To Resell or Not to Resell

[JAWS]

As you can tell to your left, I'm the "newb."

This isn't slowing me down as I am working on a project through Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy fulfillment.

It is a specific tech niche, and I want to start bringing consumers in with a quality product.

Here is my thought, I will seek out retailers who already have high quality products and sell them through my site, Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, etc.

How do I go about doing this? Do I ask to buy wholesale? Do I seek to rebrand and resell? What are my options to maximize profits and minimize inconveniences?

 

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

[Ãœbertreffen]

To get a better understanding of what you're asking, are you interested in products that already have an established brand identity (Nike, Adidas, Sony, LG, etc) or are you looking for products not so well known that you want to build a brand with?

If you're interested in selling product such as Nike shoes, you would want to inquire to be an authorized dealer/distributor for Nike. Some brands you will need to meet certain qualifications (have a business license, have a B&M location, have warehouse space, certain buy-in requirements, etc). Some are more strict than others. If you go direct with a brand they also may have regulations on where you can sell. Some brands in certain industries are against selling on auction websites. Other brands allow for it but you have to abide by their MAP policy whether it's through an auction or E-commerce website.

Your other route would be to be a middle man. Go through the brands authorized dealer/distribution center. While there may be mark-ups it should still be wholesale prices. These businesses may or may not accept inquiries. If they do, they may have their own policies/requirements.

If you're interested in building a brand then your best bet is to get in contact with some manufacturers. You can build your products from scratch or there are many manufacturers that have products available for purchase that you can tweak to tailor towards your needs. You would then brand the product and get to work on building your brand.

If you're building your brand you want to do even more due diligence. Find a niche or a need. There may be manufacturers in China who have great products but it may not be popular in other countries yet. There may be a few sellers but if you make some changes and build your brand you have an advantage to get going.



- Devin

 

[JAWS]

I am looking at products that are not so well known, and that I want to help me build my brand.

The plan is to get a bunch of customers from high-quality products of other brands, and when my site begins to get some customers/traffic I will unveil my own product to the market. It is a complementary market, which still has yet to perfect its product. That is my goal.


If I am emailing these companies to use their products and promote their products, what should be my focus?

Thanks a lot!

 

[hatterasguy]

Focus on making them money.

What can you offer that they can't buy from an advertising agency? Why are they going to pay you or give you product to sell when their are already many other established companies doing it?

 

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

[Ãœbertreffen]

I am looking at products that are not so well known, and that I want to help me build my brand.

The plan is to get a bunch of customers from high-quality products of other brands, and when my site begins to get some customers/traffic I will unveil my own product to the market. It is a complementary market, which still has yet to perfect its product. That is my goal.


If I am emailing these companies to use their products and promote their products, what should be my focus?

Thanks a lot!

If you're selling branded products your focus should be to build your business and getting traffic. A business plan and due diligence to figure how much traffic you can expect and what you can do to differentiate from the rest. Customer service in most situations is going to be your best friend.

There may already be businesses selling the product(s) for the brand you're interesting in selling to get your feet wet. You really don't need to focus with them why you'd be better unless it's a requirement. Some brands have forms you fill out or they may call or email for specifics. Some brands just want businesses who qualify to sell their product.

Selling the brands product you are already helping out that brand. They are making money off of you for doing absolutely nothing on the front end. All they do is ship the product and that's it. Many brands want more companies to represent them. Think of it this way, would you want 25 companies selling your product or one company selling your product? To be fair we will pretend each company is of equal size. Which method would be easier to sell more of your branded products? What if the one company that represents your company is lazy or has issues? You now really have no one selling your product. This can be debatable. In one industry I'm in I know the largest distributor in the industry and there facility is so huge that they share some of their building with FedEx so they can use part of it. They sell to the masses and they push a lot of product out the door. They could make a huge impact.



It's not uncommon to sell products and then start making your own product. You could roll into the company you already have or you can build a brand beside it to push away from your business as it could be too conflicting or confusing. If you're competing with other brands it would be best to build your brand alone instead of rolling it into the company you had/have to sell competing product.

Believe it or not if people see your company is a success there may be manufacturers coming to you. I've seen this as well. I wouldn't hold your breath and hope for it to happen but with success comes open opportunities.

Do I seek to rebrand and resell? What are my options to maximize profits and minimize inconveniences?

That's a gray area. If it's already a brand and you slap your company on it you could put yourself in jeopardy. If your a dealer for a brand you are typically representing their company and you sell the product as-is. That doesn't mean you couldn't create value to the product. For example, let's say you create your very own upper intercooler piping for an intercooler for a car and build a brand on the intercooler piping kit to sell with the intercooler. This would be acceptable. Go further than that and you custom make turbo kits using already existing product and can be represented under that company. This is still acceptable. You would just disclose the other brands that make up your kit. In this case it could be Precision turbos, your custom intercooler piping (upper and lower if you wanted), SAMCO couplers and clamps, Injector Dynamics injectors, etc.

At the brand level you are reselling the products the brand provides as-is. It's typically you focusing on selling the product. Some of these brands may be well established and you just need to get the customers to commit on buying.

If you want to rebrand to sell you would be talking to those at the manufacturer level. They might have generic products and if they are true manufacturers they can do modifications, packaging as well as potentially slap your brand on the finished product. Find some new technology toaster? Maybe after you review the product you see a way to improve. You communicate with the manufacturer on the modifications. Also, you see that the overall product is made with an 80's style cyan color finish. You decide that a vibrant red would be more appealing. These would be changes made by the manufacturer and you should have no issue branding these products and going from there.

Focus on making them money.

What can you offer that they can't buy from an advertising agency? Why are they going to pay you or give you product to sell when their are already many other established companies doing it?

This really depends on the company but many companies are not focused on selling retail. They are focused on selling wholesale or to their loyal distribution. The more companies they have to sell their product the better. Not one company is going to get a piece of the whole pie. The pie being the customers. Even if it were true there are customers who strictly only buy on eBay. Then there are others who never use eBay. That's why it's important to diversify. Divide the pie to different regions or even push it internationally and that company can build a lot of brand awareness with these businesses (authorized dealers / distribution) pushing their product. Some of these dealers may even take their own photos, review the product themselves and do what it takes to sell the items for the brand. This would be effortless for the brand as their dealers are going over and beyond to spread the word and get customers coming. They may also want to stand out from the other dealers so they are willing to go the extra mile.

The brand may advertise to spread the word about the brand but that's just assuming the brand needs it and I'm not all about assumptions. Obviously this depends on many variables and if the brand is focused on selling to both retail and wholesale or one or the other. It can often depend on the industry or the product/service at hand. Those focused on wholesale/distribution will sell their product on their very own website for a MSRP or jobber. Then the wholesale/distribution has MAP to follow to keep the value of their product up and fair for all their wholesale/distribution from undercutting each other as if that happens it will be a price war and profits will be cut throat.

The brands need you as much as you need them. If operations are watched closely, policies in place and such everyone will follow the rules and profits are maxed. Whether the dealer sells at X or Y the brand still sells to the dealer for the same price unless there are different tiers in place. I've seen brands that are very controlled and the operations run smooth resulting in products that are never under MAP. When you see a brand who doesn't regulate MAP and doesn't really care anything but sales it shows. That's something you want to avoid if you decide to build your brand.


- Devin