How Ebay Powersellers Source Products Secrets Of A Powerseller
Categories: Money, Internet, Auction, Ebay, Business, HOWTO, Career
idea to talk to someone who already has. Renowned eBay
PowerSeller Skip McGrath offers some helpful insights on how
you can find product sources for your online business. Once
you’ve determined what you’re selling—where do you go to get
the goods?
Sourcing with a Pro
According to McGrath, one of the best sources for products is
local distributors because they’re easy to find. Go to
smartpages.com and you can search by type. Just enter
the word “wholesale” and your zip code and you’ll get a list of
manufacturers and wholesalers within 100 miles of that zip code.
And under the company name, you’ll see the kind of products they
carry.
For traditional wholesale suppliers, like gift and merchandise
manufacturers and overstock distributors, McGrath recommends
several online sources:
• Liquidxs.com helps you find surplus branded
merchandise and collectibles
• Liquidation.com sells goods by the pallet load
• Google searches—type in the product name and the word
“distributor” or “wholesale.” You’ll probably have to drill
down to the third, fourth, or even fifth page to find real
wholesalers—the first few pages are usually jammed with
middlemen claiming to have wholesale prices.
Research the companies before you use them to make sure they
are genuine wholesalers and not retailers. States McGrath, “The
rule in wholesaling is the closer you can get to the
manufacturer of a product, the better your price is going to
be.” If you don’t have time to do the research, check out the
Light Bulk Wholesale Directory at
try the wholesale search engine at SkipMcGrath.com.
Alternative Sources
Nearly every medium and large city in the U.S. has a
merchandise mart or gift mart. They’re like indoor malls where
product manufacturers have their showrooms. You can see the
products and pricing and place orders. Once you’ve registered
at a mart in person, some even have online sites where you can
shop the market.
These marts aren’t open to the public, and neither are the
tradeshows that come to your area. So to get in, you’ll need
the following:
• A sales tax number or a resale certificate
• A business card or letterhead that shows you’re a company
• A commercial checking account—they may want to see a check in
the business name
The good news is once you’re registered with these marts,
you’ll likely get an invitation and tickets in the mail when
tradeshows come to your area—which saves you the trouble of
registering for those.
Close to Home
A rather surprising source of resale merchandise is eBay
itself. McGrath confides, “On eBay and all of the other online
auction sites out there you can often find tremendous
bargains.” Sometimes other sellers don’t recognize the value of
their goods, or they don’t photograph them well or write a good
title or description. If you know your product market and take
the time to present it well, you can turn over some amazing
deals in your own backyard.
About The Author: Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of
WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The
Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows.
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