Why Don’t Suppliers Sell to Online Retailers?

As you search for the elusive, perfect product to sell on eBay, you will run across many companies that flat out refuse to deal with you, the online retailer. Why is this? Here, we will explore some of the reasons we have come across through our quest to find products to sell on eBay.

We have contacted a large number of suppliers that will not sell to us because we are an online only retailer. The typical response is, “We are not adding anymore online only accounts at this time.” Our take on this is one of two things:

• They have already signed up what they feel are enough online retailers and adding anymore will just dilute the marketplace.
• They have had some really bad experiences with people who are, shall we say, less than professional and have not represented their products in the best way while attempting to sell them online.

It seems that online retailers have gotten a bad rap when it comes to suppliers doing business with them. And it is easy to see why. There are so many sellers on eBay that sell products at far below retail price (and sometimes less than wholesale costs), or otherwise do not represent the products they sell in the best light, that we understand a supplier’s hesitation to sign up online retailers.

The problem stems from the fact that the barriers to entry to become an online retailer are extremely low when compared to starting a brick and mortar retail store. This seems to attract all sorts of people that would otherwise never go into business for themselves and really don’t understand what it means to run a successful and profitable business. These people become your competitors on eBay and really make your life miserable when you try to compete with them. This is why we highly recommend that you go after niche markets, with little to no competition.

While we can understand why many suppliers are hesitant to deal with online only retailers, we also feel that this is a mistake. Let’s face it – buying and selling online is the wave of the future. No, the traditional bricks and mortar retail store is not going anywhere anytime soon, but the online equivalent is definitely here to stay. The online retail landscape is much more diverse and available to a much wider audience than any traditional retail sales channel. For this very reason, all manufacturers should want to have their products available to sell online. The potential is too great to ignore.

So how do suppliers get around the issues of the problem online seller? How do they weed out the undesirables who really are not the kind of sellers they want offering their products? For starters, suppliers can require potential retailers to prove that they are a real business. They can also require higher minimum purchase amounts, which will scare away anybody who isn’t willing to invest some money to sell a particular product.

So how do you find someone that will do business with you, the online only retailer? While we will cover this in much greater detail in a future post, briefly we can tell you that probably the best source to find companies that will sell to you, the online only retailer, is Worldwide Brands. They are an eBay Certified Solutions Provider and the official product sourcing editors for eBay Radio. Their directory of pre-approved companies that will sell to online retailers is the best there is. In other words, their business is finding sources for eBay sellers, and they are very good at it. The vast majority of the drop shipping companies in their directory will sell to you, the eBay seller, so we highly recommend you check them out!

Now you have a high level overview of why a particular supplier may turn you down and some of the reasons why they might choose to do so. Nobody said selling on eBay is going to be easy, and product sourcing is probably the hardest part of all.

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