So you want to start a small brick and mortar or online business but don’t know where to get inventory? Before you begin, it’s good to have a general idea of what you want to sell.
There are many online resources that can help you research what you’re looking to sell. If you have your sights set on eBay, check out terapeak.com. Here you can research daily, weekly and monthly hot trends on what’s selling well on the enormous auction site. Just type in the item you’re thinking of selling and you’ll get a comprehensive report of sales for the time frame of your choosing. A great tip here is not only to research the general category ( i.e., “shoes” ) but to dig deeper and research the specifics. If you are thinking of selling shoes, you’d want to not only research “shoes”, but also the name brand, size and even color. This way you can get a firm understanding on what’s selling and what’s not.
For brick and mortar stores, you’re going to want to research consumer trends in your area. Do a search for “economic trends” in your state. Your states’ Division of Labor and Workforce Development will have data on what what areas of commerce are growing in your state. You will also want to consider the age and annual income of people around the area you’re wanting to set up shop in. City-Data.com is a great source for information on city demographics.
When you’ve found an item or category you’re passionate about and researched its selling potential in your chosen market, it’s time to find a supplier. You can expect to pay between $250 – $5,000 per pallet or lot of general wholesale merchandise. The search for inventory needs to be a combination of internet research, telephone calling, word of mouth and sometimes traveling to see the merchandise yourself.
For some wholesalers, you may need a tax ID number in order to purchase. You can also get a temporary tax ID for a low cost. These are very easy to come by and shouldn’t deter you from starting your business. See the IRS website for more information.
Seeing what you’re buying in person is always the best choice and not as hard as you’d imagine. If you have a friend or family member who runs a business, don’t be afraid to talk to them. Many suppliers carry a diverse array of merchandise. You might find a good source for what you need by asking someone who sells something totally different than what you’re looking for. Look in your local phone book or try a site like Yellow Pages to find wholesale, liquidation and product return merchandisers. You will find more of these outlets if you search in bigger cites. You’ll want to call the outlet beforehand and get an idea of what they have in stock and their prices. Many times the supplier will be willing to compromise somewhat on price, but be reasonable. Wholesalers are trying to make money too and they often won’t go below their personal bottom line. A good relationship with a local wholesaler gives you and your business added security plus you will always get what you pay for. This is also a good way to eventually get a business line of credit with the distributor.
Some great sites to fine lists of wholesalers are Surplus.net, Wholesale Info Depot and Wholesale Central. If you decide to try finding suppliers for the internet exclusively, always exercise caution. It has been said many times never to pay by money order to these places. Ordering by credit card protects you more from fraud. When you find a supplier you are interested in, check their information against the Better Business Bureau. Always keep in mind the volume of sales the company has when reviewing BBB reports. If a company has had two complaints in the past three years and has annual volume sales of several million dollars, this is somewhat normal. Some disputes cannot be resolved when you’re dealing with thousands of orders and is not necessarily a need for alarm. The ideal business will however, have a satisfactory report and be in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. If you can’t immediately find a report on a company you’re researching, this site also has the option to search by website and email address. Take full advantage of everything the BBB site has to offer.
Many people research a company by ‘Googling’ its name and finding comments about the company on forum and scam sites. Take these results with a grain of salt. The internet selling business is a cutthroat one and many people will file false reports to deter potential customers to their supplier. Wholesale forums are also known to be ran and frequented by people with their own best interests at heart. Sometimes wholesale supply forums can be giant scams of their own, with false members and posts designed to get you to lose your money to a fraudulent supplier. It is much better to research the company on your own.
Call the supplier. Is their customer service staff or answering machine message professional and courteous? Does the phone number match the area they claim to be in? Is this a cell phone number or a real business number? Simple search engine research will answer these questions and give you a good idea if the supplier is legitimate or not. Use a site like Alexa as a valuable tool to see if in fact the registrar name and address of the company site matches the general contact information on the site itself.
Remember that if retail selling were easy, everyone would be doing it. It can be a tough business in the beginning but with a little extra time researching, you can save yourself a lot of heartache. Happy selling!
