[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

[Ecom man]

Actually I looked for the patches on alibaba where the shipping was so high. On dhgate the same product is there for cheaper per piece and free shipping.

Awesome! That's even better! It amazes me how one site can be way cheaper than the other or offer free shipping when the other wants an arm and a leg for shipping.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Paleo]

Great thread-this is something I have been thinking about getting into and this has got me started.

After a couple of hours on Alibaba found a neat little product that meets all the criteria- small, easily shippable, appealing design, widespread need, other sellers in the niche but no one selling this product with a design that differentiates it, pricing for same niche products is affordable for anyone but still 400-800% over wholesale cost. Emailed the factory-hopefully can get a sample order and the products works right. Now back to searching for another product......

Oh-and rep transferred to Ecom Man

 

[Ryan Oshe]

Great thread so far!

How is your legal setup? LLC or something similar?

 

[jazb]

Do you have a strategy for actually finding an item. Im not someone who has ideas running through their head. I need something expensive to sell to businesses, where they keep coming back.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Paleo]

Do you have a strategy for actually finding an item. Im not someone who has ideas running through their head. I need something expensive to sell to businesses, where they keep coming back.

He's already explained how he finds items

 

[Ecom man]

Great thread-this is something I have been thinking about getting into and this has got me started.

After a couple of hours on Alibaba found a neat little product that meets all the criteria- small, easily shippable, appealing design, widespread need, other sellers in the niche but no one selling this product with a design that differentiates it, pricing for same niche products is affordable for anyone but still 400-800% over wholesale cost. Emailed the factory-hopefully can get a sample order and the products works right. Now back to searching for another product......

Oh-and rep transferred to Ecom Man

Awesome job taking action!!! Way to get going. All it takes is one or two products to really start to change your future. Great job!!!

 

[Vigilante]

Speed + as this thread gains traction. I do not know you, but have been watching your responses and they are solid. Thanks for a great thread. Rock on. - Vigilante

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ecom man]

Great thread so far!

How is your legal setup? LLC or something similar?

When I started I didn't have anything at all besides a seller account and a credit card. I do have an LLC now that I use. Don't get bogged down with paperwork etc as an LLC can take a while to complete. Get started finding products and selling them and then you can go from there. I am obviously not a lawyer so I can't tell you which type of corp would be best (LLC S-corp etc.)

 

[Ecom man]

Speed + as this thread gains traction. I do not know you, but have been watching your responses and they are solid. Thanks for a great thread. Rock on. - Vigilante

Thanks for the speed! Just trying to do all that I can to help people get started on their own fast lane path. This seems to be a way that a lot of people can understand and put into practice.

 

[Ryan Oshe]

When I started I didn't have anything at all besides a seller account and a credit card. I do have an LLC now that I use. Don't get bogged down with paperwork etc as an LLC can take a while to complete. Get started finding products and selling them and then you can go from there. I am obviously not a lawyer so I can't tell you which type of corp would be best (LLC S-corp etc.)

LLC seems to be the go to idea for protection, but i wanted to make sure you didn't absolutely need one to get started. I will be looking into this in two weeks after finals!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Paleo]

LLC seems to be the go to idea for protection, but i wanted to make sure you didn't absolutely need one to get started. I will be looking into this in two weeks after finals!

Alibaba does ask you for a "company name" when you sign up. I thought up a name, then checked my state's corporation registration database to make sure there wasn't company of the same name and put that down as my company. Zero to CEO in 5 minutes!

I've been planning to form an LLC anyway so I actually am going to file in the next few weeks but I wasn't going to let bureaucracy slow me down

 

[Ecom man]

Alibaba does ask you for a "company name" when you sign up. I thought up a name, then checked my state's corporation registration database to make sure there wasn't company of the same name and put that down as my company. Zero to CEO in 5 minutes!

I've been planning to form an LLC anyway so I actually am going to file in the next few weeks but I wasn't going to let bureaucracy slow me down

Yep yep keep moving forward!!!

 

[s168]

Great thread Ecom Man. I started some small time importing and reselling from dhgate a few years ago, mainly selling phone screen protectors and some phone chargers. Sold them online and offline. Low margins in terms of value, but great in terms of percentage gains. I stopped that to focus on a Fastlane venture since.

My advice is to keep an eye on what is selling well without too much competition. Some competition is OK, so long as the margins make it worth your while, as it confirms a market exists for you to profit from.

Always order smaller batches initially to see how well they sell. Your sales rate will help you determine whether to restock or not and by what rate. Look at products that are evergreen or aren't short term trends so you know you are unlikely to have to discount prices heavily should your products lose marketplace demand and you have lots of unsold stock. (I learnt my lesson on that one!)

If selling online, make the advert/listing as comprehensive and professional as possible. Include excellent photos (avoid crappy stock images that everyone uses if possible, to appear more genuine to buyers) and detailed descriptions. Don't copy word for word similar listings if you can avoid it. Try to create a unique style about your listings, so it creates a professional identity for you - - but this is more applicable if you intend to do this for some time with multiple related product lines. In a crowded marketplace with many dodgey sellers, users tend to rebuy from, and recommend to others, specific sellers if the service received was awesome and the reputation is great.

Just my thoughts.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[jrace4fun]

Look at products that are evergreen

What does this mean? What is an evergreen product? Is it a tree analogy meaning that the product is always in demand like an evergreen's leaves are always green?

 

[jon.a]

What does this mean? What is an evergreen product? Is it a tree analogy meaning that the product is always in demand like an evergreen's leaves are always green?

Here...
https://www.google.com/search?safe=....2.0....0...1c.1.42.hp..1.1.211.0.WZpSwBenVAI

 

[SBS.95]

What does this mean? What is an evergreen product? Is it a tree analogy meaning that the product is always in demand like an evergreen's leaves are always green?

You got it. People fornicate year round, so condoms are always in demand, an evergreen product. Backyard grills are not evergreen, because most people aren't making steak outside in December.

Also it can mean products that the demand doesn't go down on over time. Again, condoms are an evergreen product because until a male birth control pill comes around, they're gonna keep selling. Whereas most electronics the value/demand wanes because the industry is constantly evolving. Think about mp3 players. 5 years ago a 4 GB player would cost $100+ and every teenager wanted one. Now they have them at the checkout line at grocery stores for $20 and no one uses them because they have smartphones. Opposite of an evergreen product.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ecom man]

There is money to be made in almost all products it is just a matter of how the long the product cycle lasts. Some items will always be in demand, (a few of the items I currently sell) and some items will only have a good selling cycle of 6 months to a year. (some other products i currently have) As long as you know that the product's sales will drop in the future you can sell them but be careful you don't get caught with tons of stock and demand that is dropping through the floor.

On a side note I spent about an hour yesterday researching new products to import. I found 16 possible items and already ordered a sample of one of them. A few of them are too expensive to import simply because of their size and the high shipping costs but the others are looking to be great profit and lots of sales!

 

[Paleo]

I'm looking for products whenever I get time and have requested a few quotes and gotten a couple of responses

Do you have any recommendations for blogs, courses or ebooks that deal with importing from China or selling on Amazon/Ebay.

I'm looking at the getting the Proven Amazon course. If you know of any other resources that would be appreciated

 

[Ecom man]

I'm looking for products whenever I get time and have requested a few quotes and gotten a couple of responses

Do you have any recommendations for blogs, courses or ebooks that deal with importing from China or selling on Amazon/Ebay.

I'm looking at the getting the Proven Amazon course. If you know of any other resources that would be appreciated

Honestly, I have never used any course etc and the only forum i go to is this one.

I started importing out of necessity when I couldn't find a good job in college that would work with my schedule. I scoured the internet and found dhgate and started ordering. To show how stupid I was about everything starting out, my first order was "iPhones". I got them and they were completely crap knockoffs. They couldn't even be passed off as a workable item let alone being authentic iPhones as I was told. There has been a lot of bad items and lost money since then but at the end of the year the total profit makes it well worth it!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JustinBoshans]

Hey Ecom man, I was just looking through the eBay sold items listings and was wondering if there is a way to show how many of that particular item sold other than going to a sellers reviews and counting them 1 by 1.

 

[harerace]

How long does it take you to list each item on ebay? I tried and its a bitch.

 

[Ecom man]

Hey Ecom man, I was just looking through the eBay sold items listings and was wondering if there is a way to show how many of that particular item sold other than going to a sellers reviews and counting them 1 by 1.

I go to active buy it now listings and go into each listing. Most people will have multiple quantity available and already sold. That will let you see how many of that one item that particular person has sold on that listing. Then you can go to the next competitor and do the same thing. It can help you know how big of a demand that item has at the time.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ecom man]

How long does it take you to list each item on ebay? I tried and its a bitch.

Honestly it takes 2-3 minutes to make a listing. I always do buy it now with multiple quantity so one listing for all of the quantity of that one item. If the listing ends cause I'm out of stock etc all I have to do when I get more is is find one that sold hit relist and it's relisted in 15 seconds.

Also another trick is if there is someone selling the same item click into their listing and at the bottom click sell one like this. It throws all the same category info etc onto your listing then all you have to do is type up the description and take pictures. (Don't steal other sellers pics take your own)

I have about 3 paragraphs that are the same in every description so I just copy and paste that and the first paragraph is all i change from listing to listing. (I ship all items Priority Mail so I can copy all the info from listing to listing.)

 

[Tehcasa]

Hello Ecom man, I have a curious question about a product I want to import from Alibaba to sell on eBay for. Here is a scenario: When I research a product to sell for 2X the amount or more, sold than bought for; every-time I get a quote from a company on Alibaba the price is ridiculously too much and not worth making profit from. For example: Lets say the products FOB price is US $1-5 / Piece. However, the MOQ is 500 Pieces. I do not want to risk buying 500 or more pieces for a hight price. And so.. If I were to get a sample of 1 (piece) to test the product out on eBay, the price I was quoted would be 17USD and an extra 30USD or so for shipping. The the average price on the market is 35USD for this product. I will not make any profit if I do this deal and the product will probably not be sold. Also, the price to list a product on eBay costs a bit. I'm sort of confused how to make this work, what should I do?

 

[JustinBoshans]

Hello Ecom man, I have a curious question about a product I want to import from Alibaba to sell on eBay for. Here is a scenario: When I research a product to sell for 2X the amount or more, sold than bought for; every-time I get a quote from a company on Alibaba the price is ridiculously too much and not worth making profit from. For example: Lets say the products FOB price is US $1-5 / Piece. However, the MOQ is 500 Pieces. I do not want to risk buying 500 or more pieces for a hight price. And so.. If I were to get a sample of 1 (piece) to test the product out on eBay, the price I was quoted would be 17USD and an extra 30USD or so for shipping. The the average price on the market is 35USD for this product. I will not make any profit if I do this deal and the product will probably not be sold. Also, the price to list a product on eBay costs a bit. I'm sort of confused how to make this work, what should I do?

I would do one of a few things.

1. Order more in the first order. If you did the research and the product is already selling on Ebay then you should be good but there are no guarantees. If you order more in the first order it will cost more but will be less after shipping. Then if they sell you can order more. If they don't sell at least you know and can kill it fast and find a new product.

2. I would find a cheaper product to start with. If you don't have enough money to risk higher cost items find something cheaper, then take the profit from that and ramp up.

3. I would save up more money from slow lane ventures or whatever you're doing for income currently that is set aside just for business expenses so if you do lose it you won't be too burned. This is what I did. I saved up all of my tips for a long time and got a bunch of cash I could use to take risks that wouldn't hurt me if I lost it all. I didn't just throw it any where and hope though. Keep looking. I'm sure you'll find a good product.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Tehcasa]

I would do one of a few things.

1. Order more in the first order. If you did the research and the product is already selling on Ebay then you should be good but there are no guarantees. If you order more in the first order it will cost more but will be less after shipping. Then if they sell you can order more. If they don't sell at least you know and can kill it fast and find a new product.

2. I would find a cheaper product to start with. If you don't have enough money to risk higher cost items find something cheaper, then take the profit from that and ramp up.

3. I would save up more money from slow lane ventures or whatever you're doing for income currently that is set aside just for business expenses so if you do lose it you won't be too burned. This is what I did. I saved up all of my tips for a long time and got a bunch of cash I could use to take risks that wouldn't hurt me if I lost it all. I didn't just throw it any where and hope though. Keep looking. I'm sure you'll find a good product.

Thanks Justin, one more question to add: Is it better to directly send the product from China to a person you sell it to on eBay? e.g. dropshipping, rather then buy the item so it comes to your door step and then pay for more shipping when you have to send it to the person who purchased the item?

 

[JustinBoshans]

Thanks Justin, one more question to add: Is it better to directly send the product from China to a person you sell it to on eBay? e.g. dropshipping, rather then buy the item so it comes to your door step and then pay for more shipping when you have to send it to the person who purchased the item?

I believe this question would be better answered by ecom man as he's the expert here. If I had to guess though I would say the second option of you shipping it out yourself would probably be better. The reason being if you read through this whole thread, is that one of the ways you can stand out from the rest of the crowd is to have super fast shipping. If you drop ship it from China it could take two weeks or more to reach them and I know when I purchase things I want them at my house 10 minutes ago. I just bought a bunch of product from China and it's been almost 6 days already and is still in customs I believe.

I'm sure some people would be willing to wait the two weeks though if it was a really expensive item they got a good deal on from you they might wait.

Also, try looking for that same item from different people on alibaba and DH gate. The product I'm importing was a higher price on alibaba and they wanted me to pay a large sum for shipping. On another site I got the product for way cheaper and free shipping. So, just keep looking around for different sellers of that product, or find a different product that you can actually profit from.

 

[Tehcasa]

Ok, yes I totally agree with you there that consumers would rather have there product to them ASAP. I will go with this way and try to research better products. Are you an importer yourself, if so do you want to go to a private chat to talk more?[/quote]

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[smartman]

I feel like nearly 90 percent of the companies on alibaba also sell on ebay, so having your product in house/in the country is going to be where you add value. pretty tough to compete.

 

[Ecom man]

Hello Ecom man, I have a curious question about a product I want to import from Alibaba to sell on eBay for. Here is a scenario: When I research a product to sell for 2X the amount or more, sold than bought for; every-time I get a quote from a company on Alibaba the price is ridiculously too much and not worth making profit from. For example: Lets say the products FOB price is US $1-5 / Piece. However, the MOQ is 500 Pieces. I do not want to risk buying 500 or more pieces for a hight price. And so.. If I were to get a sample of 1 (piece) to test the product out on eBay, the price I was quoted would be 17USD and an extra 30USD or so for shipping. The the average price on the market is 35USD for this product. I will not make any profit if I do this deal and the product will probably not be sold. Also, the price to list a product on eBay costs a bit. I'm sort of confused how to make this work, what should I do?

Justin hit it perfectly. I never order a sample of one item. I normally order 5,10, or even 20. If it's a lighter product the shipping increase will be small and it's hard to test the market with just one item. So if you get them at 17 each and get 10 plus I'll guess $50 in shipping you are paying $220 for the sample or $22 each. If they sell then great and if not it's only a couple hundred bucks.