TulipTools Internet Business Owners and Online Sellers Community

Quote:To be sure, there are still obstacles, and one thing Goodall has learned is: "Don't compete on price." Bigger retailers who can buy in bulk and pass on discounts to customers will undercut you every time, he says. And the web, being a comparison shopper's paradise, is an even worse turf to compete on price. For that reason, he says, "electronics are very difficult to sell." Separate yourself by some other means. The Smelsers, for example, pride themselves on their excellent customer-feedback score on eBay. At nearly 3,000 positive customer reviews and no negative responses, Ronald says: "You can charge $20 higher on an item if a customer can trust that they'll get good service."

Or, "find specialty products and a niche rather than compete on price," says Hanks. Just make sure there's a market for those products, he says. For example, you might be able to find a wholesaler to drop-ship ceramic baskets, but if customers aren't interested, they won't sell...

full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB11938571...e_articles

Quote:Drop-shipping scams of recent years include sham drop-shipper lists, shipments of poor quality products or no shipments at all, and middlemen pretending to be wholesalers who instead jack up prices.

my tip: if a "supplier" doesn't ask for a federal tax ID/state sales tax ID/resale certificate then they're probably a middleman and not a true wholesaler and the prices (or shipping) they quote you will be more than if you dealt directly with the real supplier.