Cost of Shipping Goods from Uk to Ireland a stumbling block...

panama

I have been selling various items here online for the past while and have had a degree of success in terms of profit along the way.

I'd rather not disclose much about the business idea itself in terms of the stock I have in mind but I have used Ebay, Adverts and the likes of donedeal to research and advertise varying items and as it is only a part time concern I didn't take it too seriously but have I noticed a slight gap in a certain market and find most items (I've advertised)selling quite well.

Which brings me to my topic point...from research on a particular type of product, I've been able to source items from private sellers, auction houses and so on quite cheaply but these are primarily UK based. Even at the currency conversion rate I can find cheaper and higher quality stock in the UK.

As the items themselves tend to be quite bulky, the profit I'd make would be lost on actually getting the items shipped here by using a courier etc.
So therein lies my problem. As an example, If say I purchased an item for €50 with intentions to at least double my money on it, it would probably cost me near the item price to have it shipped therefore defeating the purpose.

The cheapest and most cost viable way for it to work would be to buy a van or hire a van even and do the transporting and courier work for myself but ferry prices are quite high as is the cost of vehicle rental.

I was just wondering if anyone here might have been in the same predicament
and if you found a solution to it if there is any.

Thanks for looking.

Peterdalkey

Sorry to be so blunt but you have identified the basic business concept problem yourself, you are buying retail, shipping retail quanties and then selling retail. The operation simply makes no commercial sense.

Paying ferry charges and fuel/vehicle costs plus labour to drive all over the UK to pick up single items would be greater than the gross sales revenue of a van load of the items!! And you would be going over empty!

Your only chance is to find someone in the UK who can sell you lots of say 50 items, that you can then commercially ship in bulk to Ireland for say Euro 250 (E5 each). Even if you have to pay him an extra tenner each, your landed unit cost price is ther only cost that matters, you would then have a proper net margin.

If you cannot source this type of supply, it probably explains why the market gap is unfilled here, other than by you, the market is not a sustainable profitable business opportunity.

panama

Thanks for the reply Peter.

BarryM3

Sounds to me that you don't have a viable business if your costs are as high if not higher than your selling price! Transport is as necessary a cost as the purchase price itself.

relaxed

A full pallet 1x1.2x2m high should cost around €120 + vat.

Ideally pack it to the maximum thus minimising freight cost per unit.

BarryM3

OP said they buy the merchandise in single units from multiple vendors and therefore locations.

Only possible option I can think of is to find someone in UK who you could ship items to individually and then for a fee they would consolidate and send by bulk shipment (pallet) to Ireland.

panama

BarryM3 wrote: »

Sounds to me that you don't have a viable business if your costs are as high if not higher than your selling price! Transport is as necessary a cost as the purchase price itself.

I don't have a business, I'm researching the costs involved hence the thread.

Appreciate the replies.

JohnK

If the UK suppliers have free or cheap shipping to the north of ireland then you might be able to use the likes of Parcel Motel to get the item from the north to your own town - http://www.parcelmotel.com/about.html

lucky john

You use the word "probably" in your post as regards cost of shipping from UK to here. This is really easy to pin down to an exact figure. Log on to any courier company and they will have a ready reckoner. As long as its under 30kgs and not over sized you can get an instant quote. I assume you will have to deliver to your customers at this end as well. €13 with fastway is the cheapest I can find. You need to buy 20 tickets in advance for this though. Add a packaging cost maybe as well.

To ship to NI Is no advantage. It cost more some times to ship from UK 2 NI than to here.

Buying/hiring a van and driving around the UK collecting items won't make sence so forget about that.

If these items are new you need to find the original source and start from there. If second hand could you partner with one of the places you buy from in the uk. You could gather the product's there and ship cheaper by pallet then. A partner might also give you the option to sell an item and have it delivered direct to your buyer without ever touching it yourself.

Good luck with the research.

Domain

Hi, I understand your obstacle with regard to shipping costs from UK to IRE, to be honest I can emphatise with you, I had to scrap a niche idea due to shipping costs from France.

Is there no way you can go 50/50 on the postage expenses with the customer i.e. charge slightly more since there is not much competition?

Is it possible the suppliers in the UK would dropship the products for you to Ireland?