How To Sell Electronics Online
23. Jul, 2010 
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When you want to sell items online, you really need to do your research to find out if you can actually create a viable business. Ecommerce is huge and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. I only seeing it growing in the future. If you want to get into the ecommerce game, then you should know of a few tips to prepare. Products that I am most often asked about are consumer electronics. Everybody loves electronics and everybody buys electronics. The consumer electronics industry is huge and continues to grow. Here are a few tips on how to sell electronics online.
1.) Setup a legitimate company
There are many ways that you can sell items online without creating a legitimate company. The question that I have for you is have you thought about the ramifications of selling online without proper licenses and protections? It only takes one person who doesn’t get the right service, or hurts themselves while using a product that you sold them to sue you. One lawsuit can ruin your life if you do not have the proper protections and forms in place to protect yourself. The electronics industry is up there in regards to lawsuits due to people not understanding how the product works or doing something that the product was not intended for.
If you think that since you didn’t manufacture the product that you will be safe, think again. Most state laws use the supply chain to find out the responsible parties. Since you are part of the supply chain (the one that actually sells the item to the end user), you are just as responsible as the manufacturer. This responsibility can be very devastating if you are not protected. Take the time to create a business in the form of an LLC or incorporation. These types of businesses have protections for your personal property that others do not. They do cost money to setup, but in the long run, what is a couple hundred dollars compared to thousands or millions? Think about this fact before trying to sell electronics online.
2.) Educate Yourself
Without the proper education, how do you think you can sell electronics? With so many items for sale out there, I realize that it is impossible to be educated on all things electronic. Most successful companies that sell consumer electronics specialize in one area. They do this so they have the most educated people at their company who can answer customer questions and provide support. If you are the only one at your company selling electronics, then you need to educate yourself on the basics of your top sellers and main product categories. You will find out very quickly that most customers do not know how to use their items properly and they will then contact you for assistance. If you cannot assist them, then you have lost a potential repeat customer. There are many places out there to learn about electronics and how they work, which items are the best in their category, and so forth. I recommend Cnet as a great source.
3.) Find a reputable supplier
This is probably the most important step in the process. Without quality electronics, what do you expect to sell? There are many companies out there that have electronics to sell, but are they any good and will they deliver what is promised? Luckily for you, I have successfully fun an online electronics company for over 5 years. I would say that this step took the longest time because I wanted everything to be right.
Before I go any further on this subject, I want to clear away one thing right now. Most, if not all, dropshippers that you 
find online while searching Google are no good and not legitimate. Most of them actually just buy from a real distributor and then sell them to you. You will find out real quick that you then are left with no profit margin, so in turn you have no business. These companies include Doba, Drop Ship Design, Shopster, and many others. Stay away from these companies as they charge for their services and provide you with items that you can get directly from legitimate distributors.
Since I have been in this business before, I can tell you that one of the most reputable companies is DBL Distributing. They provide about 40,000 electronics and accessories. They were purchases a couple years back by the largest electronics distributor in the US, Ingram Micro. In order to actually use their services, you have to have a legitimate company setup. They do not sell to anyone and the reason is that they are a real company. The offer two ways to get product once you are 
setup. You can buy from them wholesale, which means you purchase all the items that you want to sell. This can be expensive upfront, but if you have the cash and the space to store these items, then go for it. They also provide one of the best dropshipping systems that is out there. Since they are part of Ingram Micro, they have 3 warehouses throughout the United States. This allows your customers to get their items fairly quickly, which always makes for a happy customer. You can place your orders manually or via flat file FTP transfer. If you only have a few orders, then manually is fine. Anything more than 10, you can just use flat file as it is pretty much automatic.
I will say that if you want to get an account, then sign up for one through DBL and not through Ingram Micro. DBL is still a little less stringent than its parent company Ingram, so you have a better chance of getting accepted. Signing up with Ingram will take much longer. The best part is that once signed up with DBL, you will automatically be signed up with Ingram. This is just a little trick that will speed up the process. Another good company is Petra. They provide the same services, but only have one warehouse in Oklahoma.
These are the top three items that you need in order to sell online. Of course you will need a website. Actually you will need a website that can handle a lot of products and one with a quality database and user interface. Most customers do not want to purchase from a company that doesn’t have a good website to show. Take your time in setting up your website, your company, your suppliers, and everything else. Selling electronics is a very hard task to do online due to the extreme amount of competition, but anything is possible if you do it the right way. Just remember to stay away from drop ship only suppliers, as they are just cutting into your profits.
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