I've been importing products from China for probably around 8 years now and with the exception of two products which i found by copying other sellers on Ebay the rest of my 300+ products are power related and database driven products. I've pretty much been the follower not the leader.
Here's how it's worked over the years, we research the parent product or copy a competitor (ie laptops, tablets or basically anything that requires a power supply/charger). We then find out what type of power supply it requires then list it on Amazon/Ebay using the model number of the product it works for. I've got 300+ products which covers over 60,000 models of electrical items. We sell in Uk, Europe and USA.
I have 2 staff members other than myself, 1 for customer services/accounts and the other for packing products. I'm charged with sourcing new power products and updating the database. Which leads me to get to the point regarding my post.
I've sat there today updating the database for power information of new models from a well known laptop manufacturer, it's taken me pretty much 7-8 hours. It's not a specialist job. It's simply database admin work. I've listed some these power products on Ebay and Amazon. Profit margins per sale are low $3-4 max.
I might sell some in the next few days, i might sell some in the next few months, i might never sell any. It's just one of those things in this type of business. We have to keep updating our database with the latest models or we will stagnate. It is however a business within a specific niche, a direction. If a device requires a power supply or charger we want to know what it is and supply it.
I could spend the next 5 years updating the database, will it keep my income steady, without a doubt. It is however mind numbing work without and ending and it's certainly not going to get me to $50,000 a month salary.
Then there's the other path. I know of people importing 1-2 products and selling $1000 worth a day on Amazon alone. Some people are doing $200,000 a month from a couple of listings. I do $80,000 a month from probably 80,000 listings!!.
At the moment i couldn't afford to take on a full time database administrator. Do i plod along myself doing it for now or should i completely forget about it and start looking for non related products i can sell to generate a)enough income to take that person on b)take my business to the next level.
My business turnover is around $750,000 a year. I want it to be $7,500,000 a year. Can i do from selling Power related products only, probably not with the competition. If i start finding non related products it's a massive area and where do i start, it's difficult to get a vision for a company that sells everything under the sun.
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks
Paul
Here's how it's worked over the years, we research the parent product or copy a competitor (ie laptops, tablets or basically anything that requires a power supply/charger). We then find out what type of power supply it requires then list it on Amazon/Ebay using the model number of the product it works for. I've got 300+ products which covers over 60,000 models of electrical items. We sell in Uk, Europe and USA.
I have 2 staff members other than myself, 1 for customer services/accounts and the other for packing products. I'm charged with sourcing new power products and updating the database. Which leads me to get to the point regarding my post.
I've sat there today updating the database for power information of new models from a well known laptop manufacturer, it's taken me pretty much 7-8 hours. It's not a specialist job. It's simply database admin work. I've listed some these power products on Ebay and Amazon. Profit margins per sale are low $3-4 max.
I might sell some in the next few days, i might sell some in the next few months, i might never sell any. It's just one of those things in this type of business. We have to keep updating our database with the latest models or we will stagnate. It is however a business within a specific niche, a direction. If a device requires a power supply or charger we want to know what it is and supply it.
I could spend the next 5 years updating the database, will it keep my income steady, without a doubt. It is however mind numbing work without and ending and it's certainly not going to get me to $50,000 a month salary.
Then there's the other path. I know of people importing 1-2 products and selling $1000 worth a day on Amazon alone. Some people are doing $200,000 a month from a couple of listings. I do $80,000 a month from probably 80,000 listings!!.
At the moment i couldn't afford to take on a full time database administrator. Do i plod along myself doing it for now or should i completely forget about it and start looking for non related products i can sell to generate a)enough income to take that person on b)take my business to the next level.
My business turnover is around $750,000 a year. I want it to be $7,500,000 a year. Can i do from selling Power related products only, probably not with the competition. If i start finding non related products it's a massive area and where do i start, it's difficult to get a vision for a company that sells everything under the sun.
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks
Paul
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