Expert: Marvinator - 6/19/2006

Question
hello.i stay in india.but i have found that in india the selling rate is very less compared to other countries like us or uk.so rite now i m want to concentrate selling mobile phones there.i m trying to osurce products from china as there it is avaible at low prices but if you can suggest any other alternative wholesalers or dropshippers of mobile phones and electronics product where i can get it at low prices.
and the other problem i m facing i sthat i dont have huge investemnt to star with .In india the listing fees is free while in other country there i slisting fees so was thinking how do people manage to creat e so many listingi mean if many items dont get sold it may get wasted .
thirdly the query is taht in wat format basically the products get sold in fixed price format or auction format.since i m finbding auction format to be too risky.like if my costing for particular item i s 200$ and it is getting sold ta  an auction at 150$ then  iwkll need to pay the wholesaler frpm my pocket.so how do basically other ebay seller overcome this problem and sell succefully.as for setting reserve price or starting price is said to hamper the selling so it is said to usually avoid this format.
and the fourth and last question is that like i m planning to concentarte on few product category and cretae landing pages for then and promote it thru ppc camapign of google and yahoo.so will that be effective.like ifi set a campaign of.20cent per clcik and spend 5 $ day which may get around 20 vistors approx so can i expect an avg of atleast 1 person buying the product if i have listed it as fixed format.but since it is said that the competition for thi skeyword may be high so upto ho wmuch can cpc go .
thanks in adavance.

Answer
I will try and answer each of the 4 parts of your questions in order.  

1) Drop Shippers. I don't like Dropshippers.  Not a week goes by without someone asking me about Drop Shippers.  Drop Shippers are a good way to go if you don’t mind the business of being in business.  What I mean is that you need to consider several things about Drop Shippers.
 First, You are not the only customer of the Drop Shipper.  You are not among an elite group of 20-50 sellers either.  The company couldn’t stay in business with just 20-50 clients.  This means that you are selling the same things as hundreds to several thousand other Ebay sellers.  Each of you is hoping for the same sales and probably the same clients – and you all bought the same item for the same price.
 Second, if you do actually end up making a sale, there is no guarantee that the Drop Shipping company will have your item in stock when you go to order it and they are not obligated to get the item back in stock just for your one customer, either.  You and your customer can end up waiting 6 – 8 weeks or more!  In fact, it may end up that you are forced to refund the customer’s money just because the Drop Shipper oversold and didn’t have it in stock when YOU needed it.  I’m not saying this WILL happen, but it does happen and more often than Drop Shippers will admit.

ANd wholesalers.  I hesitate to offer lists of wholesalers to those who ask as I do not want to use All Experts to advertise for others, and additionally I don't want to end up archiving a list which later would be useless as wholesalers go out of business.  I can offer some insight into the "Lists" which are sold on Ebay.
 Most of these lists are bogus.  They are merely lists which anyone can garner off the search engines on the net and which, with a bit of effort on your part, you can get just as easily.  Manufacturers have websites and on these websites are close out pages, sales and specials.  Check them out on a regular basis.  CAn't find them? CALL the company and tell them you're looking for closeouts, stock overruns and specials at wholesale pricing.  

As I'm sure you are aware, being in India is going to be your most difficult challenge. The main reason for this is the shipping from India to other countries, mainly the US.  In addition to the cost, many US customers are hesitant to deal out of the US as there are few laws which can protect htem from scams and fraud.  You will have to work twice as hard to get these customers to trust you.

2 & 3) In order to use Ebay effectively, there is a learning curve and a pricing curve which you must learn.  Many times I"ve seen sellers who will list too many items too cheaply and then end up losing too much money.  This maybe in part of the answer to your next question, but never set up an auction which will sell for less than you want it to.  If you are unsure as to the items ability to command the right price, start it high - always start above your cost to be sure you will sell right.  If the item doesn't sell, you are not out more than a listing fee and you also learn a lot about the item you sell.  
 The same can be said for any of the "bells and whistles" of listings, such as the bold title, gallery pic and listing designer.  Until your item has a proven track record, these are only ways to empty your pocket.  

4) Much like the things above, which 'empty your pocket', you shouldn't go out and pay someone to drive clickers to your auctions until you are sure that your pricing will sell them.  Remember, you're paying for clicks, not for buyers.  On the surface, this may seem like a good idea, but like the bold title, above, it will only empty your pocket until you have honed your auctions and item pricing to the right point to where these "clickers" will become buyers.