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Finding wholesalers ot......

tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,434 ✭✭✭
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
Hey Guys,
I was thinking of starting a Sports Merchandise website, Selling Hats, Jerseys, Clothes etc etc. How would I go about finding wholesale distributors to get inventory from ?
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Comments

  • BobbyVCPBobbyVCP Posts: 755 ✭
    Go to a store that has the same type of merchandise you want to sell. Check the items you like and look at the tag for the manufacturer. Then contact them and set up a account with them and start ordering your product. I am sure they will send you catalogs and information on what needs to be done.
  • tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,434 ✭✭✭
    Thats a great Idea, Thanks !
    I didnt want to order the inventory for myself, I wanted to order the items from the manufactuer when it was ordered from me.
    That way I wouldnt have to have somewhere to store everything.
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  • MooseDogMooseDog Posts: 1,948 ✭✭✭
    Generally, to get wholesale pricing, you will have to order a minimum $$$ amount from a distributor. This can be as much as $1000 from some sources. Even then if you get the minimum tier pricing it's not that great and with all the competition on the Internet profit margins won't be very good.

    A better way to go is to find a source who will "drop-ship" product - basically you work for them but don't carry any inventory. This usually only works with higher-dollar type products, I don't know if anyone in the sports novelty industry would do this for $20 hats.

    The best way to go if you want to do this is through what is called "affiliate marketing". You can sign up with Amazon or Fogdog say, as an affiliate. You list items for sale on your web site but don't have to carry any inventory. All your listings point directly to the other sites and you get 3-15% of the sale.
  • tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,434 ✭✭✭
    This affiliate program sounds interesting, So would the visitors to my site be directed to say "Fogdog" to order or would they order from my site ?
    Could I have more than one affiliate for my site ?
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  • BobbyVCPBobbyVCP Posts: 755 ✭
    You would most likely have to do some simple coding by adding a Rover into the link so the affiliate will now where the lead came from to properly issue you credit for the sale. I know this is how eBay operates but can not say the same for others.
  • tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,434 ✭✭✭
    Ok
    I noticed E-bay has an affiliate program, If I start a web-site I could become an E-bay affiliate, Right ?
    So what if I did that AND opened an E-bay store with an affiliate program to other sites ??
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  • mtcardsmtcards Posts: 3,340 ✭✭✭
    Generally, if you want to establish your own business, you will have to purchase an initial buy amount set by the manufacturer. I started an account with two major sporting goods manufacturers (Wilson/Spaulding) and it took $5k on your initial buy. Opening your own account means more profit than secondary (affiliate) sales and you usually know for sure "Whats in stock"
    IT IS ALWAYS CHEAPER TO NOT SELL ON EBAY
  • chbchb Posts: 212 ✭
    It's not difficult to find drop shippers, but from experience I can tell you it can be a real headache at times. Just a few things off the top of my head:
      You're completely at the mercy of someone else regarding shipping, both how quickly (or slowly) they ship & how well they pack the item. If they do a poor job, the customer is naturally going to come to you with the problem, not the drop shipper.
      You're also at their mercy regarding shipping costs. If they choose to charge you $12 to ship a hat by ground, you're going to have to factor that into your overall price somehow (not easy on lower priced items).
      All of the companies I deal with have the same policy regarding typos: They aren't responsible! Say their inventory feed says item x will cost you $10. You list and sell it for $30. Then when you place the order they say, Oops, that was supposed to be $100 not $10, sorry...will that be MC or Visa?
      You're going to be competing with people who have been in the business & selling online a long time. Pick just about any commonly sold item you can think of & do an ebay search. How are you going to stand out from the crowd when you have no control over inventory, price, shipping costs, same stock photos as the competition, etc.
    I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, just pointing out a handful of things (there are plenty more) that might not come to mind when thinking about how easy it would be to let someone else do all the work while you collect the money image

    Also, drop shipping and affiliate programs are two entirely different things. Do some research on both before even thinking about either.
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