I'm looking into starting an online business, so can anyone please give me some advice on where to begin?

Question

Ok I want to start a business that at first will be primarily an Ebay kind thing but can grow into more in the future; I know I need a business license but that's all I know. I know of some wholesale distributors that I can order products from, and one thing that I need to know is: can I order these things from the distributor one by one or do I have to buy everything in bulk? And also any other advice concerning this matter would be greatly appreciated so feel free to gimme what you got.

Ok I want to start a business that at first will be primarily an Ebay kind thing but can grow into more in the future; I know I need a business license but that's all I know. I know of some wholesale distributors that I can order products from, and one thing that I need to know is: can I order these things from the distributor one by one or do I have to buy everything in bulk? And also any other advice concerning this matter would be greatly appreciated so feel free to gimme what you got.

P.S. This is a serious question ppl. This is no cry for a get rich quick scheme I want this business to be my own and remember one day I want this to be more than an online business so please give me real answers. Ones that I can use. Thanks :-)

Answer 1

DO NOT pay for a list of wholesalers theres many places online that say they'll give you a list for a fee. with a little bit of effort you can find a wholesaler for FREE.

whatever product you wish to sell lets say ipod find out who makes the product(the manufacturer), for ipod that would be apple. call apple ask about setting up an account to buy wholesale from them. 95% chance they'll say no. its ok ask them who their wholesaler is, get the contact number/address/fax and ask the wholesaler about buying from them. that wasnt too hard and it was free

anyways be prepared to give the wholesaler proof that you are a business; a business card, business license, federal/state tax id, etc..what you didnt think they'd just sell stuff dirt cheap to anyone did you? a real wholesaler MUST have you tax id to sell stuff to you wholesale if they dont they risk losing their business license. so like many of these so called "wholesalers" on the internet that dont ask for it arent really wholesaler they are the middleman so they jack up the price. you want to be the middle man!
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/howtoguides/article174010-2.html

i called a wholesaler last week and they wouldnt even give me a quote untill i faxed them my business card and tax id

for a federal tax id go here
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html

for a state tax id
look for your state's comptroller of public accounts
remember the goverment wants their taxes

dba(doing business as) might be needed if you are calling your business anything other than your name

business licence might not be needed if you are going the only sell stuff off ebay its usually needed for a physical store

anyways once you have all that and you get some quotes on prices from the wholesaler you then need to go to ebay and see similar items are selling for. you have to be competitive and sell at the same price or lowers, but you're also there to make a profit. so then calculate how many of the items you would have to buy to sell at a competitive rate and still make a profit. once again remember the more you buy the cheaper the price will be per unit. but the bad thing is if you buy a large sum of a product that doesnt sell you're stuck with it and will suffer a lose there too.

when figuring out how much to sell it for you also have to take into consideration of ebay fees, paypal fees, shipping and handling

most wholesalers arent going to sell you one item at a time. since they are selling items so cheap with a little profit margin they make their money by selling in big quantities. most wholesalers have a minimum order to buy stuff. plus remember when buying in bulk the more you buy the cheaper each unit will cost. the cheaper each unit cost the higher profit margin you'll have. the haver profit margin you'll have the more money you'll be making

http://www.terapeak.com
is a free tool in gathering market trends
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
is a good free website with starting a business

federal tx id
http://www.entrepreneur.com/growyourbusiness/faqs/article159128.html

state tx id
http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedbasics/legalissues/article75248.html

business license
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82288.html

doing business as
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82258.html

i also suggest going to the library or barnes and noble and read some ebay business books it will greatly help you and your business

Answer 2

Hi,

I am a Yahoo e-commerce merchant and when I thought about starting an online business, it seemed overwhelming.

That is until I read a great fr*ee e-book called "Starting Your Internet Business Right"

It is a guide that will explain everything in detail that you will have to accomplish in order to start up your Internet business.

It gives you a guide and a timeline that you can follow in a very logical sequence. This will make your goal manageable.

There is a link to my site in the source box below. Once on that page, you can read a review of the company that offers a lot of fr*ee resources.

There is also a directory of legitimate drop ship wholesalers when you get to that point down the road.

So, yes you can find legitimate wholesale drop shippers that will send out one piece at a time, so you don't have to carry inventory.

This company is also Ebay certified.

Once you are on my site, scroll down about 1/3 of the page and you will see the link that will take you to the download page. You can read the book online on the site or you can download it to your computer and read it at your leisure.

I printed it out and used it as a reference guide.

The book accelerated the time it took me to set up my website and guided me at a time when I really needed it.

Good luck and if you need any more information or assistance, you can contact me through my profile.

Regards, Marc

Answer 3

well, as far as i know,there are very few of wholesale distributors that allow u to order products one by one, u know, they mainly aim at wholesale, not retail. but that does not mean there are not such wholesalers. i would recommnd u http://www.sourcingmap.com/, it has no Minimum Quantity Limit , so u can even buy one product if u like. and the prices it offers are extremely low.