This is something of a summary/review post to share some progress and missteps from throughout this past year.
I started the year attempting to try a different direction with digital products, but quickly realized I was focusing more on something I wanted than what the market needed or wanted. So most of this year has been about transitioning from digital products to tangible/physical. Since I've been running one type of online business or another for almost 20 years, I knew this change could be something of a challenge for me, and it was. In some ways it's been a bit rough.
In March I tested a product idea. I took $50 to a local fabric store and purchased 12 different colors/designs of craft fabric. I brought that home and cut it into smaller bits, packaged it as a bundle/kit and put it up for sale on Amazon. It made a total of four products, and all four were sold out in less than two months.
Also in March I purchased fabric from a vendor on Aliexpress. The quality was ok and the price was great, but I decided to keep looking because there was not enough profit margin after paying Amazon fees. I also found the same vendor on EBay, Etsy and elsewhere, so I didn't want to attempt to compete with them when my position would be so slim.
Meanwhile I researched closeout suppliers and manufacturers. Cash flow has been close to non existent so it has taken more time than I care to admit to get through much of my testing phases.
I purchased a case of closeout blankets at the end of April - $400 spend. These had excellent markup potential but I fully expected to sit on them until closer to Christmas. Other buyers soon found the same deal though and it didn't take long for the profit margins to get trashed on Amazon. In the end I paid $15 each and sold them for average of $50-$75 each. Great profits and most sold much earlier than anticipated but the return was still spread over about six months.
This buy was originally going to be my "big start" of sorts. I'd been devouring everything I could find about purchasing closeouts and liquidations, and I liked the looks of that business model. My plan was to begin purchasing home decor/decorating type items. I also briefly attempted to add drop shipping into the mix.
I mention this because not long after making this investment, several of my backup income sources dropped off the radar completely. This meant that I had no income to purchase additional inventory with and no return from the existing inventory to reinvest.
I went looking for sources of products to sell that I could invest smaller amounts with to start, and hopefully turn over quicker. I found an import company that seemed to fit the bill. I spent $35 with them in the middle of July, then another $60 in the middle of August. Most of their products are super cheap, low quality items that I question the viability of for even flea market sales. I did ok however, and managed to squeeze a few dollars profit out of each item I tested aside from one. That one I did not even send to Amazon because it was not packaged as advertised. I've decided that the majority of the products from this company are great for flea markets and dollar store venues. Some of the closeout items they offer are of good enough quality for Amazon as long as I'm careful in my selections.
Of course the reality of it is, even 100% profit on a $60 spend is not a whole lot of cash to work with
In August I found a source of fabric very much like the type that people keep trying to buy from my website (stock photos) over the years. The source was on Alibaba so I purchased $60 worth. Then ~100 in September and ~$200 in October.
This stuff flew off the shelves. I sold half of it under a generic listing and half of it under a new brand.
I was concerned that it might drop completely off a cliff after halloween though, so I purchased Christmas fabric in November (~$300 spend), from a U.S. supplier I had just found. That also flew off the shelves.
I'm putting this as a "to be continued" for the moment because I've taken way too long typing this out already. Back soon to fill in more of the pros/cons/ifs/ands/or/buts.
I started the year attempting to try a different direction with digital products, but quickly realized I was focusing more on something I wanted than what the market needed or wanted. So most of this year has been about transitioning from digital products to tangible/physical. Since I've been running one type of online business or another for almost 20 years, I knew this change could be something of a challenge for me, and it was. In some ways it's been a bit rough.
In March I tested a product idea. I took $50 to a local fabric store and purchased 12 different colors/designs of craft fabric. I brought that home and cut it into smaller bits, packaged it as a bundle/kit and put it up for sale on Amazon. It made a total of four products, and all four were sold out in less than two months.
Also in March I purchased fabric from a vendor on Aliexpress. The quality was ok and the price was great, but I decided to keep looking because there was not enough profit margin after paying Amazon fees. I also found the same vendor on EBay, Etsy and elsewhere, so I didn't want to attempt to compete with them when my position would be so slim.
Meanwhile I researched closeout suppliers and manufacturers. Cash flow has been close to non existent so it has taken more time than I care to admit to get through much of my testing phases.
I purchased a case of closeout blankets at the end of April - $400 spend. These had excellent markup potential but I fully expected to sit on them until closer to Christmas. Other buyers soon found the same deal though and it didn't take long for the profit margins to get trashed on Amazon. In the end I paid $15 each and sold them for average of $50-$75 each. Great profits and most sold much earlier than anticipated but the return was still spread over about six months.
This buy was originally going to be my "big start" of sorts. I'd been devouring everything I could find about purchasing closeouts and liquidations, and I liked the looks of that business model. My plan was to begin purchasing home decor/decorating type items. I also briefly attempted to add drop shipping into the mix.
I mention this because not long after making this investment, several of my backup income sources dropped off the radar completely. This meant that I had no income to purchase additional inventory with and no return from the existing inventory to reinvest.
I went looking for sources of products to sell that I could invest smaller amounts with to start, and hopefully turn over quicker. I found an import company that seemed to fit the bill. I spent $35 with them in the middle of July, then another $60 in the middle of August. Most of their products are super cheap, low quality items that I question the viability of for even flea market sales. I did ok however, and managed to squeeze a few dollars profit out of each item I tested aside from one. That one I did not even send to Amazon because it was not packaged as advertised. I've decided that the majority of the products from this company are great for flea markets and dollar store venues. Some of the closeout items they offer are of good enough quality for Amazon as long as I'm careful in my selections.
Of course the reality of it is, even 100% profit on a $60 spend is not a whole lot of cash to work with
In August I found a source of fabric very much like the type that people keep trying to buy from my website (stock photos) over the years. The source was on Alibaba so I purchased $60 worth. Then ~100 in September and ~$200 in October.
This stuff flew off the shelves. I sold half of it under a generic listing and half of it under a new brand.
I was concerned that it might drop completely off a cliff after halloween though, so I purchased Christmas fabric in November (~$300 spend), from a U.S. supplier I had just found. That also flew off the shelves.
I'm putting this as a "to be continued" for the moment because I've taken way too long typing this out already. Back soon to fill in more of the pros/cons/ifs/ands/or/buts.
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