“O” is for how to start an “online store.” There are different ways to do this. If you want to start a store and are looking for products to sell, here are some options.
- If you make your own product such as crafts or jewelry, you can start an online store and sell your wares online.
- If you don’t have your own product, but still want to sell online you can work with dropshippers or wholesale distributors. Dropshipping is when you take the orders and then turn around and place the orders with your dropshipper. You do not carry any inventory. They will then ship the product directly to your customer. Wholesale is when you order the products ahead of time (you usually get a good discount for wholesale) and then resell the products at a higher price for a profit. In this case, you hold the inventory. You want to be sure if you are planning on working with either dropshippers or wholesalers that you are working with legitimate, reliable companies that will uphold your reputation as a business owner. The one I have found that can be trusted is One Source. You pay a one-time membership fee (around $300) but then have access to all their dropshippers/wholesalers. It is the only wholesale directory that is certified by Ebay.
- You can also sell affiliate products and build a store around them. In this case, someone clicks through an affiliate link on your website to the product owner’s website, makes a purchase, and you earn a commission on the sale. No shipping on your part is involved, no inventory to hold.
Some tidbits on the above. You will generally make less money on selling affiliate physical products as you will on dropship or wholesale items. Normally, with wholesale, you will get the biggest discount as you then need to take care of the shipping and working with the customer.
There are also options when it comes to setting up your store.
- Build it yourself. Now, let me say, that unless you are experienced with this, this can be a very frustrating experience, working with shopping carts, setting up the products, etc. If you’re not experienced at this, I would suggest hiring a web designer to create it for you. Be sure they have done ecommerce sites before.
- Yahoo stores – There is a monthly fee to keep it running.
- Ebay store – The basic store is $15.95 per month.
- There are other options such as Cafe Press if you are going to be selling your own products. It is free but they will take a portion out of the amount your product sells for. It’s an easy and free way to get started.
If you are looking for products to sell or ways to start an online store, you can see you have many options. Of course, then you will need to bring traffic to your store, but that’s another post for another day:-)
