if i want to open an online store

[Admin]

if i want to open an online store in australia, do u think the distributors like Toy Traders, Dawn Trading willing to do business with me? cuz i don’t think i can keep a lot of stock (as i don’t know customer taste, also i want to be flexible), so order quantity must be very low.

any thoughts? thanks

[bithed]

…Welcome to the fun Bankers 🙂

…IMO your questions are the basis of ANY good business plan…Customer tastes / needs / wants VS. bulk selling…The eternal struggle between supply and demand…

…First things first though…We all STOCK THE SAME PRODUCTS @ SIMILAR PRICES…Its not the PRODUCT or price that determines your popularity or success…Its YOU and your SERVICE…I recommend you make your NAME / IMAGE well known and then the orders will follow…Good luck with it cos its a fun road to travel along 🙂 Peace…

[PandaBear]

Quote:

…so order quantity must be very low.

If order qty very low, that’s called “retail” LOL :p

Some suppliers don’t want to provide stock unless you have a bricks-n-mortar shopfront, but some others are willing to open an account for you if you have the right bonafides, but you have to make it worth their while – Ordering constantly in dribs & drabs won’t gain you much respect from them.

The other drama is… have you really done your sums?

You will be expected to provide SUPPORT for the items you sell, one cannot rely on the wholesaler to provide service to your clients. If you cannot prove that you have the resources (skill, capital, parts backing) to provide adequate support for the product then you’ll just bring that Brand/Product into disrepute.

The market already has had enough of that kind of rubbish.

[bithed]

…and so here begins the Ausmicro guide to online ‘trading’ 🙂

[PandaBear]

Helps heaps if one’s an Ozzie living in Japan, huh?? :smiley16:

[bithed]

…gee Panda I guess it would but i wouldnt know because im a KIWI !! lol…

…bankers its exciting to know about you trying to get into this industry…though sometimes it sux..lol…i have lost sleep, lost hair and have even lost faith…I have almost chucked it all in several times…its a pain in the ass, payments are late, stock is crap, or even worse, Hong Kong is kicking me in the bum…I personally think it takes ALOT of research to be on top of the game…I need to know what will be popular TOMORROW, and i need that information YESTERDAY…Its not easy but it IS alot of fun…

…Be aware that wholesale gets scary sometimes BECAUSE of the amounts of product and the timing AND payments, i mean its all pretty basic stuff on paper but when you are living it and it all turns to poo for whatever reason, ie The FAMOUS PanicToys vs TOMY incident which is on the boards here somewhere, its get a bit scary…MANY of us on the boards here have ended up with LOADS of stock which wont move anymore…bad planning plays a major part of course 😉 Anyway have some fun with it and ALWAYS keep your bills to levels you can still realistically pay $ $
===

[Admin]

thanks for the input bithed.

i’m from hong kong. i’ve realised the retail price differece between hong kong and australia. australia rc models retail price is 2.5 times more than hong kong (even more for ESC, remote..). either the distributors or retailers do a huge markup on price. i did think about order the goods from hong kong distributors. anyway.. i’m still on the brainstorming stage…

[PandaBear]

Hey bankers… what about manga DVDs & VCDs? Very impressive with what HK’s stores have… if you can get a line in those there’s heaps better markup there!! 🙂

(lemme know too, looking for a piece of the action there…)

National distributors will not supply for export, that’s the 1st rule in everyone’s distributorship contracts.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Aussie hobby retail mark up is around 30%. Not all that much really.

[PandaBear]

If you’re lucky, yeah. 🙁 On the retail scheme of things, that level is pitifully low. One would think one’s selling a commodity like petrol (5%) or groceries (10%).

Other industries? Clothing retailers 100-300%, takeaway food & coffee 300-1000%.

[jamiekulhanek]

MY LHS’s 300%

[betty.k]

just remember. costs cost. and you gotta cover em. sounds like playschool i know but you’ll be surprised….:8ball:

[Admin]

i wish i did study some retail management subjects when i take my marketing degree… i now know nothing about retail management 🙁

the reason i start this topic is because i am currently doing a master of business in e-business course at uts, thats where i see the benefit of online business. setting up an online store is not that hard (there are some open source shopping cart). However, marketing and stocking is the problem especially i don’t have much money.

i am thinking about get a part time job in a hobby shop to get some experience.

hi pandabear, not sure about importing dvs and vcd to australia, cuz i think there is some custom regulations??

[Aaron]

Bankers – Trading online in Australia in the hobby business is pretty cut-throat.

The large established bricks and mortar stores (Frontline Hobbies, Hobbyco, Radio Models) all offer exceptionally competitive prices and stock levels through their online presence compared to what you or I could do when dealing through the Aussie “official” importers.

Quite a few people import from HK direct and resell but you’ll need a lot of cash up front to make a go of it and a lot of contacts.

The big problem is supply and demand. I sold my first bit char-g on e-bay for over AU$180 but these days you’d be lucky to get an AU$30 cost price covered.

People like Bithed succeed becuase they work hard at building customer loyalty at prioces that are ‘fair’. Most of bitheds customers buy from him time after time becuase he doesn’t overcharge, but att he same time he’s good to deal with, answers his e-mails promptly and always does his best. If he’d slip up with that he’d go down quicker than the titanic.

ausmicro.com traded online for a while and it was a lot of work for quite low margins, we then handed over our online sales to another company that did quite well with it.

Woudl I go back to selling online? Yup – it will happen. Will we sell what we did last time? Nope.

A.

--
Site Owner Guy.

[PandaBear]

Quote:

– Trading online in Australia in the hobby business is pretty cut-throat.

Aye me hearty mateys, aye. Good fun it is too, if one is a workaholic who doesn’t care about making any profit. :p

Quote:

The large established bricks and mortar stores (Frontline Hobbies, Hobbyco, Radio Models) all offer exceptionally competitive prices and stock levels through their online presence compared to what you or I could do when dealing through the Aussie “official” importers.

Well at least 1 of those 3 buys through official sources… but if you buy a lot regularly, you’ve got leverage to wangle good trade discounts.

Yeah, Biz Basics 102.

Quote:

Quite a few people import from HK direct and resell but you’ll need a lot of cash up front to make a go of it and a lot of contacts.

Yep! :smiley16:

Shipping is also another drama… a small percentage of parcels do disappear in the mail. Given the high value + tiny markup, each and every item put in the mail is a big gamble.

Lose just 1 and you’ll have to sell 100x to make up what you’ve lost. 😯

[Author]

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