Wholesale Community - Cross Mark Co.

There are plenty of articles, courses and seminars on starting an online business. The steps are very simple. Most people have seen the steps and understand the basic concepts. Unfortunately, many do not approach the steps wisely. This is why many online businesses fail.

Choose Your Product

The first step, of course, is choosing your product. Every business deals in products of some sort. When considering the product, the cost, profit margin, and acquisition of the product are all major concerns. To get an idea of how this works check out some China exporters and the local market price for those products in your country. You will find that many of these products can be bought from China exporters at fairly low prices and sold, at local market prices, for a decent profit. When looking at costs it is also important to look at shipping costs and any import taxes, as this will affect overall cost. This example uses only China exporters and sales obtained from your local market, but you should compare prices from different exporters and look at the fair market price for all countries you might sell to.

The weight of the product should be a consideration, also. Start with a light weight product first. A low cost, low weight product cuts your risk, considerably. It also cuts the risk of your potential customers. Most people don’t like to spend large amounts of money with a new company. They are willing to take a risk on a small purchase. A high cost of shipping may also turn some people away. Light weight products help keep the shipping cost down. Build the trust of your customers and they will come back for more, and possibly larger, orders.

Choose the Vendor

After you have chosen the product, it is important to find the right vendor. China is a global manufacturing hub. Many of the world’s products come from China manufacturers. People are often hesitant to put their trust in China vendors. It is important to remember that a vendor from Hong Kong is held to a higher standard than most China vendors. Their strong foundation of business law, good reputation for safe, reputable vendors, low shipping fees and no export fees make them a reliable, safe choice.

Remember, it does not matter if the vendor is a manufactory, or simply a supplier, because many will claim to be manufacturers. It is the price of the products that matters, not whether you are buying directly from a manufacturer. Compare prices, not claims you cannot verify.

Select a vendor with a large selection of products in the category you are looking for. Skip over the vendors that only have a few products. You will end up spending a lot of time searching, and purchasing from, many different vendors. One supplier with many different products can help you bypass this waste of time. You will also save on shipping cots because the items can be shipped together. This saved time can be put to other important tasks of your business, such as securing orders and customer service. Remember your time is money.

Website

Convenience is important. Build a website that will allow customers to purchase directly from your site. There is no need to spend a lot of money having a programmer build you a site from scratch. Use an e-commerce site that offers templates online (e.g. creloaded, oscommerce, etc.) You can choose the template that gives the look and feel you are looking for. This will save you a lot of money, and time, when you give the programmer the style and template already. If you are not sure how to install or set-up the template you can check with technical assistance on your server, or get a programmer to help out. Having the template already will keep the cost down.

Promotion

When getting started you should focus your efforts on the FREE promotions. These include registering in the business directory, shopping directory, press releases and articles, and using auctions. It is important not to use the auction as your main income source. Auctions are difficult when selling new items from a wholesaler, because everyone wants the lowest price. It can be an effective promotional tool, and it may help you develop repeat customers.

The free ideas listed above are great promotional tools, however, they do require a good deal of time. If you do not have the time to do this, or you have an advertising budget available, you may want to try other promotional tools. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Paid-To-Read (PTR) advertising is a low cost promotional tool that can get traffic to your site. It is not guaranteed to generate sales, but will drive traffic to your online store.

Other Promotion

There are other options for promotion that require a little more technical, and marketing, knowledge. Search Engine marketing and e-mail campaigns are good examples. They are very powerful tools, but are also very complex. Tips on these promotional tools will come later.

It is important to approach the start of any business with a good plan. An online business will have lots of competition and therefore should be planned out in advance. A good product, from the right vendor, sold from the right website, with customers driven their from good promotion will lead to a successful online business venture.

China offers many quality, low cost products for resale or the individual buyer. However, there are many hazards when buying from Chinese wholesalers. It is important to be knowledgeable about these traps to ensure that you get the best value for your money, and do not get ripped off.

When purchasing products from China it is important to understand the difference between vendors from Hong Kong (Hong Kong vendors) and those from the rest of China (China vendors.) There are distinct differences that make it important to distinguish between these two vendor types.

Why Is The Difference Important?

Many people are choosing China for their low cost, high demand products. The low cost of these products means more profits for a company. However, if the products are not of good quality, or simply do not arrive, the profits can quickly disappear. This is why it is important to understand the difference between a Hong Kong vendor and a China vendor.

A little history will help shed some light on the differences. Hong Kong was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until the transfer of its sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. Many of the current laws and business standards are based on the colonial laws that were in place before 1997. These laws are the foundation for trust in Hong Kong businesses.

Many dishonest China vendors have set a bad precedence for dealing with vendors outside of Hong Kong. These disreputable dealers may take your money and run, and it would be difficult to track them down. These dealers might also send counterfeit products, again leaving no recourse for the business that falls victim to this dishonest business practice.

Hong Kong’s strong foundation of business law, that promotes fair business practices, helps prevent this situation. Hong Kong businesses are held to a higher standard and can be easily tracked. Free export tax from Hong Kong also makes this a better option. China vendors do not have this same benefit. They have to pay an export tax. Many exporters ignore the tax, which could result in the product getting lost in China customs, or, if it does slip through, it could cause the buyer problems passing through their country’s customs. Hong Kong is the number one export point, globally, illustrating the safety and reliability of exporting from Hong Kong.

The product prices will be similar between Hong Kong vendors and China vendors. Since you will be getting the promised product from the Hong Kong vendor, and may not be from a China vendor, the value of the Hong Kong product is much higher. Since Hong Kong is a city of China there is no import/export expense in getting the products from the China manufacturers. Of course, the shipping cost from Hong Kong will be much lower due to its well developed international transport system.

So, unless you can afford the risk involved, and have a lot of experience, you should avoid China vendors and focus your trading with vendors from Hong Kong, for safety and value.

So, How Will I Know if The Vendor is From China or Hong Kong?

Due to the bad reputation that some China vendors have gotten, many vendors from China are trying to capitalize on the Hong Kong connection. They will use names like ABC Hong Kong Company or ABC (HK) Company. They do this because they are not located in Hong Kong and their company is not registered in the city. Companies who are located in Hong Kong do not need to use Hong Kong in the name to emphasize their association with the city. This is a quick indicator that a company is, or is not, a Hong Kong vendor.

There are numerous low level vendors who will portray themselves as Hong Kong vendors, while being located elsewhere in China. A quick and easy way to check to see if this is true is to look at their phone number. The country code for Hong Kong is 852, while China’s country code is 86. If their number does not begin with 852, they are not located in Hong Kong. Another quick way to verify their information is to send a letter to their address and ask for an e-mail response if they receive the letter. This will verify if their address is real.

Paypal can help you verify if a company is truly a Hong Kong vendor or not. You can click on the Send Money button and put in $1 (you will not actually send the money.) Click continue and on the next page (Confirm Payment page) you will click the link under the seller’s e-mail address. This will show you their account information, including account type. If it says HK Account you can feel safer dealing with them.

Using these simple tests you can eliminate most of the low, and intermediate, level China vendors trying to disguise themselves as Hong Kong vendors. To uncover the few higher level cover-ups you will need to invest a little more time and money. You will need to order a single item, or other small order, from the vendor. Even the dishonest China vendors will usually ship small orders to entice a customer to come back and place a big order. When the order arrives, inspect the product to make sure it is the real deal and check the stamp, international mark, or shipping label (bill) and see where it came from. If it came out of another city in China, you know they are fraudulently claiming to be from Hong Kong and you can drop them from your potential list.

High quality, low cost products from China manufacturers can be a great boost to your business. However, if the products never arrive, or are counterfeit, the end result will be a loss. That is why it is important to deal with vendors out of Hong Kong, instead of other cities in China. Verifying that a company is actually in Hong Kong may take a few simple steps, but it will be worth it in the long run. A safe, and profitable, relationship is the goal with any vendor. A Hong Kong company can be that partner.

Cliff Lee is the sales manager of Cross Mark Co., a company which deals with China wholesale products. On the company’s website, www.cross-mark.com, you will find more information regarding their offer.