TommyCarey
Level X3
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I've set up numerous ecommerce websites that sell hundreds of items and I have absolutely no inventory in my possession. How do I do this? I source my products from companies who sell to anyone, but the masses don't usually know of them.
When I source a product I usually go through aliexpress because I can buy a single item and not have to buy in bulk. This helps keep my costs down since I don't have to invest in 10 items when I make a sale and then hope the other 9 will sell and I can make my money back. No, I buy one only after I sold it ;)
Here's a quick guide on what to do in order to source an item from aliexpress.
First
Think of an item you can sell and then find it on aliexpress. Make sure it isn't a $100 item or you'll just run into problems later. There's a good chance that aliexpress will have it because they have loads of companies listing their products there.
Second
Cross reference that item with what is currently selling through Google adwords and see if it's even worth it to buy and sell. For example, if you're sourcing phone cases and you can get one for $1 and it's selling for $20 on Google shopping, then you have a winner. You can literally make 20x your investment after someone buys. And the best part is that you don't have to buy the item until someone has already paid you for it 
Third
Finding a reputable company that sells your product. If you're looking for phone case companies I'm sure you'll find plenty. Weed out any company under 98% and browse the rest. Most likely you'll only have to pick one company since a lot of the sellers there will sell very similar items. Only pick the best of the best since you'll have a lot of great companies to choose from.
Fourth
Find the company that is the producer of the items you're wanting to sell. There are some companies that will mark up the original companies items and try to sell them to you. So by finding the original manufacturer, usually the lowest priced company, you'll cut out a middle man and increase your profits.
Fifth
After finding a few companies, or the manufacturers, you'll want to filter out some of them based on how long it takes to ship an item. Typically you can get free shipping or pay $2 for 5-7 day shipping, which is amazing since it's coming from overseas. Any company that says 15-30+ days shipping should be excluded from your list. Any company that says it will be $20+ for S&H should be excluded from your list.
Sixth
Now that you've found your company or companies, you'll need to start compiling products. The easiest way to do this is to make one folder and name it after your website. Then inside the main folder you'll want to place a folder for each item you want to sell. Find the product you want to sell and name the folder after what you want it to be named on your website. Now copy and paste, or drag and drop, the URL into the folder. This should create a link to that page where the item is at (this is better than bookmarking the page). Now copy and paste, or drag and drop, all the images you want from the product page into the folder. Be sure to give the images unique file names so that they are easier to sort through. Do this for all of the items you want to sell and it will be a great database of items and images for when you set up your website.
Seventh
You can use whatever platform you want in order to set up a website. I prefer using shopify when setting up an ecommerce website since it's extremely user friendly and the free themes look great Set up your website during your free trial and be sure to get all your items on there with the images you chose when sourcing.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
You've successfully sourced items and added them to your website without spending a single dollar
Thanks,
Razzy
They give you a step by step process, with images, that shows you exactly how to do it. As for fees, the highest you'll pay is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. The more you pay for your subscription, the lower that gets, down to 2.4% + $0.30
Hey IdealMike,
Below I've answered your questions. I've also added some additional info ;)
[b]Q:[/b] [b]Other than the ease of use and free themes, what benefits are there to using shopify instead of your own site and WordPress with say WooCommerce cart? [/b]
A: There may be not benefit at all, I just like the fact that when I sign up for my new shopify website, everything is already configured for me. All the auto emails are configured perfectly and always inbox since you're going through shopify's platform. There are tons of apps (similar to plugins on wordpress) that you can add to your website. The only downside to the apps is that a lot of them cost money. I'm sure in the near future there will be a lot more free apps, but shopify is relatively new compared to other platforms. The only downside that I've noticed is that you can't use a [email protected] email unless you set one up outside of shopify and add it into an email field inside your shopify dashboard.
[b]Q:[/b] [b]How long does their free trial last for and do you have to use their domain as your website domain or can you use your own domain with them too?[/b]
A: Shopify offers a 14 day free trial which is more time than needed if you're setting up a website. I set up a drop shipping website through shopify and doing everything I talked about in the original post, it only took 5 days doing it a couple hours a day. Obviously if you are only selling a few things it will be much quicker to set up. As for the domain, you can use your own, you just have to aim it at their servers and edit the DNS a little. If you don't know how to do that, don't worry :D They give you a step by step process, with images, that shows you exactly how to do it.
[b]Q:[/b] [b]Can you tell us about what the fees for non-free plans are both in terms of hosting and fees you pay on any sales the site makes you?[/b]
A: The pricing is $29, $79, or $299 a month and the more you pay, the more features you get access to. I never pay more than $29 a month because I rarely need anything in the higher priced accounts. The only benefit of getting the $79 subscription is getting access to shipify's cart recovery option, but you can just pay $10-$15 a month for an app and get a cart recovery on your website lol :D As for fees, the highest you'll pay is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. The more you pay for your subscription, the lower that gets, down to 2.4% + $0.30
[url=https://www.seoclerks.com/files/user/images/shopify payments.png][img]https://www.seoclerks.com/files/user/images/shopify payments.png[/img][/url]
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EliteWriter
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