Have you ever noticed that most retailers, flea market vendors, and eBay sellers, are all selling the same or similar products? The reason that most resellers have the same items is because they are all using the same wholesale sources. While there might be some resellers dealing with small unknown wholesalers, for the most part they are all dealing with the same sources. This presents two major problems. One, since all resellers carry the same or similar products the challenge of standing out in the marketplace is large. Second, since they are all selling the same products the price they can charge for those products drops dramatically. This drop in price is created because of the abundance of supply. Customers know they can buy the product at any retailer and will only buy it at the lowest priced seller. Your challenge as a reseller is finding a wholesale source of products that everyone else isn't using. Unless you want to compete strictly on price you will need merchandise that your competition does not carry. There is a clever method for gaining access to products your competition does not have. That is by looking for unconventional wholesale sources. An unconventional wholesale source is a source of merchandise which people would not think of. Remember that you want to discover a wholesale source of products that your competitors would not think of. The more unconventional the source is the less other resellers will be looking for it. Here are suggestions for unconventional wholesale sources. 1.- A local thrift shop. You can set up an arrangement with the manager of the shop to buy all of his unwanted goods. Since many of the donated items are brand new you will have access to plenty of brand new merchandise for a fraction of the wholesale price. 2.- Schools. Many schools find themselves with an oversupply of products at the end of the school year. Since schools are always strapped for cash they will be happy to unload their excess supplies for a fraction of their original cost. 3.- Concerts. Have you ever seen the preparations that concert planners undertake? They will stock themselves with paper goods, printed T-shirts, posters, disposable utensils, soft drinks, and many other items that they plan to use or sell during the concert. Once the concert is done the organizer has no need for these items. He would rather sell them and raise money than pack them up and store them, or simply dispose of them. Offer him a fair price and all his excess items can be yours. Develop a good relationship and you can be their steady excess buyer. |
