Finally getting started

[JGBstartup]

A little back ground information about me, I have worked for the NHS for the last 15 years on and off, in the middle of this I had a craft shop, selling hand made card and scrap book things (you know the type of thing that your mum would buy.... like wool). To cut a long story short, I opened a shop with a few thousand quid, and did quite well, that was until the recension hit (well that and a small town having 4 other craft outlets open in side 12 months, one being my ex business partner..... safe to say they all folded eventually, even a major chain). I have now spend the last few years building up contacts, and looking at the "in thing" but nothing has gripped me as much as what I am looking at, at the moment.
I am a little rusty at the day to day of actually running a business, but I got the bug and to this day I am still "working on the next big thing", but some things have changed, ebay is now a no go zone, I mean I don't mind paying for the privilege of their buying audience, but not at the cost of breaking even, whilst they they take a nice cut with fees/and paypal fees. I have looked at Amazon too, and the busy fool routine is playing out there too. So without being naive, just how do I get sales from my cart blanc site?

I have tried every buzz product going, and my suppliers almost always come out dearer than the ebay crowd. I finally decided on my market, and the products that I want to sell, and actually I could make a small profit from ebay/amazon, but I would rather have 100 sales a month earning a good margin from my own site, than 1000 ebay/amazon sales making me a few pence a sale, I am sure that good advertising would work out cheaper than these sites, for sales.


Any advice/pointers greatly accepted, at the moment we are looking at the "stock it high, limited range and sell it for a good margin" over wide range and no profit.

over to you guys!

 

[finleydesign]

Just get an excellent Ecommerce Site, remember with the right website you are just as big as anyone else on the internet!!

 

[antropy]

Sell on all 3 channels (eBay/Amazon/website) they will support each other. There are plenty of companies making good money on eBay and Amazon so it sounds like you're just not finding good enough deals from your suppliers. Try to look for suppliers that enforce a MAP (Minimum Advertised Price).

 

[faradaykeynes]

Get your own website, do some basic SEO with unique contents, promote it on social media and if you own the stock you can bulk feed into Google data feed, a paid service but very effective. Do some selling on ebay/amazon, pick id some what similar to your domain so that in case people search you on net can get to your domain

 

[kulture]

Sell on all 3 channels (eBay/Amazon/website) they will support each other. There are plenty of companies making good money on eBay and Amazon so it sounds like you're just not finding good enough deals from your suppliers. Try to look for suppliers that enforce a MAP (Minimum Advertised Price).

Be aware that anyone agreeing to or enforcing a MAP is running the danger of being prosecuted under the 1998 Competition Act. It is a chapter 1 prohibition. A fine of up to 10% of the annual turnover can be imposed.

 

[templateagreements]

What SEO work have you done to drive traffic to your website? I would strongly recommend spending time publishing relevant editorial content on your website, and promoting that too. Trying to engage with customers around topics that may interest them is the standard advice on content marketing, although admittedly it's difficult to achieve. Is there content that you can write about surrounding a product (for example, on our website where we sell employment contract templates we try to also publish advice like a brief guide to workplace pensions to supplement it). Just some simple content like this can give you a reason to engage with your customers and it's also good for SEO.

Have you tried Google Adwords or any other PPC advertising? Although obviously this creates an additional cost of sale, it might work out cheaper on average than ebay/Amazon listing fees.

Also, what have you done on Twitter and Facebook to build up an audience of potential customers? Have you tried for example product giveaway competitions in exchange for 'likes' on Facebook or follows on Twitter?

It sounds like potentially (if your new business is similar to your old one) you may have a narrow customer profile. If this is the case, it's always worth remembering where your type of customer will hang out online, what they are likely to be reading about, and what other interests they may have, to give you some clues as to where/how to target people.

 

[antropy]

Be aware that anyone agreeing to or enforcing a MAP is running the danger of being prosecuted under the 1998 Competition Act. It is a chapter 1 prohibition. A fine of up to 10% of the annual turnover can be imposed.

I was aware of this but could the retailer be prosecuted or just the supplier?
Does it apply to suppliers outside the UK?
Has anyone ever been prosecuted for this?

 

[kulture]

Both CAN be prosecuted. It is however unlikely that the OFT would bother to investigate. HOWEVER I am given to understand that this enforcement is being taken from the OFT in the near future and given to a new body. this could be a game changer

 

[antropy]

So it's basically one of those laws that a lot of people break and isn't really enforced which means there's a lot of pressure to break it and those who do are rewarded without getting in to trouble.

 

[kulture]

I would agree with your comment, but with a few changes

"So it's basically one of those laws that a lot of people break and isn't really enforced THAT WE KNOW which means there's a lot of pressure to break it and those who do are rewarded without getting in to trouble YET."

Handing it over to a new organisation could result in prosecutions, there could be ongoing investigations that we do not know about, current agreements may get prosecuted in a year or so. Alternatively they may all get away with it.
What I would strongly suggest is that nothing is written down, no contract agreeing minimum prices is signed, and any "gentleman's" agreement is not publicised.

 

[antropy]

Yep, good advice there. From what I've been reading it looks like there are grey areas such as, it can be allowed where there is "a benefit to the consumer" or it "encourages technological development". Well if a manufacturer is able to charge higher prices because its distributors/retailers are also able to charge higher prices then it can invest more in R&D.

 

[merchant-account-review]

I feel every business needs to be omni channel in today's market. Buyers look at E-bay Amazon, forums and specific websites (dependant to their searches via search engines)... sorry but you do need to cover off every sales channel to maximise sales.

Over and above the E-bay and Amazon shopping platforms and focusing on your website:

I feel you should look, test and understand the gateways in the marketplace (the bit you and the customer see's to actually conclude a sale on a website) and see how / if it will integrate with your website (any costs?), does it integrate with you accounting software? and how easy is it for your sales staff to use?.

Get to understand your customer profile so you can deploy the right
gateway for set up cost, for conversion weighed out against any ongoing costs like PCI Compliance.

Are your typical customers old, young, wealthy or technological? there will be a gateway that helps that group to pay you....

You must (HAVE TOO!!) batter the merchant account provider(s) on price...you will be entering into a contract to pay this for X period also look at independents along high street providers and see what transactional trade to move 'your' money to your account could actually cost if 'you' chose them! don't feel pressured your the boss!...

Wishing you well in your new venture

Chris Richardson
0844 3326545
merchantaccount-review.co.uk