The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
- Using this website to research products are most viewed: http://www.meistbeobachtet.de/index.php?sitekey=US
- find wholeseller on dhgate or a local wholeseller who importing the products from china for you in much quantity, then you don't need to pay shipping costs and care for importing

Most of the products that are on that site are phones, tablets, and other branded electronics. I would never try and buy those items from dhgate. The main reason why is I did that once when I was starting out. I ordered "Apple iPod touch" for a great price. I was so excited til I got them and they were glitchy knock offs that couldn't even connect to iTunes. I ended up tossing them in the trash and losing the few hundred bucks I paid for them.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

jilla82

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
66%
Jun 4, 2012
388
256
Chicago
Inventory was kept in a spare bedroom in my house until my wife finally got the better of me. Lol We moved to another house with a LARGE garage and that is where I am currently keeping all the inventory.
I hear you, lol.
I kind of do the same thing as you.
I had to get a storage unit because of my girlfriend complaining about random stuff laying around.
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Y
I hear you, lol.
I kind of do the same thing as you.
I had to get a storage unit because of my girlfriend complaining about random stuff laying around.
Except the house we bought had a huge garage, I would have been getting a storage unit too. Happy wife happy life lol
 
D

Deleted15476

Guest
I have been lurking on the forum for about a month and have gleaned so much information I knew it was time to give back. I currently run an import/ resale on eBay business. I started the business about 3 years ago but just dabbled in it up until about 6 months ago.

6 months ago, I quit my job and started working the business "full time". I use that term loosely because full time for my business is abt 1 hr a day packaging up sold products and a few hrs a week researching new products.

I have been pretty much in the same niche since I started selling things 3 years ago but because of reading TFM I have started to branch out to reach more people. I added one product in the last two weeks that has already translated into a $1500 a month extra PROFIT!!!

I have sold mainly through eBay and a little through Amazon. I have imported a lot of things as well as bought things wholesale by the pallet. I would love to be able to help anyone in any way that I can.


What is the best Margin product you have imported? Why do you feel that way about electronics? There are many small electronic electronics that do very well if you brand them.

www.thetileapp.com/#this-is-tile and tocky are some examples
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited by a moderator:

ProblemSolver

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
200%
Mar 18, 2014
37
74
Orlando
What is the best Margin product you have imported? How do you feel about electronics?

You should read the thread. The answer to the second question has been mentioned more than once. As a matter of fact ctrl+f and search for elec and your answer will be easy to find on the first page of the thread ;)
 
D

Deleted15476

Guest
You should read the thread. The answer to the second question has been mentioned more than once. As a matter of fact ctrl+f and search for elec and your answer will be easy to find on the first page of the thread ;)
;) understood. I guess I should elaborate. WHY would you stay out of electronics? There are many small electronic electronics that do very well if you brand them.

www.thetileapp.com/#this-is-tile &
are a couple that come to mind. Those tile guys actually got a lot of funding.

Thanks for the check @ProblemSolver
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
;) understood. I guess I should elaborate. WHY would you stay out of electronics? There are many small electronic electronics that do very well if you brand them.

www.thetileapp.com/#this-is-tile &
are a couple that come to mind. Those tile guys actually got a lot of funding.

When I say electronics I am referring to phones, tablets, computers, TVs etc. There are virtually no margins if the items are legit and there are TONS of scammers in those items that will either take your money and run or send you piece of junk non-working crap.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
You can't really talk about Tile as an electronic to find on Alibaba or a website and resell. Tile is an original idea that was created not a generic that was branded and resold.
 

bane

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
115%
Aug 7, 2012
116
133
NSW, Australia
Hey brother! Great thread :)

My questions:

I want to import a piece of equipment from China but it has to meet Australian Standards (AS). There are several units on Alibaba but do not mention meeting AS. So we've emailed the manufacturers asking them if they can adjust the unit to meet AS.

  1. Do you have any advice for this situation?
  2. Should we just wait for the quotes to come in, pick the smartest offer and away I go?
  3. Have you ever gone through a broker?

Thank you
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Hey brother! Great thread :)

My questions:

I want to import a piece of equipment from China but it has to meet Australian Standards (AS). There are several units on Alibaba but do not mention meeting AS. So we've emailed the manufacturers asking them if they can adjust the unit to meet AS.

  1. Do you have any advice for this situation?
  2. Should we just wait for the quotes to come in, pick the smartest offer and away I go?
  3. Have you ever gone through a broker?

Thank you

As for #1 I have never had to adjust any items for specific standards so messaging them until you can get a manufacture that agrees is probably your best bet.
#2 find as many people that make the same item and just send the same message to all. It will raise your odds of finding someone who can do what you need for the standards.
#3 I always import in smaller amounts shipped very often via DHL, UPS, or Fedex. I try to keep order sizes low enough so I don't have to worry about needing a broker.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

JustinBoshans

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
164%
Mar 14, 2013
143
235
So you look for items that are already selling on eBay, or do you find an item that hasn't caught on? If you do find one that is already being sold how do you compete? Price, or what other value do you add?
 

bane

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
115%
Aug 7, 2012
116
133
NSW, Australia
As for #1 I have never had to adjust any items for specific standards so messaging them until you can get a manufacture that agrees is probably your best bet.
#2 find as many people that make the same item and just send the same message to all. It will raise your odds of finding someone who can do what you need for the standards.
#3 I always import in smaller amounts shipped very often via DHL, UPS, or Fedex. I try to keep order sizes low enough so I don't have to worry about needing a broker.

Awesome! Thanks for the tips man!

What do you usually do about returns/warranties and/or bad product?
In your experience, are the Chinese still good post sale?
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
So you look for items that are already selling on eBay, or do you find an item that hasn't caught on? If you do find one that is already being sold how do you compete? Price, or what other value do you add?
I actually do both. Items already selling allow for a much better idea of margins of amount of sales. An item that hasn't caught on has more potential for profit (you set the price) but also more potential for error (picking a product that doesn't sell)

I set myself apart in 3 ways
1. Quality i never sell something that I would not be happy buying myself. I would rather throw something in the trash because it is poor quality than try and pawn it off in an unsuspecting buyer.

2. Fastest shipping! If someone order a product before 1 pm it goes out the same afternoon before the post office closes. Anything ordered overnight is shipped out as soon as the post office opens in the morning. I only ship Priority Mail. It is more expensive and sometime the same time as regular mail but I use it every single time. I have shipped items that were purchased overnight Friday night, sent out on Saturday morning and the person got it Monday morning. Would you be happy getting your purchase that fast? I know I would!

3. Returns/exchanges if the item I am selling is is broken in shipment or arrives not working I either give them a refund or send a new one out immediately. Does this open me up to possible scammers? It absolutely does. Does it make for 100% satisfied customers? It absolutely does that as well. It costs me extra money probably 1 in every couple hundred items, but the extra profit and customer loyalty is well worth the few resent or replaced items.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

JustinBoshans

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
164%
Mar 14, 2013
143
235
I looked up the mosquito patches you were talking about and if you don't mind I would like to try selling them. If not, can you tell me how you would go about selling them? How do you pick your prices?
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Awesome! Thanks for the tips man!

What do you usually do about returns/warranties and/or bad product?
In your experience, are the Chinese still good post sale?

Most every time i just eat any returns or bad products. I can do that because I personally test the quality of each product and supplier. Once you find a supplier that makes quality products you shouldn't have more than a couple bad/damaged items in every couple hundred products. I will eat the cost because my profit margin in such that 1-2 items per hundred is acceptable for me. I figure it in as the cost of doing business and move on. I want my suppliers to be happy they are selling to me not to be annoyed every time they open my email.
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
I looked up the mosquito patches you were talking about and if you don't mind I would like to try selling them. If not, can you tell me how you would go about selling them? How do you pick your prices?

Good job taking action! Go ahead and make all the money off that product you can! I would look for other like products and go somewhere in that range. If going wholesale to gas stations, bait shops etc. I would sell it to them at a price point that is excellent for both of you. A win win situation is always the best way to go.

I didn't do a ton of price research but if I was going fishing or camping I would pay $3.99 or 4.99 retail for a box of ten or twelve patches. To get the businesses to place my product I would offer it to them at say half of that wholesale. Your cost is maybe 50 cents a pack selling wholesale at $2 or $2.50. Pretty good profit margins. Because of shipping costs online you would probably want to sell them in multiple packs say 2 for $10, 4 for $15 or whatever you decide. The possibilities are almost endless.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Speaking of liquidations, I found this website. www.liquidation.com
I have used that website before and made money using it, however EVERYONE knows about that site. It ships from the US straight to your door so people feel a lot more comfortable buying from there than ordering from China. One barrier to entry in importing is that people don't trust or understand buying from overseas. That helps keep margins decent for people like me. Liquidation.com has no barriers at all. If you watch electronic auctions on there they are bid within a couple of dollars of what they would sell for on eBay, Amazon etc.

There are some untapped areas (buying the badly damaged lots and fixing/refurbishing them) or buying in extreme bulk (multiple pallets or a truckload). Money can be made almost anywhere. It is up to us to decide which path we want to take. Personally I choose importing.
 

Dennis Steenoven

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
65%
Feb 2, 2014
23
15
41
Great thread! May I ask you how you went about branding your items and what order size you needed to get to in order to do this? And secondly, what do you think about selling items that are already being sold but for example are a variation of what's already being sold?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Great thread! May I ask you how you went about branding your items and what order size you needed to get to in order to do this? And secondly, what do you think about selling items that are already being sold but for example are a variation of what's already being sold?

All the branding I have done has been when my supplier said he could do it for me. I was ordering probably 100 or so of the items a month when I started branding.

There are opportunities in selling variations as well as in just selling the same items as one or two other people. I can sell the exact same generic item as someone else on eBay and people will buy from me 9 times out of 10 because of the quality and after purchase service i provide (fast shipping and great return policy).
 

JustinBoshans

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
164%
Mar 14, 2013
143
235
I have another question. I see other people selling patches for 2 dollars and you can buy them for a penny a piece. Now a lot of them are offering free shipping. Where can you find shipping that cheap?
 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
Order one and find out. Most likely, they are using USPS First Class mail and a regular size envelope. Regular first class stamp. Best way to answer your own question is to order one from them.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
I have another question. I see other people selling patches for 2 dollars and you can buy them for a penny a piece. Now a lot of them are offering free shipping. Where can you find shipping that cheap?

All of those are from sellers in china. A lot of people wont buy from sellers in china because you are looking at around a month for shipping time. The cheapest USA seller is selling them for 2.79 + 2.99 shipping for two packs. That comes out to 5.78 for two packs. If you pay 10 cents each plus even a buck or two shipping costs you are profiting a good amount per item.
This is why I didn't do this specific item. Making $2-3 per item is great return for a ten cent item but not worth the time for me at this time. If I was just starting I would have pounced on this item very quickly.
 

KLaw

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
Aug 4, 2012
917
1,075
ohio
Awesome insight. Thank you for being so open and sharing your angles. Is there a way search alibaba or express with filters? For example, perform the search but don't have electronics show up in the search. It seems like last time I tried searching for items I spent several hours going through page after page of e-cigs that I wasnt interested in. Again, thanks for the help. Rep+ on its way.
 

Ecom man

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
496%
Apr 17, 2014
1,039
5,154
35
Awesome insight. Thank you for being so open and sharing your angles. Is there a way search alibaba or express with filters? For example, perform the search but don't have electronics show up in the search. It seems like last time I tried searching for items I spent several hours going through page after page of e-cigs that I wasnt interested in. Again, thanks for the help. Rep+ on its way.

You can go through the site searching for keyword or search category by category. Sometimes I get better results with multiple word searches. For example search "number 2 lead pencil" instead of searching "pencil"
"Pencil" came back with 440,000 results "number 2 lead pencil" only came back with 16. Depending on the product you are looking for it might be worth the time to go through pages and pages of products to find the right one. Remember if this was easy as pie there wouldn't be profit in it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

KLaw

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
Aug 4, 2012
917
1,075
ohio
You can go through the site searching for keyword or search category by category. Sometimes I get better results with multiple word searches. For example search "number 2 lead pencil" instead of searching "pencil"
"Pencil" came back with 440,000 results "number 2 lead pencil" only came back with 16. Depending on the product you are looking for it might be worth the time to go through pages and pages of products to find the right one. Remember if this was easy as pie there wouldn't be profit in it.
Yeah. I kind of figured as much. Thanks for the reply.
 

JustinBoshans

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
164%
Mar 14, 2013
143
235
Order one and find out. Most likely, they are using USPS First Class mail and a regular size envelope. Regular first class stamp. Best way to answer your own question is to order one from them.

Haha so simple. I will definitely try this. Thanks!
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top