My plan to set up an ecommerce business - need help

Hi Rhys,

I am by no means a retail expert having mainly dealt with digital products but I can offer the following advice. Your supply channels need to be established prior to opening for business. You don't want to get a bunch of orders and be unable to fill them. That is one way of getting a bad reputation quickly, which can be hard to come back from, particularly if you are a new start-up. If you are low on funds initially I would definitely look into going the dropshipping route, provided there is a reputable supplier offering the products you need. It's always best to test the service out yourself by making an order with the company for a unit. That way you can get a feel for the level of service they supply (delivery times) and the quality of the product they offer. It's also worth sending them a few emails about the products and see how responsive they are. You want to be in business with someone who is going to reply quickly, not someone who takes a week to reply. If you can't find any drop shippers for your niche, eBay sellers are often willing to do dropship, so just find a seller with good feedback offering the products you need and send them a message telling them about your business and ask if they would be interested in working out a deal (I've done this before). These are better options than investing all your start up money in just one or two product lines that may or may not sell - as then you won't have any money to invest if something good does come along!

Hope this helps

Since you are new to start a business, it would be better to start from dropshipping, there are lost of wholesalers offering this service. In this way, you don't have to invest too much money. We are oil painting wholesaler in China, we dropshipping for many ebay sellers and even famous online art galleries. Most of them join our dropshipping program via emails.

Hi there are loads of apparel dropshippers, usually you can join their dropship programs from their website, some even approves applications instantly. You just need to look further and dig deeper.

Dropshipping is always the best way to start when you don't have sufficient funds. But keep in mind that if you are selling to the US, you need to find a dropshipper also located in the US, so that your customers won't be pissed off by the shipping time, hope that helps.

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Not to do a 'self plug' here, but I have a ton of information on this subject on my blog. I'd start here:

E-Commerce Myths and Truths

- For starters, dropshipping is the best way to start a business, eventhough you have no stable amount for the business. Just to make sure that wherever your location is, find a dropshipper in your place, so that your clients will not be disappointed in your shipping time.

Hello-

Have you looked into opening a Zazzle store? You don't have to have any physical inventory and all you have to do is handle the promotion and design.

Zazzle | Custom T-Shirts, Personalized Gifts, Posters, Art, and more

Drop shipping does provide an easy way to get started and the ability to leverage other people's capital without having to invest thousands of your own.

Once you're properly established, you can start contacting drop shipping suppliers.

If you already know what products you'd like to drop ship, contacting the original manufacturer is the easiest way to find qualified distributors. Not all distributors will be willing to drop ship, but it will give you a list to follow up with.

Butdrop shipping is not the only path to overnight ecommerce success. As with any successful online store, you'll need to invest over time in a quality website, marketing, and customer service.