Ecommerce site - Anyone got there own?

payt20

Hi,

Recently been thinking about setting up my own online shop selling fishing goods. Just wondered if anyone else has one and what sort of problems they have encountered? I was thinking of using OSCOMMERCE as its free and theres a big forum/help community.

I dont have a big sum of money to buy in loads of stock to begin with, does anyone know of the best way i can deal with this? How did everyone deal with there stock issues?

Marketing the site is not the part that worries me, i know alot of people in the fishing scene and already have places to advertise it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

millwalll

i can surgest you look at https://www.webmaster-talk.com they know everythink about web design and they should be able to help u

Tommy_C_2

I build and run e-commerce websites for a living. I once did a fishing tackle website for a couple who later sold it for £2m.

Oscommerce needs a hell of a lot of work to make it worthwhile. I've spent about 4 years full-time working on it to make it better. Unless you want to spend 2K and do it as a serious business then you might as well sell on e-bay.

payt20

Well i work at a web design company and we do a bit of e-commerce but i myself havent done anything major on the e-commerce stuff. After having a chat with everyone at work about my idea i think i have to have a go at it.

payt20

*bump* for anyone else that didnt see this yesterday

AuctionMan_2

Can you not try to find a Fishing Tackle Dropshipper?

That way you do not hold any stock and when you sell the product you pass the customers details (and the product payment minus your cut) onto the dropshipper and they then deliver the goods for you..

payt20

Hmmm not really looked into dropshipping. My profits would be alot less then

AuctionMan_2

Yes they would, but it may be a solution to initail start up. If you can afford to pull stock and hold it then that has to be the way to go, better prices and as mentioned above you are in full control then.

Getafix

I dont have a big sum of money to buy in loads of stock to begin with, does anyone know of the best way i can deal with this? How did everyone deal with there stock issues?

You can try using a pre-order system. That way customers can place orders and you can then order products in. It also gives you a feel for what's in demand. Of course there is the slight delay so try to source your goods and estimate delivery times before adding them to the site.

scheming_gypsy

payt20 wrote:

Hmmm not really looked into dropshipping. My profits would be alot less then

but so would your overheads and workload.

payt20

Ok thanks for the advice everyone so far. Ive looked into the options you have said. Anyone know of any sites where i can find dropshippers?

Also the pre-order system would be good, but customers orders would take a long time to come through. THEN what do i do about prices? ive got to be able to sell at a competitive rate