e-commerce as a full-time income

wondering what kind of products fullfil this

[webmate]

As a newbie to ecommerce as a webdesigner so providing solutions to clients, I was just wondering what kind of e-commerce products anyone is selling which provides the equivalent to a 'full-time' regular employment income.

I guess this questions is prompted by a previous post about "is your site(s) profitable to run equivalent to a full-time job". Am curious to know ...

[jatar_k]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld webmate,

Think of it this way, people run traditional stores/businesses as full time businesses selling anything and everything under the sun. The same stands true for web stores. People sell everything and anything.

[Essex_boy]

....except oil paintings I cant give 'em away.

[digitalghost]

>>except oil paintings

I buy oil paintings, but I have to see an oil up close and personal. I need to look at the depth of color, texture, patina, etc. And I want to see it with different lighting treatments.

>>wondering what kind of products

Needful products. Necessary services. Consumables. It's the difference between selling DVD players, or movies. A person buys a DVD player once a year? Once every 5 years? How many movies will that same person rent over the course of a year? 5 years?

Yes, you can operate under the assumption that you can sell anything and everything. Market research doesn't bear that out though. Try selling concrete mix over the web.

You need to start by taking a look at the cost of acquisition for new customers. Then look at the cost of customer retention. Determine the margin for your products. Sometimes the cost of acquiring customers erodes the margin to the point where selling over the web is pointless.

Advertising on the web can be cheaper but for certain industries the associated product costs ensure that very little money can be made.

Then there are products that people like to touch, or perhaps smell before they buy. A certain fragrance company has already learned that they can't sell a new frafrance over the web. Until the person can smell it, they simply won't buy it. Oil paintings are another product I believe would be difficult to sell over the web.

There's a lot of research you can do to make sure once you market a product well, that you can make money on it. Nothing is more devastating than to successfully market a product, only to find the margin won't support your business.

[mack]

You should work towards a topic that you have an interest in. Experience in a given field will give you the edge.

Base your sales area around a topical site. That way you have the info to draw visitors and the ability to sell suitable products.

Mack.

[derekwong28]

<A certain fragrance company has already learned that they can't sell a new fragrance over the web.>

True, it is extremely difficult to promote new products of this nature. However, established products from well-known cosmetic companoes will sell very well provided that prices are low. The most successful e-commerce company in Hong Kong sells cosmetic products and have sold to 130 countries.

[killroy]

I believe the easiest products to start up with are things that you can't access offline either. i.e. anything in a packaging that you cannot open in the store. This includes a lot of electronics and household products. For example I believe you can sell a toaster purely on a picture and a feature list. On the other hand things that are tryy out and test in shops will be much harder to sell online.

SN

[Essex_boy]

good point about the paintings - thats why I pulled the site.

Im thinking of selling Tiffany lamps on the web - you know what they do - you can see thing the pictures going to be the same as the product etc. All possible angles are covered in the consumers mind.

Good luck whatever you choose.

[shasan]

Software-based stuff is always good. i.e. downloads for money. Mainly because it costs you nothing to reproduce the 'product' each time it's downloaded, so your contribution margin is up in the 90%ish area for the most part.

So due to your high margin, you have the advantage of charging lower prices, and hopefully the lower prices will create enough volume to make the bottom line look good.

[derekwong28]

Unfortunately, neither our business or my present full-time job can be transferred to another country, but I am working on this.

The prices of everyday necessities are quite reasonable in Hong Kong, what is really expensive are housing and automobiles. For a start, a 30% downpayment is required for property purhases. Since we are expecting another child, I am really feeling the pinch at the moment since we would have to move to larger premises and possibly get a 7-seater.

It was only 1 year ago when we were only making a few hundred dollars per month. This only changed when we carried a new line of products. However, there are at least 20 competitors in Hong Kong selling the same stuff and therefore we just do not feel secure at the moment.

[Slava]

In my opinion, you should also determine whether you are going to sell something locally (i mean only at your home country) or you would like to go international. when we were meditating about our e-commerce projects we were certain we would like to use Internet to reach global customers. the best product in this case is digital (no Customs, no post services). we have launched a software project. along with that we run a 'tangible' product project selling it to other countries and now and then facing with Customs issues and non-deliveries.

[sun818]

Hmmm, as a web designer, you are entering a competitive field. There's no niche for you to work from. Sorry to sound discouraging. I found this thread on relationship building [webmasterworld.com] interesting though. Just because you are an eCommerce shop doesn't mean acquiring your clientelle has to be web-based only.

[PCInk]

Think of anything that customers need regularly. Everytime something runs out, don't think "must get more...", think "I could sell this...oh, and I need to get more..."

Or something that you buy regularly but keep.

For example:

- Soap, dishwasher powder (expanded into specialist ink cleaner and other cleaning products such as vacuum cleaner bags, dustbin bags, toilet paper and so forth)
- Music CDs, Video DVDs (but already well covered, you may not make a living when competing against Amazon), but could try music books (about music bands/composers) and printed sheet music
- Business cards and letterhead - set up a printing company
- General office stationery (but LOTS of knowledge needed - there are so many products - so much to learn)

Once you have your VERY narrow-minded single product to sell, contact some wholesalers. Let THEM tell you what else they sell - the other things they sell are the things you should also sell - they'll be similar and you can get them all from the same place.

Think outside the box, take risks and remember failure is part of success. Two steps forward and one step back is successful.