Ask me anything about eCommerce (2012)

[GamerGripz]

i am thinking about starting a drop shipping online store but am perplexed on what niche to go for. I read some people say to go for things you are interested in but some people say stay away from interests.

I looked into a aftermarket performance part store but there are already so many of those. cars are my bread and butter so I would have an easier time trying to sell them but then again with all the competition it would be harder.

So what is the best niche for me to go after? im not looking to make huge amounts of money with it.

How do i find a good niche?

thanks

 

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[Whole Paradigm]

i am thinking about starting a drop shipping online store but am perplexed on what niche to go for. I read some people say to go for things you are interested in but some people say stay away from interests.

I looked into a aftermarket performance part store but there are already so many of those. cars are my bread and butter so I would have an easier time trying to sell them but then again with all the competition it would be harder.

So what is the best niche for me to go after? im not looking to make huge amounts of money with it.

How do i find a good niche?

thanks

I initially went for a "one-stop-shop" approach attempting to carry everything under the sun related to my niche. Until biophase, other forum members, and books on the subject said that was a bad idea. All the fees and costs associated with running an Ecommerce business compared to making a few dollars profit on a bunch of items is nowhere near worth the hassle, time, work, etc. and isn't going to make you much money. SO, last weekend I stepped back and attempted to find ONE product to sell with no more than 8-10 MAX accessories that go along with it; of course with a much higher profit margin compared to my items prior...

And so that's exactly what I found... I found a niche product that gives me $184 profit per each sold... A drop shipper... Found and bought the domain name WITH the product name in it... A PPC price of only .70 a click at an estimated 14.74 clicks with my decided daily amount to spend..And a competition rating of medium...

I found it by thinking about the way I felt the world was going and what would be useful in the future. Took a few hours of brainstorming and finally stumbled upon the idea and ultimately the product that I finally decided to stick with. A plus is that the drop shipper allowed me to utilize every piece of information on their product to copy to my website including an enormous blog. So I'm an overnight expert on a product that I had no idea of days before.

So basically, I listened to what bio and the others told me, then took initiative. I had to actually brainstorm and exercise some due diligence and the right product for me came.

Hopefully, now my chances of success are much higher.

Thanks biophase and everyone for the feedback and help. If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears.


All the best,

Cory

 

[PHD]

Sounds like you're onto a good thing Cory, I would love to hear how it is working out for you in the future.

 

[GamerGripz]

i came up with a good one, but am a bit weary of it. It seems like there would be a ton of people doing this if it was legit.

The monthly search is 2.74Million, the competition is low and the average CPC is $.52. and i would get an estimated 38 clicks per day @$20.

Also, the supplier I found seems to charge insanely low prices on everything he sells which makes it seem a little sketchy, plus he is in china and I am having a hard time finding out info about his company.

 

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[BeingChewsie]

And so that's exactly what I found... I found a niche product that gives me $184 profit per each sold... A drop shipper... Found and bought the domain name WITH the product name in it... A PPC price of only .70 a click at an estimated 14.74 clicks with my decided daily amount to spend..And a competition rating of medium...

Excellent!!!! I'm so happy for you Cory!!!

I love this forum!

 

[biophase]

How do i find a good niche?

thanks

That's the million dollar question in this business. However, you can do well with niches that don't fit all the criteria. I understand that this is the fast lane forum and that everyone wants to hit a homerun. But, if you want to hit a homerun on your first at bat, you need to take swings elsewhere. Find a niche that may work for you and try it. You can't keep sitting on the bench reading about how to swing a bat and expect to set up and knock it out of the park.

Once you start doing, you will find other ideas very fast. You will see holes in markets and gaps in pricing. You won't see these things unless you starting doing.

 

[MrPink]

What are the first 3 items back linking packages (or activities) that you look for when starting a new site?
What are the last 3 items back linking packages (or activites) that you purchased (price? number/type of links?)?

I'm curious in your rational/approach to getting started in back links and where you are now. Also how you judge what to purchase and pass on? I realize that your rational is based on extensive SEO knowledge, but perhaps we can gain some perspective on your approach.

Thanks again!

 

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[biophase]

What are the first 3 items back linking packages (or activities) that you look for when starting a new site?
What are the last 3 items back linking packages (or activites) that you purchased (price? number/type of links?)?

I'm curious in your rational/approach to getting started in back links and where you are now. Also how you judge what to purchase and pass on? I realize that your rational is based on extensive SEO knowledge, but perhaps we can gain some perspective on your approach.

Thanks again!

I don't exactly have a cookie cutter approach. When I buy packages I just look at reviews and pick a couple. I also never buy the same ones again because they probably will give you the same links again. So I diversify by buying from different people.

I usually do a couple web 2.0 link wheels, forum sigs, blog comments to get it started. Sometimes I'll go with the high PR blog posts or just high PR links, then some .edu.

I try to just buy random in hopes that the links will look random. But I also get my own links too. It's just part of being random.

I have recently hired Lighthouse as my SEO guy. He will get me other high quality links that the WF guys can't get.

I think the key to SEO linking is to just be random and all over the place, but have an underlying strategy.

 

[Dan Da Man]

That's the million dollar question in this business. However, you can do well with niches that don't fit all the criteria. I understand that this is the fast lane forum and that everyone wants to hit a homerun. But, if you want to hit a homerun on your first at bat, you need to take swings elsewhere. Find a niche that may work for you and try it. You can't keep sitting on the bench reading about how to swing a bat and expect to set up and knock it out of the park.

Once you start doing, you will find other ideas very fast. You will see holes in markets and gaps in pricing. You won't see these things unless you starting doing.

I can totally agree! I own about 5 different stores. The first one I sold for 15,000 and I thought it would be easy to replicate in other niches. How wrong I was.

I failed 3 times after that in all different niches, but still keep plugging through to you find a profitable niche

 

[keza]

I can't move

Hey everyone, I've been getting alot of PMs lately about my ecommerce stores so I thought I'd just start a thread where you can post questions abouy anything ecommerce (suppliers, platforms, credit card processors, SEO, dropshipping, etc...) and I will try to answer them here.

Thanks for your generosity,
I apology for my English, my first language is French. I hope that I will make myself understood.
I have researched a niche and get one from WWW, when I called suppliers they want to see my website before they tell me if they will supply me. How to get out of that circle?
Can you tell me the right way to do the website without much knowledge and be sure it will look professional? I do not have much money to hire someone to do it for me and it seems like many people here do it themselves. I need to know the easiest way to do it? What put on it before the suppliers agree to work with me? Should I buy light bulk? This is not easy for me.
I have like 4 hours a day. :huh2:

 

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[biophase]

I apology for my English, my first language is French. I hope that I will make myself understood.
I have researched a niche and get one from WWW, when I called suppliers they want to see my website before they tell me if they will supply me. How to get out of that circle?
Can you tell me the right way to do the website without much knowledge and be sure it will look professional? I do not have much money to hire someone to do it for me and it seems like many people here do it themselves. I need to know the easiest way to do it? What put on it before the suppliers agree to work with me? Should I buy light bulk? This is not easy for me.
I have like 4 hours a day. :huh2:

The easiest way to do it is to getting a URL and then sign up for a free 15 day trial on bigcommerce. Then enter a bunch of products into it so it looks like a real store. Put a phone number on it also. Just do everything to make it look like a real store. You may even need to get a paypal account so you can even checkout.

 

[keza]

Where to find pictures of the products andwhat will happen if someone try to buy ?

 

[cants]

Hi biophase, what service of Paypal do I need to subscribe to if i have a product brokerage website like fiverr, elance, odesk... (Buyer posts a job and hire a freelancer, freelancer gets paid and website gets a percentage for every transaction completed) I want to charge the seller for every product that he is able to sell successful on my website.. Is this even possible? Do i need to register the business or pay taxes? Thanks...Ive been trying to research but I can't seem to find the right keywords to type in Google...

 

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[dnuge3]

Let's say I wanted to start a furniture drop-shipping store, obviously, not just generic furniture but a specific niche. How would I go about finding suppliers and would you recommend US suppliers for the furniture so it can be shipped out and delivered quickly? This way, although more expensive, customers don't have the long delays that an international supplier might pose? Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[biophase]

Where to find pictures of the products andwhat will happen if someone try to buy ?

You google the pictures and if someone buys from you, even better! You can either fill the order or tell them that you are out of stock. But do you seriously think that you will get a buyer?

 

[biophase]

Hi biophase, what service of Paypal do I need to subscribe to if i have a product brokerage website like fiverr, elance, odesk... (Buyer posts a job and hire a freelancer, freelancer gets paid and website gets a percentage for every transaction completed) I want to charge the seller for every product that he is able to sell successful on my website.. Is this even possible? Do i need to register the business or pay taxes? Thanks...Ive been trying to research but I can't seem to find the right keywords to type in Google...

I don't know about this. I only use Paypal's standard payment method. I don't know if Paypal can even do what you want. I'm thinking that you need a real payment processor.

You will need a license and pay taxes.

I don't know what the proper keywords would be either. Sorry.

 

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[biophase]

Let's say I wanted to start a furniture drop-shipping store, obviously, not just generic furniture but a specific niche. How would I go about finding suppliers and would you recommend US suppliers for the furniture so it can be shipped out and delivered quickly? This way, although more expensive, customers don't have the long delays that an international supplier might pose? Thanks for your suggestions!

I would look up the names of the furniture that you want to include and email or call them up. I would stick with US based companies. Aren't most of them based in North Carolina?

 

[Red]

what service of Paypal do I need to subscribe

Paypal is not a bank and therefore not obligated to follow banking industry standards or regulations. They do what they want -you allow them to in their TOS agreement you agree to abide by. I highly recommend against utilizing them as a business for your transactions, as you'll find lower fees & percentages with a standard payment processor. If something goes wrong, you have no recourse with PayPal & you're stuck scrambling to find another method by which to take payments. They have you by the balls & they know it. Do it right from the start & set yourself up with a proper payment processor.

 

[PatrickP]

I am NO fan of Pay Pal in any way shape or form. Have had accounts locked for weeks until they agreed with my proof.

But not having Pay Pal WILL negatively effect your income. Why not have Pay Pal, Google as well as a credit card processor then you have the best of all worlds.

 

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[biophase]

But do you seriously think that you will get a buyer?

BTW, I make this statement no to be a dick, but to show you how many of you think when it comes to business. You take the best case scenarios and turn them into a bad thing.


What if I throw up a website and I get a buyer without having a supplier yet? Seriously is this a problem? If this happens, you are one lucky person and your business is off to a great start.


My friend who was looking for a house in the $700k range wanted to lowball 3 houses at $500k. He couldn't decide which one to lowball. I told him to do all 3. His response was, what if all 3 take my offer?

What kind of a question is that?

What are the chances that all 3 or even 2 or better yet even 1 take your offer? Wouldn't you be estatic if only 1 did?

He then said, but I don't have the earnest money for all 3 offers. Again, you write 3 checks for $5k or whatever and have $8k in the bank. If on the .1 % chance that 2 offers are selected, you cancel one ASAP before they deposit the check.

The train of thought is just unbelievable to me how people worry about things that have such a small chance in success of happening and in the event that they do happen it would be great for you.

I see this happen so much... people talking about not wanting to pay too much in taxes even before their business makes a penny, etc...

 

[Luke12321]

I would look up the names of the furniture that you want to include and email or call them up. I would stick with US based companies. Aren't most of them based in North Carolina?

Most are based around the area of High Point, NC. I really don't know much about them, but just driving in this area, they are a ton of outlet stores, ect. It may be the best place to get a factory direct connection within the US though. I do know that over the past decade or so, this industry as taken a serious beating as China has taken over the furniture game for the most part.

 

[Qjet50]

Starting An Online Business When Your Wife Wants To Stay At Home With The Kids | MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

I've read his stuff and it's pretty good. In fact, his story is exactly like mine but he is probably a year behind me. I'm sure he will be moving to an office soon for his business.

Steve Chou of that website is interviewed here. He talks about starting his website and some of the issues he has faced as a start-up business.

 

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[Joehenny]

I'd love to start ecommerce as a side income. I have experience with ebay, but no clue where o start with e-commerce. Any books or sites I could be linked to would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dan Da Man]

I'd love to start ecommerce as a side income. I have experience with ebay, but no clue where o start with e-commerce. Any books or sites I could be linked to would be greatly appreciated.

I know there is some stuff from Andy Jenkins but its pretty outdated. Its really basic stuff though too.

Most of the stuff I learned has been 2 years, 12 hours a day 7 days a week and many many failures.

Really, as long as you know some basic stuff which this thread kind of gives you what you need to get going, your gna just have to start researching and start creating a site and start learning SEO.

 

[biophase]

Thought this might help you guys out also. :smug2:

How to make your shopping cart suck less - The Oatmeal

 

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[Fisherman]

Do you think it is better focus one one store and put everything in to it or open 100 little stores or something in between.

Also regarding cost of advertising for your stores... if you do spend money on advertising campaigns that is. when you spend a dollar what do you expect to see in return. I am not asking for your methods but just like to know if advertising costs turn an actual profit or do you depend on repeat business.

 

[Pinnacle]

Thought this might help you guys out also. :smug2:

How to make your shopping cart suck less - The Oatmeal

Wow.

Straight from the koala's mouth.

 

[biophase]

Do you think it is better focus one one store and put everything in to it or open 100 little stores or something in between.

If you focus on a razor sharp niche you can get sales faster. The downside is that you have a limited ceiling.

If you go with one big store, you will be more diluted in the beginning and it will be harder to rank for everything, but your upside is greater.

Logistically, managing 100 little stores is alot harder than managing one big store.

I think that if you look into the future, you will always wish that you had one big store instead of a ton of tiny ones. However, if you look at now to 6 months from now, you will wish you had a tighter niched stores.

 

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[biophase]

Also regarding cost of advertising for your stores... if you do spend money on advertising campaigns that is. when you spend a dollar what do you expect to see in return. I am not asking for your methods but just like to know if advertising costs turn an actual profit or do you depend on repeat business.

I don't calculate my return on my ads. If fact I don't find them super profitable. But they do make money, but they just don't convert like my organic traffic does for the same keyword. I think that as long as you see a return, you should keep them running. I'm sure I could tweak my ads, but I generally run the same ads for months and months.

 

[NJDonny89]

Hey Biophase,

I really appreciate this topic, (I haven't been as active in the last few months due to university studies) but I was wondering what do you do to get suppliers. Like my strategy was to put a bunch of products on my website and then call the supplier and show them my site. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!