How to set up an online business

[lottoemy]

if u are thinking of globally , shipping cost is high, unless u got a trust worthy distributer based somewhere else. again SEO requires a lot of time and effort to learn. i suggest u try out ebay. If u like to operate locally try yahoo auctions or mocca is offering free advertisements.

instead of selling think about sevice side like tutors,cleaning etc

I agree with fastcash, you also can try lelong website at malaysia. There are a lot of store that post their products there. They also provide online store.

[sierra2469alpha]

I would like to sell original second hand games either PSP or Nintendo online.

Can someone tell me how to go about setting the online website and where to find the distributors for these games?

Thanks

Hi there - I suggest you check the licensing of such items with the manufacturers before going into such a venture - there could be some copyright issues, as well as the general licence under which they are purchased.

Just a thought - would hate to see you get in trouble!

Hope this helps!

[Winxkid]

regarding licensing, You might need to check your's is of what business nature. example, Selling in ebay.com is also considered online business.

Psp and nitendo, try sourcing for it in hardwarezone? Those folks over there are crazy about it and would be glad to give you professional or market advise

[street_smart]

you can try alilibaba.com....lots of goods for lots of market...

[street_smart]

sorry ...its alibaba.com.....

[Winxkid]

you can try alilibaba.com....lots of goods for lots of market...

Alibaba.com cater for B2B, usually quantity for clothes for example, at per thousands. so.. hmm...

btw, regarding shipping cost, if u hv any sales forcast predicting high shipping volume, u get get a good discount from any of the freight services

[spoon72]

Before you dump in money for your website, I would sincerely advice you to try selling your stuffs on Ebay . Firstly, the exposure on Ebay is so wide, if your stuffs are rare and valueble, i am sure it will get bidded up in no time. Secondly, if you stuffs doesn't sell on ebay, I do not see how you can be justified in setting up the site . Let me know if you need any help in selling on Ebay, I will be glad to help.

[sierra2469alpha]

Before you dump in money for your website, I would sincerely advice you to try selling your stuffs on Ebay .

Very sound advice.

[ksl]

Before you dump in money for your website, I would sincerely advice you to try selling your stuffs on Ebay .

Very sound advice.

Apart from a couple of points.....Ebay is an auction website....and price is expected to be at least 1 to 2/3rds lower in the auction, otherwise its not worth, the trouble, the other thing is Singaporeans are inflexible on price, and try to sell at retail prices in an auction.. ..unless they are experienced salespeople, who know better.

They need a reality check, take a quick look at ebay.sg and you will see very few punters buying, ask yourself why?

The most have bad feedback, so there is loads of room for improvement.

Websites, don't normally sell so cheap....and ebay should be an extention of the website to offer discounts and specials....the ebay online shop is OK providing you have plenty of stock, the buy it now prices have to be attractive, or there is no reason to buy.

A pricing strategy is needed for ebay and your products, otherwise you will stagnate!

[sierra2469alpha]

Apart from a couple of points.....

Points taken, KSL, but obviously there isn't going to be the $ there to ensure their site is SEO'd; full backend inventory/order management; etc. etc. so I still agree with a "suck it and see" approach on eBay.

Obviously our friend is looking at certain product to sell online rather than via normal sales/distribution channels, and who knows, they may have the next killer product (like the 3M brand of kitchen cloth combined with the new orange Mr Muscle cleaner!!).

Best see if their product has a need here/there/everywhere before investing $ into a dedicated site. Well, that's just my opinion!!!

Cheers, P

[ksl]

Apart from a couple of points.....

Points taken, KSL, but obviously there isn't going to be the $ there to ensure their site is SEO'd; full backend inventory/order management; etc. etc. so I still agree with a "suck it and see" approach on eBay.

Obviously our friend is looking at certain product to sell online rather than via normal sales/distribution channels, and who knows, they may have the next killer product (like the 3M brand of kitchen cloth combined with the new orange Mr Muscle cleaner!!).

Best see if their product has a need here/there/everywhere before investing $ into a dedicated site. Well, that's just my opinion!!!

Cheers, P

yes you could say that, and you are right about the SEO...but my point is, that, when i was branding digital cameras for a Taiwanese manufacturer, I took on the task has a hobby...I had around 20 cameras on the website, although i wasn't innterested in selling one at a time....I wanted to sell 20 at a time.

So the way forward, was to build the website, and sell on ebay, to give the website world wide exposure, within 1 year, I had 18 distributors, selling cameras on ebay...my average quarterly sales, were 4500 cameras by the end of the first year...the royalties I could live off.

If you are going to do something, do it big....There are hundreds if not thousands of manufacturers, actually struggling...and when you attempt to purchase direct, they will appear to be only interested in quanity sales of a 1000 units...which tells, you a great deal about there idiotic sales and mentality.

However to sell by the export carton, is much more attractive...20 camera's in one export carton, is easier to move, than a 1000 units. Once the new agents sell and build up their sales, you are soon selling a 1000 units a time.

No company in their right mind is going to spend money on a 1000 units, when industrial countries have moved over into the service sector, comprising of very small start ups, and medium sized business.. if you get my point...

Very few manufacurers can sell in thousands of units, that is just wishful thinking, especially if they are trying to sell generic products, with no reputation.

So if you have a product that is going to move, you are looking for agents, importers, and power sellers on ebay, rather than wasting your time trying to be a sales person. let the power sellers sell it.

They are the people on ebay, with thousands of sales against their name, with excellent feedback.

What one needs to do is a SWAT, and get people to do what you are weak at, it's easy if you use the right people, moving quantity, at a cheap price...is better, than trying to sell a few items, at an expensive price, let the buyers do the work, don't be greedy, just take a very small profit, but move quanitity.

It all depends on your vision, of what you aim to get out of it. Planning and execution...but forget ebay Singapore, or any other auction in Singapore....people are afraid to use, their credit cards online here, so you can do cash on delivery, much easier, but not hassle free.

Spoon72 btw is pretty cool at what he does, because he/she is quite innovative, and creative looking at a bigger picture.

[luxiana]

interesting...
you were not using drop shippers??

[ksl]

interesting...
you were not using drop shippers??

No drop shippers, that wouldn't be my task, my task was to brand a product which i was doing, then it occured to me, that I should be signing these guys up as agents, my agents, because I was the one, that took on the branding task, based on commission only. I told the manufacturer, if he wanted is product out world wide, he would have to be flexible on selling quantity...lets be realistic, these digi cameras where between 50 to 150 pounds per unit.

Who in the right mind would order 1000 units, not knowing what the product was like...just because he did have a couple of buyers, with no brains and purchased 1.000 units, doesn't make it standard procedure, even though they would like it that way.

Electrical products have quite high defect rates, coming out of China, because of a lack of quality control...you need to test your market and get good feedback on the product before, making a fool of yourself.

Image and ethics are very important to you, but not always to the unscrupulous manufacturer of generic products, that needs to sell quantity before quality....and the one developing the market is the one in the firing line, over quality and RMA.

So if you want to do what i did, you will look for a relative new brand name manufacturer of a product. or you can even have your own, if you commit to the minimum quanitity of 1,000 units.

My agents, I believe did have one or two drop shippers, but it wasn't common, because there is not high enough margins to go around, and you need to maintain a good product image, so if people tried shifting the product too high, you would soon get complaints.

I wouldn't use drop shippers myself, and there is no need too, all you need is a person who is enthusiastic, with selling on ebay, and let him buy the minimum one carton, he soon builds up his sales, and replaces his orders, if he is making money, and that's what its all about.

[luxiana]

i like the ebay model. it's the online version of Carrefour's business model except that the seller gets paid right away instead of having to wait for 90+ days...

as for china, I tried to contact some manufacturers through Alibaba as I was interested in marketing some good in France 2 years ago.
I must say that they can spot the "newbie" from a mile (even though I had a basic training with my school to deal with Import/Export terms and businesses) and they don't hesitate to give you the retail price even if you order 1000+ products...

and they expect you to order a large quantity without even trying the product.

I think most of these guys are looking for a complete idiot as a client since nowadays manufacturing basic electronic products is no logner a problem (low cost labor, technology and parts).

knowing I would have had no control on the quality. that I would have had no recourse in case something went wrong and that I didnt want to import 1000s of products to start with I decided to move on.

[spoon72]

Dear ksl

Thanks for the PM, but i am unable to reply due to my "newbie" status, I do not have a website , what i have is 100 % on ebay. I am selling movie related costumes, replicas, collectibles etc

I do have a few buyers in the UK who purchase wholesale from me to resell over in the UK market.

I do not wish to reveal my ebay ID over here due to certain reasons, you can email me directly at : spoon72@starhub.net.sg if you are keen to know more about my stuffs.

regards