Deciding on a product to sell
Many people have thought about starting an online business. Just thinking about it is wonderful! You get to buy and sell products in the comfort of your own home and make money while doing it. There are many that make a handsome living from an online business and you could be next! But first, you need to decide what to sell, a problem that many face and here’s some helpful ideas to get you started.
This article will focus on physical products to sell online.
Try to Be Original
Selling products that no one else is selling is a great way to attract customers. If you’re the only one or one of a few merchants that has a certain product, you will be able to have customers coming back for more because you will be able to build a reputation on having rare or hard to find products!
Obviously, it’s much easier said than done. But brainstorm everyday and see if you can find something that no one else is selling. In this day and age of the Internet, it can be quite a challenge, but it’s definitely doable. Don’t expect to find your solution immediately, instead brainstorm a few minutes a day and see if you can find something.
Here’s a neat article on Brainstorming at Mindtools.com:
http://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html
It’s hard to just suddenly come up with new ideas, and that’s why you need to push yourself to looking and exploring for new ideas. The Internet is a great place for information and you can read articles on great websites or join Twitter or digg and see what the latest news is. You never know, you might find something completely new from someone else’s idea!
Here’s another useful link:
Finding products to sell on Ebay
http://www.ehow.com/how_5934421_products-sell-ebay.html
Don’t try to re-invent the wheel and find your own niche
Contrary to what I just said, you don’t always have to be original to make money! You can find your own niche and this could be all you need to make a decent living. For example, you could sell hockey cards.
Ok, there are probably a million other merchants that sell hockey cards, but you could actually sell rookie cards from the 1970s and 1980s. Now you’re focusing on a market that others may not have started selling. I’m not saying that rookie hockey cards from 1970s and the 1980s will be a great seller, but I’m giving you an example that you could sell something that is completely mainstream but with your own twist.
Start off with your own hobbies and interests and twist it a little. You may find the next hot item or find an uncovered niche that you could focus on and specialize in!
Creating Your Own Products to Sell
If you are creative than this might be the way to go for you. It doesn’t even have to be your only way, but you could sell anything that you create for a decent stream of income. You can create art, accessories, clothing, e-books, soap, or anything that can be done on your own.
The one downside is that you will need to spend a lot of time creating the products and you are limited to the amount of time you put in. You can always list your product first and create it after to sell the item. As long as you are able to manage any order that comes in. You never know, you just might become the next online fashion designer by doing this!
Here’s an awesome link to help you a niche market! 42 links that will help you come up with new ideas!
http://www.stephanmiller.com/my-link-lists/17-niche-finding-sites/
Profit Margin
So you’ve come up with a few prospects as to what you could sell. Awesome! Now you have to see if it’s actually worth trying to sell. You do not want to sell something and not come up with a profit. You’ll simply be wasting your time if you do.
What is a profit margin? Here’s a great article on what Gross Profit Margin is at About.com.
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/incomestatementanalysis/a/gross-profit-margin.htm
Ok, to be a little simpler and for our purposes here, let’s call it profit margin. Profit margin is basically how much you are making in terms of a percentage of your sales. So if you are sold a $100 product and your profit was $20, then your profit margin was 20%. But don’t forget to include the costs other than your cost of goods sold. You have to factor in selling fees, merchant fees, advertising, web hosting, shopping cart fees, and much more. This is of course dependent on what kind of business you plan to run.
Obviously, for some of these things you can only estimate what it turns out to be for each product you sell, but you should be able to guesstimate a good ballpark figure to help you reach you profit margin. To be safe, you should be aiming for at least a 15% profit margin for your business venture to make sense. Anything less makes no sense unless you are selling very expensive items in which case it may make sense.
It really is a case-by-case basis and not every product will be consistent since your cost to buy the item from your supplier will vary. But you should create a profit margin percentage to live by so that you don’t ever go below that. Focus on products that will yield a solid 15% or more and you will be able to grow your business.
Finding a Supplier
So you’ve decided on a product or product line to sell. So your next step is to finding a supplier. Now, depending on what you’re selling you might not be able to find a supplier. For example, if you’re trying to sell rare items it’ll be hard to find a supplier that sells products that are rare and can give you a decent profit margin. In this case you will need to be on the lookout for great deals on places like ebay, Kijiji, Craig’s list, and other places where people will be selling goods.
If you’re planning on selling something that’s pretty common like Ipod Accessories, Watches, or anything else you could try finding a wholesaler or supplier. So this is where the scam artists are abundant.
Everyone comes to this step and says, “Where can I find a supplier? The internet of course!” They aren’t wrong, but the Internet is full of scams and the like and is often very hard to find legitimate suppliers. You will find wholesale lists for sale on places like Ebay or pages that tell you they have the “secret” wholesale list. The thing is…you have to think to yourself. If these people are successful online business people, then why on Earth are they selling their “secret” recipe to success along with the wholesale list for a measly $49.99?
I’ve been selling online since 1998 and started on Ebay when I was still in High School. I sold stuff around the house or things that I considered to be rare or had a market on Ebay. Even back in the day, there were plenty of scams but it’s only gotten worse.
The one place that I can say from my findings that is legitimate is Worldwidebrands.com I have a membership there and I can tell you that they have great information and if you are willing to spend the time and money then you will definitely find what you need.
The lifetime membership is $299, which seems like a lot at first but if you consider how some places like Doba (an online Dropshipper) charges $60+ a month, this is a good deal. Mind you, Worldwidebrands.com isn’t a Dropshipper and doesn’t give you a list of products that you can sell; it gives a lot of research information (which is essential) and a huge resource of suppliers worldwide, focused in the US.
You will need to have a legitimate business and a tax ID before being able to deal with any of their suppliers. You will also need to sign up with each supplier before you are able to see that supplier’s products and wholesale prices! It will take time and dedication even to get your first supplier, but it can be done!
Just so you know, I’m not affiliate of Worldwidebrands.com and am not making a penny even if you go there and sign up through me. That’s not my purpose here. I want you to do your own research to see if they are worth it. It takes a lot of work to make money even with a membership at Worldwidebrands.com so don’t rush in and spend the $299. Do your research and read the e-books and videos available on their website and see if it’s right for you.
Conclusion
There are three basic steps to find the right product to sell online:
1) Find a original or niche product
2) Do the market research to see if the product will sell for a profit
3) Find a supplier
Seems simple right? It can be as long as you know where to look. It can be a daunting task if you don’t but I hope this article helped you move forward in finding what you need. Take your time chipping away by having a solid plan. If you have a plan, there’s always a way. Don’t give up and keep on working at it and you will definitely have a great chance to succeed! Rome was not built in one day!
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