A lot of effort for little return

RSK3000 · May 14, 2010

I try not to promote merchants like this as they are high street and when it comes to high priced items like bikes that also could do with actualy trying before you buy, most people will see it on your site and then go buy it in store.

I have heard that many buyers of big bulky items will look at the product in the shops but buy from the likes of Amazon because its as cheap, and delivery is free.

Systreg - totally agree. Don't let them away with it. We do the hard work and they give us nearly zero in return.!!!

crabfoot · May 14, 2010

That delivery question/problem determines a lot of purchase decisions, and kills a lot of start-up ideas.

So often, it is impossible to get things delivered economically at "front door" parcel service prices - but there is a back door price available for those who open accounts with the carriers.

If you move sufficient volume of packages, the carriers get very helpful - so if you want to sell beds over the net, it helps if you have a business that is shifting a lot of smaller items (like headlamp bulbs) first.

willbon · May 14, 2010

Order fulfillment has to be the next step. It's actually easier than you think.

I was involved in importing from china a while back. £7 production cost, £17 wholesale price, retail price of £99.99 !

Time to beat the retailers at their own game me thinks..

crabfoot · May 15, 2010

The retailers that are successful are the ones who buy direct from suppliers.
Frankly, wholesale is mostly dead.

The ante for "being in business" has been upped, because the current market is "ship your own goods from China and flog them through your own shop chain".

There's a wholesaler I used to buy from in Brum. Their prices used to be competitive enough to warrant travel from Teeside and sell the goods on eBay.

In today's market, it is only worth buying from them if you live in Aston.

Whatever, makes those commissions even more attractive ...

khalid · May 16, 2010

I'm often in the same boat kicking myself on commission payouts, having promoted everything from bikes to sex swings to hammocks!

I think you need to build up your sales to a level where the merchant and network don't want to lose you, as Systreg has done.

Right now I'm promoting fitness equipment and have the same problem with reserve and collect. I'm either going to move their products or attempt to negotiate, I just building up a sales history with them before I decide.

keano · May 26, 2010

Promoting retail produts on % of sale tends to be quite a poor way to go in my opinion unless you already have a large volume of traffic which you can demonstrate will convert over a set period after which you can negotiate with the merchant/agency to get a bigger % share.

So starting out with a new site/niche I wouldn't recommend % CPA's certainly with highstreet brands which often offer miserly 1%-3% rates.

Cost per lead deals tend to be quite good as they are usually fixed at a certain £ and can be from a couple of quid to over £100.