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Sourcing items for about 30-50 diverse products - assuming I can't dropship

by ijw
7 replies
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Hey Warriors,

I am a newbie starting an ecommerce website. The website is focused on a niche, but the products (probably 30-50 to start) cover a number of different areas and require very specific brands. Some of the brands are very small manufacturers, some are mainstream products, and some are unbranded (at least in the US) items from China.

While I would really love to dropship rather than take inventory, given the breadth of products, I don’t think I will find a wholesaler that can handle the diversity of products (and don’t want to be in a situation where somebody might buy 5 different products in one order and they need to be shipped from 5 different places).

My questions:
  1. Am I wrong about not being able to use dropship for this business?
  2. If I am storing inventory, do you think there are some manufacturers that would allow me to buy directly from them rather than through a wholesaler if I buy in bulk? (and what range of bulk quantity/$ do manufacturers typically require)
  3. What is the best way to source items from China (is there a preferred wholesaler for China?)

Regards,
Peter
#3050 #assuming #can’t #diverse #dropship #items #products #sourcing
  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Hi Peter,

    That is all very well but you questions are too general to give an answer. Please be more specific. You should at least state the industry that these products are in.

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    • Profile picture of the author ijw
      Originally Posted by hpgoodboy View Post

      Hi Peter,

      That is all very well but you questions are too general to give an answer. Please be more specific. You should at least state the industry that these products are in.

      HP
      HP,

      Thanks for the feedback on my question. It's difficult to be specific about the industry because it is basically an eclectic mix of "stuff" that could be in any industry. I guess you could think of it as a SkyMall type thing -- it's nothing like that and certainly will be nowhere near the scale of SkyMall -- but the same concept of a select mix of products across many areas.

      Thanks!
      Peter
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  • Profile picture of the author ijw
    Hey guys, I see a lot of views to my question, but no feedback - so I'm wondering if my question is bad of if maybe I am headed in the wrong direction. I just joined the site, but I did a lot reading of threads and haven't seen anyone with my situation. Any feedback you can provide would be deeply appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anton543
    Well, getting supplies from lots of different places will make it a complex operation whereas most people here I think deal with very few partners who supply most of the products they sell.
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    • Profile picture of the author ijw
      Originally Posted by Anton543 View Post

      Well, getting supplies from lots of different places will make it a complex operation whereas most people here I think deal with very few partners who supply most of the products they sell.
      Thanks. I'd definitely like to have only a few partners, and I'd rather jump off a tall building than hold inventory, but my (inexperienced) gut feeling is that I won't be able to find a small number of partners that can supply/ship all of the products.

      It's going to be a lot more work to do it this way, but I feel I have no choice and I'm looking for advice so I don't make stupid mistakes along an already difficult path.
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      • Profile picture of the author Anton543
        Originally Posted by ijw View Post

        Thanks. I'd definitely like to have only a few partners, and I'd rather jump off a tall building than hold inventory, but my (inexperienced) gut feeling is that I won't be able to find a small number of partners that can supply/ship all of the products.

        It's going to be a lot more work to do it this way, but I feel I have no choice and I'm looking for advice so I don't make stupid mistakes along an already difficult path.
        To be honest, if you are new or do not have plenty of money you could possibly get through, I would start small with one store selling limited variety of products around one broader niche and then start a second one for a second niche. If you want one store to cover all bases I'd imagine you need many suppliers and possibly need to hold stock.

        Having said that, you may be able to source 30 to 50 product lines from 2 or 3 different suppliers.
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        • Profile picture of the author ijw
          Originally Posted by Anton543 View Post

          To be honest, if you are new or do not have plenty of money you could possibly get through, I would start small with one store selling limited variety of products around one broader niche and then start a second one for a second niche. If you want one store to cover all bases I'd imagine you need many suppliers and possibly need to hold stock.

          Having said that, you may be able to source 30 to 50 product lines from 2 or 3 different suppliers.
          Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't think the concept will work with multiple niche sites, it will probably only work if I offer a variety of products one one site from the start. I don't mind investing some up-front to hold stock, but seems like it will be much more difficult to maintain. There's a bit of "chicken and egg" thing going on -- I'm trying to do some upfront work to determine if this concept will work logistically, so I haven't created the LLC yet, but I guess I probably need the LLC in place to have any meaningful discussions with suppliers.
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