E-commerce, Bird Cages and $100K..Anyone noticed this new trend lately?

[Frank Murphy]

With all the recent buzz about CPA Arbitrages, Offline Models and Niche Blogging, there seems to be a new IM trend that is slowly but steadily creeping up in popularity..E-commerce sites..
Well, not exactly new, since E-commerce has been around since the Jurassic Internet Age, but it seems to be making a huge comback, and as a certain guru exclaimed lately, E-commerce is going to be THE ulimate money-maker for 2009 all the way untill 2015! Could this be true? Hmm..

[azlanhussain]

Well I've personally made over 30K within the past 4 months.. that should be good enough to prove it right..

[52.ct]

I always wondered how, why, and who decides what will be popular trends. Personally I think niche commerce sites will be popular.

[steven90210]

Originally Posted by 52.ct

I always wondered how, why, and who decides what will be popular trends. Personally I think niche commerce sites will be popular.

1) How- When enough people make it a big deal enough to attract others to make it a big deal for more people who will then make a bigger deal.

2) Why- Figures will show. People are earning $$$!

3) It starts from a small group of people, then to hundreds, thousands, and beyond!

I agree misako. I feel it's gonna be really big.

[Johnathan]

What exactly do you mean by e-commerce will be big? It already is big, a lot of people shop online and have done so for the last 10 years.

Do you mean people setting up e-commerce enabled websites? More specifically do you mean offering products and services for sale? Or do you mean writing about it? Or something else? In my market, e-commerce has been big for the last 10 years.

[Frank Murphy]

Originally Posted by Johnathan

What exactly do you mean by e-commerce will be big? It already is big, a lot of people shop online and have done so for the last 10 years.

Do you mean people setting up e-commerce enabled websites? More specifically do you mean offering products and services for sale? Or do you mean writing about it? Or something else? In my market, e-commerce has been big for the last 10 years.

I meant as in the e-commerce niche..compared to other forms of IM (Blogging, CPA, MLM, etc.)..E-commerce seems to have taken a back seat since the emergence of different marketing techniques..But it is slowly making a front run again..thats what i actually meant..

[ripsnorta2]

Well with the -- should I say the 'R' word here? -- there are a lot of brick and mortar businesses that are looking at ways to save money. There's been a lot of layoffs and closures.

The people behind those businesses haven't gone away, and they are probably still keen on the niche they once (or still) inhabited. It makes sense that they'd turn to ecommerce as a lower cost option for moving product.

[Johnathan]

Sorry -- I'm still a bit confused, what do you mean e-commerce as a niche... do you mean writing about it? (like article marketing?)

Because E-Commerce in itself has always been pretty big (I am coming from a different background, I am fairly new to IM, but I've been in the computer industry itself for a while)...

[xDennis]

Well if you're talking about running an ecommerce retail site then..


1) I think it's 'easier' for the smaller guy to start yp and run a marketing business vs an ecommerce business.. shipping..inventory..customer service and everything in between.. it's not simple.

2) I think it prolly is making a come back, like another poster said.. business are looking for other avenues to run their retail business, there is a lot less overhead online then offline.

[naphets66]

It's what I do for my day job. And there is money there. I run 4 ecommerce sites now and we are massively increasing are product line every month. People are looking for lower prices. We offer them because we don't need to hire employees to be warm bodies just in case someone walks in the store, we don't have to air condition or heat a showroom, etc.

The other option is drop shipping, which, if you set it up correctly, is almost like affiliate marketing, in that you make money for a lot of the work you don't have to do, like shipping. Even shopping carts like Magento are adding dropshipping features that get you started quick. Plus you have a shopping cart. It's not like datafeeds where the customer has to leave your site to make a purchase. They do everything on your site and magento cc's an email to your vendor.

[jmidas]

I agree this year should see an increasing popularity. I think one reaso is the economy and people shopping harder for the lowest prices. One problem, to me, with the this business model is that you are now in the commodity business and there is ALWAYS someone else out there who will beat your price.

[Paul Buckley]

I'm still trying to figure out what "...Birdcages and $100k" have to do with this :P

[Frank Murphy]

Originally Posted by Paul Buckley

I'm still trying to figure out what "...Birdcages and $100k" have to do with this :P

Haha! i forgot to mention..i got an email pitching me about some product launch, related to e-commerce..The product creator claims people have made 100K selling bird cages alone..I think it was 170K in fact..i thought many would have received those kind of emails?

[bladerunner]

I just got 2, one from a nobody and the other from 'Alex Goad' now Alex is well known for his IM products but he is advertising the nicheblueprint.

[Shevd]

Yeh the system you are talking about the niche blueprint system by steven clayton and tim godfrey. They previously created the commision blueprint system.

[bladerunner]

Originally Posted by Shevd

Yeh the system you are talking about the niche blueprint system by steven clayton and tim godfrey. They previously created the commision blueprint system.

Just got one from Mike Filsaime now.

[jbsmith]

Not sure it is a trend - there's been a few attempts to market against the process of getting your e-commerce sites up and running.

I recall a few last year that would make creating your e-commerce site a sinch and plugging in products simple - the problem was always that these involved hosting the e-commerce site on THEIR servers - I would never do that.

It seems the one launched today has finally overcome that issue...and seems to have an interesting database of dropship suppliers - but we'll have to wait and see.

Most of my sites make money by selling information - but with a few test sites I setup last year it became very obvious early on that the opportunity was to sell "real stuff" - meaning physical goods.

First, I offered the good through affiliate programs, but only earned less than 10% per sale - then I was approached by some suppliers direct and worked out two dropship arrangements on my own - those are now 5-figure sites...very nice surprise indeed.

Jeff

[axeray]

I always thought there was a lot of potential for an ecommerce setup so I'm not surprised by this.

[Lance K]

Actually, I believe they said the site made around $5,000 - $6,000 per month. But they sold the site for $170,000.

Originally Posted by misako

Haha! i forgot to mention..i got an email pitching me about some product launch, related to e-commerce..The product creator claims people have made 100K selling bird cages alone..I think it was 170K in fact..i thought many would have received those kind of emails?

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by ccmusicman

I think I got like, 10 of those emails...But for 500 bucks...nah, I'll stick to my good ol' fashioned niche info products.

Makes me decent money a month.

In case anyone is looking and interested in a Free E-commerce open source solution! Sounds great in the video if you know what you're doing...
The PeC Review: Magento Is the Open Source Powerhouse | Practical eCommerce

Dave

[Paul M]

Misako, be careful not to take to much notice of what the big IM guys
say...but rather what they do themselves.

As for E-commerce, it's always been huge. I think in the run up to
Christmas UK shoppers alone spent an estimated £7.6 billion
online. E-commerce is big and profitable and always will be with
double figure growth but you don't need to buy an info product
to tell you that...just look around you





-paul

[mbrown]

I guess I am confused by this thread. Isn't making money with a website E-commerce? I have to believe whether it's an affiliate site, your own physical product, info products or making money online period.. it's E-commerce. Someone else mentioned niche commerce - again isn't that niche marketing - where you market a niche and make money off of it? I need to find a new title for all the things I do maybe (maybe we can re-title what making money means? But, that's been done before too.)

It's all nothing new. Not saying the product is bad or not worth it I personally haven't seen it, reviewed it been too busy conducting e-commerce

[IMChick]

E commerce is a lot of work. There is no automated system to replace the basic mechanics of operating a retail store. But, if done properly, there is a good ROR for all of that hard work. It remains to be seen whether this new launch will be successful for something other than it's launch numbers.

[JNFerree]

I'm about a nanosecond away from clicking the Buy Button on Niche BP

Doing my homework on GREEN Products & Services where the Supplier is sourced from a fellow US Veteran.

Best I can tell, Commission Blueprint was a money maker for early adapters, so I'm guessing Niche BP will have similar results on both the near term and the long term especially since it's repeatable - thereby having multiple niche eCommerce sites (duplication factor) should be fun and profitable.

I need to a good slogan "Go Green and Stay Lean"

[IMChick]

Originally Posted by Dave777

In case anyone is looking and interested in a Free E-commerce open source solution! Sounds great in the video if you know what you're doing...
The PeC Review: Magento Is the Open Source Powerhouse | Practical eCommerce

Dave

Thanks. I'm checking this out now.

[imoutthere]

Its the big niche now because its turnkey.

Full Automation is what everyone online is looking for these days. I just wanna pay, make a few phone calls and be done. If you do a search for "turnkey websites" all the searches will come back with ecommerce fully automated sites and templates for sale.

With oscommerce being so easy, automated data feeds, carts that automatically charge sales tax and international shipping fees, dropshippers handling all customer service and providing a free 800#'s. Its a no brainer. They are doing everything possible for you so that all you have to do is set up a site and sell there stuff. Thats exactly what there selling and it will sell like hotcakes. Im sure the creators of the product will get a kickback from signing people up to worldwidebrands and connecting the dropshipper to the dropshipee.

But for only 10%-30% profit i dont think its worth it. Even if you flip it. Not many sites will sell for 173K like the birdcage site sold for. If you read the times article on the story, you could read that the guy who sold the site is now a manufacturer of birdcages.

Again manufacturer: 70%-90% profit; dropshipper 10%-30% profit.

Its a no brainer.

[countonuspr]

I know this business model quite well as I am part owner of an e-commerce website and also an SEO and ecommerce consultant for a a couple of large online retailers. I also sold a website recently for $785,000. The business was profitable to the owners for 4 years before they sold it for a large payout. I know this model works great. My website in this niche is www.petronic.com.

You just have to know where to find drop shippers and you need to be ready to be a little more hands on or have more people hands on to run the operation for you. Many of your customers want to speak to someone on the phone before ordering so you need to be willing to do phone support. Keep that in mind. Obviously in affiliate marketing there is no phone support.

On a side note I sell businesses as another way to make money online, and on that one deal I made a 10% commission in 30 days time. That is a form of referral marketing just with higher payouts. There are many ways to make money online. Keep your eyes open.

[blogonator]

I think she is referring to niche blueprint, which launched today. Heard it is doing very well..

[tkdummy]

if e-commerce is up your alley, google "yahoo store builder". it's like nicheblueprint n cheaper.

[Nathan Denton]

Originally Posted by tkdummy

if e-commerce is up your alley, google "yahoo store builder". it's like nicheblueprint n cheaper.

go to google and search for a yahoo product? Ironic

[Debra Jane]

I had an e mail last night from nicheblueprint. I've only just started internet marketing - week or so. There seems to be so much on offer. My question is has anyone made any real money with this or other online selling?

[Paul Buckley]

Originally Posted by Nathan Denton

go to google and search for a yahoo product? Ironic

It gets better:P

If you sign up for a Yahoo store program, Yahoo will give you a $50 GOOGLE Adwords coupon :P

[James Schramko]

Andy Jenkins started with a Yahoo Store product

[derekwong28]

I come from an e-commerce background selling PDA accessories and it has always been my belief that e-commerce is among the quickest route by which a newbie can earn a full-time income. However, it is not as rosy as it seems as it is probably the toughest dicipline in IM.

With an e-commerce setup, you have to know almost everything including webdesign, SSL certs, SEO, PPC, affilate marketing, mailing lists, coupon codes and media advertising. But there are also tougher aspects to cover e.g.

1. Screenng for credit card fraud - this is actually extremely tough and virtually every merchant had been scammed badly. It is basically a baptism by fire.

2. Shipping and packaging - what is the optimum way to pack items and which service to use. For example, we were able to save up to $2000 in postage costs just by using ordinary air mail instead of registered air mail. The actual lost package rate was very low and our customers were surprisingly honest.

3. Returns - returns are a fact of life and they could adversely affect your margins.

4. Chargebacks - this is what aggravate merchants the most. Basically, it is almost impossible for a merchant to win even if there is proof that the product had been delivered to the customer's address.

5. Customer service - this is the major headache if there are large number of products are involved. In addition to e-mail and a contact box, we also provided a freephone no. through which customers in the US can contact us in Hong Kong directly.

Not only that, as the shop becomes successful, the workload increases exponetially and you are forced to employ staff. At its height my shop employed 5 full-timers including my wife, a webdesigner, customer service clerk, shipping clerk and an office attendant. Sometime, we also had two part-timers coming in.

In the end, we closed the shop because our niche was dying and also that we had a lot of personnel problems. Basically running such an operation is almost as bad as a 9 to 5 full-time job.

Now, I am able to earn as much as the shop working on my own entirely with part-time hours. Unless forced to, I will not go back to e-commerce again. But if you really want something that could give you a full-time income within a few months, then e-commerce would be a good option if you do not mind the hard work and the very steep learning curve.


Derek

[Frank Murphy]

Originally Posted by reelfat

Thanx for the info Derek.

RF

I totally agree..Thats some great info, Derek..