Costco /Wholesalers

[tifosi]

How many of you have experience in buying, or currently buy merchandise from wholesalers such as costco and then sell online either through an ecommerce site or ebay?

Was talking to a neighbour a couple of days ago and she was just off with a colleague to costco to stock up for the business whe works for - actually was trying very hard not to stare at her boobs... but that's a different story!

Curious to know your experiences with this. Was it worthwhile in the long run? Where the wholesale prices low enough to make profits? What niche areas did you work in?

Not seen much discussion on this here. Interested to see if it's worth exploring. Costco manchester is 15-20min drive away (after the rush hour!)

 

[bensd]

Do up your research first.

A lot of niches you find on eBay are not worth it, when you consider eBay fees + PayPal fees + postage + packing materials.

 

[bluerock]

I shop at Costco but only for food and pigs ears (not for me!).
There is very little at costco that you could flip, the same applies at Booker.

If you are interested in bulk buying and maybe selling on ebay, amazon etc have a look at trader magazine .

 

[stender]

I don't think costco is any cheaper than supermarkets generally. You get some things which are good deals and some things you dont see over here but not that great. Their cafe is cheap tho'!

 

[murph]

Costco... Hmm free nibbles and coffee not that cheap on most things

 

[willbon]

Tesco's deals are often cheaper!.... be careful and do the research.....

Also, if it's food stuffs make sure you're aware of the sell-by dates..... Costco's are often short...

Good luck!

 

[tifosi]

If you are interested in bulk buying and maybe selling on ebay, amazon etc have a look at trader magazine .

Thanks. Only at research stages for a few projects but the ecommerce site of development work is something I want to push next year.

Agreed a joint venture for one domain with a wholesaler who originally wanted to buy the domain for a high margin online-friendly product.

Have a couple more domains I want to push but would need reliable wholesale deals where the margin would be worth it. One for memory cards.

S

 

[noonoo1]

I shop at Costco quite alot, there are some great bargains to be had and there are some thing that are expensive.

You also have the shipping problem if you are smelly online.

For example they had some cheap stone garden figures from baby Buddhas, angels, devils, lions and imps. The baby Buddha lying on his side was 18 " long cost me £9.99, you could easily sell that for £40-50 if you had a shop.

 

[scottmccloud]

A friend of mine makes a nice little profit from the local Next Clearance outlet. Usually doubles his money on Ebay for very little effort.

 

[namealot]

Uk wholesalers for new non uk manufactured goods I’d say waste of time,,, The profit generally isnt there to make them viable. Try alibaba etc straight from Chinese/ American etc manufactures...

 

[gabrielnagy]

I think Costco is worth shopping if you are VAT payer...or so

 

[Philnorris]

I do know that we have customers who state that our B2B prices are lower than Costco for canvas prints, but the delivery brings it almost even. However for that they don't leave home. I am also going to be making further reductions on those prices in the coming weeks. If you have a VAT number and are buying from Europe, you are not paying tax on it.

Mind you for someone who has to research, there is a lot of competition and finding the best deal could be a hard slog.

We have customers who buy of us specifically for eBay and amazon, they make a living out of it. (Will be doing this ourselves soon).

Is this not what all retailers do, buy in cheap and sell on for a profit.

Research, test and invest Best thing about ebay and amazon is that you can advertise your product, if it sells you can place the order with companies like ours and have it delivered to the buyer directly.

No investment risk and you do not need to bulk buy as you arrange a discount plan in advance. You get all the profits without ever touching the goods

Mmmhhhh maybe i should be doing this myself

 

[Ghengis]

I do know that we have customers who state that our B2B prices are lower than Costco for canvas prints, but the delivery brings it almost even. However for that they don't leave home. I am also going to be making further reductions on those prices in the coming weeks. If you have a VAT number and are buying from Europe, you are not paying tax on it.

Mind you for someone who has to research, there is a lot of competition and finding the best deal could be a hard slog.

We have customers who buy of us specifically for eBay and amazon, they make a living out of it. (Will be doing this ourselves soon).

Is this not what all retailers do, buy in cheap and sell on for a profit.

Research, test and invest Best thing about ebay and amazon is that you can advertise your product, if it sells you can place the order with companies like ours and have it delivered to the buyer directly.

No investment risk and you do not need to bulk buy as you arrange a discount plan in advance. You get all the profits without ever touching the goods

Mmmhhhh maybe i should be doing this myself

What you are talking about is Drop Shipping.