Want to work as a reseller....pls advice :)

[asiarules]

Hi all again

I was thinking for quite some time to work as a reseller for computer parts/cpu/gpu etc..

1)FIRST to setup a website for national/international online transactions
2)Computer assembling also.

Pls advice

 

[o1die]

Lots of competition out there. You may want to try it locally first.

 

[jonpaul37]

Get a business license
Get all the tax information setup
Go to the following website to browse distributors and what they offer
http://promos.asus.com/wheretobuy/US/Distributors_us.htm
Setup shop locally and build a website with a nice configurator
Take it slow from there, make sure you enjoy what you are doing and do it right
Eventually, over time, things will pick up and you should be able to make a decent living

As O1die said, there is lots of competition so it may not take off as fast as you think but if you do it right, it will pay off.

 

[1965ohio]

Where are you located? I am in Guangdong Province, China... the competition is fierce. Do you sell anything locally yet? Setting up online you will have competition from everybody in the world. I tried it a few years back, and found that even when you buy products in bulk... if it sits in your inventory for more than 3 months, you will lose money to sell it because the computer/technology market is always changing and prices go up and down like a roller-coaster.

And for the reselling you say you are interested in like CPUs and GPUs... be prepared to take a loss on those parts more than any gain. Most of the money is being made selling accessories like mice, keyboards, heatsinks and fans, and headphones. It is near impossible for a start-up business to make any money on CPUs or GPUs unless you have enough money to stock 1000's of each model the day you open.

 

[jonpaul37]

Best bet is to see if you have options from distributors for "made to order" options where you can buy the parts as the orders come in...

 

[1965ohio]

But make sure you can setup something small locally first to get your feet wet. Jumping in blindly doesn't work very good these days. But I notice your name is "asiarules" so I just wondered if you are in China like me or somewhere in Asia. If so, you need to build a reputation on taobao.com before you make an independent website. In Asia, without taobao or alibaba reputation, no one online will take you seriously... but locally you can build face faster and then decide where you want to go from there.

 

[asiarules]

But make sure you can setup something small locally first to get your feet wet. Jumping in blindly doesn't work very good these days. But I notice your name is "asiarules" so I just wondered if you are in China like me or somewhere in Asia. If so, you need to build a reputation on taobao.com before you make an independent website. In Asia, without taobao or alibaba reputation, no one online will take you seriously... but locally you can build face faster and then decide where you want to go from there.

well i am a new delhi born(india) we have a computer market here and whatever i analysed so far....according to that things are quite cheaper in this market if i compare it with online shops(local)

but i am not sure how to get best margin.

i am not planning to stock anything.....i was thinking of getting order first then the item.

 

[1965ohio]

Many local vendors here in China stock basic things, but if I want anything higher performance, they will order it for me and it is a little cheaper than Newegg, but a little higher than taobao. The things you want to stock are accessories, like I mentioned above. It is very difficult to compete online and worldwide since many people on ebay, taobao, alibaba and more will have more purchasing power than you and can undersell you. But if you make a local shop first, and become friends with a few people in the online circles, then you could make a good local business.

Stock all the small things, a few CPUs a few common video cards, a few common cases, then order everything else from good online sources that are close to you with fast shipping. So you can supply your local customers with anything they need at cheaper than local prices. Some of our local vendors sell everything, even high end parts... but since they always keep a high stock, their prices are sky high and people only go there for emergency buys.

But I have worked the retailing from different sides. My first job when I was 16 was for Wal Mart in the electronics section. They will sell things like computers and TVs below cost just to get people in the store to buy other things. For example, if you want to purchase a large TV, Wal Mart might only make $5-20. If you buy a 3 foot (1 metre) coaxial cable wire for $5... They just made $4.50.

Then I used to work for a Printer manufacturer that makes handheld barcode scanners that can print too (Monarch Paxar) and when they sell a printer they don't make much money... when you send it in for repair, we would charge you $100 for a $0.02 part.

So again, the moral of the story is start small and make sure you keep lots of small accessories, because the small things will make you rich slowly, but the high ticket items can make you poor quickly.

 

[asiarules]

Many local vendors here in China stock basic things, but if I want anything higher performance, they will order it for me and it is a little cheaper than Newegg, but a little higher than taobao. The things you want to stock are accessories, like I mentioned above. It is very difficult to compete online and worldwide since many people on ebay, taobao, alibaba and more will have more purchasing power than you and can undersell you. But if you make a local shop first, and become friends with a few people in the online circles, then you could make a good local business.

Stock all the small things, a few CPUs a few common video cards, a few common cases, then order everything else from good online sources that are close to you with fast shipping. So you can supply your local customers with anything they need at cheaper than local prices. Some of our local vendors sell everything, even high end parts... but since they always keep a high stock, their prices are sky high and people only go there for emergency buys.

But I have worked the retailing from different sides. My first job when I was 16 was for Wal Mart in the electronics section. They will sell things like computers and TVs below cost just to get people in the store to buy other things. For example, if you want to purchase a large TV, Wal Mart might only make $5-20. If you buy a 3 foot (1 metre) coaxial cable wire for $5... They just made $4.50.

Then I used to work for a Printer manufacturer that makes handheld barcode scanners that can print too (Monarch Paxar) and when they sell a printer they don't make much money... when you send it in for repair, we would charge you $100 for a $0.02 part.

So again, the moral of the story is start small and make sure you keep lots of small accessories, because the small things will make you rich slowly, but the high ticket items can make you poor quickly.

I can afford to start a website and list items which are available in the computer market(right now have no plans for international shipping)

To stock these items i cant take that risk...(dont have that much fund)

It will be dedicated online shop only, currently i work in an USA Based call center and i make $6-7k in a year and have side business also as fast food cafe...but i am not even expecting that much as return from website in the beginning.

I just want to setup a website so i can get a headstart.

 

[christop]

I will say unless you are super rich you will never make good money. Think of it like this newegg buys 10000 cpus from intel or who ever they are getting a deal there is no such thing as wholesale prices but only bulk buys.

 

[asiarules]

I will say unless you are super rich you will never make good money. Think of it like this newegg buys 10000 cpus from intel or who ever they are getting a deal there is no such thing as wholesale prices but only bulk buys.

would be doing multiple business's if i get good response then only i will give most of my time here....

but what do you say of current market?

 

[1965ohio]

The computer market is impulse buys and impatience. Most people who want something, want it now or want it yesterday. With a local shop they are willing to wait 1 or 2 days for you to order something because you have a storefront or a face for them to trust... but when someone buys something online they want it yesterday. If you want to sell CPUs and GPUs and you cannot buy more than 1000 of each one, you will not get any discount from the suppliers. So lets say Newegg is selling a certain CPU for $200 and you want to sell it to someone online too. Well you will have to pay full price of $200 and try to sell it for more. Why do people want to pay more to you when they can buy it cheaper themself online somewhere else? Locally they will pay a little more maybe, because the local customer is considering shipping costs in the total price too.

If you can buy more than 1000 of this CPU, you might get it for $185 each and can make $15 when you sell it... but you still need to compete with Newegg and thousands of other retails with a long time reputation who can easily take returns, refunds and repair things that are send back to them. So if you are lucky enough to make $15 on each CPU, consider your overhead for customer support and shipping prices to send things back to your supplier for repair, refund, or exchange. It's not that easy.

To compete locally is not that bad. You don't need to worry about competing with Newegg or someone big who is underselling you... if you sell things locally you can charge what you want... just don't stock anything too expensive and you won't lose money if it fails. But if you can compete online, you need a way to make people want to buy from you and not someone else. If you can't sell things much cheaper that the big players, then people don't have much incentive to go with the little guy.

 

[asiarules]

hmmm i got it,,,,,,

however i did my research online and felt like changing it from pc exclusive store to all electronics store..

what do you say?

 

[1965ohio]

That sounds better! Because no matter what you sell, accessories will be your biggest profit... so the more types of products you sell, the more chances to sell the accessories which will increase your overall profit margin.

 

[asiarules]

That sounds better! Because no matter what you sell, accessories will be your biggest profit... so the more types of products you sell, the more chances to sell the accessories which will increase your overall profit margin.

As i said earlier i am not going to stock anything in the beginning(90% of the items) I will bring them in only if i get orders.

Coming back to the point

Is US Wholesale market is cheaper and better or chinese??

 

[1965ohio]

Just depends on who you know and how much you buy. I have found that wholesale and retail channels in China are way out of whack compared to the US. Most of time I can buy something at retail price in USA and have my friends ship it to me and it can still be cheaper than the Chinese wholesale price.

Even though just about everything is made in China, they really screw the pooch on the Chinese people. An iPhone 4 here is over $1000... even if you go with China Telecom and a 2 year contract... it is still $800. In the US it is $100-200 depending on where you are geographically with contract and around $600 without.

One of my friends wanted an iPhone, I got him one from the US for $600 unlocked and he uses it with his China mobile. So in that kind of case high ticket items are cheaper on the US market than any of the Chinese markets (wholesale or retail).

But if you want to stock headphones, mice, keyboards, speakers... get them directly from China because it is insanely cheap.

 

[asiarules]

Just depends on who you know and how much you buy. I have found that wholesale and retail channels in China are way out of whack compared to the US. Most of time I can buy something at retail price in USA and have my friends ship it to me and it can still be cheaper than the Chinese wholesale price.

Even though just about everything is made in China, they really screw the pooch on the Chinese people. An iPhone 4 here is over $1000... even if you go with China Telecom and a 2 year contract... it is still $800. In the US it is $100-200 depending on where you are geographically with contract and around $600 without.

One of my friends wanted an iPhone, I got him one from the US for $600 unlocked and he uses it with his China mobile. So in that kind of case high ticket items are cheaper on the US market than any of the Chinese markets (wholesale or retail).

But if you want to stock headphones, mice, keyboards, speakers... get them directly from China because it is insanely cheap.

Wow you seem to have good knowledge of it, can we discuss about this on messenger?? if yes you can add me id:- bharatthapa@yahoo.com

time:- after 7pm(indian standard time)

 

[1965ohio]

Do you have Skype, MSN or QQ? I haven't used yahoo in 6 years...

 

[1965ohio]

Also I am on Chinese standard time like Beijing and Hong Kong. It's 18:15 as I am posting this.

I should be able to help you today... but I need to travel to another city to update some paper work and won't be online from tomorrow until Thursday.

 

[asiarules]

Do you have Skype, MSN or QQ? I haven't used yahoo in 6 years...

i believe you can add yahoo and aol id in msn/hotmail(option is there)
and vice versa

whats your hotmail/msn id?

 

[1965ohio]

I sent you an invite from my MSN.

 

[asiarules]

I sent you an invite from my MSN.

hang on....you can add me in msn also, i reactivated my old hotmail id bharat.thapa1@hotmail.com

i have installed the messenger also send me the request.

 

[asiarules]

Hi all name has been finalized and it'll be http://www.swingglobe.in

thanks all for your contribution and one more thing before i register this domain, wanted to confirm is it okay to have 2"g"'s together??

 

[maziar321]

no problem, its ok to have the gs like that...

 

[asiarules]

no problem, its ok to have the gs like that...

Launch date NOVEMBER 1st week 2011