So you want to start your own business selling products online? That’s great! But where do you source products to sell? Where can you buy your products wholesale? Today we will give you some information on where to go to get great deals on products that you can start selling right away.
See those Power Sellers on Ebay? There’s nothing stopping you from being one of those! Most Power Sellers would source their products overseas at a cheap rate, then either ‘Drop Ship’ or import to Australia. Anyone can do it – but remember the key to repeat customers is brilliant customer service!
How to Sell Your Product:
Selling your product could be as easy as starting your own Facebook Page. Ebay is a really great option as it costs little to set up a shop and you have facilities such as Paypal attached so consumers feel safe to purchase through a reputable site. Start small with little cost and build up your brand and reputation first! If your selling goes really well, consider starting your own website! You can sell your own products, or someone else’s. There is also a concept called ‘Affiliate Marketing’ which is a great way to promote products you love, without having the trouble of buying them to re-sell! You can even just sell them on your own personal Facebook Page! The beauty of having your own business is that YOU can choose what you sell; products YOU are passionate about or find useful, services YOU find reliable and promote other products and businesses that YOU think show integrity and value.
Other Things to Consider:
It is important to really think about what you would like to sell. Ask yourself the following questions:
Who will be buying your product? (what is your demographic)
How will I sell the product? (Market Stall, Facebook, Website, Door to Door)
How to I get the product to the consumer? (mail, delivery, e-delivery)
How do I personally feel about the product?
How can I promote my business? (advertising, Facebook, pamphlets)
Where will I store the product? (do I have space, a warehouse, or no room for storage)
Selling your own or other people’s products can be very lucrative, but take the time to answer the above questions before you start!
What is Drop Shipping:
If you want to start an online business selling goods, but don’t have a lot of room for stock, nor much money to buy stock, I suggest you try Drop Shipping. Drop Shipping is where you advertise a product, sell the product to the consumer, then the supplier delivers the goods directly to the consumer. You don’t need to mail it out or worry about shipping and can just take the cut of the profit. As easy as this sounds, be careful. Choose companies with a good reputation that have previous experience in Drop Shipping. You don’t want to sell a product to your customers and not have the item arrive, nor do you want to work with a company that may offer comparable rates but are very difficult to communicate with.
So where do you get products from? We’ve listed both the Top Ten Wholesale Companies and the Top Ten Drop Shipping Companies to work with:
Top Places to Find Products to Sell Online
1. AliExpress
AliExpress is a China based company that essentially sells on behalf of many Chinese Companies. It has LOADS of choices of product such as:
Women’s and Kids Clothing
Electronics
Beauty and Accessories
It even has a ‘Best Sellers‘ section and a (a’hem) Adult section. So if your not sure on what to sell, it can give you a good idea of what products are selling well. Beware though, sometimes it is difficult to communicate with the seller and products may not quite be what you had in mind. Do your research well and make sure if you are ordering a large quantity to order a ‘sample’ product so you know what you will be getting and to check quality control. Alibaba and AliExpress both have a user rating system, take the time to read reviews before purchasing.
2. Ozsale
Ozsale sells heavily discounted, high quality items from sheets and clothing to makeup and shoes. It’s a great place to pick up a bargain. However, sales are only temporary so stocking the same item in your own shop will be hard to do. Ozsale also take a long time to deliver; I’m talking up to six weeks – so your customers might not want to wait that long for a bargain! Keep in mind that anyone can sign up to Ozsale, so it may not be the edge you are looking for.
3. Simply Wholesale
This is an Australian based site and they have a whole page dedicated to the products they sell wholesale.
4. Costco
The US Costco is fastly spreading across Australia. It is a great place to buy in bulk at a discounted price. Downside is you do need to purchase a yearly membership to shop there. Upside is that Costco isn’t everywhere – so you could pick up regular wholesale products and re-sell at a profit.
5. Amazon
I love Amazon. You can sign up to them as an affiliate and sell their products on your website or Facebook Page (they have great tutorials on how to embed codes etc) and you get a percentage of the purchase! They are really easy to sign up to and they sell EVERYTHING. They are US based but most of their products can be shipped worldwide. They are a known and trusted brand in the bloggersphere. Darren Rowse from Problogger has a great post on making money on Amazon.
6. OO.com.au
OO.com.au are much like Deals Direct (see below) but they do have a much broader scope of products and brands to choose from. Great customer service. However as of today they do not offer a Drop Shipping arrangement – but you can still pick up great brands a a good discount.
7. Deals Direct
Deals Direct has discounted products in just about every category you can think of and YES they do Drop Shipping and they are based in Australia. Great customer service, however they do have limited brands in appliances.
8. Try Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is where you sell other people’s products – and take a cut! There is loads of information on how to do it – and it’s easy if you are savvy on a computer! Good Affiliate Marketing companies to sign up with (for free) include:
Commission Factory
Share a Sale
As you can see there are pros and cons to using each supplier. It may be a matter of trial and error in using these suppliers until you have found the one that works best for your online business.
The Legalities of Starting a Business in Australia:
If you are based in Australia and want to start purchasing products wholesale, you will require an ABN number. You can do this through the Australian Tax Office. Once you have your ABN number, you can start visiting the websites below. Not all websites will automatically show their wholesale price or products, it may involve an email or a phone call to discuss the best price and quantities. Businesses WANT to sell you their product, so don’t be scared to call and negotiate a great price.
Once you have your ABN number, you are a legal business and you must declare your income for tax purposes. So keep a good record of all your sales and purchases.
Where Can I Get More Information?
Wholesale Central has a list of all the ‘Trade Show’s worldwide.
For a list of Top Selling Internet Items, try Statistic Brain – it has current stats on what is selling.
Running an online selling business can be great fun and you can take it as far as you like. Just be sure to cover all bases and protect yourself and you’ll have yourself a successful business in no time.
If you have any other great places that sell wholesale – let us know and I’ll add it to the list for you!
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