goWholesale

Well, maybe the people that you spoke with are selling on ebay as we speak. And they dont want the competition. I sell on ebay (not childrens clothes), and i could care less for competition. Its all about how you post your ebay auctions.

Anywho, i have childrens clothing for sale, and i could care less what you do with them. Burn'm, shred'm, eat'm. Send me an email (gjamil@adelphia.net) with what your looking for.

bee814 wrote:I realize this post could go in 2 places but thought I would start here.

In my desperate attempt to find high end wholesale childrens clothing I have been told twice that if I intend to sell on e-bay then they wont sell to me. what's that all about?? Anyone?

Although I plan on selling in a couple of venue's I cannot guarantee that items that I cannot move somewhere else would not wind up on e-bay. Has anyone else run into this and if so did you just move on and keep looking?

Thanks,
Deb

P.S. If I should move this post please let me know.

Hi Bee-Deb,

I ran into this "attitude" when I was just buying boxes for the outer shipping box for my merch that I sold on Ebay.

I was asked if I was buying for stuff to send out that sold on Ebay. I asked why, and he said that people who buy for Ebay are schizoid -- that is, they are not reliable and want to cancel orders for the shipping boxes and want to change size and so-on.

What I gathered was that Ebay sellers are not a stable bunch and keep on changing their mind -- either want refunds or size changes -- and that this changes disrupt the business of this seller of shipping boxes.

Unless their prices are insanely cheaper than any where else...screw them and go to a supplier willing to work with ebay sellers.

Whether they could legally enforce a "do not sale on ebay" request is debatable. Just don't sign or put in writing anything to that effect.

I have spent the last few months researching various liquidators and wholesalers for my Flea Market shop. I know I have a few reliable sources for name brand kiddie clothes somewhere. Let me look and get back to you.

I only deal with suppliers that are interested in helping me make money because they know if I make money I will come back and buy from them numerous times. So maybe these people that insist you don't re-sell their stuff on ebay should be avoided. I mean, afterall...they are slupplying you...why would they view you as competition? They should be able to undercut your prices on ebay since they charge you more for the stuff then they buy it for.

Sunhobo - thanks any info is greatly appreciated.

Neon, - I do see your point. The reason I mention "I cannot guarantee that the items will not end up on e-bay" was kind of my "out" so to speak.

I specifically want to sell on e-bay and did not want to say flat out that I would not do it. I do not plan on letting items go really cheap either.

From a wholesalers perspective I don't see why they care where I sell. I guess I just don't see how they are affected as long as they keep selling. From a retail point of view I can see how it would affect other people selling the same merchandise but hey maybe I am willing or able to make less of a profit or maybe my expenses are lower so I can sell cheaper. That's business!! Right???

That being said I I could be way off I do have a lot to learn and again I do see your point.I just thoght I may have found a good deal for what I was looking for. I could be way off there too. This business is way tougher than I thought.

Any additional help, tips and info are always greatly appreciated.

Bee

Neon, I do get your point most definitely. But If I wanted to open a legitimate e-bay store and sell items for almost what I would if I had a brick and mortar store then there should be no problem with that right? But apparently so based on the points you have made.

<life story>
The reason I decided to give e-bay a try is because soooo many people go there and if I built my own site and store (which I am completely capable, Web Development by day) then I have to be concerned about generating traffic to my site which I know is not always easy and I'm not ready to stock an entire store blah blah blah. My first thought was hmmm no overhead, a hugely popular shopping site lets see what I can do with it.

I'm just trying to eek out some sort of supplemental income to be able to provide more a flexible schedule and to spend more time with my son. Maybe this is not the way to do it. Maybe I should direct my efforts elsewhere. Got any suggestions
</life story>

Thanks for your feedback and viewpoints, learnin' every day.

neon wrote:

bee814 wrote:Neon, I do get your point most definitely. But If I wanted to open a legitimate e-bay store and sell items for almost what I would if I had a brick and mortar store then there should be no problem with that right? But apparently so based on the points you have made.

Your approach is a valid one, and is a good plan.

But then again, there is the gamble. eCommerce still is too new for 65% of the population. You have to compete for the 35% tech savvy. Online only business reduces overhead considerably, but at the price of competition. The old standard mark-up formula for retail was cost*3-5 (depending on market tolerance). This allowed room for loss leaders, sales, “over-stocked”, “warehouse-direct savings”, President’s Day Sale and any other promotion that you remember as a kid. Notice that you don’t see as many of them on the TV today, wonder why? I can give you a site that gives you domain reg, hosting, shopping cart, merchant account…everything you need priced on your catalog items for $50-$70/mo. Less overhead than a brick and mortar---$1500-$5000+ rent (for good location) eBay stores and Yahoo stores are much cheaper, but less options and flexibility.

So what’s the real point? Accidental/word of mouth traffic vs. advertising. Simple, easy to remember and type domains get the best results. Now that you have them there, the sale. Presentation is everything. Professional looking, easy to navigate sites work. Pricing, well since you have the lower overhead you go for the lowest price, besides there are at least 1500 other people selling the same things, right? Wrong. Look at your total item cost (TIC), if you only double the price of your cost how can you grow? Online pricing should be 2.5-4.5*TIC for single item sales. Give them a price break for multiple items that are logical like 4, 8, 16 glasses (even if your price break requires 100 items) just watch your TIC.

Suppliers…unfortunately most “wholesalers” that you can find are really resellers and or distributors. Consumers want the best product for the best price. These jokers and eBay hobbyists that are giddy that they made 50 cents have skewed Market Tolerance beyond reality. You can appreciate the miniRC spammers from last year that only went own to $20 in their marketing for not killing the price of a $7 car, they are much cheaper now.

I suppose the big question is why so high, when a search for a particular product will have 100’s of people beating you out? Simple, already have the money and connections to buy direct from China’s companies. I don’t, but I want to, also.

So here is a suggestion, children’s clothes are good see where it falls IMHO

Home (and Office--to an extent) Consumables are rock solid as repeat sales. Sure everyone loves flip-top PDA's that will call you dog and pack the kid’s lunch for school. But everyone buys toilet paper and soap. It’s not glamorous, but you can cut your local supermarket and still make a nice percent.

Electronics…can you buy honest to goodness direct? Forget Ingram Micro and go to pricewatch.com

Clothes and Accessories, I think the market is flat, but then again I remember the boom of designer jeans. That, and I live in a rural area and don’t have metropolitan tastes. Which brings up an important point, know your product. If you wouldn’t buy it how can you enthusiastically sell it?

Tools, name brand means everything to the customer, except for Holiday gifts (heh-heh). Pick the one you want because DeWalt, Delta, Milwaukee, Snap-On, et al won’t supply you if you carry the other, usually.

The two most important purchases will be your state’s vender/retail license and your Federal EIN (free, from IRS) You won’t buy anything from a legitimate wholesaler without one or both.

But most of all have fun, if you don't enjoy it. You won't make it.

tmoney wrote:I feel that the cost to acquire a customer is cheaper through pay-per-click advertising than it is by listing in Ebay after you take all the costs involved.

AMEN, Tmoney! As far as advertising you own site, ebay is not the greatest place. I suspect at least 75% of ebay buyers buy on ebay exclusively for a plethora of reasons, main one being that it is percieved as THE place to get a good deal.

If you want to advert your own site, do it yourself, away from ebay. Otherwise, your profit margines will always be ebay profit margins, which are usually poor, depending on what you sell and how you sell it.

marketplaces are teriible because you might have repeat customers coming to your ebay store but your competition is ALWAYS in their face and they can access their deals at anytime and compare prices and whatnot.

Sorry, didi not mean to hijsck this old thread but I think it is funn when folks say that ebay is a good source of advertising. I say, ehh, to hell with ebay for advertising. I would rather spend 1.00 per click on PPC than lose thousand upon thousand in one year selling on ebay. You lose because if you figure the money you could have made off of the folks who shop using a search engine rather than ebay, you would know that ebay cost you money if that is the only place you sell.