After a couple months of toying with the idea of selling trains sets online, we decided it wasn't the best option for us. As we brainstormed about what else we could try, we quickly settled on team sports apparel and equipment. My wife and I both love sports. I wrestled and played varsity football and baseball in high school. I also love to play basketball, volleyball, and other competitive sports. My wife is the same way. We figured that we couldn't go wrong selling the kinds of products we used.
The next step in the process was to determine exactly what products we would sell. That decision would be contingent on a few things. First, because we didn't want to carry an inventory, we needed to find companies who would drop-ship their products for us. We wanted to sell to customers directly, many of whom would likely only buy one or two of any particular item. This meant that our suppliers needed to have low minimum order requirements.
The next priority was to find products that had a decent markup. Especially when you consider all the fees associated with completing the sell of an item - credit card processing fees (about 3% of the total), drop-shipping fees (as high as $8.00 per shipment for some of our suppliers), etc. - you want to make it worthwhile for you to sell what you're selling. Most items on which there isn't at least a legitimate 30% margin are just not worth selling.
Here are some suggestions. Most kinds of clothing have 100% markups from wholesale price to MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price). Lots of niche products or somewhat custom items have high margins. Consider what you'll sell carefully before you put all the time into building a website, marketing it, and ultimately finding that the profit you're making (or not making) just isn't worth the time and effort you're investing.
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