eCommerce Tycoon

**Luc004** · 06-04-2008, 07:31 PM

Hi I am new here....here is my idea....get an ecommerce site (a very high end professional looking one which I can get for free from my partner who owns a web firm); and then import some product from India or China or other and sell online via my site....sound too simple? or is it much more complicated than what I am thinking?
Thanks in advance,
Luc

**wisdomtool** · 06-04-2008, 09:20 PM

The freight fees etc will cost a bomb, you will need to factor this in. Also ecommerce transactions can be dangerous especially using credit cards, there are tons of fraudsters around.

**Luc004** · 06-05-2008, 04:56 PM

Well many people import so that must be factored into the cost of an importing business, I suppose. I am not sure where to get exact costs on freight or even as much as a better, approximate idea...as for ecommerce, my partner does that online for lots of businesses so I am confident, that won't be a problem

**yourmediaking** · 06-05-2008, 09:14 PM

Extra charges such as legal taxes will be an issue to think about. One of the hardest things is to keep your business water-tight, in that sense. You don't want anyone/any firm trying to put you through court and whatnot as you haven't paid the correct taxes/duties.

As long as you can get the site made (from your partner), you are ok. Ecommerce websites can get really expensive when you tell a firm to make them. You should concentrate on making everything legal and ok to do business.

As far as online fraudsters, yes, there are loads out there. You will need a secure website in order to do any business at all. If you are a start-up business, I recommend you use PayPal payments only. You simply write on the site, " for secure payments buy through PayPal". This is usually enough for someone to buy. Really, PayPal does seem the best way. This is because, almost everyone will have either heard of PayPal or have an account.

Hope this helped.
Good luck.

**nyef** · 06-05-2008, 10:18 PM

Drop shipping is much easier to do than importing and reselling, and it can be more cost effective too. Depends on what product you're selling.

**jonnyshaw** · 06-06-2008, 12:54 PM

you are lookin at around £20 a month for your card processing as well as maybe the same from your bank so about £40 a month and usually a big setup fee for your merchant id mine was £250

**willcode4beer** · 06-06-2008, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luc004

Hi I am new here....here is my idea....get an ecommerce site (a very high end professional looking one which I can get for free from my partner who owns a web firm); and then import some product from India or China or other and sell online via my site....sound too simple? or is it much more complicated than what I am thinking?
Thanks in advance,
Luc

Don't be dissuaded by the comments. Actually selling a real product is one the the best ways to make money online.

But, first things first. You are talking about creating a business. Write a business plan. Find out who your market is and who your competition is. Figure out how you will advertise to you potential customers and what it will cost.

Create a budget and figure out how many sales you need to break even. Figure out how likely you are to exceed that number.

A good plan will take you some time to put together. It will be worth it's weight in gold because it will help you to understand and organize everything you need to do.

good luck

**upstarter** · 06-07-2008, 11:05 PM

This has been the route taken by a lot of successful companies. But as with any business, the market you choose is everything. So don't just import something random because it's cheap, then try to sell it. Instead do a little research and see if you can find a niche that's under-served, with good margins.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily count on getting anything but the most basic site for free. Even if you have a friend who's a developer, they're not going to want to spend 50-100 hours developing a really slick site for free.

**Luc004** · 02-21-2009, 11:12 AM

Thanks for all your help...I appreciate your input.