IT Dropshipping

sebring

Hi There,

It's been a while since i've used MSE however I'm looking for advice.

I'm looking at setting up a small business reselling computer parts, i.e boards/ram etc at all levels, budget upwards.

The ideal solution seems to be setting up a website and using a dropshipper so I don't need to purchase or store products.

I would like advice from anyone with an IT background or better still advice on the best way to start, for example if you already do this.

Many thanks
Peter

fishybusiness

Margins are incredibly tight on components, and systems.

Who would be your competition? Why would people come to you.

Who would supply you, what volume discounts could you get, because you will need them to make even a few pounds.

The market is saturated, and tbh I think it is a non starter.

The best way to sell IT is to sell your skills along side the hardware - it is the skills that make money, not the parts.

Been there, done that and closed the book.

Figment

What IT experience do you have?
What selling experience (and in particular, what online selling experience) do you have?

sebring

Thanks FishyBusiness,

Straight to the point just the way I like it, many thanks for the response and advice ,I shall focus my efforts on something else

sebring

Hi Figment ,

My background is in websites/marketing and sales so have the framework but never run my own business before ,not looking for a get rich quick scheme, just a way to make a bit of extra cash, I build websites as a sideline however it takes way too long to work with some clients so can't really justify the time

PHARR

sebring wrote: »

Hi Figment ,

My background is in websites/marketing and sales so have the framework but never run my own business before ,not looking for a get rich quick scheme, just a way to make a bit of extra cash, I build websites as a sideline however it takes way too long to work with some clients so can't really justify the time

Maybe just stick to this but use Freelance advertising websites, theres so so much work out there that needs to be done, the market is huge. If your good at creating websites / coding you can make a good bit of cash that way, never mind about time i think thats a great talent to have.

Notmyrealname

Ditto. Those businesses with the highest chance of success are where the person has done something they know.

fishybusiness

Go back to 2006 and margins were good, by 2009-early 2010 they had started eroding away.

Ebuyer for ex used to be a good supplier, their trade terms were good, with cheap delivery, often free, and its all gone for the small guy

BigRonW

I was on the point of starting a new thread, about importing goods from China - specifically Android tablets. A quick browse through the twechie section of this forum reveals a lot of (largely ill-informed) snobbery about Chinese iPad equivalents.Over the three years or so that tablets have been available, the quality of Chinese tablets has steadily climbed, but the market is still (quite artificially) divided between items originally intended for Chinese domestic consumption, and items intended for export to the West.The latter, by and large, carry a MUCH bigger price tag, and are (usually) made by companies you've heard of before, because they make PC components. Asus, Acer, Lenovo... My point is a simple one: as with almost anything computer related, "economic logic" goes out of the window. "Costs more" doesn't neccessarily mean "better".Do you see where I'm coming from yet? "Costs less" doesn't neccessarily mean "thrown together from rubbish components" (although it CAN do) which gives the chap who can tell good quality from bad the ability to cherry-pick items that cost very little, but are worth quite a lot. The exemplar I'd give would be http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/7-Android-4-0-Tablet-PC-All-Winner-A10-CPU-1-5GHz-multi-touch-capacitive-1GB/313715_632959854.html
It's a tablet that's on sale for under £40 (INCLUDING DELIVERY TO THE UK!) The specification is remarkably good for something so cheap - there's a very similar item on sale at Argos for £150. IF you have the skill to recognise a "good" tablet just from looking at the specification, then there's potential for a mark-up of at least 100%. I've seen the tablet for which I've provided the link in action - connected to a friend's flat-screen TV via the built-in mini-HDMI socket. WiFi reception is prety good... with BBC iPlayer loaded, and perhaps the £6-per-month Netflix, it converts a TV to a "Smart TV"for a trivial price.

China produces some absolutely TERRIBLE tablets... but also some pretty good ones. There's money to be made by someone who can tell the difference, and who isn't guided merely by price. Because the GOOD ones aren't the most costly, and the worst ones aren't always the cheapest. I've read people on this very forum sniggering about "you can't get a decent tablet for under £100" (A statement which demonstrates merely that the person who posted it needs to talk less and listen more - they might eventually learn something)

I find it hard to understand why every bus, every train in the UK, isn't filed with commuters each clutching their Chinese-made tablet, which cost in the region of £100 (or perhaps less?!) Much better value than a Kindle (and you can load the FREE Kindle software on it, anyway!) Seems that all that's stopping them is that they don't know that good AND cheap tablets are available as "easily portable entertainment centres".

dsavvy83

sebring wrote: »

Hi Figment ,

My background is in websites/marketing and sales so have the framework but never run my own business before ,not looking for a get rich quick scheme, just a way to make a bit of extra cash, I build websites as a sideline however it takes way too long to work with some clients so can't really justify the time

Hi
I have had loads of experience with this...
What ever you do it will take roughly 2-3 years to get established and possible make money, the problem is the initial expenditure such as setting up payment methods and all those fees we are charged to take money!

You will definitely not be making any money in the first few years of business unless you have a good relationship with your supplier who can get you good margins.

I commonly use Amazon, Ebay and Play.com to sell things which means i don't have any ongoing monthly costs but the margins will be less, but i always look for deals with my distrbutors such as buy in bulk deals...

If you need help just pm i know pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeenty of things about e-commerce...

paddyrg

BigRonW wrote: »

It's a tablet that's on sale for under £40 (INCLUDING DELIVERY TO THE UK!) The specification is remarkably good for something so cheap - there's a very similar item on sale at Argos for £150.

So, £40 delivered (more like £45) + duty + import VAT - maybe £70/80ish? Possibly the need to flash the roms with English Android before sale. Plus CE certification on the extra UK chargers you'll need to supply, plus handling returns and defective units etc. Plus DSR's and SoGA, public and product liability. Allowing for a bit of a profit margin, £150 isn't too far off.