Hi. I am planning on starting a Nike merchandise store on Ebay and a few other sites. Can anybody help me find some good Nike wholesale suppliers – basically anybody who can supply me the merchandise at very competitive rates.
I am seeing a lot of lists on the internet for Nike wholesalers, liquidators as well as distributors – how do I make out which are good?
There is no easy way to get a good readymade list of Nike wholesale suppliers –at least not something that you can start a business right away with. People take years to build their own lists and there is no way they will be willing to give that competitive advantage away. So rest assured that whatever you will get for free is probably worth nothing. Even the “paid for” lists are suspect – you have no idea what you are getting into till you have handed over the money.
What you see on the internet are usually outdated, redundant or even absolutely irrelevant databases that eat into your valuable time. At best, these lists do contain a few good names but these guys have already been bombarded with so many requests that they probably will not need additional contacts. People often pay to be on the lists which is why they are free – which in turn makes the quality of the people on them suspect.
I would suggest going to some quality events, forums as well as sites and hanging out there to see what you can find. Names will crop up and you will need to do due diligence on each before you can start working with any of them.
You could start with these. Then try checking out all the latest trade magazines – most reputed Nike wholesale suppliers will be sure to advertise there. You could also try and frequent sporting and other relevant events.
If you have any links within the company, you can find out a list of authorized Nike wholesale suppliers. You will get the Tier 1 from the company and then you can ask around and get more information. The closer your supplier is positioned to the company, the better it is in terms of your costing as well as the quality of products that you are likely to get.
There are also directories – hard as well as soft, of wholesale suppliers that you can find with industry association bodies. The best part is that customers often leave feedback that can help you make informed decisions about which suppliers to contact.
Given that it is a brand like Nike, there are bound to be quite a few Nike wholesale suppliers. I would suggest that you use the following precautionary checklist before deciding to work with anyone:
1. Make sure that they have a valid email address, contact number and physical address.
2. If the person says that he or she is representing a company, call up and check
3. Check the website address – any Nike distributor would have a website with a half way decent design and text
4. Check to see how long the domain name is registered for.
5. You could call up global verification services to find out more about the company.
You may also want to visit popular trade sites and forums and see if you can actually `bump’ into the relevant people there. Also ask around among friends and family – you will be surprised how big your personal network can add up to.
You may also want to place a small sample order to see the quality of the goods that you will be receiving when you are on the verge of finalizing any one guy or firm.
Then of course, there are all kinds of financial frauds that you should look at protecting yourself from. No saying who is a cheat nowadays. A third part escrow system works best when large amounts of cash is involved.
I think the best way to get the names of Nike wholesale suppliers is to work backwards. Ask around, I’m sure somebody would be willing to help. I have in the past worked through paid and unpaid lists to get contacts that further helped me with other contacts. There is no substitute to ground work in this kind of business. Even well established resellers are still updating their contact lists – if you meet somebody good early – that’s a lucky break!
Plus, once you actually put up a store, people begin to contact you. You could consider getting hold of stock to start you out from a store closeout sale, liquidation.com or even contact the many names that you see on online sites. One good reliable supplier / supply can get you started.
What you should also be on the lookout for are fakes – There are a large number of people going around pretending to be Nike wholesale suppliers when they actually supply factory rejects or worse, faked Nike clothing, shoes and even accessories. You will need to get the consignment checked by an expert or learn to make out the differences yourself.
Nothing sends your feedback scores plummeting like faked goods.
Yes. Ironically, it is easier to find a fake Nike wholesale supplier much more easily than a genuine one. Just google it – thousands show up. It can take days or even months to sort out the real good ones from the cheats – a hugely time consuming exercise.
Once you have identified a few possible Nike wholesale suppliers, be sure to work out the math. Half the people out there pretending to give you wholesale pricing are just overcharging you. You should expect to pay no more than 60-70% of retail price; anything more and you are probably getting ripped off. You will of course have to buy in volume – and make space for keeping inventory, so make sure you factor in all the relevant costs.
Yes. It is important to create a business plan before you get started. Not only do you need consistent and reliable product supply, you also need to ensure that you are making money on each sale. Make sure to include the smallest of costs and plan for buffers – there will be product charge backs, returns as well as small frauds from time to time.
Shipping can also contribute to an extra cost not to mention Paypal for which you need to foot the bill. Most people don’t really realize how thin the margins are – everybody is selling on Ebay and the rates can get real competitive.