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Reselling is an excellent startup venture for the shrewd businessperson. It involves purchasing products from manufacturers and wholesalers at lower costs and flipping them for profit through both online and offline storefronts. It’s fast, it’s easy to start, and if you’re capable, it’s an excellent way to turn a profit. While reselling doesn’t necessarily require upfront training or high risk, it’s still good to be prepared before starting. Here’s a few tips to help beginners break into the reselling business.
Decide on a Market
While you may have dreams of becoming the next Jeff Bezos, it’s difficult for most resellers to attempt a jack-of-all-trades business model. Instead, it’s better to choose a specific niche and stick to it. Not only is it easier to perform industry research if you’re only focused on one market segment, but it’s easier to define your target demographic. As you grow, you can consider incorporating more markets, but when you’re getting started, focus on one area at a time. While you don’t need to be a product expert, a general understanding is a must.
Deciding on a target market isn’t as simple as picking an industry and calling it good. It’s important to conduct market research to determine viability, competition, and opportunity. If you’re looking at a market segment that doesn’t have much potential for profit, chances are it’s not a great fit. Conversely, if you’re trying to break into an industry that doesn’t have high demand, you’re going to find it much harder to offload products. This might lead you to operating at a loss which isn’t very desirable.
Finding Distributors
While it may be tempting to go with the cheapest wholesalers a Google search brings up, it’s seldom your best bet. Instead, focus your attention on distributors with good reputations in the industry. If you’re interested in reselling Walmart liquidation merchandise, it’s typically a better choice to go with a certified distributor instead of a random online seller.
Since the majority of your purchases are digital transactions, it’s important to protect your investments as best as you can. If you’re able to, find distributors that offer product guarantees. Nothing will bring your business to a halt faster than ordering a pallet of excellent quality merchandise and receiving products that are battered beyond belief. If you’re unable to find a distributor that offers guarantees, choose one that has a simple refund process in case you’re sent products that aren’t up to your standards.
Act Quickly
Speed is one of the key tenets of a successful reseller business. Many of the best merchandise deals are found seasonally, so unless you’re willing to hold onto a pallet of merchandise for an entire year until it’s back in season, you need to be able to move it. The quicker you’re able to turn products around, the quicker you’re able to buy more inventory to start the process over again.
Don’t move so quickly that you’re snatching up bad deals or goods that aren’t verified by the seller. In the beginning, it’s much more likely that you’ll make the occasional mistake. If you talk to veteran resellers, almost all of them have a horror story or two about buying bad products or investing in a poor sale. What matters is that you keep moving forward and learn from your experiences.
Start Selling
Now that you know some of the basics, you’re well on your way to becoming one of the top resellers. Remember to always do your research, work with reputable distributors, and be prepared to strike while the iron is hot. While there is a bit of a learning curve to reselling, you’ll be an expert sooner than you think. The only thing left to do is get selling!
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