Our Process for Finding Products to Sell

After my wife and I settled on sporting goods and team sports equipment for our new online store, we scheduled a few meetings at the white board in a spare room we had in our $460/month apartment. We brainstormed what products we wanted to sell: football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, (our four most favorite sports), soccer, tennis, and a few others. We tried to brainstorm as best we could what selection of products we would sell. We drew up how the categories would be laid out. We tried to anticipate the ordering patterns our customers would have. For instance, would there be a good percentage of customers who would combine in their orders products from different suppliers of ours who were spread across the country? If so, we were bound to lose money on shipping costs, since our shopping cart (osCommerce) would only allow us to input one zip code indicating the location from which our products shipped. What if many of those customers ordered expedited shipping from two different warehouses and our site only calculated it as coming from one location? Then we'd really lose money on the order.

Despite those concerns, we moved forward looking for suppliers to fill our virtual warehouse. While we're on the topic, that does bring up a point. Over the course of our owning the business, we were able to find many suppliers who would drop-ship their products to our customers. Some of the suppliers were smaller sports clothing manufacturers who carried an assortment as small as around fifty different styles. Others that we found and used held millions of dollars worth various sports related products in their warehouses. Each end of that spectrum has its advantages, but if you can find a good solid supplier with a wide selection of the type of products you want to sell, that will get you off to a good start.

Our strategy for finding companies that we could partner with initially focused on finding an association that covered sports equipment. We quickly came across the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), and we signed up for a membership. Their directory had all the contacts we would ever need: manufacturers, distributors, sales representatives who covered multiple lines. Because we were members of the NSGA (which costs less than $100 per year), we had some credibility with suppliers we contacted.

Another resource we relied on was Dunn & Bradstreet (www.dnb.com). They have a handy tool that allows you to search for companies using keyword phrases to find what you need. I would typically do searches for terms such as "basketball distributor" or "sporting goods wholesale". You can search nationally or by limit the search to a particular state if you want to deal with someone locally.

Finding suppliers for the products you want to sell can be a stumbling block for someone who wants to break into the online retail world. Just like everything else I've emphasized, this process can take some time. You may have to be more patient than you anticipated, but if you're persistent and use some creativity, you'll find you've ultimately taken another big step forward in your quest to own a successful online business