business supplies

zsha

Hi all, I don't know if this is in the right place or not but sur I'll give it a go here....
I'm thinking of setting up a small online pop up shop, selling bags, scarves, watches etc...what's the best way in sourcing suppliers in your opinion?? Thanks any info greatly appreciated

terryhobdell

I would think you should know your suppliers prices margins rent overheads first

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Whats your definition of an "online pop up shop"? Its not a term that is actually used in online retail. Pop up shops tend to be on the high street where there is high foot fall that the shop can leverage for a short period then close down. Online is very different, you need to establish trust, organic listings and quality scores.

Whats your goal with it and why are you already planning on exiting? Would ebay be more appropriate?

zsha

Thanks, they are good questions. I really am just thinking and throwing ideas around hence the pop up online....I don't know if there would be much interest so I say a pop up shop to enable me to try it out see if there is any interest out there etc....I would love it to work, and keep going. I suppose I'm just a bit anxious as it is something I would love to try and succeed at, but afraid at the same time.

JMR

As suggested above, try it out on ebay first to determine if there is a market before you go down the route of website design / build etc.

zsha

Thanks I'm going to do that, I wouldn't of even thought of that, thanks again

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

zsha wrote: »

Thanks I'm going to do that, I wouldn't of even thought of that, thanks again

Thats what the board is for

Try this tool, it will allow you to see what potential customers are searching in google.

The Pontiac

JMR wrote: »

As suggested above, try it out on ebay first to determine if there is a market before you go down the route of website design / build etc.

I closed my ebay shop. The amount of views I was getting per item was a joke. There's a thread on boards.ie (somewhere) where other posters were complaining about the same thing. It was like ebay were giving preference to UK buyers (possibly power buyers) even when you narrowed the search down to Ireland.

The fees are also insane @ 10% commission plus the monthly fee for shop owners.

So I'm not sure if ebay can really determine if there's a market there. I was struggling to find my own items on ebay.

So I just concentrate on my website now. Maybe the OP should try a free-trail on an eCommerce platform or something along those lines?

JMR

The Pontiac wrote: »

I closed my ebay shop. The amount of views I was getting per item was a joke. There's a thread on boards.ie (somewhere) where other posters were complaining about the same thing. It was like ebay were giving preference to UK buyers (possibly power buyers) even when you narrowed the search down to Ireland.

The fees are also insane @ 10% commission plus the monthly fee for shop owners.

So I'm not sure if ebay can really determine if there's a market there. I was struggling to find my own items on ebay.

So I just concentrate on my website now. Maybe the OP should try a free-trail on an eCommerce platform or something along those lines?

Fair point, I have closed down my ebay shop also as it happens!
I still think it will provide the OP with a relatively easy and cost effective introduction to the world of eCommerce and maybe provide them with enough of an insight into their chosen business to allow more long term decisions to be made.

The Pontiac

JMR wrote: »

Fair point, I have closed down my ebay shop also as it happens!
I still think it will provide the OP with a relatively easy and cost effective introduction to the world of eCommerce and maybe provide them with enough of an insight into their chosen business to allow more long term decisions to be made.

I agree, it wouldn't do the OP any harm at all to open an ebay shop. No start up costs and it'd be an eye-opener regards competition, margins etc.

I also have a shop on adverts.ie and sell a small few items on it. They send you an email every few weeks to list an unlimited number of items for free. Their commission is also reasonable and it's a nice platform. Takes about 10 minutes to setup!

Graham

Might be worth taking a look at Etsy.com too.

zsha

That's all brilliant info thanks very much, I'm going to look up each of the mentioned and see what it entails. This is great info