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Information Overload- Help!!

by Tommyg123
5 replies
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Hi,

I have the capital, the time and the enthusiasm to start in e-commerce but the more research I do the more questions I have. I really don't know where to go. Ive listed a few questions that are worrying me. Are there any decent step by step layouts to help resolve this stuff? Ive watched a ton of youtube videos etc but still leave a lot of questions unanswered.

In a nutshell, am looking at private labeling my own product. Im still in the research phase and have about 50 products to start researching. By research I mean speaking to manufacturers, getting prices, analysing sales data on software like Terapeak etc.

But have so many questions about what to do next..

1/ Firstly, where to sell? Amazon and Ebay have great traffic but very hard to stand out among the competition and you are ultimately a couple of customer complaints/ a change in fee structure from having your business taken away from you. Youre reliant on a 3rd party and always disliked that (in Amazon's case that 3rd party is potentially a competitor)

Then theres the E-commerce website route which I really like the idea of. You can build your own traffic not based on a third party platform. You can develop your own brand and promotions, market offline etc. But can you just have 1 product? It seems extremely high risk to setup a store buying in 20 products all with Min Order Quantities of 500 and "hope" people come and buy them thats crazy. Can you have an Ecommerce store with one product? Im sure you can but any successful examples?

2/ Then theres all the issues of shipping, if you find a FOB price on Alibaba where do you even begin to find out what the landed price is? What any import taxes are on them? It sounds like weeks of work to just investigate 1 item. Is there a fast way to get a final price?

3/ If working with a fulfillment company (which is surely the ultimate aim) how do you set all that up? Do I have to create my own barcode/UPC and stick it on every single item myself? Will the manufacturer do it?
If all my products come wrapped up in boxes of 10 but I want to sell them individually what to I do about that? Do I have to break them all up or my fulfillment company.

I can just see so many potentially very expensive pitfalls in the setup process before you even know if people want your product which is frustrating because im so keen to get going but have been in this procrastination/ confused stage for months.

Appreciate any advice
#information #overload
  • Profile picture of the author morakinyo olufemi
    Am also having this same kind of problem as it is too bad when your brain is being filled up with different informations on particular niche.

    I also need help
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael_T
    Hi,

    You are trying to find the "right" answer by researching and unfortunately you have hit the paralysis of analysis stage common to many people who start out online.

    I know about this in GREAT DETAIL because I have ben there too and am just emerging from it myself.

    Here are a few things you should know:

    1. You can't be taught how to be successful online - you have to learn it for yourself. Sure buy a good course and seek out advice from the many people who have paved the way ahead of you, but ultimately YOU have to DISCOVER for yourself what works.

    2. Take what you have got so far, pick what YOU think might be the best bet and then run with that as a starting point. If you aren't sure, then pick one of the possible candidates out of a hat. The key thing is to start with something.

    3. Understand you WILL NOT get it right to start with. You will have to deal with problems, overcome obstacles and learn new skills that will feel strange and uncomfortable to you - that is part of the process and don't fool yourself into thinking you can bypass this by gathering lots of information - YOU CAN'T!.

    4. Your successful strategy will EMERGE from your trial and error efforts and will only be obvious to you in hindsight - most IM products are written from hindsight and often they will miss out some of the seemingly trivial stepping stones - not a deliberate exclusion but they don's seem quite so important after the fact.

    5. And most important of all - keep trying and working at your business UNTIL it is successful and remember, if things aren't as you want them right now it means that you are just not there YET.

    Good luck, keep working hard and well done for at least starting.

    M
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  • Profile picture of the author Splatterfox
    Originally Posted by Tommyg123 View Post

    Hi,

    I have the capital, the time and the enthusiasm to start in e-commerce but the more research I do the more questions I have. I really don't know where to go. Ive listed a few questions that are worrying me. Are there any decent step by step layouts to help resolve this stuff? Ive watched a ton of youtube videos etc but still leave a lot of questions unanswered.

    In a nutshell, am looking at private labeling my own product. Im still in the research phase and have about 50 products to start researching. By research I mean speaking to manufacturers, getting prices, analysing sales data on software like Terapeak etc.

    But have so many questions about what to do next..

    1/ Firstly, where to sell? Amazon and Ebay have great traffic but very hard to stand out among the competition and you are ultimately a couple of customer complaints/ a change in fee structure from having your business taken away from you. Youre reliant on a 3rd party and always disliked that (in Amazon's case that 3rd party is potentially a competitor)

    Then theres the E-commerce website route which I really like the idea of. You can build your own traffic not based on a third party platform. You can develop your own brand and promotions, market offline etc. But can you just have 1 product? It seems extremely high risk to setup a store buying in 20 products all with Min Order Quantities of 500 and "hope" people come and buy them thats crazy. Can you have an Ecommerce store with one product? Im sure you can but any successful examples?

    2/ Then theres all the issues of shipping, if you find a FOB price on Alibaba where do you even begin to find out what the landed price is? What any import taxes are on them? It sounds like weeks of work to just investigate 1 item. Is there a fast way to get a final price?

    3/ If working with a fulfillment company (which is surely the ultimate aim) how do you set all that up? Do I have to create my own barcode/UPC and stick it on every single item myself? Will the manufacturer do it?
    If all my products come wrapped up in boxes of 10 but I want to sell them individually what to I do about that? Do I have to break them all up or my fulfillment company.

    I can just see so many potentially very expensive pitfalls in the setup process before you even know if people want your product which is frustrating because im so keen to get going but have been in this procrastination/ confused stage for months.

    Appreciate any advice
    1. It depends, if you sell a product with enormous competition, you might better sell it in an individual onlineshop. The reason for this is that an own onlineshop you can present the product the way you want. You can emphasize certain aspects of your product much better than in the small space Amazon / eBay provide. Plus, like you said, you aren't dependant on them.

    However, this involves the fact that you need to take care of your own traffic completely. I can tell you that NO ONE will "stumble" upon your store within the first months - anyone needs to be pushed there. Even though this seems self-evident, many people still think they just need a good store to make sales. Your work just starts there.

    2. There is no way to find out the final CIF / DDP prices except for contacting suppliers. You will find out that in the end many MOQs are different than in the listings and also prices heavily differ (many suppliers even put in way lower prices in the listings so that they show up at the top of the search ranking actually).

    3. Working with a fulfillment company is quite easy. If you just have one product this is obvious. If you don't, you should think of labelling them accordingly. This can involve an EAN barcode for example. These guys are not expensive but you either have to stick them on the products yourself or ask the fulfillment company to do so. This means that you have to make the products somewhat different in the first place of course, so that they know the difference. Re-packaging is a service that usually any major fulfillment center will do.

    To the one product thing: it is perfectly fine to sell just one product, I've been doing this as well. The good thing is that you have a very targeted audience and can present the product in the best way possible. I also made a webinar about getting started with E-Commerce, eventually I will hold it again soon now that I'm talking about it
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  • Profile picture of the author Importexport
    @Splatterfox has given you a good answer, and I would like to add to it. I am not an online marketing expert, so I will limit my reply to the things I know about from long experience.

    My specialty is safe sourcing and importing.

    You ask about selling one product only, and ask for successful examples. A lot of newbies that I have taught have started off with just one product. Here's a copy of an email from one of them:

    "Ok. From extremely skeptical to successful completion. Credit given where credit is due. I followed the book instructions you laid out. Took my time to double check everything and was able to successfully import an order from China. Not only that but it was also a "sample order" for less than 300.00. A 300% mark up has allowed to get initial investment back and I have 70% of my inventory left. Stop promoting your book. Your encouraging competition for me Many thanks." Email on file for FTC inspection if required.


    You also commented that Amazon is a potential competitor. That is quite true and is one reason I advise against shipping from your supplier direct to Amazon.


    Don't be put off by big MOQs. I have taught hundreds how to buy much smaller quantities, and still buy direct from genuine manufacturers at best ex factory prices. MOQs are there for various reasons but can be negotiated. Just make sure when you make your initial inquiry that you don't ask what their MOQ is and don't say you want to order less.


    Alibaba is certainly not the best place to find manufacturers. That site is full of smoke and mirrors and what you see is often not what you get.



    There are ways to work out your landed cost, but first you need quotes from manufacturers including freight. Then you need to go to Import duty & taxes made easy | DutyCalculator to find out how much duty will cost you. This is a very simplistic explanation, but for more detail, see my thread:
    Ask Me Anything About Product Sourcing And Importing For Profit. ― Veteran Importer Here.


    It won't take you weeks to research one item if you follow instructions from someone who really has been there - done that. There is a lot of misinformation published on forums.


    Best wishes,
    Walter Hay
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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 dave_hermansen
    If you are going to white label products, Import/export is definitely someone you should listen to and I'd recommend checking out his eBook course. Steve Chou at mywifequitherjob.com also has very good advice about white labeling products where he advocates using Amazon and eBay as places to test out products and prices before establishing your own brand and eCommerce site. Once you get to your own eCommerce site, that's where our free training course kicks in.
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    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.
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