SEO as store owner

.. and outsourcing fulfillment

[jaski]

Most of the threads I have read here seem to suggest SEO as contractor and goods supplier as the owner.

I am sure there are instances of things working the other way round. I was wondering what are the problems involved .. if one were to think of going that route.

[Mike_Mackin]

Another way of looking at this issue will be found HERE [webmasterworld.com].

Many SEOs have dumped clients for a piece of the pie.

[Travoli]

is that what you meant, jaski, or could you elaborate more?

[jaski]

I meant a situation where SEO is the store owner and actually collects the shoppers money from his site and forwards orders to a merchant for fulfillment. SEO does not keep any inventory and takes the services of a merchant/wholesaler who is the contractor.

Some discussions do touch upon that in affiliates forum as pointed by Mike_Mackin.

On this page, Alby talks about some thing similar
[webmasterworld.com...]

I think that will be more or less, a no frills, stripped to bones amazon's business model?

If one were to take a plunge .. what would be the common problems .. and solutions :)

[sun818]

Are you referring to drop shippers? You maintain the store catalog, but the drop shipper ships it out for you.

Some questions to consider:

Does the FH label the From name your company or anonymous?

Do they ship quick?

Are packages trackable? Is the customer notified by e-mail?

[jaski]

Thanks for replies every one.
Yes I see two options ..

1) Tie Up with a merchant who can handle shipping and customer support on my behalf

2) General fulfillment houses (is that is what drop shippers is?)

but I am more inclined to option 1 ... so far because my product catalogue is going to be limited both in number(100 - 200) and type of products .. and finding a single whole saler who can supply all those should not be a problem.

I feel the customer support is going to be the most difficult thing to be sorted. So let us see :)

Thankyou all for postings.

[4crests]

I purchase my own products, ensuring my customers will receive the best possible price, and I am able to be competitive with other stores prices. Different product lines have to be evaluated case by case. In my product lines, I would not sell much at all if I used Dropshippers. The only way I can compete is by Importing the product myself from China. Other products may work great through Dropshippers. A lot depends on your competition for the products.

I then hire another company to fill all my orders and handle administrative duties, emails, etc.

This leaves me with a lot more time to promote my site. Had I not done this, I would have been stuck filling all my orders, and never having any time to promote/optimize my site.

Of course there are MANY different ways you can go. You have to ask yourself what you are good at. Are you good at SEO skills? Are you good at finding new products and purchasing? Do you have good customer service skills? Do you have the money to purchase product?

There are some people out there who are probably better off doing none of it themselves. However, I feel you should do as much as you can yourself and only outsource order fulfillment or SEO once your business starts to grow. Again, this really depends on everyones unique situations. It's really hard to make a generic suggestion on what is best!