Ecommerce Product Sources

So I have done some research and stuff and have noticed to really make money online you have to sell stuff have an ecommerce website. I've tried worldwidebrands and many other places online to find good wholesalers or dropshippers but the prices are really not that great at least to sell on ebay. So I went to downtown LA the other day and everything selling is cheap but its pretty much another ebay store, its the same price they sell it on ebay. So i thought where do they buy it from and i'm guessing they buy it in bulk from a wholesaler from the warehouse district gonna visit there tomorrow. Do you guys think that's the best place to find the best deals? The warehouse district, also i wanted to ask, I want to buy stuff from overseas maybe china, india, etc. buy stuff for really cheap but how exactly do you go about finding these sources.

 

Hardware products for cheap from India? Please let me know if you get any in the white market... I live in India, and only employees (and good ones, that is!) come for cheap in India...

China is probably your best bet if you want to buy tangible stuff...

Besides, if you're looking for help in running this new e-commerce site you're planning on, I'll be happy to share some revenue cut...

 

There are plenty of companies set up to help startups find contacts in China etc but you have potential issues with quality, safety and fakes. As the retailer it is your liability if you sell a toy and subsequently find it is covered in lead paint etc.

Stores typically buy from wholesalers but there are layers of wholesalers too, the higher up the chain you go the cheaper the stock becomes but the greater the volume you have to buy is plus the less "support" you will get (eg in some very large accounts you may be solely liable for faulty products and so have to refund the customer but then dont get your money back from the manufacturer).

In some cases stores are able to buy in such volume that the price is low enough to allow them to offer massive discounts - one camera shop in the UK (ecommerce only) shifts so many lighting rigs that they can charge less than a wholesales company does to shops selling less than 50 a month.

For ebay stores or a store where you dont mind having a high churn on products on offer then there is also the options of buying bankrupt or damaged stock. Prices are typically very low but generally they are "bought as seen" and again you are soley liable for faulty goods etc. A friend does this in the UK and generally it is good but once we bought a load of water damaged plasma TVs and only 2 of the boxes were marked and all of the units worked perfectly. On the other hand he bought a batch of DVD players as bankrupt stock and over 50% of them were either faulty or developed a fault within a month.