I have a few questions

Seeking some answers

[tml89]

I recently went searching for a PS2game/Dvd supplier. All I found was middlemen, ebooks etc. My point is I know you cant make money with these types of suppliers. I would like to know how to find a good supplier without simply doing a search for them. In fact how do I find good suppliers for any sort of items?

My second question is. How can you effectively find a nice market? Are there strageties to help find a potential market.

Thanks
Feel free to PM if you dont not want to post suggestions on the board

[Essex_boy]

When i looking to launch a new site I visit a trade show related to those products, having first checked the demand on Wordtracker.com.

I have found 2 words with around 700 searches a day with very little competition.

[tml89]

I tried looking for a trade show. No dice. All I can find is spammy "wholesalers" Im looking for the real thing

[johnjameson]

Hey!

So let's say you find the nice market you are looking for.
And your key word has many searchs on ****.com.
How are you gonna bring people to your site?
Free submitting?
how? there are many who'll flop you.
Google adwords?
This means money for bidding!
I have a Url i submitted to search engines and I should say I am not quite happy about it!
Someone told me about linking more of your sites together.
Hmmm!

So in my opinion the problem is bringing people to your site, doesn't matter what you do or sell.
What do you think?

[mquarles]

For finding trade shows related to DVDs, the search term plus "exhibitor list" gives several trade shows and exhibitor lists on AltaVista.

Probably several are good potential suppliers.

MQ

[tml89]

How about finding a ps2/xbox game supplier?

[martyt]

I've always started at the top and worked my way down - go to the manufacturer of a particular item and ask them for distributors and wholesalers in your area. Shouldn't take long to find some.

The trick is getting one of the wholesalers to do business with you. Without a brick-and-mortar storefront, a lot of them think you're just trying to buy stuff for your own use at discount prices. Be persistent and eventually you'll be successful in setting up the relationship.

[mquarles]

and ask them for distributors and wholesalers in your area.

If you're planning to stock, local is very nice, as you can save a ton of cash flow by having a local supplier while you get going. If you want to run it to the edge, and don't have to ship same day, you could even go with no inventory and stop by your supplier every day or two.

MQ

[martyt]

If you're planning to stock, local is very nice, as you can save a ton of cash flow by having a local supplier while you get going. If you want to run it to the edge, and don't have to ship same day, you could even go with no inventory and stop by your supplier every day or two.

That's essentially how my business works - I keep a wide-but-not-very-deep stock of items and make trips to the supplier twice a week for more stock.

We stock over 1000 different items but only keep a couple of each on hand; the capital investment that would be required to keep a deep enough stock level that I could service orders reasonably while getting restocked every couple of weeks would be tremendous and just not possible at this stage of the business.

I think the constant face-to-face relationship with the supplier has really worked in our favor - I've been able to get them to start carrying items for which we're their only customer -- they have the burden of stocking case-quantities of the items and I get the benefit of having ready availability without having to stock huge quantities.