Getting Started with Online Selling!

The Draw - They Said It Was "Easy"!

These days, everyone is buying just about everything online. Due, in large part, to the COVID pandemic, even those who were less comfortable with online purchasing were in some ways forced to use it when regular stores were shut down. With this in mind, many people have begun the journey of listing their existing products online, and some have decided that this new path is a great way for them to earn extra money. What you don't hear much about is how much of a journey it really is. What is required, what customers expect, and how you can execute flawlessly are definitely not something to be taken lightly. Below we will explain the basics for getting started.

The Experts

The first thing to keep in mind when starting an online business is to make sure you aren't taking advice from anyone who is profiting from that advice without actually helping you. We have seen so many blogs, vlogs and social media posts promising that if you do what these people are telling you (advice you must pay for, first, of course) you will become a millionaire online - primarily by becoming an online seller. Much of these sales pitches leave out the expenses you can end up with, and don't adequately prepare you or help you along the way. The purpose of our post here is to educate everyone on the truths of these endeavors. Those include:

1. Understanding who your customer is

2. Knowing what products you are selling and evaluating the competitive landscape

3. Expenses you can expect (both overt and sometimes hidden)

4. Some tips to get you started with your own listings

Throughout our careers, we have educated ourselves using reputable (and affordable!) books, training videos from the respective sites we are using, and conducting our own research. Everything you read here comes from our own experiences as sellers, and we have learned from experience how this journey can be both incredibly rewarding, and incredibly frustrating as you're starting out.

It would be impossible to include absolutely everything we know in a single post, but here we will cover the first topic - Your Product vs Your Competition

The Who

It seems counterintuitive to some, but the first step in online selling is not necessarily your product. In many cases, it is your customer. Some questions to ask include:

•  Who are they?

•  Where do they go when they shop, both in-store and online?

•  How do they think about their purchases? Are they focused on quality? Country of Origin? Price point?

•  What do they expect when they open their package?

Understanding these details first can help you tailor the shopping experience to this customer, making them feel comfortable on your site or product page, as well as confident in their purchase with you.

The What, The Where, and The Other Who Out There

Once you can answer The Who, you can move onto the next step - The What. However, in addition to your product, you must also know The Where, as in where are you going to be selling? And finally, The Other Who Out There - who else is making/doing/promoting that particular product or service and how you compare?

Here are some questions to ask as you think through this part of the process:

•  Where will you be selling? Your own website, Marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart, Etsy, eBay, etc. are all viable options. You can even sell in more than one place! This answer will help guide the rest of these points. As you evaluate where things are listed, you can see who your competitors are and understand what else is out there already.

•  Are there other products like yours? If so, do you have a way to differentiate with additional features, colors, functions, etc.or can you come in with the lowest price?

The "How Much" - and Don't Forget The Shipping!

What does the product cost you to land at your facility?

What additional costs are associated with selling?

•  Does your website charge a fee for processing payments?

•  How do you plan to drive web traffic to your website? If you plan to use paid search advertising, include this as an average across your products.

•  If you are selling on Amazon, Walmart, etc. what are their fees for your products? It tends to vary by category, and though they do seem high, consider how much traffic goes to those sites versus a single website where awareness must be driven by you, exclusively.

How much will it cost to ship one item? In this evaluation, be sure you consider:

Will you be selling in the US? Overseas? Always be sure to check the furthest point and use that to average out how much shipping will likely cost in total for a particular number of products.

•  Example: we are in Georgia, USA. If we are considering selling a product only in the USA from a location in GA, we need to know how much it will cost to send it to every region, including Alaska and Hawaii. As you can imagine, states like Illinois, Texas, etc. are more central. Where your product originates from and ships to makes a difference in these costs. If you are not regionally targeting your site traffic, and even if you are, be prepared for these extra costs.

Will you offer free shipping?

•  Based on customer expectations today, you probably need to answer "yes" here. Determining if you can hide that cost in the price of your product is necessary to ensure profitability.

•  Is your product something you can sell as a set to include more in the package to help offset the costs of shipping?

The Logistics - Can You Handle It?

These include, but are not limited to:

•  What are the costs of continuously replenishing, storing, and managing inventory?mes more than you can manage?

• What are the costs of continuously replenishing, storing, and managing inventory?

•  How will you handle processing of returns, customer communications, or requests for replacement?

Should you sell on a marketplace that offers logistics management?

•  This is a much more broad topic than we can cover in this first installment, but it is definitely a consideration. It typically comes with a fee, but as your volume grows, having the extra help can be worth it if you don't want to or are not able to scale it yourself!

The What You Learn From Your Competitors?

Not only can you see what the competitive landscape looks ike, if there are others selling similar things, you can also glean a lot of great information from their reviews!

•  How many reviews are there?

•  Are they paid reviews (usually indicated on the review for legal reasons) or organic?

•  What do customers say could be improved? Can you apply those suggestions yourself to proactively address complaints you may receive?

The TL;DR

Selling a product that is customer focused, differentiated, priced competitively, and that you can afford to ship are the keys to success. Understanding the time and costs of post-sale logistics are important to consider before they start to drown you and take away from the first steps of selling. In addition, learning what you can from your competition can help you differentiate and meet a customer need better the first time around.

Should you decide you would like to use us to help you with your listings, please do not hesitate to reach out! Email us at info@tvgbusiness.com any time! Reminder that we offer a full service solution, but we will also provide training to you (and your team, if you have one) for a simple and competitive hourly rate. No hidden fees, all personalized to you and your goals!

Happy Selling!

TVG