Monday, April 14, 2008

Wholesale Dropshipper's May Not Deliver The Absolute Lowest Price

Introduction

Getting moving online with your own e-commerce website is a fast way to get going on a business for yourself. Low overhead and operating costs make this a very attractive option for people that want to take command of their time and personal freedom. The opportunity to start selling your own goods doesn't mean that you'll necessarily be able to purchase them for a cost that is below what everyone else pays for them.

How should you react when you discover that an item that you're thinking about marketing is already selling at a mega retailer and they're selling the item at a cost lower than your wholesale price? The purpose of this document is to examine these issues and offer options that will allow you a better chance of success.

Like most when you're first start your e-commerce web site or get into doing eBay auctions, your first inclination is to locate merchandise that you can purchase at a wholesale cost. As you start to explore the options available it's easy to quickly become jaded with the fact that the prices that you were imagining for a particular product simply don't exist. More than likely as a beginning wholesale purchaser at the retail level, sourcing companies assign different levels of purchasing power. To further compound this issue many times a mega retailer is able to purchase units in the thousands or tens of thousands or more and sell them at extremely low prices.

Higher Wholesale Prices Can Be Foiled With A Good Plan

So, how should you react if you happen to find a product that you've decided to sell and is actually being sold for less by a major retailer or mega store? Their couple of different options that you can explore. This will actually take a little bit of thought on how to best overcome the situation. One opportunity is to bundle a product with another. This allows you to take the higher-priced item and match it with an item that you're getting a better deal on, and may not be something that's actually offered by the other retailer. Another opportunity would be to select another product within the same line and manufacture that is not offered by the competition. Finding ways to overcome and outdo the big guys is easier for the smaller player because in most cases they're more nimble and flexible in their business model, and have less bureaucracy to hinder them in order to make changes.

Add To Your Clients Experience

If you're a small business online e-commerce owner, eBay seller, or combination of both, you should think value rather than just price. It is important to mention that there are great opportunities and truly wholesale values that are available. With that being said it's not always possible to get the lowest Price on the planet when buying at wholesale. Being crafty with your marketing and how you approach your customers will be your best weapon when dealing with competition that offer products at a lower price. As a consumer it's quite common to find products that are priced extremely low that don't make you feel comfortable with purchasing from that particular retailer. It can be a number of things that make you hesitate, the look and feel of the web site has a lot to do with the trust factor when purchasing online. Just because it's lower at that site doesn't mean that it won't sell from the higher-priced higher-quality and better feeling location online. The same is true when it comes to the mega retailer's.

Making The Web Experience Easy To Use

While the mega retailer's can sometimes offer similar if not the exact same products and outstanding prices, the issue of convenience comes in the play. I don't know about you but heading over to the mega retailer is sometimes not my most favorite thing to do. And if you have to drive a distance to get there that automatically adds to the overall cost time expenditure. Thinking outside the box and carving out your own place is the one true way to overcome the competition even if you're not the cheapest price in the ballgame.

Ultimately, without question you can commence your own e-commerce business and be competitive on the web or through an eBay auction no matter what the competition is up to. It's going to take some time to move up to a level where you'll be able to leverage items at better and less expensive prices. Thinking outside the box and being un-yielding about what your doing will allow you to ultimately buy items at extremely cheap prices. In the mean time giving people a good product with first-class service at a sensible price will make up for the shortfall and allow you to build customer loyalty in the interim.

If you're still looking for the best Drop Ship Suppliers you need to visit wholesaleanddropshipdirect.com a popular website that offers
Drop Shipping Articles, as well as details about Wholesale Products and provides valuable information on Product Sourcing Suppliers.

Cashback & Rewards Credit Cards: A Much Better Option Than Department Store Issued Credit Cards

Typically, when one approaches the register at a department or retail store, they will be given the opportunity to apply instantly for a store issued credit card. The pitch is that upon approval, the customer will receive 10% off of their current purchase using their new card. Everyone enjoys savings, so many people bite immediately at this offer. The problem is that this enticing, one-time savings, blocks the better judgement of the consumer. Few people ask for information regarding the introductory APR on the card. If they do, the salesperson rarely knows. Usually, APR's on store issued credit cards starts at 21.99-23.99%. This APR is reserved for people with good credit. Introductory APR's on store credit cards may start as high as 28.99%!

This is how the store benefits. They issue a card immediately without having to spend any money on advertising to gain an applicant. They immediately attain a balance on the card which has a high APR. They also get the consumer to return back to the store because they are carriers of their card. Plus, these cards may be used to make online purchases or catalog purchases over the phone. Their only loss is 10% of a purchase that they will more than double from each consumer over time.

Let's say that you are a responsible individual. You want the 10% savings, so you figure that you'll use the card, immediately pay the balance in full, and never use the card again. This seems like a legitimate thing to do, but it has a few flaws. You benefit from paying the balance off immediately because you've just saved 10%. True for the short term. Longterm, you may run into problems. It would be unwise to cancel this card directly after paying off the balance because it would show up as a closed account on your credit report.

Closed accounts on credit reports are viewed as negative by lenders. So now you're stuck carrying a credit card that you won't use because the APR is too high and it doesn't come with any long-term rewards program. You will probably receive periodic credit limit increases over 9-month terms, especially if the lender sees that the account has a zero balance and no delinquent payment history. Each credit increase will directly affect your potential debt. Thus, potentially impeding your potential for credit card approval on cards that you will actually use. Is this worth the initial 10% that you saved?

If you want to save money on purchases, there are much better alternatives than store issued credit cards. One option is applying for a cashback credit card. These cards are issued by major issuing banks and typically come with low APR's on purchases and balance transfers. Recently, Chase Manhattan Bank has replaced their Chase Cashbuilder card with the Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa. This card has an intro 0% APR on transfers/purchases, no fee, and a 12.99% variable APR thereafter. You may earn up to 5% cashback on purchases or choose from a variety of different rewards, such as travel and merchandise. Savings using this card or other similar offers wisely, are much more lucrative than those of a one-time 10% savings on a purchase.

There are other specific rewards programs available. Chase also issues Disney, Starbucks, Borders Books & Music, and Avon Visas. Citi issues a Home Rebate Mastercard featuring mortgage savings and a Upromise Mastercard featuring future savings on college tution. All of these come with lower APR's than store issued credit cards.

Another thing to be wary of are gas rewards cards issued directly from gasoline merchants. These credit cards typically come with high APR's similar to those of department store and retail issued credit cards. If you are interested in saving money on gas, many banks now feature gas rewards cards. Chase currently offers Hess Visa and the Chase PerfectCard (which provides cashback on gas purchases), while Citi has just launched their Shell Mastercard. Applying for these cards from banks rather than merchants will provide you with greater savings and lower APR's.

Be wary of signing-up for any merchant issued credit card. Read the find print and ask as many questions as possible before enlisting. These decisions may affect both you and your credit longer than you may think.

Credit Card Outlet

Russ Nauta is a senior staff writer and investigator for Credit Card Outlet.

Credit Card Outlet has been a leading consumer credit card information portal since 2004.

This article may be reprinted with a live link back to http://www.credit-card-outlet.com