Hi everyone,
I have been planning this for months. The business structure would be to import and resell online but I honestly don't know which online platform should I execute/prioritize. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Edit: I added a POLL for some of the platforms I'm targeting
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm still new with OZBargain
ebay
It was my first target but other people told me that Fashion online selling is weak with Ebay. Although Im not sure about it
I used to highly recommend selling on ebay, now I strongly discourage it. They keep introducing changes that are making it not worth selling on anymore eg. Good til cancelled as the only option for buy it now. Easy pricing, which they will no doubt make mandatory at some point. Adding Best Offer without your consent, which I imagine will eventually be accepted on your behalf.
I hear a lot of people on ebay are heading to social media now to sell their items. Not sure if it's just the niche sellers or not.
I'd use Wordpress and Woocommerce, you'll have a database of products that you can import to any Woo theme on servers and domains you control. But I only say that because I've spent time with both WP and Woo. I'd also post daily to your instagram candid but cool looking photos with attractive people wearing the clothes you sell, "click our bio link to purchase these latest designs". Put your best designs on Amazon too, why not. And come up with a cool tag to print on sturdy cardstock for everything you sell that matches the rest of your design, and a funny quote about how to wash it properly. May as well die-cut them. On your especially overpriced stuff put an NFC sticker on the tags too, it's bound to impress someone with more money to spend.
Thanks for the detailed advice. I honestly thought of this strategy but I am just too afraid that I wont be able to focus much on this since I work from 9-5 on weekdays. If I pursue this method I think I need to be very consistent.
Do you think this is something I can execute gradually?
You could pay someone to do it for you. Once it’s set up Woo is easy enough to work with, they even have an app now after all these years, been meaning to check what it does other than notify purchases. Woo will sync with Square too which is nice so you can take payment on the spot and receipt issued automatically by email. Your better off paying for it actually, or you’ll just end up with a domain and a broken 404 page like so many other small businesses out there. You want to sell shirts, not design websites. Get someone to sign a contract saying they will do it and then it’s their problem, it can keep them up at night.
@MITM: Yup. Though in my experience Square isn't worth it for the online payment gateway, their fees are less than PayPal but it keeps asking for the postcode of the bank branch that the particular card you're using was first registered, but lots of people don't know that information. PayPal is worth the extra fees because it'll work with everyone even if they don't have a PayPal account. Also I could never get a purchase on the Square POS app to reliably minus one item from the Woo inventory levels. Other than that though it's great.
I find BigCartel the easiest to use for free if you're just starting out.
Look at rivals such as culture kings
They used to do ebay but now are their own website plus social media marketing
I guess my research is weak. I had no idea culturekings had an ebay store before.
yo… selling techwear at all…? I think the last three are good options. ebay + amazon are crowded markets plus dilute your brand. And the extra fees…
Not at all. Ebay and Amazon has fees but almost do all the marketing stuff for you.
Yeah, I basically don't trust those sites personally. They could charge the person on the other end more and you would never know. Perfectly legal as well.
Does it need to be mutually exclusive? Why couldn't u do website plus amazon/ebay for eg
Not really. Since I will be doing this for the first time and by myself. I want to start gradually and efficiently that is why I want to know which direction to start on the first stage.
So why not initially use all available channels and then cull the weaker ones at a later date?
I want to start slow to easily manage my time. I work 9-5pm and Im not the best at time management ( working on it). Also, Its my first time to execute something like this, plus fees on some platforms
step 1 - don't sell streetwear
step 2 - profit
there's so much crap "streetwear" on the market its ridiculous
I understand where you're getting at. I also thought of that stigma with streetwears but this one is different and I rarely feel a passion for a specific brand. Maybe because I know the owner/designers personally as well and their company's overall craft.
Just because you know them personally doesn’t mean the business will be that much more viable. Fashion is one of the most difficult industries to get involved in and you have no experience or understanding of sales channels.
You don’t start a business by putting a poll on Ozbargain. If you don’t have the knowledge and confidence to decide where to start save your money and do something else. This advice is coming from years of e-commerce experience in many industries…. 10 years ago it was easy but not so much anymore.
Good luck!!!
If you're looking to import and resell have you considered Fulfillment by Amazon?
No I have not. I just googled FBA and this is quite interesting…
Active wear is the top selling clothing category.
All those mums dropping off their kids to school in their active wear before heading off for a latte.
Make your own website (WordPress + woocommerce) or use Shopify (prominent clothing brand Beau Hudson uses this).
Add paypal and afterpay to your checkout.
Get on social media and start promoting your site. Follow other brands, influencers etc.
Sell on etsy if you can.
eBay won't really give you brand exposure.
It is not an easy game to get into. Takes a lot of time.
Research on postage cost etc.
where are you planning to buy your good from? What do we have to do to import?
I want to import from china as well but i donot know how to. Do i have to set up my own import company?
well, in my case I have a family member who manufacture and designs the shirts and they also ship to other countries as well. So I would say that my soon business structure will not be a hassle since most of the processing are already set once commenced
how much will you be selling your 'street wear" shirts?
who is doing your artwork?
have you looked into copy write or trademark for your designs?
you mention selling your shirts overseas. what have you got in place preventing a foreign based company replicating your shirts and selling them below your cost?
Hi,
Around $30-$40
The company is owned by a family member. They do their own high quality designs and manufacturing (100% no copyright issues). Terms and conditions were already agreed upon, now we are just figuring out whats the best marketing execution.
so you have no copywrite or trademark on your designs?
yep, 101%
This would be a good post to have a poll. Since you have been planning it for months, surely you have a good idea of which online platforms are suitable. Then people can vote on it.