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How many of you carry your own inventory?

by liite
10 replies
A while ago i posted a thread about not being able to find a product to market within my Niche. I was suggested to create my own product and sell that or solve peoples problems and essentially charge them for that.

I have looked into both options and have come to the conclusion that i would have to buy in bulk from a "wholesaler" and then sell on through sites like ebay and/or my own website.

My question to you is do you carry your own inventory of electrical items?

The ONLY other company who sell the products i wish to market are offering 6% commission - yes you read that right 6% - however the company turns over a vast amount of money a year in this selection of items alone.

I feel like pounding my head into a wall
#carry #inventory
  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaG
    I carry a limited inventory of items (not electronic though) and will never work for a commission again for any product I can provide myself.

    The only reason I'm posting here is this:
    Forget about those guys who want to pay you 6%. If you have capital to buy some inventory, DO IT.

    If you don't have captial, do some research/networking and find a dropshipper.

    Why get 6% when with a little extra effort you can get 100% (less your dropshipping fees/wholesale cost of course)

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author liite
      Originally Posted by JoshuaG View Post

      I carry a limited inventory of items (not electronic though) and will never work for a commission again for any product I can provide myself.

      The only reason I'm posting here is this:
      Forget about those guys who want to pay you 6%. If you have capital to buy some inventory, DO IT.

      If you don't have captial, do some research/networking and find a dropshipper.

      Why get 6% when with a little extra effort you can get 100% (less your dropshipping fees/wholesale cost of course)

      Good luck!
      Thankyou for the swift reply. The main issue is, i have nowhere near enough capital. I would need to sell 1,000 units a year just to get a 1 year warrenty with the electrical goods i am looking to sell.

      Dropshipping is something that i haven't come across before, could you perhaps offer some more information on the stratergy?

      Thanks again


      Liite
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  • Profile picture of the author Jagged
    I use a combination of using dropshippers & carrying my own inventory. Really depends on the niche. I find it hard to find reliable dropshippers so I try to limit their use....sometimes it's unavoidable.

    I use liquidation.com a lot for physical inventory...especially for jewelry
    Could find just about anything on there though....

    I tend to look for manufacturers in my niches who will dropship instead of using those large clearing house type of dropshippers like worldwidebrands...
    I've done a lot of research into them & attended many tradeshows to locate them...

    ~Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author liite
      Originally Posted by Jagged View Post

      I use a combination of using dropshippers & carrying my own inventory. Really depends on the niche. I find it hard to find reliable dropshippers so I try to limit their use....sometimes it's unavoidable.

      I use liquidation.com a lot for physical inventory...especially for jewelry
      Could find just about anything on there though....

      I tend to look for manufacturers in my niches who will dropship instead of using those large clearing house type of dropshippers like worldwidebrands...
      I've done a lot of research into them & attended many tradeshows to locate them...

      Hmmm ok then, it looks like Dropshipping is an option.

      Thank you for the website i will check it out

      ~Ken
      Originally Posted by LiamMcIvorMartin View Post

      If you do buy your own inventory I would highly suggest you get a company to take care of all the shipping details. I ran a company a few years ago and did all the shipping in my basement. When my 'busy' season came around I had my grandparents, my girlfriend, my brother and myself boxing product for three days straight.

      I also wasn't able to get all the product out by my guaranteed shipping date and lost close to 5k due to my ship by September 1st guarantee.
      Wow thank you for sharing your experience. It seems like i will have to put a business plan together if i choose to go down this route.
      Perhaps i will start off with a different Niche site and eventually go down this route
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  • Profile picture of the author LiamMcIvorMartin
    If you do buy your own inventory I would highly suggest you get a company to take care of all the shipping details. I ran a company a few years ago and did all the shipping in my basement. When my 'busy' season came around I had my grandparents, my girlfriend, my brother and myself boxing product for three days straight.

    I also wasn't able to get all the product out by my guaranteed shipping date and lost close to 5k due to my ship by September 1st guarantee.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      One of the things that you want to look for is the ability of your upline vendor (distributor, wholesaler, manufacturer) to provide you with Net 30 Terms once you get up and running.

      This is important because then you have the ability to sell the items and get paid before your invoice is due for the merchandise.

      This is huge.

      Couple that with a 'just-in-time' inventory aquisition strategy and you will find you are working in the following order:

      1.Selling the product to the end user
      2. Ordering the product from your vender
      3. Getting paid by and shipping the product to the end user
      4. Paying the vendor for the product

      This makes running your business a whole lot easier as your cash flow now remains substantially more positive. Money comes in before money goes out.

      It may take a while to get to that position, but if you can factor that strategy in near the beginning when you are working on your growth projections, growing your business is substantially easier to forecast.

      You don't want to be looking at this from a position of "What can I afford to speculate on (e.g. inventory)", but rather "How much of any given item can I reasonably expect to sell." This difference in mindset is a biggy.

      ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Rajan Cajan
    I am not an affiliate but give worldwide brands dot com a try. They have everything including training, the trainining is free but to join cost you money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
    Originally Posted by liite View Post

    I have looked into both options and have come to the conclusion that i would have to buy in bulk from a "wholesaler" and then sell on through sites like ebay and/or my own website.
    I didn't see the other thread so I probably don't have all the information, but is there any reason it has to be a physical product that you sell?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lambert Klein
    I keep products in inventory for our health site. We drop ship a few items, but ship most out ourselves.

    Lambert
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    • Profile picture of the author liite
      Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

      One of the things that you want to look for is the ability of your upline vendor (distributor, wholesaler, manufacturer) to provide you with Net 30 Terms once you get up and running.

      This is important because then you have the ability to sell the items and get paid before your invoice is due for the merchandise.

      This is huge.

      Couple that with a 'just-in-time' inventory aquisition strategy and you will find you are working in the following order:

      1.Selling the product to the end user
      2. Ordering the product from your vender
      3. Getting paid by and shipping the product to the end user
      4. Paying the vendor for the product

      This makes running your business a whole lot easier as your cash flow now remains substantially more positive. Money comes in before money goes out.

      It may take a while to get to that position, but if you can factor that strategy in near the beginning when you are working on your growth projections, growing your business is substantially easier to forecast.

      You don't want to be looking at this from a position of "What can I afford to speculate on (e.g. inventory)", but rather "How much of any given item can I reasonably expect to sell." This difference in mindset is a biggy.


      ~Bill
      WOW

      Thank you for that information, i wondered if something like this was possible and it most certainly would help in terms of capital.

      Thank you again for you input it is much appreciated

      Originally Posted by Rajan Cajan View Post

      I am not an affiliate but give worldwide brands dot com a try. They have everything including training, the trainining is free but to join cost you money.
      Thank you i will have a look.

      Originally Posted by KenStrong View Post

      I didn't see the other thread so I probably don't have all the information, but is there any reason it has to be a physical product that you sell?
      Unfortunately the product i am looking to sell cannot be done so in an ebook. Other people suggested creating an ebook to "solve problems with the product" but this just isn't a viable option as you would have to be an engineer

      The reason why i have chosen the product that i want to sell is because i currently do in my job. However its a Blue Chip company so they have tremendous buying power so there profit margins are MUCH better.

      Originally Posted by lklein View Post

      I keep products in inventory for our health site. We drop ship a few items, but ship most out ourselves.

      Lambert
      Ok thank you for the input too, it looks like it is possible to do with "smaller stock" however my products are well, not large but not small :p
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