You have to be resourceful at times if you want to get products to sell through your business. It is important for you to be aware of what your sourcing options are. You may need to use more than one of them at any given time in order to find what your customers need.
So, what are the different product sourcing methods? What do they involve?
1. Light Bulk Wholesale Sourcing
If you are short on capital and need to stock your business, you should consider light bulk wholesaling. This sourcing method involves getting smaller quantities of stock from your wholesaler at the prevailing wholesale price.
Once your wholesaler gets your order, the products will be shipped to your business address. You will be responsible for storing the products, packaging them, and then shipping them to your customers.
Light bulk wholesale sourcing is therefore a wonderful way for you to become an entrepreneur even with low amounts of capital. In addition, the profit margins that you can make are quite high since you can sell your products at retail prices.
2. Overstock Purchasing
If you are in desperate need of stock for your business, you should consider overstock buying. This product sourcing method will involve you buying new and unopened stock that manufacturers or wholesale suppliers had left over from the previous season.
Overstock purchasing is usually a good way to get products on a one-time basis. There is no guarantee that stock will always be available after each season. You can negotiate for cheaper buying prices if the supplier is desperate to get rid of the items on sale.
3. Volume Wholesale Sourcing
Volume wholesale sourcing of product involves ordering large quantities of your chosen stock from your supplier of choice. The warehouse storage, packaging, and shipping will be your responsibility.
Volume wholesaling is a great way to source for products if you have a lot of capital and have plenty of customers. You stand to make huge profit margins if you sell your products at retail prices after buying them using this option.
4. Drop Shipping
If you hate dealing with warehousing headaches, you should consider drop shipping as a sourcing option.
Drop shipping involves you selling products to the customers while letting the wholesale supplier do the deliveries of the said products. You will only be required to pay the wholesale price to the supplier while selling the products at retail prices.
Your profit margins will be slimmer if you use drop shipping as a product sourcing method. It is worth noting however, that you will also have less paperwork and storage problems to deal with.
5. Liquidation Buying
Using liquidation as a product sourcing method will require you to buy products from wholesalers or manufacturers that they are very eager to sell. The owners of the products are sometimes so eager to sell that they are willing to incur some losses just to get rid of the stock that they have. This usually happens when the products are too many.
Many times, liquidation buying entails the sale of new stock. However, you should verify the state of the products just to be on the safe side.
6. Importing Products
Importing products involves buying products from suppliers in other countries where the production costs are significantly lower. You can make huge profits this way.
Take time to find the product sourcing methods that work for you. After all, they will determine your bottom line.