If you’re looking for a new line of work to get into for a change of pace, starting your own business can be very exciting. One of the best things about working for yourself is being able to set your schedule, work from wherever you want, and still make good money. Thanks to the advent of e-commerce platforms and the ease with which anyone can make a website, it’s never been a better time to start your own business. One easy industry to get into as an entrepreneur is the electronics business. Buying and reselling popular electronics and peripherals can be a great way to start making money on your own. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Securing Inventory
A key part of flipping electronics online is getting your products for a good price. However, part of getting a good deal on your inventory is knowing where to look. One popular distribution choice for many budding entrepreneurs is a liquidation website. These businesses offer you the opportunity to purchase liquidated inventory and wholesale electronics from big-box retailers. This means that you have access to the same sorts of products consumers buy from businesses like Target, Walmart, and Amazon for a fraction of the price. Using an online bidding platform, pallets of returned or liquidated products are auctioned off to the highest bidder. If you do your research and properly calculate what you believe you can get for each item on the palette, you can set your maximum bid at a number that will ensure you turn a profit. Best of all, you are always capable of bidding on more listings, so it is easy to scale your business once you get the hang of it.
Pricing Fundamentals
Speaking of turning a profit, pricing plays an important role in how successful your business is. While the fact that you are acquiring popular electronic goods at a severe discount may make you want to only bump up the price a little bit, it’s important to think about the time involved in packing up and shipping each item as well. For example, if you purchase an MP3 player for $60 and then want to sell it for $75 you are only making $15 an hour if that’s how long it takes for you to list, package, and ship out the product. This doesn’t even factor in the cost of shipping the item which could be $5 to upwards of $40 depending on its weight, destination, and insurance. When you consider that many retail jobs can make you $15 an hour or more, you quickly see why pricing an item that low isn’t worth it.
Make sure to create a budget showing your monthly expenses as well as what sort of income you need to keep your business afloat. Since you are putting up an investment of money and creating overhead for your business, you want to make sure that you are making a good amount of money off of each sale. Keep in mind that many people jump at the opportunity to save 20 or 25 percent off their favorite products. If you can acquire those same electronics for 50 percent of their listed retail price, a 25 percent markup on your end gives you a much better sale while still giving them a good deal.
Improve customer service as you scale
As your business continues to grow, you will undoubtedly have customers who need to make a return or have another problem that needs solving. How you deal with these situations plays a big role in the reputation of the business you are building. Positive word of mouth can go a long way in helping to boost your sales, while negative word of mouth is much harder to shake. One option for fielding customer inquiries is to use a call center software platform like the one built by Bright Pattern. This tool goes far beyond traditional voice calls to give you a variety of options for engaging with consumers. Whether you are looking for a way to field emails and text messages or would like to use an AI chatbot on your website, Bright Pattern’s software will give you plenty of options. Best of all, their software is enterprise level, which means that if you ultimately have goals of building a business to rival the likes of Amazon, Bright Pattern will help you get there.
