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Inventory question

by justray
6 replies
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If you have a new online store, and are placing an order for the first time with a vendor, how much is too much inventory? This is assuming you are selling for the first time.(40 different items.)
#inventory #question
  • Profile picture of the author OnlineStoreHelp
    Originally Posted by justray View Post

    If you have a new online store, and are placing an order for the first time with a vendor, how much is too much inventory? This is assuming you are selling for the first time.(40 different items.)
    What is the turn around time for new orders? 2 days? 2 weeks?
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  • Profile picture of the author justray
    Have no actual trend for individual items, since the store is not opened yet, but I would like to ship items out within 2-3 days of order. Trying to gauge my first order from this second vendor. First order, from a different vendor--different product-- was six of each unit. But each unit was very low in price (less than $200). The second vendor, with a different product, ranges from $15-35 per unit. Larger priced items can be purchased from vendor with a 24-48 hr turn around, but this can be costly, since I will have to order enough to make it worth his and my time, and pay a premium for shipping. Thanks for the tips to come.
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    • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
      I purchased 1-2 products to make sure they sell, these are small items. My products are small and do sell on e-bay as an exit strategy, so I can keep them on hand.

      On larger items I would tell you take orders first before stocking items. You need to know the demand before you load up a room or storage place with a lot of products that dont move.
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      • Profile picture of the author OliverTrent
        If you are looking to test the market you could always run the store through affiliate link first, gauge performance and then stock the products that sell.
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        • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
          This is a pretty tough question because it depends on the type of items (the market - which represents how quickly things sells, your profit per item, and how soon it takes to get items from your supplier) and your capital.

          You say your new, and in this case I recommend getting 2 of each item. This allows you to answer specific questions about your profit, increase your items photo conversion rate if possible, if the item sells quickly then you know to invest more capital to meet the demands of a 1 month or 2 month supply (depend on how needy your market is, how long it takes to get the items to you, and the overall cost)

          Within a couple months as you rotate product and climb in the SE's, you will have more control over which product is hot (meaning you can buy more, and hopefully haggle for lower individual item prices) and remove stuff that doesn't sell.

          People demand fast shipping now. It used to be that it was standard to order something online and expect it in 2-3 weeks. Now if people order on Sunday night, they expect it mid week and start getting antsy around the end of the work week. As a new store, you REALLY REALLY want 2 important things, return customers and word of mouth advertising.
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanGillam
    When I first started out I done a ton of research into what was selling on Amazon and other top websites in my niche.

    Once I had an idea I started to order just one product of each. This way I could gauge what sold well. I marked up at 100%. This meant that once I sold a product I could double the amount I stocked the next time. So start with one of each product (unless this is something very difficult to get hold of. If it is then you are out on your own!)

    Ryan
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