I started my Retail career at a Big Box store in 2002, I sold TV’s and Electronics, I then moved to an independent retailer of Home Goods. From this I learned about business, sales & Retail. I was able to get a lot of insight into what B&M retailers do wrong, and why I would NEVER want to own a B&M store.
After the Brick and Mortar retailer I worked with went out of business, I decided to turn to ecommerce.
In my first year on eBay I did over 1 Million in sales at about 18% net profit? This was in early 2009.
Today my company does 10 Million a year online, and I have positioned myself to sell ANY item you could think of. From High End Samsung LEDs to $15,000 refrigerators and everything in between.
So often people think about drop shipping in the wrong way, and they think purchasing stock is the only sustainable way to make money, this is absolutely false. And the ONLY way to make real money online is through Different forms of drop shipping.Almost every large etailer is a “Drop Shipper” (Buy.com,Wayfair,BeachAudio). However keep in mind that “Drop Shipping” isn’t always what you customarily think of when you look at forums or w/e.
My goal on this forum is to learn and be helped to Understand some B/H (non eCommerce) methods better, and in return I will help people Learn how to build as large of a DropShipping ecommerce business as they like.
If you have questions or you would like advice please post publicly, please only PM me if you would like to Share tips about BH techniques in return for WH eCommerce.
Thank You

hi mate, veery interesting! could you teach me how to trade on ebay? im earning about 2k/month but thats to less and not recurring.. cpas..

would be awesome

So for BH techniques and that non-ecommerce....hmmm....lemme see, the box on top left called search ( insert key here) and then sort by view or replies. Also you could move onto subforums and sort by views.

Originally Posted by pscmj7

However keep in mind that “Drop Shipping” isn’t always what you customarily think of when you look at forums or w/e.

What is it then? Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say drop shipping. Thanks

Originally Posted by dryheat360

What is it then? Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say drop shipping. Thanks

He works for UPS. He drops and breaks people's expensive packages and then files an insurance claim.

;P

Originally Posted by j3rki

hi mate, veery interesting! could you teach me how to trade on ebay? im earning about 2k/month but thats to less and not recurring.. cpas..

would be awesome

That's great to hear. What country are you in? Also what category are you interested in?

Originally Posted by dryheat360

What is it then? Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say drop shipping. Thanks

The approach that I have taken with dropshipping is :
Never buy anything for inventory. But make arrangments with companies to sell one item at a time. (Companies that don't have a dropship program)

Many manufacturers and distributors are not caught up with technology, and they may have never even thought about Direct shipping to a customer on behalf of a retailer.

Originally Posted by pscmj7

That's great to hear. What country are you in? Also what category are you interested in?

Im from germany! And im very flexible with the category

Originally Posted by j3rki

Im from germany! And im very flexible with the category

Ok good, the fact is that there is potential in every category.
So you should try and chooose a category.
What products do you know alot about?

After you have chosen a category you can start researching the market in 2 different ways.

#1 Find a supplier for the products you'd like to sell.
#2 Find some sellers that are for sure selling through this supplier.
(Usually they'll copy and paste the exact product titles and they'll use the exact same image.You can even check the image location to see where the image is hosted at if they have image in the listing HTML)
#3 If the seller is doing well, you know that you have found a good supplier. (You can look at FeedBack count.)
#4 Now compare Supplier Cost to Selling price and if there is Profit then you have found a winner for a supplier.
Don't give up if you look at a few items and they are at or below what your cost is. The great thing with eBay is you don't have to be the lowest priced, there are other things you can do to WIN the sell.

The Second Method
#1 Find a seller that is doing well on eBay.
#2 Look at their listings and most popular items.
#3 See if you can google the titles back to a specific supplier.

For both of these methods it is Ideal if you have a TeraPeak account, as it will give you insights into a sellers performance or a product.

Hi,
I think you have made very gud move by writing this post. As a matter of fact can u kindly share some tips with me to earn out a living by doing ecommerce.

Originally Posted by rmk174

Hi,
I think you have made very gud move by writing this post. As a matter of fact can u kindly share some tips with me to earn out a living by doing ecommerce.

The first place to start is Create a Plan. Look at my previous post about finding a Supplier and let me know if you have any ?

interesting post

Hello from EU/Europe

Im interested in how you manage your items/sales/invoices.

Do you use any special listing software like afterbuy/etc?

Ebay takes a pretty nice cut of your earnings, then afterbuy, then shipping...
Your calculations have to be very good and you gotta sell lots of items to make profit.

Thats why im interested in your logistics, what programms you use to manage listings, sales, etc?

Any tips?

Thanks

Realy good thread i will subscribe !
I have pm'ed you

Good stuff i actually just brought terapeak its awesome!

great advice.

so can you get into detail why dropshipping is better than buying in huge bulk? is your whole business drop ship?

and since you're in the home goods category, alot of your products are branded. how do you go by getting branded products, liquidations or do you contact the company directly?

do you sell generic items from china too?

Originally Posted by Soayame

Good stuff i actually just brought terapeak its awesome!

I bought it a few days back. Really opened my eyes to a couple niches.

Its bad that pscmj7 is not so active like i thought..sad. About terapeak do they offer any trial or you have to buy it and only then can use it?

Originally Posted by Melis

Its bad that pscmj7 is not so active like i thought..sad. About terapeak do they offer any trial or you have to buy it and only then can use it?

Yes im waiting eagerly for his response to this thread...

some of terapeak features are free...but if u want the good stuff u gotta pay.

i want to buy DigiCam in Ebay.. is it safety to give my Acc info?

Originally Posted by hazephase

i want to buy DigiCam in Ebay.. is it safety to give my Acc info?

Give acc info for who?

[QUOTE=Desertfox;3590170]Hello from EU/Europe

Im interested in how you manage your items/sales/invoices.

Do you use any special listing software like afterbuy/etc?

Ebay takes a pretty nice cut of your earnings, then afterbuy, then shipping...
Your calculations have to be very good and you gotta sell lots of items to make profit.

Thats why im interested in your logistics, what programms you use to manage listings, sales, etc?

Any tips?

Sorry I haven't been active! I was in Vegas for a few days.. And anyone thats been to Vegas knows how hard it is to work when there.

Great Question Desertfox, Managing it all is by far the most difficult part of building a strong ecommerce business. Some things you run into when you pass 150K a month or so :
#1 Managing inventory, With the marketplaces, esp Amazon you have to be almost Perfect with your inventory.
I recommend using a service such as Mercent,Channel Advisor or even efluent. You'll see Solid Commerce also but they aren't GREAT for handlink more than 10-20k Skus. CA and Mercent are going to run you 3-15k upfront and 1.5-3 Percent of gross monthly.

#2 Order fulfillment, there are days where we have 1000+ transactions. With this high of volume you have to have automation. Look into ERP systems and EDI. (Again pricey but they pay off 100x)

#3 Customer service, Customers are ALL morons.. Online or offline. You need a good system and a GOOD CRM to handle customer service including Returns,Damage etc. You can get CRM in a ERP system to tie it all together.

#4 Accounting, with so many SkUS and so many different things you have to have a good Accounting system. OR else you will go out of business fast!
you can build this into your ERP as well or you can go the route of a sage or QuickBooks.

#5 Capital, if you're selling on ebay and AMZN you have to HAVE a large sum of money in reserve 250k-500k for any 2 week period.
And don't forget about those "1% of sellers" paypal holds. Paypal has held up to 150k of mine at one time because of their rolling reserves.
There is no way around this so if you're gonna go big you need someone with deep pockets.

There are the 5 things off the top of my head..
What I have learned is you are either a small seller 5-65k a month or a large seller 250k+ a month. It is VERY difficult in between.

Originally Posted by Melis

Realy good thread i will subscribe !
I have pm'ed you

Thanks I wrote you back.

I am very interested. PM me

Originally Posted by joseph

great advice.

so can you get into detail why dropshipping is better than buying in huge bulk? is your whole business drop ship?

and since you're in the home goods category, alot of your products are branded. how do you go by getting branded products, liquidations or do you contact the company directly?

do you sell generic items from china too?

It really all depends on your business model, your current cash situation and what you would like your niche to be.
I'll give 2 examples.

Beach Camera > These guys do 50 Million + a year. They Buy everything and warehouse it. They wait for oppurtunity buys from the manufacturers and then they drop 100K + on the deal to buy 100s of units.
They have approximately 5600 SKUS at any given time.
HOWEVER they have to pay interest and storage on every SKU that they own, if you know retail you know this type of inventory Model can get expensive and scary fast.

Beach Audio > These guys do about 25 Million a year but they don't stock anything. Their margins are thin. But they have much LESS overhead and ultimately more room to grow. They hav 100K + skus.

NOW the key to real growth with low overhead is to create a Hybrid System. Take Advantage of Drop Shipping (Basically Free) And mix in some oppurtunity and or clearance deals. You can use Dropshipping to fund your Stock.

My whole business is NOT dropship. However I don't stock anything. = )
I'm not going to give that secret away right now, however I will tell you this. For brands such as Samsung or Sony, you Have to have a Retail Brick and Mortar Presence. My company does not have a Brick & mortar but I sell these items (Brand New with Authorization from the Manufacturers).

And no, don't even try contacting Name Brand Manufacturers, most of the big ones will laugh at you.

Originally Posted by Soayame

some of terapeak features are free...but if u want the good stuff u gotta pay.

That's correct. If you want to use TeraPeak for all that it's worth you have to pay. TP is the most valuable tool a eBay business can have though.

Originally Posted by bigdippin

Hello,

Thanks for the tips. Quick question, I was going through the list that you linked to in your previous message and alot of the companies that dropship on there are from China. Should this discourage me as shipping takes longer and I really don't know for sure if they are legit. It seems when I find a product on terapeak, search the top sellers and such, the price they are selling the item for is cheaper than I can find it. I guess I'm having trouble finding a good supplier. Any tips there?

Thanks,

David

#1 Do not use Chinese Dropshippers/Wholesalers.
Most of the stuff is face, which will get you banned and even if its real it takes too long and sometimes won't come at all.

#2 Keep in mind, Many distributors have 1000's of items and just because you look at 3-10 that you can't compete on don't give up. On eBay you can win the sale without being the lowest priced.

#3 Try to find a Supplier that sells generic Non branded items, Either if they import them or manufacture them. This way you don't have the same kind of competition as you have if you are selling specefic brands that customers can search the model #

Great to have someone on board who is doing well in this type of business.

Once I start making more money with my affiliate marketing I will definitely look into this and give it a go. I think there is a big market for it.

What does the set up process look like when you start a new store? Do the sites all follow some sort of similar pattern that works well for you? (design wise, product wise etc etc)

Are you only making money off these sites using ebay or do you have other channels too?

Subscribed to the thread. Looking forward to keep reading it.

I have an ebay account with over 1000 all positive no negative but have no idea what to sell for profit. I used to import items from china a few years back and made good money. competition got fierce when the chinese started selling on ebay for less than what I was importing. now everything i think of selling is already being sold for less.

Your thread have brought back my interest in ebay. Any help would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by hazephase

i want to buy DigiCam in Ebay.. is it safety to give my Acc info?

If your skeptical just get a paypal account, and then all they will have is your Name\email address. No account info.

Is ebay safe and trusted? Yes.

Good info thanks for this thread OP

Originally Posted by mohnikinsiz

Great to have someone on board who is doing well in this type of business.

Once I start making more money with my affiliate marketing I will definitely look into this and give it a go. I think there is a big market for it.

What does the set up process look like when you start a new store? Do the sites all follow some sort of similar pattern that works well for you? (design wise, product wise etc etc)

Are you only making money off these sites using ebay or do you have other channels too?

Subscribed to the thread. Looking forward to keep reading it.

The set up process is easy. You need a Name a Address and a Bank Account, you'll also need a business licens and resell cert for MOst Drop Ship Companies.

Yes the sites are all the same to a certain extent. But I recommend getting your feet wet with eBay before jumping into eBay.

Im on eBay,Amazon,Buy.com and my own website.

Thanks and Hope it goes good for you!

Please Note :
My Company is based in the USA. And I do not do any business on any other eBay sites.

I have found a Really Good Supplier that will work in the UK.
I also know the seller that is selling the product, this seller is doing 90k a month with this supplier exclusively.
If you have a eBay.UK account (With Solid Feedback) please let me know i'd like to discuss a JV on this.

Thanks

Originally Posted by pscmj7

It really all depends on your business model, your current cash situation and what you would like your niche to be.
I'll give 2 examples.

Beach Camera > These guys do 50 Million + a year. They Buy everything and warehouse it. They wait for oppurtunity buys from the manufacturers and then they drop 100K + on the deal to buy 100s of units.
They have approximately 5600 SKUS at any given time.
HOWEVER they have to pay interest and storage on every SKU that they own, if you know retail you know this type of inventory Model can get expensive and scary fast.

Beach Audio > These guys do about 25 Million a year but they don't stock anything. Their margins are thin. But they have much LESS overhead and ultimately more room to grow. They hav 100K + skus.

NOW the key to real growth with low overhead is to create a Hybrid System. Take Advantage of Drop Shipping (Basically Free) And mix in some oppurtunity and or clearance deals. You can use Dropshipping to fund your Stock.

My whole business is NOT dropship. However I don't stock anything. = )
I'm not going to give that secret away right now, however I will tell you this. For brands such as Samsung or Sony, you Have to have a Retail Brick and Mortar Presence. My company does not have a Brick & mortar but I sell these items (Brand New with Authorization from the Manufacturers).

And no, don't even try contacting Name Brand Manufacturers, most of the big ones will laugh at you.

interesting. so what would you suggest a beginner with no investments to do?

and how would i go about selling branded products like you do? contact a distributor ??

thanks

I have a very noob question, can anyone enter into this ebay and ecommerce thing if he resides in India. Sorry I am more into SEO and stuff that I never cared to learn all this.

pcmj17 i have a decent ebay account all positive,
and just been made redundant could do with a change at something

Hi im from uk any im currently doing some dropshipping from china, Im really interested in doing some more business from uk.
Thanks

Originally Posted by piraterules

I have a very noob question, can anyone enter into this ebay and ecommerce thing if he resides in India. Sorry I am more into SEO and stuff that I never cared to learn all this.

You may have a hard time, securing a solid ebay US account living in India.
However you may want to try to either Purchase a ebay US account, or you may also want to consider partnering with someone that has a eBay US account.

Originally Posted by joseph

interesting. so what would you suggest a beginner with no investments to do?

and how would i go about selling branded products like you do? contact a distributor ??

thanks

The Key to selling Branded products is to Affiliate your self with a Brick & Mortar. And then when that question comes up 'Do you have a retail store" you can say yes.

As far as starting with no $$. I started with 0 money as well.
I was actually living with my parents, as the company I was with went out of business after 56 years. I just started researching and digging.
I actually tried selling Digital Goods First on Ebay (Service manuals for Cars)
And then I went into Multiple listing techniques, 10 Skus listed 10k times matching different model numbers of items.
"6' Hdmi Cable for Sony LCD" stuff like that.
This worked great but a year or so ago eBay cracked down on this Duplicate type of listing.

Originally Posted by bettingman

Hi im from uk any im currently doing some dropshipping from china, Im really interested in doing some more business from uk.
Thanks

PM Me please.. I have a great supplier lined up.

Do you have any tips for finding credible wholesalers and manufacturers directly? There are services like world wide brands and salehoo, but I personally would rather be able to know where to look myself. The issue is, there are so many 'scammers' that it's hard to know when your dealing with legitimate wholesalers or 'middle men'.

I specialize in SEO (so I already realize ranking and web visibility won't be an issue) which is why I'm trying to find credible wholesalers that will dropship. In my opinion, for the vast majority the marketing aspect is a huge issue, but if you can get your website in front of your audience then you have indisputably beat the barrier to entry, no?

Also, what do you think about using dropshipping for loss-leaders, and then putting 'hot items' with larger profit margins in a fulfillment center so that majority of the website is automated?

Originally Posted by pscmj7

The Key to selling Branded products is to Affiliate your self with a Brick & Mortar. And then when that question comes up 'Do you have a retail store" you can say yes.

i have affiliations to a restaurant. Can I use the restaurant as a "retail store" just to obtain the branded products or does it have to be a electronics store?

Originally Posted by pscmj7

The great thing with eBay is you don't have to be the lowest priced, there are other things you can do to WIN the sell.

These aren't my experiences. I am selling a product on eBay. A competitor sells the same. In eBay search results, we have same pic, same title. Only difference, his price is about 2-3€ lower than mine.

He sold 5-10 items in about 5 days, while my listing did not sell one up to now (it's 10 days, today is 4.)

So I see that people are that greedy today that they look for always the cheapest price, even if it is only €2 that they will save.

So what to do in order to win the sale??

Originally Posted by anatho

These aren't my experiences. I am selling a product on eBay. A competitor sells the same. In eBay search results, we have same pic, same title. Only difference, his price is about 2-3€ lower than mine.

He sold 5-10 items in about 5 days, while my listing did not sell one up to now (it's 10 days, today is 4.)

So I see that people are that greedy today that they look for always the cheapest price, even if it is only €2 that they will save.

So what to do in order to win the sale??

There are many factors why he sold more.. The more you sell the higher you become in ebay search results for each search term. Maybe he is higher then you on most terms. If you are identical to him why would someone pick the expensive one, The item is the same and the customers can see that, thats why they take the cheapest one. Try and make a better picture that shows the customers that it might be better then the cheap one.

Originally Posted by anatho

These aren't my experiences. I am selling a product on eBay. A competitor sells the same. In eBay search results, we have same pic, same title. Only difference, his price is about 2-3€ lower than mine.

He sold 5-10 items in about 5 days, while my listing did not sell one up to now (it's 10 days, today is 4.)

So I see that people are that greedy today that they look for always the cheapest price, even if it is only €2 that they will save.

So what to do in order to win the sale??

This is the truth that most eBay sellers don't want to admit.

As I say "Cheapest seller makes the sale, everyone else walks"

People don't always use simple search results and pick the item at the top, they did a couple years ago but now most eBays who spend over $10.00 USD use the "Price + Shipping: Lowest" feature.