Jewelry is a huge market, especially online. It makes a great gift, either for yourself or for a friend or loved one. Plus it’s universal – jewelry is recognized by cultures all over the world as a symbol of wealth and well being, and as a reflection of personal style so there is plenty of room to make money in selling jewelry!

Is wholesale jewelry hard to source?

Sourcing jewelry is not difficult. There are hundreds of online wholesalers who you can easily get in touch with and buy from, however, filtering out the sub-standard ones and finding the very best suppliers, can be difficult. When you meet with or talk to suppliers, here is what you should look out for:

* Excellent customer service. There is nothing worse than a supplier who doesn’t reply to emails or return your calls. Make sure customer service is something your supplier takes very seriously.

* A perfect record. For online suppliers, you can conduct a search on them on the Better Business Bureau’s site which can tell you if the site has had complaints laid against them. If the complaints are all about product quality, this indicates that they might not be the best supplier to work with.

* Suppliers with a wide range of products. This will not only help with your jewelry selling as you can have a broad range of items for sale, but also because further down the track, you may want to expand your product range and if you already have a great supplier, you’ll be one step ahead. As a repeat customer, you should be able to get their rock-bottom prices too!

Sourcing anything can be tricky, particularly for first-timers so it is important to do plenty of research before you dive right in and invest a lot of money in buying stock which you aren’t 100% sure will sell.  To avoid this dreaded situation, you will need to spend a lot of time researching the jewelry market by looking at which products sell best.

Check out the SaleHoo Research Labs, which will give you an exciting insight to the current selling trends on eBay. Even if you are not planning on selling your jewelry on eBay, it’s still a first-rate way to see what people are buying.

Alternatively, talk to suppliers about which products are top sellers, they can be a great source of information and asking them can also give you an idea of how helpful they are in giving out information and answering your inquiries.

Click here for Wholesale Jewelry Sources

Drop shipping is when the product distributor takes care of all the shipping for you. Rather than ordering stock in bulk, the stock remains with the distributor then when you make a sale, they pack up the item and send it straight to your customer with your company label on the box.

Drop shipping is great for those who are new to online selling as it means there is little to no start-up cost and virtually no risk involved, as you won’t need to invest in a bulk lot of items that you aren’t 100% sure will sell. Using drop shipping services also eliminates the issue faced by many online sellers: where they will store their items – there is no need to hire any storage which means big savings for you!

However, drop shipping does have some drawbacks. Firstly, drop shipping is slightly more expensive than buying in bulk. Often a drop shipper will add US$2-US$5 dollars onto the cost of the item to cover their costs of processing the item. This means that keeping up with the staying competitive in high profile categories like electronics and clothing may be difficult but it certainly does not mean that you cannot make money when you drop ship, it simply means that finding a niche market will be even more important.
The 5 step guide to drop shipping:

Step 1: Find a drop shipper

You can do this by either Googling your product name + “drop shipper” or you can check out online wholesale directories like Salehoo.

Step 2: Set up an account with your drop shipper

You may have to pay a small account set up fee – while this isn’t always ideal, it is common practice for drop shippers. You should be weary, however, of suppliers who insist on you paying monthly or annual fees.

Different drop shippers have different types of accounts which you can set up. You can either credit your account and use the credit to pay for items you purchase for your buyers or you can pay as you go and use the money you receive from buyers to purchase the items

Step 3: List the items you wish to sell on your website, estore or online auction site such as eBay. You can list as many as you like, seeing as you don’t have to pay for them until they sell! Use the photos and item descriptions that your drop shipper supplies.

Step 4. When the item has sold and you have received payment from your buyer, log on to your suppliers web site and purchase the item you have sold and have it sent out to your buyers address. If your drop shipper does not have an ecommerce site set-up which you can buy directly from, simply send them an email with the details of what you want and where to send it to.

Step 5. It’s all up to the drop shipper now! They will package and ship the item out to your awaiting buyer.

Click here to Find Drop Shippers

The prospect of sourcing items from China is both exciting and daunting for most sellers, so when you throw trying to source branded items into the equation, it can make an online seller very nervous!

The answer is yes, you can import branded items from China, but it’s not easy.

This is because most branded items which come out of China are fake which makes sourcing genuine brands very difficult for retailers as many suppliers will try to convince you they are the real thing.

These days, it’s not just Louis Vuitton bags and Rolex watches that are replicated and sold as genuine in China. Here is a quick list of the most common replicas to come out of China:

* Consumer electronic goods such as iPods
* Designer Jeans
* Surf brand clothing like Billabong board shorts and bikinis
* Designer spectacles
* Perfume
* Cosmetics and skin care
* Computer software
* Brand name power tools
* CD’s and DVD’s
* Designer jewelry

So with that many fakes out there, how can you be sure you are going to get the real thing?

* Firstly, genuine branded goods are not cheap! Wholesale authentic branded goods are only between 5-30% discounted from the local retail price Therefore, if a supplier is offering you for example, a tube of Crème de la Mer at the same price as a tub of Nivea face cream, it’s defiantly fake!

However, be aware that some sellers of replicas know that a higher price makes their items seem more genuine so they hike up their prices accordingly.

* You also need to check the quality of the items. Do this by ordering a sample or two from your supplier and really analyzing the item. Check for things like the quality of stitching, the quality of the print in the design, the label and care instructions (poor English is a giveaway e.g “do no wash in washing machine”, or “dry cleaner only”).

However, keep in mind, that just like suppliers know all about what retailers look for in pricing.

They also know that a retailer will largely judge whether an item is genuine based on the sample they are given, so sometimes you will be sent out a sample which is of much better quality than what you will receive if you bulk buy.

For this reason, you cannot rely on the quality of a sample item to determine whether a supplier is selling the real deal (hey like I said, you can buy branded items from China, but it ain’t easy!).

* Ask the supplier to supply photos of the stock you want to buy with their own company branding in the photo. This will prove whether they actually have the stock on site. Don’t feel like you are being pushy or rude by asking for this, as it is essential to ensure that you and your money stay safe from scammers.

* Request to see their documentation from their manufacturer which authorizes them to re sell the branded merchandise.

If you are still unsure, the best idea is to call the branded items local or national headquarters nearest you. You can find their contact details easily by doing a Google search, and they will be able to tell you if the name of the supplier’s company is one of their licensed distributors, which will mean you can finally put your mind to ease.

Click here for Legitimate Product Wholesalers

Are you wondering how some sellers can survive (let alone make any money) on the rock bottom prices they sell their items for?

Believe it or not, many long running sellers are not only surviving while selling at those rock-bottom prices, many are also be making more profit than others who are listing the same items at a much higher price!

This is because these big-time sellers can get their goods super-cheap from the very best wholesalers, meaning they can buy more, sell more and make more profit!

Why can large retailers can sell goods so cheaply?

Because they buy their items in big bulk (and I mean big!) and as a result, they can sell their items for very competitive prices. They order huge quantities at a time, often spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single bulk order which considerably reduces the price per unit.

Large retailers have often spent years building relationships with their suppliers which means they get the best possible deals when they buy in such high volume. While you might be a few years away from being able to spend a few hundred thousand on making a bulk order, there are plenty of things you can do to help you get the best deals possible from the very best suppliers.

Here are a few cheap wholesale tips to follow when you search for new suppliers:

* Avoid any suppliers who charge extra fees. This will help to keep your costs per unit down and there are plenty of suppliers out there who will not charge any extra fees such as monthly memberships or charges to access their web site’s store – you wouldn’t pay a supermarket to look around at what they have to offer would you? So don’t do it with any suppliers!

* Be prepared to spend a lot of time do conducting pricing research. This is absolutely essential for all retailer sellers. Top sellers differ from other sellers in that they understand the amount of time that goes into pricing research and they get stuck in and do it! Pricing research will help you to determine whether it is possible for you to compete in a particular market.

* Go for suppliers who offer a guarantee or warranty for all items they sell to you. This is very important for keeping your costs down and profits up, as if you end up with a few faulty items, you need to be able to return them to your supplier, rather than refund your buyer yourself. This also helps to increase your sales as it gives buyers confidence in your products and your customer service. Usually, the warranty will be between you and the supplier – meaning if the items proves to be faulty, your buyer will return it to you then you will return the item to your supplier for a refund or exchange.

* Import your items! You can save (and make!) a lot of money by importing goods from abroad. Countries such as China and India are much cheaper to produce items in than Western countries which means you can make a lot of money when you sell them in your own country.

How do they find these amazing suppliers?

There are several ways to find the very best suppliers out there:

1. Call manufacturers directly – this can help you get in touch with the very best of their retail suppliers, and if you can call and say “Hi, I’m Mike. Gary from Precision Manufacturing gave me your number and told me you are the man to talk to about…”. You can find names of manufacturers by visiting Manta.com an online directory of businesses in the US, UK, Australia, Canada as well as other countries. Here you can search for manufacturers by entering the name of the product you are looking into sourcing then following the links to the contact information for the manufacturer.

2. Use online wholesale directories such as SaleHoo which lists over 8,000 of the very best suppliers on the web.

3. Go beyond the Internet. There are other ways to find great suppliers – try trade magazines and trade shows – a great way to build all-important relationships with suppliers. You can find trade shows near you by Googling ‘your state + trade fair/trade show’ or if you are really serious, you can visit the massive trade shows held in China.

By using the above tips and information to find your next supplier, you’ll be profiting like an eBay PowerSeller in no time!

Click here for the Best Cheap Wholesalers

What to look for in a great wholesale electronics supplier:

* Quality products. To make it big in selling electronics, you need exceptional quality of products. Unless you are dealing in second hand or factory seconds items, you will need flawless products and packaging with manuals and instructions. It’s so worth the time it takes to find a supplier with great quality items as it will save you a lot of time spent on processing refunds and dealing with angry emails from frustrated customers.

* Quality Service. You need a supplier who will deliver on time and will respond to any queries thoroughly and quickly. The very best suppliers will communicate with you regularly, even long after you have placed a large order with them. You should also go for a supplier with a strong personal interest in electronics and technology – this will help when you have technical questions and will help to ensure that they will stock the latest products.

* Product guarantees: Of all the products you could sell, electronics is probably one of the most potentially problematic. Your supplier should be able to guarantee all their products.

* A partnership approach. A strong and mutual relationship will benefit both you and your supplier, and will have your supplier acknowledge how important your business is, and you acknowledge how valuable their great service and product range is for your business.

* A clean record. For online suppliers, you can conduct a search on them on the Better Business Bureau’s site which can tell you if the site has had complaints laid against them. Look closely at the results – even some of the best sites have had complaints lodged on BBB but if there are many that are consistently about the quality of the products, it’s best to take this as a sign that they aren’t a great supplier.

Where can I find the best wholesale electronics suppliers?

The best suppliers aren’t always easy to find but with a few hours of solid searching and researching, you can definitely find some great online suppliers.

* Google searches work well, but to really narrow your results down to finding only the best search for “award winning + electronics suppliers” or use other key words like “legitimate”, “trusted” or “recommended”.

* To really ensure that you get the best possible suppliers, use a reputable online supplier directory. The best of these are regularly updated and list only trusted suppliers. To find a list of reputable suppliers, try Googling “product sourcing directories”.

* To find local suppliers, you can try visiting local trade fairs or simply pull out your Yellow Pages and looking for manufacturers, suppliers or wholesalers near you.

Click here for the best wholesale electronics suppliers