New Hand bag retailer starting out - tips?!?

mrsingh

Hi guys,

Just hoping there are some experienced handbag retailers out there!

I have started setting up a handbag retailing business which i plan to operate from Retail Merchandise Units (RMU's) located in my local shopping centres. I have found suppliers (based here in the UK) but wanted to know if any similar retailers have found it easy to import items themselves direct from places like China. I know alot of people have had problems dealing with chinese companies and so, while i may pay more, initially i intend to purchase from UK based suppliers who have taken care of the hassle of importing/shipping, paying HMRC taxes, etc.

Also, if anyone has any good suppliers that they are aware of I'd be grateful to hear of them (PM me if you can). Any further general tips that people can provide on retailing would be great, especially from anyone who has experience of RMU's (I could do with some pointers on getting an EPOS system up and running as cheap as poss, although ebay seems my best bet).

Specifically for handbag retailers, what sort of margins are they making on handbags based on their cost price? how do they choose which bags to buy? I'm planning on buying bags that have a similar design to ones in womens magazines (the kind which are said to be the latest must-haves/trends in fashion etc)....

Any tips/advice is a big help!

paulwf

mrsingh wrote: »

Any tips/advice is a big help!

Get a member of staff or consultant on board with experience in this industry. You are asking a lot of specific highly commercially sensitive questions, I can't see many people with the answers wanting to divulge them to the competition. No harm in trying though

P.S. hope the above doesn't come across as being sarcastic. I'm serious, if you want good answers to those questions you're going to have to hire in the experience.

mrsingh

cheers paul,

I was aware that some business owners retailing handbags may not want to divulge their experience - just asking in hope that someone may have worked with handbags before and may be able to shed some light!

I totally agree, i'm gonna need someone with expereince on board!

Thanks again...