Advice on new ecommerce.

jamesbil

Hi, just looking for some advice on setting up an online store selling small electronics.

Not talking full range, just a one stop shop for 1 particular item, kind of niche.
It might sound a bit silly, but I was recently in the market for a certain item and just could not find it online, so many shops selling, yet none specializing, here for this brand, there for another, not easy to compare each brand and vast price differences.

It would be a completely fresh start, no experience in ecommerce, so would see it as start small, just a profitable sideline.

Would one need to be vat reg?
How to find and deal with suppliers?

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks
james

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

If you sell less than 75,000 and your target market is B2C then you dont need to and there is no advantage of registering for VAT.

In terms of finding supplier, do your research and buy one of every available product online. See what the quality is like and then contact your preferred supplier. Many are tempted to go down the Alibaba.com route and order in cheap items in bulk, however you are left open to poor quality and no recourse if you go this route.

Best of luck with the project.

jamesbil

Thanks for that, had already ruled out alibaba as I was going for mainstream well known quality brands.
How would many suppliers/wholesale companies work?
I assume some would have minimum orders? Or discounts for certain quanitities?
Do many provide on sale-or-return basis for online sales?

What kind of mark-up is the norm for electronic goods?

Thanks again.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Best thing to do is contact them and ask.

jamesbil

Ok, have been contacting a few companies here and UK, but of course they have no interest in the little guy, and want company numbers, vat no. website etc.

Have tried explaining am at early stage of setup and need to crunch the numbers, look at profit margins etc. But to no avail.

Any more advice?

Kinetic^

jamesbil wrote: »

Ok, have been contacting a few companies here and UK, but of course they have no interest in the little guy, and want company numbers, vat no. website etc.

Have tried explaining am at early stage of setup and need to crunch the numbers, look at profit margins etc. But to no avail.

Any more advice?

They're not looking for a life story and they may have felt you could have been a competitor. Register as a sole trader, get a VAT no., buy a business name and then a domain you can use for your email (don't forget hosting - check digiweb, have been using them for years). You should be able to get away with 50-60 euro for all of that if you do it yourself. This will add to your credibility or the perception of your business.


Sale or return - not a hope starting out or anytime tbh. It's up to you to know your market. If you want to keep costs low then I'd look at dropshipping but it's unlikely to be an option in a niche market.

In relation to discounts on quantities, don't expect huge discounts on anything less than 50-100 items.

jamesbil

Great info thanks, who would you recommend for an ecommerce site? or for dropship?
Someone like shopify or build my own?
Site would be simple and easy to navigate with just a few categories and product gallery.

Thanks