A Guide to Working from Home: Whole Sale Drop and
Ship
The home computing revolution
and the advent of the Internet has made the dream of “Working from Home”
a very real and lucrative possibility for millions of Americans. And
this does not only apply to those who have found they can now
"Telecommute" in their chosen professions. Many have been bitten by the
next wave of entrepreneurial spirit that is sweeping the nation, and are
actually leaving their jobs to start their own home based businesses.
But choosing the right home based business can be a challenge.
eBay and other sites have made
it easy for just about anyone to enter the highly profitable world of
E-commerce and selling over the Internet. But what to sell? Well
companies that provide cheap products to Wholesale Drop and Ship
have the answer to starting this home based business.
AT A GLANCE
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Expected Hourly
Income |
Potential Six Figure
Annual |
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Start-Up Costs
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High,
Moderate, Low
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Start Up Degree of
Difficulty |
Easy,
Moderate, Difficult, Very Difficult |
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Potential Problems |
Fraudulent Wholesalers |
Getting Started
Using Wholesale Drop shippers
and a sales channel like eBay Auctions to start a lucrative home-based
business basically means you will become a retailer without a “brick and
mortar” store, and will be entering the world of e-commerce. The
wonderful thing about eBay is that you will be leveraging an
infrastructure that is already in place, and when used right with the
right product, can set you up for life. Now ad to that a good and
legitimate drop shipper – and low an behold you have a complete “virtual
business” – with no store front, no inventory but a great way to make an
income, all form you w own home. The key to getting started is finding
the right wholesaler. The best way to do that is to check out the links
on this page. They have done the homework for you and can help you find
the real wholesalers that charge you the absolute cheapest rates for
products and drop ships – and are not in reality middlemen pretending to
be wholesalers. True you will pay for some of these lists and programs
but the amount of time and grief it can save you by weeding through the
phony wholesalers is worth it. Other things you need to know before you
start: Depending on what you are selling you may need a license. If you
take goods on consignment or are purchasing large quantities of
inexpensive goods to resell you may need to acquire an auctioneers
license form your state. See the resource links at the end of this
article for more information on licenses. Make sure what you are selling
you can legally sell on eBay you can see a comprehensive list of
what can and cannot be sold at
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/item_allowed.html.
While it may not be necessary to
set up a corporation initially as you start your business as a retailer
using Wholesalers and Drop shippers you should at the very least:
- Open a private mailbox at a
local “mail store” or post office and use that instead of your home
address as your business address.
-
Register your business name or DBA with your town clerk or county
clerk's office.
- Obtain
a federal tax ID number for your business from www.irs.gov--don't
use your Social Security number.
Start-up costs
To get started the way we have
described you could expect to lay out about $2500.00 in start up costs.
This should cover the name searches, registrations, licenses, and
incorporation fees if you choose that route, and the cost of a mail drop
address and box. Of course you should have a computer with a high-speed
Internet connection and a website. While the total start up costs for a
Wholesale/Drop Shipping Business can be higher then some other simpler
Home Based Businesses – they are still significantly less then starting
a similar “real world” retail business or purchasing a franchise. As in
any Home Based Business – if you have left work to pursue on line
retailing as a full time income, and do not have access to health
benefits through a spouse, you need to include the cost of health
benefits in your monthly budget. More information on Insurance for the
Self-Employed can be found at
www.insurancebudget.com or
http://www.nase.org/
Hours and Income
As we have been saying, starting
a home-based business based on Wholesale Drop & Ship is much like
starting a retail business. Expect to put in full-time hours, and expect
to reap fulltime rewards. Following the suggestions made here and at the
links provided, you can build a primary income stream with using
legitimate wholesale drop shippers that can result in six figure or
greater profits.
Potential Problems
The greatest pitfalls with a
Wholesale Drop and Ship Businees is finding legitimate Wholesalers who
can get you unique product at rock bottom prices. Too often people start
this kind of business only to find people listing the exact same
products for far less then they are on eBay, because these people have
found the source f the true wholesaler. Other problems occur with those
who are trying to buck the system. Do not try to defraud the state in
terms of Taxes. Any profits you make from eBay Auctions must be reported
as income. Do not even think of trying to play games with eBay.
Do not falsify any claims in your listings – and forget about getting a
“shill” to falsely pump up your auction prices, not only will it likely
result in your permanent suspension form eBay- you may face criminal
charges.
Other Resources
http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research/ - Help on becoming a
more effective eBay reseller from eBay itself.
www.web.com - low cost website creation and domain name registration
http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/leadership/advicefromcliffennico/article76374.html
- Do I Need a License?
Conclusion
Wholesale Drop and Ship can be a great way for someone with little or no
experince and a modest amount of start-up capital to enter the
multi-million dollar market of e-commerce and Internet retailing – just
watch out for the mentioned pitfalls.
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Fed
up with the rat race?