How do I find wholesalers? For example, selling stock of ipods, laptops etc...
Does anyone trade full time on ebay? Is it any good etc..?
Many thanks

'The Trader' magazine is available at most newsagents, or you can visit their website > www.thetrader.co.uk

How do I find wholesalers? For example, selling stock of ipods, laptops etc...
Does anyone trade full time on ebay? Is it any good etc..?
Many thanks

If you have no experience in dealing in these products already, then you're looking at the wrong product. If you did have experience, then you'd already know where to source them. Never get involved in a business that you don't understand from the 'off', its a recipe for failure. Do your homework, do some market research and have a plan. Its the only way. Why aim at a business where the multi nationals are battling it out to make a profit? Do you honestly think that a wholsaler is in a position to supply you with products that would enable you to compete with the £billion companies? Don't throw your money away, try and find a more unique product. Good luck.

No-one is just going to give you that information. Why should they encourage more competition?

I have traded on ebay fairly successfuly, not full time, but part time to the extent that it took up most of every vening, and weekends (and yes, I was registered with the IR)

That was before every man and his dog said "I know! I'll sell stuff on eBay". And then competed with each other to see who could actually sell things at a loss when eBay fees, PayPal commission (and tax if legit) were deducted. So I got myself out of it since I didn't have a unique line.

There ARE ways of doing it but sorry, the ideas I have are for my own use.

What I WILL tell you since your post suggests you may be tempted is do NOT waste your money on the multitude of "AMAZING EBOOK!! L@@K! EARN ££££S ON EBAY - THE SECRET SUPPLIERS THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT" wholesale lists. You'd be better off looking through the yellow pages, making a list yourself and selling the list on eBay.

I have my own online business part time and I use a drop ship service, that way I don't have to pay money up front for goods I may not sell.

I have my own online business part time and I use a drop ship service, that way I don't have to pay money up front for goods I may not sell.

Good if you can trust the supplier.

Problem with dropshipping is that you are handing control of some of your customer service to a third party. Now perhaps it's me (I am a control freak, I hate reliance on others) but that always causes a worry that my reputation is dependant on others.

Not saying it doesn't work, it obviously does for you, but just pointing out the potential problems to the OP

I do honestly find this advice stupid and childish. We ALL have to start somewhere and in my current health situation would find ebay the only way to go.
No bloody thanks to your advice.

There is this place where i live that sells ex-cat gear by the pallet that trades on front of our local Admag. I think it starts at £99 Per Pallet inc VAT. They sell Pallets of Toys,Clothing,Electricals,Tools etc..... Seeing as it's Wednesday Admag day i'll nip to the Local and see if i can get you the email Address :D

I do honestly find this advice stupid and childish. We ALL have to start somewhere and in my current health situation would find ebay the only way to go.
No bloody thanks to your advice.

I understand your frustration, but the advice is excellent IMO. We could suggest to you that you purchase an ebook full of wholesalers for £9.99 and look throught it, but that would be just wasting your money.

EBay is swamped by everyone trying to do this kind of thing. However, I can recommend www.alibaba.com, you can sometimes find decent suppliers from China.

Another thing i did when i was looking (but gave up shortly after) is go to google and type "we dropship" (including the speech marks). This may give you sites that will dropship so you dont have to pay up front for goods you may or may not sell. See what price they are charging, then look for something similar on ebay and price up your profits.

www.selftrading.co.uk

Try this weblink -liquidation stock ect.

X

I use to sell regular on ebay but have stopped at the moment It can be very rewarding but i have found that they have got very greedy with the fees it takes a huge chunk out of your profits also if you use paypal that takes another chunk
It is good if you are only selling a few items as fees dont seem as bad but when you are paying a lot in fees it can be very disheartening

Unless you make your own products like I do, your chances of making much profit are very limited. Taking into account Ebay and Paypal fees, etc, you need to be looking at a good 100% mark up per item at least if you are looking to make a living from Ebay and ditch the day job.......or as high as 1200% gross profit margin if you can..yes 1,200 percent mark up.....that is my profit margin on Ebay but then i have very very low overheads on my products

I do honestly find this advice stupid and childish. We ALL have to start somewhere and in my current health situation would find ebay the only way to go.
No bloody thanks to your advice.
Much of the advice offered above is not stupid or childish Sony, it's practical and realistic, and based on others experience, and very worthy of consideration.

(I've looked into the wholsale/online marketing thing in depth three or so years ago)

One thing that stands out in my mind - the way to make money online is not to sell a physical product - it is to sell information.

Same as owt - some have nack for even this, some (like me) don't

Hope your health picks up, and good luck :thumbsup:

Good luck with this.

Hi I am Muaz and here are some dropshipping directories are as follows:

Have received an email from ebay with new price increases this has now put me off ebay completely they have increased the fees for basic shop subscription from £6 per month to £15 per month thats more than doubled so i am now saying bye to ebay with regards to selling

I came across these on w3schools.com:

uk-wholesaler.co.uk
wholesalepages.co.uk
esources.co.uk

p.s. sorry, I can't post links yet!

Sony people are giving you their experiences. As a new business owner you need to know what doesn't work as well as what does, so please, keep their advice in mind.

I can see what you mean in that you can find sourcing supplies difficult. You may know a lot about a product and not necessarily know where the suppliers are - however, please take into consideration what others have suggested - if running a business was easy money, everyone would do it.

Others have shared with you their experiences of what didn't work, so please, use their advice instead of having to find out yourself :)

I would suggest visiting esources.co.uk and thewholesaler for ideas on products for sale on ebay. Lots of things that sell well can be found on there. There are some excellent suppliers, who are very different to the High Street mob and you can build a store that is special and unique.

There are a lot of negatives in some of these posts and you have to just go for it sometimes. You will make mistake and lose money occaisionally, but keep going and you will get there. Try and find something that you have an interest in or that is unusual - keep pushing it and the business will come.

Talk to the suppliers and ask them what is popular or unique. Find helpful ones who will assist you from the start without the demand of high volume orders all the time. Esources.co.uk and The Wholesaler.co.uk are the best around.

Consider getting involved with Business Link and joining in some of their events to meet with other business people.

Ebay is one option, but there are many others. I started my busines attending weekend fairs in church halls and leisure centres etc. Made a lot of mistakes along the way, but doing ok a few years down the road.

Best advice - DON'T INVEST MORE THAN YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOOSE!
Good luck

here is a site that i used... a company in scotland

http://www.xcatreturns.com

i did quite well with phones that were returned. These are returned for all sorts of reasons, even though the label said faulty i found 95% were either brand new or worked fine, you get the odd one that was genuinely faulty.

http://www.xcatreturns.com/acatalog/Telephones.html

When a shop sells a phone and it is opened it cannot be resold as brand new!! :thumbsup:

A word or warning though, thephones come on pallets so you need space. I used to have phones delivered to the frieght depot and pick them up in a van.

Dont buy the "as found" packages these are just junk.

And test every phone to make sure it works before you send it to your buyer.

95% come in original boxes etc, and i sold them "as new"

the 5% that dont work, you save up until you have quite a few then sell them as spares or repairs on ebay, you will be amzed how much you will get for them.

any questions shout up

forgot ot mention, dont bother looking for ipods, laptops, and other branded consumer electronics because its all sewn up by currys, comet, dixons etc and the same goes for mobile phones. Trust me is spent nearly a year looking for these elusive suppliers.

The supplier did find were all scams..

be careful

You could try www.esources.co.uk as a point of reference. Its always best for your customers if you have the stock available as drop shipping is a risky game.

Before getting into the website marketing game, I was looking at ebay.

What talents do you have, are you good at art, making things. Sell this. If you can do something that is unique, and then put it on ebay to see if it sells.

If it does you could be earning money for something you a)already know a lot about, b)more importantly enjoy doing.

Kindest regards
Neil

to sell these type of goods very hard to get true wholesaler impossible
as so companys work on a 2 to 5 % profit max i know 1 what did it at 1 % and went bust
but what u could sell is adapters and covers for them
easy to get suppliers
just go on eba+ and email the china sellers for wholesale goods of what u want start small then build it up but on eba+ theres so much compertion
best selling on markets carboots

after just watching click (news24), it's Taiwan business you want to get in touch with...

i sold on ebay and had a feedback score of over 10000 but ebay and paypal become very political and cause you many problems so please be aware of this. i sold lots of electrical products and have a good source in china (who is a personal friend of mine that i can recommend as trustworthy and reliable. his web address is below www . singoelec . com but be aware of many far estern scammers out there. if you contact Li Xing say Jon Fisher recommended you and he will be very accomodating

i have since concerntrated on another business venture



Most small to medium businesses dont actually need a accountant at all but simply book keeping work. My business has been established nearly 30 years in Peterborough and we are expanding into Sheffield as we speak but dont have an office as of yet. We only charge for the work done so we charge bookeeping rates for book keeping work (probably about 80% of your companies work is just this) and then only charge accountancy rates as and when needed. We can set up business licences as well no problem and would probably be your cheapest option. We can pick your books up or you can post them/drop them into us

My business has been around so long purely because of this fact and that we do very good work and most of our advertising is word of mouth and recommendations. If your interested please give us a bell or check out our website (excuse the site as its a bit outdated but we are waiting for our Sheffield office to open before we update it)

www . abbeybookeepingservices . co . uk

or see us in the Yellow Pages

thanks Jon

Hello,

If you want to sell brand name goods contact the manufacturers of the items you wish to sell and ask them for their distributors and buy from them. These will be the real and legitimate wholesalers.

hi
you can email me : tnw0231@hotmail.com
i got lots of this kinds of things for sale on ebay, also do wholesale