customer service and middleman - not true wholesale prices - is what Ali Express is all about. You need to dropship directly from the manufacturer or a real authorized brand's distributor. Otherwise, you will do far better buying wholesale as Walter teaches in his course.
      AliExpress is perhaps not the best Ecommerce model, but a model nevertheless that happens to work for many people. I wouldn't bash AE for his failure as this is from the OP's words:

      The only small success I have had is importing products from aliexpress.
      My personal advice is:
      Leave the technical things aside for now, finding the right business model, the right niche, the right products, etc. FOCUS on getting yourself a successful rich mindset.

      Listen to Harv Eker, Eben Pagan, Jim Rohn, Earl Nightlingale.

      Harv's story was he failed in 12 businesses, and he realized that perhaps not what he was doing that was wrong, but the way he was thinking that he had to change.

      Perhaps this will help keep you motivated and focused:

      I wish you good fortunes.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10940722].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    I cannot stress the importance of what Walter Hay said enough. DO NOT SELL COUNTERFEIT GOODS!

    Just type "website counterfeit lawsuit" into Google and you can spend weeks reading about people who lost cases after being sued by the real brands. Most of these result in millions of dollars in fines. You better plan on making a TON if you think you can afford that; otherwise, plan on have no money for the rest of your life.
    Signature
    BizSellers.com - The #1 place to buy & sell websites!
    We help sellers get the MAXIMUM amount for their websites and all buyers know that these sites are 100% vetted.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10941266].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MoneyMang
    Ok guys, clarification again. I was using that Harry Potter aliexpress example as an example to prove that sourcing from aliexpress does work. I know they are retail in nature, but the most important thing is that the numbers work.

    I don't want this thread to be about counterfeits. I already know the cons.

    It seems that everyone is not focusing on what I am really asking.

    How to find good wholesalepricing of US brands. Ask the brands themselves, I've heard. I've heard the method of creating a dummy site of legitimate brands so the brands that I do contact, take me seriously. But making a dumbo my site you risk having a copyright flag for using their stock photos and risk of customers buying inventory you do not have. How do I get major brands at a good price and on my website, when I don't have anything in my store yet?

    I am being totally misunderstood, shaking my head :/

    Walter, I have read many of your posts throughout the Internet. I am aware of all risks of importing. All I need is how to get good pricing from major brands when you have no inventory in the beginning.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10941437].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by MoneyMang View Post

      Ok guys, clarification again. I was using that Harry Potter aliexpress example as an example to prove that sourcing from aliexpress does work. I know they are retail in nature, but the most important thing is that the numbers work.

      I don't want this thread to be about counterfeits. I already know the cons.

      It seems that everyone is not focusing on what I am really asking.

      How to find good wholesalepricing of US brands. Ask the brands themselves, I've heard. I've heard the method of creating a dummy site of legitimate brands so the brands that I do contact, take me seriously. But making a dumbo my site you risk having a copyright flag for using their stock photos and risk of customers buying inventory you do not have. How do I get major brands at a good price and on my website, when I don't have anything in my store yet?

      I am being totally misunderstood, shaking my head :/

      Walter, I have read many of your posts throughout the Internet. I am aware of all risks of importing. All I need is how to get good pricing from major brands when you have no inventory in the beginning.
      You chose the worst possible example of how to operate an Aliexpress dropshipping business. See if you can find other Aliexpress dropshippers making a success without selling counterfeits.

      Try it yourself and let us know if the numbers really work.

      It might pay you to read some of the thousands of horror stories to be found on Aliexpress review sites such as these:
      https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.aliexpress.com
      https://www.influenster.com/reviews/aliexpresscom
      www.resellerratings.com/store/AliExpress
      https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.aliexpress.com
      https://aliexpress.pissedconsumer.com/

      Then see if you still think that is a good site for sourcing products.

      Walter Hay
      Signature
      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
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10942153].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Splatterfox
      Originally Posted by MoneyMang View Post

      Ok guys, clarification again. I was using that Harry Potter aliexpress example as an example to prove that sourcing from aliexpress does work. I know they are retail in nature, but the most important thing is that the numbers work.

      I don't want this thread to be about counterfeits. I already know the cons.

      It seems that everyone is not focusing on what I am really asking.

      How to find good wholesalepricing of US brands. Ask the brands themselves, I've heard. I've heard the method of creating a dummy site of legitimate brands so the brands that I do contact, take me seriously. But making a dumbo my site you risk having a copyright flag for using their stock photos and risk of customers buying inventory you do not have. How do I get major brands at a good price and on my website, when I don't have anything in my store yet?

      I am being totally misunderstood, shaking my head :/

      Walter, I have read many of your posts throughout the Internet. I am aware of all risks of importing. All I need is how to get good pricing from major brands when you have no inventory in the beginning.
      I think you are not aware of the process behind distributing major US brands. Its not that you contact them and they would be more than happy to give you their products for cheap. If it was so, anyone could just get himself some nice prices. Usually these big brands require high purchases per year. Getting wholesale discounts from big, known brands as a very small eCommerce seller is pretty hard.

      Big brands usually have requirements regarding product presentation, pricing, your company finances etc. etc. For the beginning, I highly recommend starting with smaller manufacturers and selling non-branded items. Maybe you will be able to build some sort of reputation and budget needed for the third party brands stuff. You can also establish your own brand in a certain market of course.
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10942178].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by MoneyMang View Post

      Ok guys, clarification again. I was using that Harry Potter aliexpress example as an example to prove that sourcing from aliexpress does work. I know they are retail in nature, but the most important thing is that the numbers work.

      I don't want this thread to be about counterfeits. I already know the cons.

      It seems that everyone is not focusing on what I am really asking.

      How to find good wholesale pricing of US brands. Ask the brands themselves, I've heard. I've heard the method of creating a dummy site of legitimate brands so the brands that I do contact, take me seriously. But making a dumbo my site you risk having a copyright flag for using their stock photos and risk of customers buying inventory you do not have. How do I get major brands at a good price and on my website, when I don't have anything in my store yet?

      I am being totally misunderstood, shaking my head :/

      Walter, I have read many of your posts throughout the Internet. I am aware of all risks of importing. All I need is how to get good pricing from major brands when you have no inventory in the beginning.
      The risk of a copyright flag for stock photos is as close to zero as possible as is the chance of customers buying things from a dummy site.

      NOBODY is going to know about this site. It is not going to immediately rank for anything. You won't be pointing links at it or promoting it socially (or anywhere).

      Every website uses the same stock photos from a brand and nobody at that brand is going to object to their products being promoted even if it was ever discovered. Do you really think brands have people trolling the entire web looking for places that are promoting their products that are not authorized sellers? That would sure put a dent in the affiliate business!

      On the extremely off-chance that a customer DID somehow find your site and order something, you could simply issue a refund and tell them you were out of stock. You could also price them 20% higher than anyone else and if they were dumb enough to order from you, dropship it from a retailer and keep the markup.
      Signature
      BizSellers.com - The #1 place to buy & sell websites!
      We help sellers get the MAXIMUM amount for their websites and all buyers know that these sites are 100% vetted.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10942662].message }}

Trending Topics