Sidewalker Attempting to Escape

[Deleted2BB3x9]

So the advice there was...??

Find a way. Figure it out.

 

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[Deleted2BB3x9]

The first step is to identify the problem you are facing, then define it as specifically as you can.

The next step is to solve the problem.

 

[Ejohn10286]

This is a very good and encouraging thread.

Eric

 

[The Grind]

Last time I ordered 1 sample, learned I should order more than 1 to test the market a bit more before spending a ton of money on the second order.

Just ordered 5 samples. They're more expensive than I thought they would be per piece, 18 bucks. I don't see this specific version of the product being sold on ebay. Could be completely new variation. Other versions of the product are being sold for 22-60 on ebay.

I'll start the listing around 50 and see what happens. Not sure how I'm going to get good pictures of the product. I may be able to get 1 or 2 off the listing on alibaba.

 

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[The Grind]

Ordered 5 more samples of a different version of the product. Much cheaper price than the other one, 40% of the price.

I think the first company was a trading company that's why. I doubt I'll make anything on those. We'll see, lesson learned though.

Emailed 2 companies, got 2 responses, placed 2 orders. I took more action in 1 day that I have my whole life.

Just spend all my cash though =P

 

[The Grind]

Samples weren't able to be shipped until yesterday, both suppliers are responding well though. Got both tracking numbers.

They should arrive this week, ebay listings will be ready. I'm excited, trying to sell 10 products instead of just 1 will teach me a lot. I'll post again if and when I make first sale.

 

[The Grind]

Got a question,

I sold 1 sample, others like it are selling for 12 on ebay, so that's the price I i put mine as. Lots of retail products are around 10 bucks.

The products cost 4 bucks per piece from the manufacturer, then 6 bucks to ship it to the customer.

It would take a ton of sales to break even then a ton more to make any money.

This is a very popular niche, its not some obscure product.

My question is, with margins like this how to these companies make any money? Do they really sell THAT many to make the high profits?

 

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[miked_d]

My question is, with margins like this how to these companies make any money? Do they really sell THAT many to make the high profits?

Yes. They may also have shipping discounts not available to you. Plus they are buying item in bulk, so the the cost is a little less than you.

Can you get cheaper shipping?

If I recall correctly, you are in US (your profile doesn't have location). What is the shipping weight including all packaging?

 

[The Grind]

Yes. They may also have shipping discounts not available to you. Plus they are buying item in bulk, so the the cost is a little less than you.

Can you get cheaper shipping?

If I recall correctly, you are in US (your profile doesn't have location). What is the shipping weight including all packaging?

I used priority shipping small box, purchased the ebay shipping label that you can buy then print out after you make a sale on ebay, it was 6 bucks for that. I like to use faster shipping for the customers. I used the smallest box to ship it, the product weighs half a pound. USPS I'm using.

 

[The Grind]

Another question, whats the point of even selling on amazon and ebay when you can start a brand and have your own store, it will be more profitable in the long term. And since building a brand on ebay or amazon isn't something you should do, why not just start out with your own store / brand and build from there?

 

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[The Grind]

Been selling the samples, getting a sale every couple days. Got 2 sales today. Feels great going home ( from kicking a** at work ) and packing up 2 boxes to ship out tomorrow.

I'm now a believer I can make money from nothing.

I put in very little effort to put the ads up on ebay. And I'm STILL getting sales.

 

[Davo]

Another question, whats the point of even selling on amazon and ebay when you can start a brand and have your own store, it will be more profitable in the long term. And since building a brand on ebay or amazon isn't something you should do, why not just start out with your own store / brand and build from there?

I think it's because buyers trust amazon/ ebay more than they will ever trust you. Plus I think it's convenient to buy multiple items in one order from Amazon vs buying from different websites that you don't know and might scam you.

 

[miked_d]

Another question, whats the point of even selling on amazon and ebay when you can start a brand and have your own store, it will be more profitable in the long term. And since building a brand on ebay or amazon isn't something you should do, why not just start out with your own store / brand and build from there?

Cash flow - Amazon and eBay get a lot more visitors than your site will for a long time.

Funnel - Use your brand name on Amazon/eBay and get people aware of it. Stuff your product shipments with fliers for your brand's website.

 

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[The Grind]

Read my previous posts makes me sick honestly, such a fool.

Anyway, here is a real post.

My slowlane job is hammering some perspective in my head that I will be a slave to someone else the rest of my life unless I change it.

The slowlane story is worth telling,

I used to be a telemarketer at a very large home security system business. One of ADT's top competitors. The pace has 4 owners, Only saw 1-2 of them at work everyday. I lasted 4 months, you make 1 mistake on the phone they fire you, because they can, new reps tend to do better than ones that have been there for a while because of the initial enthusiasm of getting a job.

That was a while ago, I'm a better salesman now, I found a job selling the exact same thing at a different location, only it was a startup. Small office, only a few reps. There is a guy who "manages" the place who is there everyday and work directly with him, but he doesn't own the business, come to find out, the real owner is the SAME guy who actually started the large corporation that I was at for 4 months. The 4 owners that own it, were hired by the guy to build the company. Then he started this company, same product, same everything really only a different business name, still not sure why hes building another one. He comes to the office once or twice a week, you would never know he was rich by looking at him, if you met him you might guess it, but he doesn't drive to work in a ferarri or wear 10k suits. But he probably has 80 million in the bank.

After studying the fastlane for a while and then actually seeing it in person and seeing a fastlaner on a regular basis is quite amazing. Also, the guy is "handing over" the business to the guy who manages it now in 4 years, so he will be the next millionaire. Also, im the managers right hand man now, I was promoted quickly to closer, now closing manager. so we are "building" the company from the ground up and its likely ill end up making 200k a year.

I would be a fool to "quit my job and start a business" because this is a very unique opportunity. However, I'm still going to be working on creating my own income through entrepreneurship. I work 9-930 Monday-Saturday and work another job Sat and Sundays as well. Right now I'm just not making much. It's "slow" and will be for a couple months,

Thought that was an interesting story, it also gives me ideas for a "vendor" business. I worked other sales jobs. Small marketing business's that sell a large company's product. Like verizon, direct tv. I'm not sure how it all works, I tried researching it, couldn't find any solid answers. The owner I suppose calls direct tv and says, "hey I want to sell your product". Basically being an offline affiliate, rents an office, hires salesman, trains them, goes door to door or telemarketing, makes a sale, and makes commission. The owner seems to make 2-3 times more commission then the rep makes. Something I'm interested in the future.

Now about the progress. Spent all my cash on my first bulk order after selling 10 samples. I ordered 100 pieces, my supplier just emailed me with tracking number and said she shipped me an additional 10 pieces for free! Very odd to me I still can't believe they are just giving me free product.

They should arrive this week or early next week. I still need to buy a camera for less than 200 and need to buy lighting equipment to make some decent pictures. Will be selling on Ebay, I haven't looked into selling on amazon at all yet, as I heard you can't mess around on amazon, if you get a bad review as the first comment they will ban your account. I'll look into it though.

With these products, its a whole category of products, I just picked one variation and tried it, the goal with this is to private label, brand it, open a store, and scale from there. It seems like it would take a very long time to actually get enough different products and inventory to open a private store. I'll get there.

Theres so many things I want to start, the live rent free gold thread, I want to start doing, not enough capital to be able to do that yet though, I want to start an information business and email marketing, I like copy writing. I want to start a business like the one I work for now.

I hope I have enough room for the products, my avatar is my entire room =P

 

[RichyV]

Another question, whats the point of even selling on amazon and ebay when you can start a brand and have your own store, it will be more profitable in the long term. And since building a brand on ebay or amazon isn't something you should do, why not just start out with your own store / brand and build from there?

Cash flow - Amazon and eBay get a lot more visitors than your site will for a long time.

Funnel - Use your brand name on Amazon/eBay and get people aware of it. Stuff your product shipments with fliers for your brand's website.

I think it's because buyers trust amazon/ ebay more than they will ever trust you. Plus I think it's convenient to buy multiple items in one order from Amazon vs buying from different websites that you don't know and might scam you.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...rinter-off-the-balcony-and-quit-my-job.49257/

Many ways to skin a cat.

 

[The Grind]

Products came today, 110 pieces. Got american boxes this time which look great. This shipment looks a lot better than the sample order. I've got a good supplier.

Been researching cameras and lighting equipment, have camera picked out, looking at lighting equipment. Wont have the money to order them until the end of the week.

I'm in this market for the long haul, got a solid first product. After a few sales will be looking for more products. Brainstorming brand names, need to get logo and name established, the brand name is super important, may take a while.

 

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[theSWEEKS]

It's awesome seeing your attitude change as you evolve! A lot less self-doubt (the what-ifs, and why-do-they-buys) - glad I waited until the end to comment or I might have pointed out every instance, but it looks like you've changed your perspective. It's also good to see that you've been dedicated to this for months now. I know you got criticized for a "slow start", but look where you're at now compared to then - that's all that matters.

 

[miked_d]

Been researching cameras and lighting equipment, have camera picked out, looking at lighting equipment. Wont have the money to order them until the end of the week.

I remembered this post while I was taking pictures. In my opinion, lighting and background are most important. Even with a great camera, poor lighting will make the pictures look bad.

I have been trying to use the sun for lighting, but that only gives me a few hrs of great lighting each day. I've succesfully used these utility lights previously. They are cheap but can be a pain to setup.

My current background is a white foam board (like kids use for science projects) from the $ store. I've used a small light box along with the utility lights in the past.

 

[ZCP]

the real owner is the SAME guy who actually started the large corporation that I was at for 4 months. The 4 owners that own it, were hired by the guy to build the company. Then he started this company, same product, same everything really only a different business name, still not sure why hes building another one. He comes to the office once or twice a week, you would never know he was rich by looking at him, if you met him you might guess it, but he doesn't drive to work in a ferarri or wear 10k suits. But he probably has 80 million in the bank.

Ask the owner, 'how can I make you more money?' then offer to buy him lunch to listen to his answer. In that lunch, let him know you would like to take things bigger and offer ideas for doing so. Tell him you are willing to work hard and learn so that one day you can get to where he is. You want to lead and want to lead for him for the opportunity he has given you.

 

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[The Grind]

Camera and lighting equipment ordered.

Researching both of those in order to figure out what I need was more complicated than learning the actual business!

Glad that's done.

All together, I'd say I'm about 1k in the hole from everything.

Currently learning how to make the perfect ebay listing, I wont get the equipment for another 1-2 weeks.

So many thoughts and ideas in my head, very easy to get distracted on what the essentials are to focus on. Starting to move some volume on ebay is my #1 priority for a while, let's focus on that 1 thing.

 

[miked_d]

Think of eBay as a search engine. Your goal is to be top for your keyword. Things that help are being powerseller, offering free shipping, having long return period with no fee, receiving good feedback/DSRs, and shipping out sales fast.

Every one of these factor into where your listing shows up in a "Best Match" search.

 

[The Grind]

Think of eBay as a search engine. Your goal is to be top for your keyword. Things that help are being powerseller, offering free shipping, having long return period with no fee, receiving good feedback/DSRs, and shipping out sales fast.

Every one of these factor into where your listing shows up in a "Best Match" search.

Thanks for your support and help Mike.

Out of the few I'v sold, I'm gotten compliments on my fast shipping and how they like the product. I helped my first customer via email because he was having trouble with it. He appreciated the fast email responses.

I have a lot to research. I know nothing about how keywords work, on ebay OR google in general.

 

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[The Grind]

Lighting equipment came, I went with a light tent and 2 light stands with good bulbs from cowboystudios. I've been playing around with it trying to learn how to take decent pics. I'm not happy with the pics that are coming out, using a cannon powershot. Definitely a lighting issue though.

The background doesnt look very white, even though it's a white background. The curtains for the background have a lot of wrinkles in them, not sure how to get them out, ironing them doesnt help much it just made the wrinkle more detailed.

0 sales so far. Not even any views of the product which confuses me. Pics are decent, I have pics now, didnt even have pics before and sold a sample here and there. Working on learning how to make the ebay template for the ad. Need to come up with a company name and have a logo made. Starting to think the samples only sold because the price was so low. Perhaps ebay is about price and nothing more.

 

[Damage Inc.]

I'm not happy with the pics that are coming out

Do you have a camera stand? I was surprised at how much it helps with a clear and steady picture as opposed to holding the camera.

The background doesnt look very white, even though it's a white background. The curtains for the background have a lot of wrinkles in them, not sure how to get them out, ironing them doesnt help much it just made the wrinkle more detailed.

I bought the 24" box from them for my eBay store as well. I ironed them, worked fine just don't burn them. I don't include the sides of the box in my pictures when I use it. Just the curtain and I zoom on the product.

Perhaps ebay is about price and nothing more.

It's not always just about price, although the more "commodity like" your product is the more that buyer mentality will have an effect. I've sold many items for more money than my competitors had similar items listed for. A good return policy helps, good feedback helps, and a good clean listing with coherent sentences goes a long way.

 

[Deleted2BB3x9]

Use Photoshop to make the background white.

 

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[miked_d]

This website will help change the background.
http://fotofuze.com/

 

[The Grind]

This website will help change the background.
http://fotofuze.com/

Learned fotofuze, interesting, the whole point of buying a camera and lighting equipment is to put the shine on the object itself, to bounce as much white light on the object as possible, the background is irrelevant because you just edit the background with fotofuze afterwards?

The pics look much much better, now they look like other product photos I see online, amazing.

 

[miked_d]

Learned fotofuze, interesting, the whole point of buying a camera and lighting equipment is to put the shine on the object itself, to bounce as much white light on the object as possible, the background is irrelevant because you just edit the background with fotofuze afterwards?

The plain white background gives a professional look to the photos with no distractions. Amazon requires your main image to have a white background.

On eBay, you may want to try solid backgrounds of different colors. The colors will cause your pics to stand out if everyone else has the same thing.

 

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[The Grind]

The plain white background gives a professional look to the photos with no distractions. Amazon requires your main image to have a white background.

On eBay, you may want to try solid backgrounds of different colors. The colors will cause your pics to stand out if everyone else has the same thing.

Interesting, I'll try it.

I have 0 sales so far so I'll see if I get more page views from doing that.