serious ebay traders - any wholesale advice?

alant1000

Hi everyone,

After making a good amount of spare cash this year selling various bits on ebay (enough to deck out my new flat which was a result), i am looking to take the leap in 2008 and trade properly on ebay for some income on the side. I am not looking to become a millionaire, just make enough profit to cover the bills would be lovey!

I have seen a few wholesalers advertised on Google, naturally you have to be sceptical as most charge a susbscrition fee, but i have seen www.best-uk-wholesalers.com which contains the top 5 wholesale and drop ship specialists including esources.

Can anyone let me know if these types of sites are reputable, a £4.99 fee a month seems reasonable, however if all they do is take your money and little else then obviously i'd appreciate any tips.

Any other advice from those with ebay shops as to how i can track down decent suppliers, and any advice around drop-shipping, such as horror stories or otherwise? I've had an ebay account for years doing normal stuff, its specifically any advice from traders with stores that i'd appreciate.

regards,
alant1000

rare_stuff

Tip #1 Never divulge your suppliers

Failing to abide by tip #1 will result in competition driving prices and profits down to an unsustainable level.

Publishing lists of suppliers/wholesalers for sale or subscription is a good money earner, for the publisher. If you do buy into such a scheme you will be competing to sell the same items in the same marketplace with lots of other inexperienced sellers who are likely to cut the profits to a minimum or less! The only people winning in these situations will be those selling the list/subscription and the wholesalers.

If you do wish to profit from selling professionally on ebay, research your market and supply thoroughly before investing any money. Also make sure you register your business with the Inland Revenue, as once you begin buying items with the intention of selling for profit you are in business and liable to be paying tax on any profit.

ormus

there is absolutely nothing in any business directory, that you cannot find out for free on the net. or in the phone book or in a free business directory, either online or at the local library.
never ever pay for summat like this.

or if you are feeling really stupid, then send me 5 quid and i will send you a link to thousands of wholesalers.:)

doodledo_2

I have sourced a lot of my wholesalers through free websites. I have also attended wholesaler conferences and I also buy the Trader magazine/book.

You tend to find you get hold of one decent wholesaler and they give you details of a few more etc.

Good luck

StaffsSW

There's also plenty of sites with free information such as https://www.eempire.co.uk, and forums such as https://www.dropshipforum.co.uk and https://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk are a good place to start.

uktim29

alant1000 wrote: »

www.best-uk-wholesalers.com

What this site?

http://www.bestrated.co.uk/wholesale-directories.html?gclid=CPXClp7w05ACFRMXQgodhDzbWQ

I'm currently in the process of suing the owner for copyright theft. It is not a genuine review site. Although this site is not the work of mine that has been copied the owner has copied other work I've done on the internet.

The above site just makes the owner money, they have no idea how good the sites are that they're promoting.

rare_stuff

why does that link of yours look suspiciously like an affiliate link, when http://www.bestrated.co.uk/wholesale-directories.html takes you to the same page?

though you are correct in pointing out the previous posters link appears to be incorrect/inactive

uktim29

rare_stuff wrote: »

why does that link of yours look suspiciously like an affiliate link, when http://www.bestrated.co.uk/wholesale-directories.html takes you to the same page?

though you are correct in pointing out the previous posters link appears to be incorrect/inactive

If you type in wholesale in Google and find the site in the sponsored links section thats the link it takes you to!

rare_stuff

Apologies! That does happen though the suffix code when I click is slightly different. Don't know if this is googles own affiliate code or click id, or the advertisers but you can hopefully understand where I was coming from, as the link works just as well without the code.

DKLS

Wholesalers are easy to find, and most even easier to get into. Depends what your interested in selling, but I find big events like the Spring and Autmn Fair, pretty good, there are on average 4000 suppliers at each event.

uktim29

rare_stuff wrote: »

Apologies! That does happen though the suffix code when I click is slightly different. Don't know if this is googles own affiliate code or click id, or the advertisers but you can hopefully understand where I was coming from, as the link works just as well without the code.

"gclid=CPXClp7w05ACFRMXQgodhDzbWQ"

I would assume stands for google click id. I don't think it's Googles but some tracking script, this one rings a bell http://www.xconversions.com/

It would have been strange to have had an affiliate link to a review site, and one I was complaining about!