Hello people,

You’re all doing great out there in the product sourcing world? I hope so!

We’re often asked here at MoshenARTE HQ the question ‘what should I sell for a profit?’ There are literally THOUSANDS of potentially correct responses we could give to that question. This is the kind of question people ask when they’re just starting in the industry or have encountered what they consider to be an endless line of dead-ends.

Whilst it might not really matter what you sell – so long as you arrive at a profit – it’s important that you figure out all of the ‘other’ specifics of your intended product souring business so that when you review the products and prices of a potential supplier, you’ll quickly be able to ascertain whether this supplier is right for you.

Firstly, decide where and how you will resell your goods. Where and how aren’t answered by a simple online or offline. Remember to get specific. If you’re selling the goods offline, where exactly will you be selling them? Do you have a bricks and mortar business already reselling other goods? Will you be required to lease space in a store or a market? What kind of market exactly? Is it within a niche section of a general market, or in the general section of a niche market?

Selling online requires your answers to be just as specific. Will you be selling them in an online auction environment like eBay, uBid or Grays? Will you list them on classifieds sites like Craigslist, Gumtree or the Trading Post? Or will you be setting up your own ecommerce store and selling the products directly to your customers there? If you are building your own ecommerce store will you be selling to the general public at the same prices as your competitors or will you charge a membership fee in exchange for cheaper prices inside?

These and many other questions relating to the initial ‘what should I sell for a profit?’ need to be addressed so that you get a better idea of potential profit margins when viewing the products and prices of new suppliers.

Let’s take the example of a pair of designer Dior sunglasses with a recommended retail price of $200. For argument’s sake, let’s also assume that everything else is equal and that items listed at the average selling price in any given avenue of sale are being purchased on a regular basis (i.e. that sales are being made).

Let’s now say that you find a supplier that can sells the wholesale designer sunglasses to you for $100. Immediately that might seem like a great deal, because even if you only sell them for $120 you’re making a 20% return on investment and in theory you’d be attracting a lot of customers being $80 less than recommended retail.

Remember that it’s about the specifics. You should base your calculations on the average sale price in your given method of sale.

If you intend to resell your goods in an auction environment like eBay the recommended retail price makes little difference to the actual sale price on average. Because of the low entry costs to trading on eBay, there tends to be a lot of competition – particularly when it comes to current brand-named consumer products. You’ll often find that when there are many other sellers of that exact product the average sale price gets driven extremely low, as sellers continually undercut each other as they vie for buyers’ attention and money. Before you know it the average sale price is $105 and taking into account listing and final value fees you’ll soon find your profit amounting to only a single dollar, if you’re lucky.

In the bricks and mortar scenario, if you do happen to sell your item in-store you’ll find it a different story altogether. Yes it does cost a lot more to setup a bricks and mortar store compared to eBay, but the buyer market is different still and there may be a possibility to profit. If the cost of selling this product in-store amount to $40 (per product) but the average sale price across other similar bricks and mortar stores is $180, then your total cost price (original $100 + $40 selling costs) of $140 will still see you profit $40. Much more profitable than the eBay example, no?

In a third scenario, let’s say you plan to set up your ecommerce store. If you’ve already set up your store then it shouldn’t take much time at all to add a new product to your existing catalog of products. If on average the price for the Dior sunglasses is $135 across similar ecommerce stores, then you can realistically list your glasses at $130 to appear more appealing to buyers, and still have a chance to profit $30 or 30% per item.

It will all depend on the market you wish to sell your product in that will determine whether it is in fact a feasible addition to your portfolio. And the scenario will be different for each product too. If, for instance, there are no other competitors on eBay for that particular product (or there are only a few and the average sale price is still around $130), then there is a reasonable chance you can profit in that arena.

It’s all about doing your background research, always remembering to be as specific as possible when evaluating the potential of any one product/supplier.

On that note, I’ll also mention that our wholesale designer sunglasses and fashion accessories categories have been updated. Below you’ll find the products and brands included in this incremental update.

Products:

Designer Sunglasses, Designer Frames, Accessories, Designer Handbags, Designer Wallets, Bracelets, Keyrings

Brands:

Marc Jacobs, Carrera, Roberto Cavalli, Dior, Chloe, Bono Armani Red, Gucci, Diesel, Prada, Versace, Yves saint Laurent, Fendi, M&Co, Tom Ford, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Max Mara, Stella McCartney, Valentino

Just remember, if you ever run into any difficulties finding that specific supplier simply fill out the Supplier Request form in the members section and the team will compile a list specifically for you. Your submissions of the Supplier Request form also give us suggestions on which wholesaler categories we should be updating, so we appreciate your feedback.

Good trading to you.