Ecom Product Purchasing

How to find products for an ecom store

[jchuck5612]

I have been running a paddle sport site at <snip> for the past 6 months and have finally started getting some traffic and users to register on the site.

However, one of my primary goals with the site from the beginning has been to also have an ecomm shop that sells products related to the outdoor paddling industry. Unfortunately this is a pretty expensive endeavor and I haven't figured out how to break in? One idea has been to attempt to join forces with another online retailer but all my attempts (10 or so) have been rebuffed and mostly ignored.

Another method that has occurred to me for carrying products has been to be unaffiliated with anyone but to list products and just purchase them from someone else when they are purchased by my visitors.

Can someone tell me if there is a better way? Or if one of the 2 methods I've outlined above should be pursued?

Thanks,
Jason

[edited by: engine at 5:59 pm (utc) on Nov. 16, 2009]
[edit reason] specifics [/edit]

[MrHard]

Have you tried to find a manufacturer of paddles?

[jchuck5612]

Nope. I am looking to form a relationship with a vendor that provides more than just one product associated with paddle sports.

But you bring up a very good point. Instead of one partnership, I could very well form many and carry products from multiple vendors.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Jason Charles

[edited by: engine at 2:06 pm (utc) on Dec. 2, 2009]
[edit reason] See WebmasterWorld TOS [/edit]

[MisterT]

Get a list of absolutely every manufacturer in your industry and their email/phone contact info. (I recommend outsourcing this task cheaply) Contact every single manufacturer directly and ask if they can work with you, or if they have a distributor you could work with. Chances are, if you contact 50-100 companies you'll start learning a lot. I would just hit them all with a canned but semi personalized email, and follow up with the really interesting companies on the phone...