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[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

ljb7

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Awesome. Thanks for the reply Ecom Man. I'm going to give it a go; I won't know unless I try!

I know your post is a couple weeks old but I'll chime in to try help you and any other UK residents wishing to get started. I'm a UK seller and am getting to grips with all the charges/import duty/taxes.

Firstly, to work out your margins on Ebay product, use this website (so long as you know your selling price):
http://ecal.altervista.org/en/fee_calculator/ebay.co.uk/
This calc is set for UK Ebayers and includes PayPal.

Now regarding import duty. Typically in the UK import duty hovers between 5-9% depending on what item you are importing (although it can range anywhere from 0% to 85%). You'll need to use the Gov's trade tariff ( https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff ) to find out what the duty on your particular item is. There are over 13000 different categories in the tariff AFAIK so it'll take some searching to find the correct category. Dutycalculator.com will make your life easier in regards to searching your category and also calculating duty/VAT costs, but you have to pay for it after a few queries.

Duty is calculated on: value of goods (how much you paid for them) + insurance cost (during freight) + shipping cost.

So lets say I paid my supplier £300 for my goods, £100 shipping and £10 insurance, and my duty on that particular item was 6%. My duty would be:

£410 x 0.06 = £24.6

VAT is the cost of: value of goods + insurance + shipping PLUS duty. So typical VAT (although in very seldom cases it can vary) would be:

£410 + 24.6 = £434.6 * 0.2 (20%) = £86.92

Total VAT + Duty = £~112

You may also be hit with a customs clearance charge if they decide to go through your order at customs. However, with samples you will most likely be using an Air Courier and customs clearance is usually factored into the price.

Now I know that sounds like a lot. But you don't need to worry. Many Chinese suppliers will write a much lower value (especially on smaller/sample) orders on the invoice on the package. Now this is illegal, but a very large amount of people do this, and on smaller orders where these rates kill your margins, it's normal to be honest. I'm not advocating it - but don't be surprised if once you receive your order, your supplier has undervalued your items by a lot. If you find this morally incorrect then simply ask them to value it at their cheapest wholesale price on that item. It's a win - win.

Hopefully this makes it clearer for you and any other UK residents wanting to start out but are a little unclear on all this duty/tax charge stuff. There's still more things to consider so you should do your own reading, this post is only aiming to help you get your head around it and realise it's not too hard after all.
 
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Bananas

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Hello Ecom man! Much appreciation for what you are doing here!

I wanted to get some feedback from some people here.

In the city I live in, there is an antique shop/flea market. It's a pretty goin place usually. Out of several hundred booths, he only has one opening at the first of November and there wont be any open until the beginning of 2015, leading me to believe its a pretty good place to sell. Now, it being part antique shop, it makes sense that I can easily assume they draw more of the older crowd.

I've been considering importing to resell, though there is so much competition online that I have turned to local options (there are serious pros and cons of both, though the prices I would be able to charge for my items will severely undercut local shops, flea markets are available 6 to 7 days a week, but close at night. of course online is 24/7/365). Now, a big plus is obviously no shipping fees to the customer. They walk out the door with the product.

Now, my thought is that why don't I import some different kinds of products that I know the elderly may be interested in purchasing while searching a flea market/antique shop. I have turned to pet products. Such as cat trees (since i can import large trees for $25 + s/h, which is super cheap), dog beds, and other luxury pet items that we all know the older crowd buys for their spoiled pets. =)

Can I get some suggestions, recommendations, tips, constructive criticism, from the crowd here?

When you think about what items ages 55+ would like for super cheap from importing, what items do you envision when you see that old man/woman at the flea market snagging because it is so cheap compared to local retail?

Thanks for reading guys! I look forward to hear back from all of you.

Edit: Or maybe a variety of necklaces? Older women like to buy necklaces right? Light/cheap shipping 300% to 400% margin.

@Caleb Check with the antique/flea market and get their rules before you dive head first into planning. Many stores like that have rules on what can and can't be sold and will specifically exclude people who want to import cheap items for resale.
 

Bananas

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Hey! I've been lurking on this thread long before I signed up (today), and so firstly I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the information you've provided, its been really helpful!

A little background: I've been importing for a while, and have been making a healthy amount of profit, but I've recently discovered a completely unsaturated niche that I'm going to be selling in. I've already bought and sold a sample shipment and made a large amount off of just that (~£300 profit per item, minus shipping), so I've now got an order of ~£3000 worth of these items on its way and should hopefully arrive before the week is out, which is great.

The only problem is with this product, is that despite the large profit margin the product itself is both big and heavy, which of course means I had to use a courier to send it, so my question is; are there any alternate methods I can use to ship large items such as this, in order to save on the courier charges? It's not a huge issue as I'm more than happy with the profit margin already, but every little helps!

Thanks again, I look forward to reading any advice you might have!

@Lone Wolf, if you are in the US check with Greyhound Bus for shipping huge heavy items. Yes, they do that.
 

Caleb

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@Caleb Check with the antique/flea market and get their rules before you dive head first into planning. Many stores like that have rules on what can and can't be sold and will specifically exclude people who want to import cheap items for resale.
@Bananas I already talked with him last week about it and he didn't have a problem with it. He said that if I decide to take the open booth he wishes me luck in selling my items.
 
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RazorCut

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@Lone Wolf, if you are in the US check with Greyhound Bus for shipping huge heavy items. Yes, they do that.

He is quoting in sterling so guess he is UK based. Who are you using at the moment Lone Wolf? Do you have a contract or are you farming it out through ParcelMonkey or Parcel2Go?

What weight and packing size are you dealing with and what is your cost for mainland UK? I'll check with what we pay/paid.
 
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Just wanted to share something I learned after many many hours of research and communication with manufactures on Alibaba. Check AliExpress! I found the exact product I was looking for with free shipping for up 10 units after spending about 4 days communicating with manufactures and dealing with the "let me check the warehouse and make sure we have that exact product in stock". If the samples are quality, I don't see why I couldn't place several orders for 10 units at a time for future orders. Looking forward to receving my samples!
 

ljb7

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Just wanted to share something I learned after many many hours of research and communication with manufactures on Alibaba. Check AliExpress! I found the exact product I was looking for with free shipping for up 10 units after spending about 4 days communicating with manufactures and dealing with the "let me check the warehouse and make sure we have that exact product in stock". If the samples are quality, I don't see why I couldn't place several orders for 10 units at a time for future orders. Looking forward to receving my samples!

AliExpress can be great for receiving samples and for looking through possible profitable products. However Alibaba is very good if you use it correctly. If a 'manufacturer' told me he'd check the warehouse to make sure he has the exact product in stock, i'd doubt that they are actually a manufacturer - most likely a trader. With due diligence, patience, and conducting yourself as an established importing company rather than an individual looking to start importing, you'll likely find better prices, OEMs, and more co-operation/better deals from potential suppliers.

Just my 2cent.
 
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LittleMissFancy

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AliExpress can be great for receiving samples and for looking through possible profitable products. However Alibaba is very good if you use it correctly. If a 'manufacturer' told me he'd check the warehouse to make sure he has the exact product in stock, i'd doubt that they are actually a manufacturer - most likely a trader. With due diligence, patience, and conducting yourself as an established importing company rather than an individual looking to start importing, you'll likely find better prices, OEMs, and more co-operation/better deals from potential suppliers.

Just my 2cent.

I agree with your points and it is my goal to eventually source solely from Alibaba. The issue I was having is that the product I selected only has a few suppliers selling it on Alibaba and when I contacted each of them, I either didn't receive a response or I received a price quote that was decent but the shipping was outrageous. So I figured I would use AliExpress to test the market with my product and see how it sells and if they are selling like hot cakes then I will attempt to source from Alibaba. Thank you for your 2 cents, I appreciate you taking the time to reply with some insight!:)
 

NYCGoblin

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Well I decided to sell a item that I have to get some feedback and have my account look better. But when I search for it I don't see it come up. What's up with her?
 

Caleb

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Has anyone ever been ripped on Aliexpress?

I found an item that i can double my investment, but it seems a low enough price that there could be something wrong with it. Thing is he offers buyers protection and has a lot of good feedback. Can sellers get around buyer protection? Have any of you had any problems with buyer protection on aliexpress?
 
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ljb7

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Has anyone ever been ripped on Aliexpress?

I found an item that i can double my investment, but it seems a low enough price that there could be something wrong with it. Thing is he offers buyers protection and has a lot of good feedback. Can sellers get around buyer protection? Have any of you had any problems with buyer protection on aliexpress?

It's definitely possible to get ripped off by sellers on AliExpress, just like it is on any other site like this.

If you can only double your investment on this item you've found, it wouldn't concern me too much. It's not like it's incredible 500% margins or whatever so the item cost wouldn't ring many alarms..

But you'll still want to find other sellers for the same product and look at their prices. That includes sellers not just on AliExpress, but also Alibaba, DHGate etc etc... and you'll also want to do some snooping on the seller whos offering the item for the price you want. Find their website (is it a .cn? If yes, they're most likely manufacturers), their Alibaba account; are they verified? Are they established? How long have they been sellers on these sites? These are all signs of reliable suppliers and reduce the risk of you getting scammed..

I've never had to actually use buyer protection to get money back however AFAIK it can be quite complicated, and in order to know how to be properly safe with it you'd need to read all about it; it's terms and conditions, pretty much any piece of information you can find - in order to be completely safe with it.

Bare in mind sellers who aim to rip off noobs will know the buyer protection rules inside out - and they will always be one step ahead if you haven't done your due diligence.

Hope this helps.
 

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I am about to put my first order in & my supplier told me that I need to contact a forwarder so that my shipment can clear customs. No idea how to or what I need to do. Could someone offer a bit of advice? Thanks in advance.
 

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He is quoting in sterling so guess he is UK based. Who are you using at the moment Lone Wolf? Do you have a contract or are you farming it out through ParcelMonkey or Parcel2Go?

What weight and packing size are you dealing with and what is your cost for mainland UK? I'll check with what we pay/paid.

Yes I'm UK based.

No I don't have any contract as I've only recently discovered the item and have only received/sold the sample so far. I ended up just using ParcelMonkey to send it, which cost around £55, as the weight can vary between 70-80kg.
 
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Caleb

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Do you guys usually lose money on samples? For the products I've asked about from alibaba they're prices are always higher for just a few than 50+. Also, the shipping for just a few is not much cheaper than the 50+ of this item. So for me to get a sample, it will cost me in the process. Unless I were to order 50+ to begin with. Which I don't want to do yet.
 

Lone Wolf

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Do you guys usually lose money on samples? For the products I've asked about from alibaba they're prices are always higher for just a few than 50+. Also, the shipping for just a few is not much cheaper than the 50+ of this item. So for me to get a sample, it will cost me in the process. Unless I were to order 50+ to begin with. Which I don't want to do yet.

Just negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!

Seriously though, I never lose money on sample orders because I won't buy a sample until I able to purchase it for the same/similar price that I'd receive if I was buying in bulk (you'll have to go through A LOT of suppliers).

The promise of you buying more, if the product is of good quality, is your best tool in negotiation (as long as you actually plan to).
 

ljb7

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Just negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!

Seriously though, I never lose money on sample orders because I won't buy a sample until I able to purchase it for the same/similar price that I'd receive if I was buying in bulk (you'll have to go through A LOT of suppliers).

The promise of you buying more, if the product is of good quality, is your best tool in negotiation (as long as you actually plan to).

And on top of this I can't stress enough that in order to get great sample deals and co-operation, portray yourself as an established importer straight from the first contact. Never let them think you're doing this out your bedroom. Portray yourself as a multimillion $ importing company - seriously. Don't over do it though. Craft some opening messages, try them out. Act like your an employee, your boss needs samples. Make them think you're gonna make them a lot of money - do it correctly and even original manufacturers with the cheapest prices and great products will be emailing you all the time for your business, adding you on Skype, etc etc.
 
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I know your post is a couple weeks old but I'll chime in to try help you and any other UK residents wishing to get started. I'm a UK seller and am getting to grips with all the charges/import duty/taxes.
Thanks for this breakdown, it's very helpful. Still at the sample stage myself, but will refer back to this in future.


I'm curious to hear how others are getting on......

I have 17 listings now, after 3 weeks. Sold 5 items each week with an overall profit of £7 every week ( at least it's consistent!). Items are all in the low value range.

Feedback score is at 22, with 100%.

Just took some better photographs and swapped around some keywords at the weekend.

It feels very slow, I was hoping to gain a little more traction as the weeks go on, but it's not happening yet.

Motivation levels are up and down, but I'm DETERMINED to make this work!

@Ecom man - did you find things slow to start, or should things be moving forward a bit better, suggesting perhaps my product choices aren't great?

I think it's time to re-read this thread!
 
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ljb7

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Thanks for this breakdown, it's very helpful. Still at the sample stage myself, but will refer back to this in future.


I'm curious to hear how others are getting on......

I have 17 listings now, after 3 weeks. Sold 5 items each week with an overall profit of £7 every week ( at least it's consistent!). Items are all in the low value range.

Feedback score is at 22, with 100%.

Just took some better photographs and swapped around some keywords at the weekend.

It feels very slow, I was hoping to gain a little more traction as the weeks go on, but it's not happening yet.

Motivation levels are up and down, but I'm DETERMINED to make this work!

@Ecom man - did you find things slow to start, or should things be moving forward a bit better, suggesting perhaps my product choices aren't great?

I think it's time to re-read this thread!

Congrats on getting your first sales.

I have no idea what you're selling but they must be a small inexpensive items to only profit on average £1.4 per item.

I'm just going to do some guesswork and say the reason you're not seeing more sales is because these items are already very saturated (low entry level for sellers due to cost of item), if I were you I would look to finding slightly more technical/bigger items, more expensive items..

I look to profit at least £15 per item... you may have to make a larger investment in the beginning but if you have validated a market you can pretty much assume your product will sell if you list is well.

It's gonna take more looking, make a large list of possible items and research. I found a niche item the other day that only has a few sellers, even though it's a 'hot' product, with these sellers listings being viewed 20+ times a day. The product has a 33% profit margin after ALL expenses, but i stand to make at the very least £30 per product in the worst case scenario and hopefully i'll turn the stock over in 2 weeks tops. Order being shipped atm so I will keep you filled in. This order cost me $650, but hopefully the investment will pay off!

It really just takes some time to make a list, here's an example one - lets say I'm looking for truck driver products:

Truck Wheel Covers
Truck Wheel Nut Covers
12/24V Coolboxes
12/24V Warmboxes
12/24V Microwaves
12/24V Ovens
Portable Toasters
Truck Curtains
Truck Decorations
Truck Red LED Scrolling Message
Truck Lights
Container Locks
Fuel Cap Locks
Window Wiper Blades
Blind Spot Mirrors
CB Radio
Gas Level Detectors

You see I don't know if any of these will be profitable but it's so easy to make a list about anything. Take something, and expand on it - the more you do it, the better you'll get at doing it.

Hope this helps.
 

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Congrats on getting your first sales.

I have no idea what you're selling but they must be a small inexpensive items to only profit on average £1.4 per item.

I'm just going to do some guesswork and say the reason you're not seeing more sales is because these items are already very saturated (low entry level for sellers due to cost of item), if I were you I would look to finding slightly more technical/bigger items, more expensive items..

I look to profit at least £15 per item... you may have to make a larger investment in the beginning but if you have validated a market you can pretty much assume your product will sell if you list is well.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

It's gonna take more looking, make a large list of possible items and research. I found a niche item the other day that only has a few sellers, even though it's a 'hot' product, with these sellers listings being viewed 20+ times a day. The product has a 33% profit margin after ALL expenses, but i stand to make at the very least £30 per product in the worst case scenario and hopefully i'll turn the stock over in 2 weeks tops. Order being shipped atm so I will keep you filled in. This order cost me $650, but hopefully the investment will pay off!

It really just takes some time to make a list, here's an example one - lets say I'm looking for truck driver products:

Truck Wheel Covers
Truck Wheel Nut Covers
12/24V Coolboxes
12/24V Warmboxes
12/24V Microwaves
12/24V Ovens
Portable Toasters
Truck Curtains
Truck Decorations
Truck Red LED Scrolling Message
Truck Lights
Container Locks
Fuel Cap Locks
Window Wiper Blades
Blind Spot Mirrors
CB Radio
Gas Level Detectors

You see I don't know if any of these will be profitable but it's so easy to make a list about anything. Take something, and expand on it - the more you do it, the better you'll get at doing it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the great answer! Rep+ transferred.

Yes, the items are all small and inexpensive, so perhaps you're right about the low entry level, though I tried my best to choose products at the time that I felt there wasn't huge competition on.

The idea was to buy a few things from Aliexpress, just to test the water in order to learn the ropes. I'm still uncertain about a lot of things, so didn't want anything that was too high risk.

Also, a key thing was the size of the product. I need to be able to drop it in a postbox, due to the fact I can't make it to a post office through the workday.

I really do struggle with the product research, I haven't found a 'winner' yet. I do want to get to the level where I'm making much more profit per product pretty soon though.

That's a pretty impressive list you created, I imagine in a very short space of time.

Sounds like you've found a good niche to work on. Good luck with it, I'll look forward to the update.

Are you working on e-bay / in e-commerce full time?
 
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ljb7

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Yes, the items are all small and inexpensive, so perhaps you're right about the low entry level, though I tried my best to choose products at the time that I felt there wasn't huge competition on.

If this is the case, like you said, try to take some better photos and try to improve your description - I don't know if it will change anything, but it's the best bet.

Also, a key thing was the size of the product. I need to be able to drop it in a postbox, due to the fact I can't make it to a post office through the workday.

This worries me - you're severely limiting yourself if you are only selling things that fit in a postbox. Can you not find any way around this?

I really do struggle with the product research, I haven't found a 'winner' yet. I do want to get to the level where I'm making much more profit per product pretty soon though.

It just takes time, if you look at what Ecomman and others in this thread have said - product research can be tedious, thinking you've found a product only to find out there are xxx listings for it already, hence why people give up. You'll get better at finding profitable products over time, try to make a list of potential items like I said in my last post. Try to make a list of 100 items to start.

Sounds like you've found a good niche to work on. Good luck with it, I'll look forward to the update.

Are you working on e-bay / in e-commerce full time?

Thank you! And no, I only started a month ago. But this really interests me, and so I've done copious amounts of reading and researching and I'm beginning to find it easier and get good deals.
 

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Just wanted to share a recent experience with Ali Express..

I bought some mobile phone covers - they are good quality, but they are counterfeit apparently because I can't find the product anywhere else, which means there is no USB code, which means I can't sell them. And its barely worth the shipping to try to send them back since it was a small order.
 

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Congrats on getting your first sales.

I have no idea what you're selling but they must be a small inexpensive items to only profit on average £1.4 per item.

I'm just going to do some guesswork and say the reason you're not seeing more sales is because these items are already very saturated (low entry level for sellers due to cost of item), if I were you I would look to finding slightly more technical/bigger items, more expensive items..

I look to profit at least £15 per item... you may have to make a larger investment in the beginning but if you have validated a market you can pretty much assume your product will sell if you list is well.

It's gonna take more looking, make a large list of possible items and research. I found a niche item the other day that only has a few sellers, even though it's a 'hot' product, with these sellers listings being viewed 20+ times a day. The product has a 33% profit margin after ALL expenses, but i stand to make at the very least £30 per product in the worst case scenario and hopefully i'll turn the stock over in 2 weeks tops. Order being shipped atm so I will keep you filled in. This order cost me $650, but hopefully the investment will pay off!

It really just takes some time to make a list, here's an example one - lets say I'm looking for truck driver products:

Truck Wheel Covers
Truck Wheel Nut Covers
12/24V Coolboxes
12/24V Warmboxes
12/24V Microwaves
12/24V Ovens
Portable Toasters
Truck Curtains
Truck Decorations
Truck Red LED Scrolling Message
Truck Lights
Container Locks
Fuel Cap Locks
Window Wiper Blades
Blind Spot Mirrors
CB Radio
Gas Level Detectors

You see I don't know if any of these will be profitable but it's so easy to make a list about anything. Take something, and expand on it - the more you do it, the better you'll get at doing it.

Hope this helps.
Great great great advice!
 
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@ljb7 Thanks for the answers.

This worries me - you're severely limiting yourself if you are only selling things that fit in a postbox. Can you not find any way around this?

The joys of full time work, with a 30 min lunch break! Nearest post office is 10-15 min each way, and queues at lunchtime are usually 5-10 deep. I can have someone else go for me on occasion, but not regularly. If I can find a profitable product, I'll make something work, but initially it made more sense to find smaller items that were profitable.

Thank you! And no, I only started a month ago. But this really interests me, and so I've done copious amounts of reading and researching and I'm beginning to find it easier and get good deals

Sounds like you're really going for it. Have you had many successful / profitable sales in the first month?
 

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Just started using a new program for eBay called Quantity Manager. You input in your exact inventory and then can set a specific number to show on eBay. For instance, I have 100 of an item but that 100 will put me over the item selling limit. This program allows you to put in their system that you have 100 but show on eBay you have 5. Every time you sell an item Quantity Manager updates it back to 5 available (or whatever number you choose) until your inventory of 100 is depleted.

It works really well for making it appear you only have a few products on hand so people are more likely to buy immediately. It also helps if you are near your listings limits to keep you below that. It costs $5 a month and .02 per transaction (sale) or you can pay $9.99 a month or 99.99 a year. It is a pretty cool tool to automatically keep your items at a certain number available instead of showing "10 or more".
 
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Gitrokr

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@Ecom man Thank you for your plethora of ideas, tips and knowledge bites.

It's time to do some market research, dig into ebay, amazon and wholesalers and manufacturers. Let's see what I can dig up.

Thanks again for all you have shared so graciously, I have bookmarked a ton!
 

Ecom man

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@Ecom man Thank you for your plethora of ideas, tips and knowledge bites.

It's time to do some market research, dig into ebay, amazon and wholesalers and manufacturers. Let's see what I can dig up.

Thanks again for all you have shared so graciously, I have bookmarked a ton!
Glad to be of a help.
 

Entrepreneur99

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Invaluable thread for new entrepreneurs! Repped!
I have quick question, I've found a product which makes for a really good Christmas gift, and is pretty useful. On Amazon there seems to be one company owning this niche and the best quality product I've found on importing sites is identical to the ones this company is selling (probably bought from the same site).
How would I go about finding a quality version of this product that differs to the one the company is selling? I want to brand this product myself but I feel if i used the same product as this company but with my own brand it would be unethical. Should I contact the wholesaler and ask if they can do a slightly modified version for my own brand? Thanks.
 
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Ecom man

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Invaluable thread for new entrepreneurs! Repped!
I have quick question, I've found a product which makes for a really good Christmas gift, and is pretty useful. On Amazon there seems to be one company owning this niche and the best quality product I've found on importing sites is identical to the ones this company is selling (probably bought from the same site).
How would I go about finding a quality version of this product that differs to the one the company is selling? I want to brand this product myself but I feel if i used the same product as this company but with my own brand it would be unethical. Should I contact the wholesaler and ask if they can do a slightly modified version for my own brand? Thanks.
If the rights to the product are owned by the seller on the importing sites they will allow you to brand it your own. You can of course ask them to make some tweaks to make a difference between your item and the one they are currently selling. You can probably just import the item and undercut the other seller as well. It depends on how you want tot do it. Be sure that the person not he import sites has the copyright etc to that specific product.
 

SBS.95

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I'm curious how long it takes until people start copying you. It seems as if many of the products I find are profitable when I order samples, but by the time they get to me, a mere 2-3 weeks later, they are being sold for far lower, often putting me in the red.

I had an item that I bought for $12 and was selling for $50-60 on Ebay. I get it and decide to look at Ebay sold listings before I put it up for sale. And suddenly everyone is selling it for $15 with free shipping, even US sellers! More shocking than upsetting, I'm only out a few bucks, but the value just drops insanely quick.

Is there a way of predicting this, sticking to certain types of items perhaps, or have I just had some strokes of bad luck?
 

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