855 Comments (page 8)

Dear will, I have just recently read your two pieces on buying and selling from the internet. (Thank you very much by the way so helpful.) I am trying to get in touch with suppliers like you said for samples but the shipping is very expensive from ali baba to Ireland. Around 30€ even for one piece of a sample. Is that right? &: that what I do? Do I pay for one sample and the shipping ?? Or is there another way? Kind regards, Lisa

Please reply I'm really stuck on finding an item and whether to pay that much for shipping on only one sample .... ?

Hi， I'm a random person who thought of re-selling stuffs from Alibaba as a side income and just found this website from Google and I would like to ask some questions. 1. Is there a way to get lesser shipping fees from Alibaba? Because a shipping fee of 20 USD and over is really too much in my opinion. 2. Are there ways to create listings on Amazon and eBay for free?

I m a beginner to this .. I am intending to start up a buying-selling business. So what should be my very first step. Please help me out.

Find e-commerce web-site where you want to start, either it would be retail sales on eBay or bulk sales in Amazom etc.. register an account, find items to sell, posting them, receive money and ship items. =)

Hey Chris, 1. Ask your suppliers what MOQ(minimum ordered quantity) would you need for free shipping. 2. It's really different, because on eBay you will always pay final value fees when free insertion fees can be increase by your subscription. On amazon you can buy also a store and avoid paying $1 per sold item and 10-20% commission, it would be less I guess.

Wow, awesome weblog layout! How long have you been running a blog for? you made blogging glance easy. The overall glance of your web site is excellent, as neatly as the content material!

Hi friend I want to know​ more about shipping even more my friend want to know more about shipping f.x if I buy 100 psc watch from a seller than which is best and cheap way of shipping air or sea.if I buy 100 from this supplier and 100 from any other suppliers than which is the best way of shipping.and one more question is this you say sell sample first if they sold than order bulk than how can you set the cost that I have to sell sample in this price. Because you not know the clear shipping price between samples we got from air and bulk we get from sea. So please clear my confusion.

Hey Amit, air is always going to be more expensive but not much. Please don't overthink it. Pick products with a high margin and ship them via air freight. The reason for this is because you want to receive your products quickly. The shipping price varies but keep it simple :) If you're not sure where to start I have something that will be a HUGE help: https://startupbros.com/import-replay

Although I have been interested in setting up a internet business for some time, I had been frustrated and mislead so many times that I was on the brink of giving up. Your articles and information has given me a kick-start and a new approach after attending many webinar's and, experiencing quite a few guru scams. I now feel a new serge of energy to carry on. Your approach to internet selling is clear, concise and practical. I look forward to more from you. Paul

Do I need to set up an LLC or Corp to do this? Or is that really for down the road when I start to brand my own products?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPfUefEnOh0&t=8s Please check out this video Will made about LLC's!

I want to make an indestructible dog toy. My dogs ruin toys in minutes of receiving them. I need a design, tough materials and then someone to manufacture. How do I begin?

Very helpful thank you!!

If you're not sure where to start, then we have something that will be a huge help to you: https://startupbros.com/ecommerce-workshop Register for our next free training event^^^

Hi Will, This post has been extremely helpful - thank you! Question: if I want to sell an item with my branding on it, should I expect my samples from the suppliers to have my branding on it or am I looking at the item before branding is placed on it? What's the process for evaluating quality of branding (placement, font, font sizing, etc.) - does this happen only AFTER I've made a bulk order?

Hi Will! Thanks for the really great info. I have been doing my research for a few days - going nuts and almost talking myself out of this business opportunity. I am an entrepreneur and have a few other businesses I am working on growing. I don't have the time to dedicate to doing this full time and you have saved me, I'm sure, a gazillion hours of research!! So thanks for that! I have a couple of questions: 1. I have been looking into doing a Pro Seller FBA account with Amazon... Mostly because I am not in a position to store a bunch of stock, nor the time to label and ship each item. I am doing my best to automate this process. Have you had experience with the Supplier shipping directly to Amazon? 2. What are your thoughts on selling Via Amazon FBA versus eBay or even Shopify (Which I think is drop ship only) ? Any thoughts and insight very much appreciated!

Does this business idea also apply for Pakistan...Because paypal is not introduced here...And is it profitable to export goods to other countries like in Middle East, Europe etc.

Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the challenges. It was really informative. Your website is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, I don't know if you have gotten your reply already. You have repeated this question without a reply so I will do my best to answer your question, I hope this helps. first I think you should determine how high the equality of products from that company is by looking for reviews. If you think the products are pretty high quality, you may want to order more than one if it will reduce the shipping cost. You also need to find out what the shipping cost will be if you are buying in bulk that way you know that if you decide to go with this supplier their shipping cost is okay with you. If that's fine, you may just have to place that order at that expensive price.

One from the best way is to use google trend analitic tool and chack what people from some country are looking the most

I'm not certain the place you are getting your information, however good topic. I needs to send some time finding out more or understanding more. Thanks for great info I used to be onn the lookout for this info for my mission.

I too would like to know the answer to that. Thank you

FYI regarding selling on Etsy -- it started out being for hand made products only. It has since expanded to allow for vintage (20+ years old) items and craft supplies. But it's not supposed to be for reselling ready-made items such as those purchased on AliExpress / Alibaba, even though there are lots of sellers doing just that. However, if someone reports you, Etsy could shut down your shop.

Comprehensive article, great stuff!

Thank you for any other great article. Where else may anybody get that type of information in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am at the search for such information.

very informative and straight to the point article. thank you for impacting lives.

Just opened my own amazon seller store and starting the process of finding a product. This was very helpful. It was suggested to me to have amazon ship the product for me. Do you have any opinion on this?

Best article I ever read on this topic. I intend selling on amazon alone simply because I want them to handle shipping for me. Do you think this is a good idea?

I want to know more about having my goods inspected as they come into the U.S. so that I don't have to hold the inventory at home. I would like to have them shipped directly to an Amazon Fulfillment Center. How can I find companies that will inspect my goods?

A little confused and worried about patents. Let's say I found a really cool product on Alibaba. Let's go with headphones. Also I so far can't find these specific headphones being sold on Amazon. #1 - how do I make certain that these specific headphones are not already being sold on Amazon? Do I have to look through the 3000+ headphones to make sure? #2 - after I customize the headphones with my design and my logo how can I be assured that there isn't some type of patent on these headphones that'll prevent me from selling? I keep seeing videos of people just adding their logo on an item but aren't checking these 2 things. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something . Thanks

41 year old Occupational Health and Safety Adviser Zerbe from Owen Sound, spends time with interests for example pets, Blaine and bowling. Has travelled since childhood and has traveled to numerous destinations, for example My Son Sanctuary.

Can amazon or ebay...send the products to the customers? Can i just buy the products and sell it and amazon handle the rest?

That is one selfless article right there. Thank you so much for sharing! A good read indeed! 👍

I have completed all your steps, and the supplier says they want to see my website. I don't have one yet. What can I do?

I don't have much capital. They want to charge US $140 for the sample and shipping. Is this too much?

Hi Wil! This article was very interesting and thank you for the break down of everything. I haven't found my "niche" yet still testing the waters. I am a little scared but excited to just leap in and yo!ur detailed article was great

you are amazing for sharing your experiences as a seller. thanks! good karma to you! may your tribe increase❤️👍✌🏻

How do I find out if the product I'm interested in selling has a patent on it? If it does, what do I have to do in order to legally sell the product and avoid lawsuits?

Mat, you're allowed to sell products with patents on them. What you can't do is sell products as your own with trademarked brands. You can't sell "Apple iPhones straight from the manufacturer" because that doesn't exist. You can't use established brands to sell your products. If you buy a potato peeler from a supplier in china you don't need to know if it has a patent or not. You just can't sell it as a "Martha Stewart Potato Peeler" You have to sell it either unbranded or under your own brand like "Mat's Peeler". You don't have to worry about patents, you have to worry about trademarked brands.

Hi, I have a question. What do you recommend for taking high-quality pictures of your product for an Amazon listing? Do you send a sample to a photo studio/company? Do you take them yourself and use a photo editing software? What are you thoughts

hello, thanks for all your advice . I am from tunisia and I have no idea how to start contacting amazon that they know I want to sell.I am dong my best understanding all what you have said. I got it all step by step , still the first step : contacting amazon and making my name familiar remains always the first obstacle fror me.could you please help me? I will really appreciate it

Hey man, we have an article you might like! https://startupbros.com/how-to-sell-on-amazon-fba/ We cover the topic of product photography there and we cover how to take incredible photos yourself using a bath tub and your cell phone!

Thank you very much for this post. I have been wondering about starting an online retail business and this answered a lot of questions. However, I am a college student lacking funds. I was wondering how much money should be saved before starting up. I currently have 1000 dollars in savings. Would that be enough? Thank you

Hi, I was planning to import larger amount of stuff from China but have a question does someone knows the good way to secure the payment in case the product is not what I ordered.

Thank you for this informative article ! My question is: I noticed that some suppliers provide a B2C (business to consumer) price much higher than their MOQ range of units price. For example fabric has a range unit of 6meters-9meters at a much lower price than price of B2C they provide. 1- For me to buy 6 units ( which is reasonable quantity anyways) and avoid the high cost of B2C, must I provide a business card ? (I do not have a business card.) Thanks !

1. Who can sell me items with wholesale price in small quantities, where can I find wholesalers? 2. if I want to buy 155 pieces but sell one by one, where I can keep the items and sell it to a buyer. 3. I don't have a garage, Where I should keep it and give the buyer the addresses to send it one by one? 4. Look if I buy 155 pieces smth from the wholesaler but I do not have a garage, what a process is it, I am not a citizen but I want to sell the items to the USA. Where should I send the items? Thank you Best Regards

Hi Will, I live in Romania and I am exploring the idea of selling on Amazon. I have some products in mind and I would like to ask you if it is possible to sell as a person not a start-up or registered business when I test my first products?

I rely appreciate your article.I live in Lagos Nigerian and am just thinking of going e-commerce.How do handle payment issues and shipping issues. Thanks Michael Onwuegbuzie

Thank you for this very educational article.

Hi Will Thank you for this educational article I found a product on Amazon that I want to sell. It is currently being sold by one other seller who has private labeled the product. I found the exact same product on Alibaba. The sellers listing has their company name in the listing. Can I purchase that same product from Alibaba and become a seller using my own brand? The product does not look to be customized at all based on the pictures. The pictures are the same as on Alibaba.

Hi Will, Thanks a lot for this article. Will I’m planing to start my little buseness on amazon and ebay. Do you know what is the best prodcut I can sell and make a profit for now . I feel like they are already selling all outhere. Does anyone have any idea and Will can I please have any opportunity to talk to you buy email ?

Thanks for sharing most variable article

very informative well done

Very, very, detailed road map!! Thanks for your blog!

Hi Will, I heard Amazon can handle all of your shipping returns if necessary for a monthly fee. Have you considered this? Thanks for the post. Olivia

I was thinking the same thing. Selfless is the perfect description! Good stuff

Thank you for sharing this!

Hi, Just wondering what the least expensive method is to get the products delivered. If they come by sea to you need to order a container.

Hi Will Many thanks for all the detail. I have read many blogs on the subject and I think this is among the best. It's very good of you to give this info away in the knowledge that it will create more competition for you ! I see this was written in 2013, I believe the majority of the information is still relevant today (2018) but what if any updates would you make if writing today ?

Hello Will, This is so deep. You nailed it with every single word. I'm sure this is the best tutorial on the internet about running a profitable mini importation business. Thank you so much for sharing. Emenike

Sir, So nice of you.It is a great piece of writing about all the steps involving Product. My question is that is selling on Amazon possible from Pakistan?

I have already started my business with some different products like ready made kurties, imitation jewellery,phulkari dupattas,leather jackets n bags. Selling leather jackets in winter was nice but not that great that i can make further purchases through it. Still i have some stock of kurties and dupattas and leather jackets with me. I dont know what to do now . Could you please suggest me what should be my next step in business ?

This is one of the best written and most detailed articles for beginning entrepreneurs that I have ever read. The step by step with actual experience and usable information was incredibly helpful.

hey, which products or niches would you recommend for 2018?

How much one can earn by importing from china and selling it online in normal scenario ?

Dude, I literally cannot believe how much solid information you are giving out in this blog post. Really just kind of amazed about it. Detailed, SPECIFIC, actionable information, tips and guidelines that other parties in this same 'arena' charge mega $$$ for. So, you are either crazy or some kind of saint. I am kind of leaning towards the saint thing, but, whichever it is - thank you so much, I appreciate you. :)

Hey Karen :) Thank you so much for reaching out! Will is awesome and we all work super hard to create content that is better than what people pay for :)

Really great guide. Thanks!

Hi Will, it is not clear to me how I do it on ebay, once I have inserted the type of object to be found, to understand in the list of results, which are the best selling items and which sales statistics have, can you give an example? Thank you

Hi, what should the product criteria be when I am looking for products in the Canadian or UK market? I assume it should be lower than say 700+ monthly sales, less than 100 reviews, because the British/Canadian markets are not as big as the US marketplace and people are not buying that much in comparison. Is your approach to the UK/Canada market research any different from the US? Thanks for your support.

I started niche site business, and it was a disaster. I have started study on Amazon niche selection again. Your guide really in-depth and make sense. Thank you for sharing.

Hi there, I'm sure there's no one right answer for this, but how much competition is too much? Do you have like a process you go through when deciding? Thanks

Awesome and very helpful article! Thanks for sharing. Niche selection can be difficult especially when most online sellers carry the same niche and products. Tools are helpful. I use DSM Tool to help me look for products based on customer demands.

Hi Thanks for the useful article, It helped me a lot. Now I have a question.. How can I send a chosen product directly from China to the Amazon FBA ? actually what is the process? Thanks Reza

What is DSM tool, if you dont mind? Thanks

Hi will, thanks for your insight. I want to start importing products into my country, Nigeria, I still don't know which product to go for. I need your advice please.

Who do you use as a supplier here in the us or how do you search for one here.

What a monster of an article. I'm looking to sell a ton of stuff because I am moving soon. Will need to save this for later so I can read it on my desktop. Thanks for creating it.

Hi, Great article and very helpful! However I was wondering how to know if a product has a "consistent buyer"that part was hard to know practically what the looks like.

Your new Amazon FBA Product Planner has made my world much easier. Thank you!

I thank U for all that information i be happy to start my own business soon.congratulations what you doing helping others

If ecommerce is not one of the MOST COMPETITIVE THINGs and it's getting even harder. You can't bet someone with half a million budget.

Great guide, Will. I'd like to add Google trends as a solid recommendation for discovering up and comping products (and even categories). We used that to find 69 trending products that worked great on our own online stores too that we later published on our blog.

You my friend are a fuc#%*^ legend! I’ve been doing little bits of selling over the last few years, just with niche products or great deals I’ve found. You’ve opened the floodgates now on how I should be selling. Thank you for passing along some of your knowledge pearls, hope you get some kick-arse karma in return! P.S You are my new messiah!

Exactly what I like to hear ;)

Rock on Karen 🤘 Is there a crazy saint hell-bent on freeing people from the 9-to-5 grind? 😛

Thanks Tyson... Wait til you see the new version of this mega-guide I just posted - it's even more valuable!

You can use Google Trends to see Keyword Search Data over time, which can be useful. But no way I am checking that for every single product I research. That would be something in my very final stage of product research and selection... Trust the process!

Thanks Emenike! I'm also sure it's the best tutorial out there on how to find a profitable product. I made very sure of it 😀

Thanks Derek, happy to help! Re-writing this article once every year - so it will always be the best guide out there 😉

$1,000 is almost enough to get profitable in this business, but not quite. I'd recommend getting started with something like Retail Arbitrage (or Online Arbitrage). These models allow you to start profiting almost immediately, and you also build up your Amazon account & skills as a seller. Check out this article (my mega-guide on getting started with arbitrage) - https://startupbros.com/retail-arbitrage-amazon/ The downside to arbitrage is that you can't get rich. You gotta hustle for those profits. So after you build up $1,500 - $3,000, start putting some of your profits towards your Private Label / Wholesale business (or whatever).

Appreciate you both, thanks for reading!

Hi Will I am unable to download your product research sheet

i can't download the excel sheet!! i found this really helpfull but please provide me with the excelsheet.

Hey Mario, https://startupbros.com/workbook/ Use that link ^^ and you'll have access to the workbook

Yes, I can't download the workbook. This site won't let me complete my email address in the box to download it.

Use this link Dave :) https://startupbros.com/workbook/

Great guide. However, what about product liability? I plan to source consumer electronics products and I want to know how to cover that, what is the cost, etc? Anyone who can help me?

You are more than able to source any product you want but we don't recommend consumer electronics. They are usually low margin and require product liability. Until you're comfortable sourcing and doing quality assurance it might not be financially worth it to source consumer electronics.