The wife is opening a store

[dnoblett]

Try selling them in ebay first.

eBay is another approach.

 

I have considered this one and have seen merchants there handle it this way.

 

Find things that sell well and simply have items direct mailed from China to customer.

 

Benefits are:

• No Inventory here in the states.
  
• No dealing with import/export.
  

This requires a partner in China to handle the inventory and shipping.

[griz326]

I'd love to get a source for cobra and/or scorpion wine. (I'd love to get a display of those things for the store - even if I can't get a source for drop shipping)

 

If I am not mistaken, snake wines are illegal to import here.

 

Yup! ...looked it up... Cobra wine is not permitted because cobras are on the endangered species list; I don't know about other snakes and/or scorpions.

Edited June 24, 2010 by griz326 (see edit history)

[tonado]

How about opening a store in China while she stays in China for 6 months? And she can ship to worldwide.

[griz326]

How about opening a store in China while she stays in China for 6 months? And she can ship to worldwide.

 

 

That's not funny!

 

 

 

[chilton747]

I'd love to get a source for cobra and/or scorpion wine. (I'd love to get a display of those things for the store - even if I can't get a source for drop shipping)

 

If I am not mistaken, snake wines are illegal to import here.

 

Yup! ...looked it up... Cobra wine is not permitted because cobras are on the endangered species list; I don't know about other snakes and/or scorpions.

 

If they are making snake wine then the snakes have to be on the endangered species list unless they are growing the snakes to use. The way I understand it is that the snake has to be poisonous for the wine to be any good.

[tonado]

How about opening a store in China while she stays in China for 6 months? And she can ship to worldwide.

 

 

That's not funny!

 

 

 

 

I thought your wife has to go to China every 6 months for her Chinese retirement. Since she will be there anyway, then open a temp store there. Rent will be cheaper in China than in USA.

[griz326]

How about opening a store in China while she stays in China for 6 months? And she can ship to worldwide.

 

 

That's not funny!

 

 

 

 

I thought your wife has to go to China every 6 months for her Chinese retirement. Since she will be there anyway, then open a temp store there. Rent will be cheaper in China than in USA.

 

 

 

Thankfully, no. She worked a deal with her boss to be able to retire after a final 6 months of service...so she's retired.

 

However, had you been correct it would be a brilliant idea.

[griz326]

When I explained to Lao Po that selling season in Eureka, MT is from mid-April to mid-September, just 5 months, she asked about an Internet store too.

 

That's in the works and has been for a while. ...a while, because it means that I will need to write up all of the Internet ads AND do my real job - the days keep getting longer

 

Here's a question for the retail savvy members of the gang: Based on the seasonal nature of this community, i.e. 5 months of buyer traffic, is it more reasonable to consider our real cost* of business location as 1320/month when determining our margin or markup?

 

* Estimated store rent/utility/insurance = $6600/annually or $550/monthly

 

...and have I got the margin vs markup thing right?

 

(Margin = >=40% ---AND--- Markup = 67% if margin = 40%)

 

 

Something tells me that it's going to be my store unless it is a big bang success out of the gate ...so as a non-retail kinda guy it would be useful to know if I understood the stuff I read on the Internet.

[b.c]

When I explained to Lao Po that selling season in Eureka, MT is from mid-April to mid-September, just 5 months, she asked about an Internet store too.

 

That's in the works and has been for a while. ...a while, because it means that I will need to write up all of the Internet ads AND do my real job - the days keep getting longer

 

Here's a question for the retail savvy members of the gang: Based on the seasonal nature of this community, i.e. 5 months of buyer traffic, is it more reasonable to consider our real cost* of business location as 1320/month when determining our margin or markup?

 

* Estimated store rent/utility/insurance = $6600/annually or $550/monthly

 

...and have I got the margin vs markup thing right?

 

(Margin = >=40% ---AND--- Markup = 67% if margin = 40%)

 

 

Something tells me that it's going to be my store unless it is a big bang success out of the gate ...so as a non-retail kinda guy it would be useful to know if I understood the stuff I read on the Internet.

 

If you feel that you will not have much ability for sales and gross profits over the remaining 7 months then, yes, you need to try to make that up within the 5 months.

 

Yes, you have the margin/markup correct. But the worst thing you can do is paint everything with a wide 40% margin brush, if that is what yo are thinking. It might be easier, but you very well could have products you could get more margin out of to give you some padding if you have to discount any slow moving items.

[warpedbored]

It's a matter of perceived value. We have some items in our store that have as much as 75% margin yet are hot sellers. Because of competition power tools have a 10%-20% margin. The trade off is higher volume and if you're going to have a woodworking store you have to have power tools. The 40% margin should be an average.

[griz326]

Thanks guys. I figured it couldn't be as simple as a straight across-the-board X% margin. Figuring a way to get the overall to average out to your desired margin is where the art of retailing must come in.... I sure hope we have a little of that instinct between Lao Po and me.

 

 

Is it fair to say that you heavily load inventory to proven HOT items and fresh items rather than replace slow moving inventory items (as long as the item isn't one of those things people come into the store to get)?

Edited June 28, 2010 by griz326 (see edit history)

[warpedbored]

If you have an item that isn't moving mark it down and sell it. Even if you have to take a loss. It costs you money to take up space where something else would sell. If you have items that are slow but steady movers keep your inventory low on those items. I've noticed over the years that retail has momentum. For instance if you have an item that has a big demand and you run out of that item, when you get it back in stock the demand can be less. You'll need to figure out what items sell best and make sure you have enough inventory on hand.

[True Blue]

The wife brought back a lot of stuff from China that she wants to SELL!, SELL!, SELL! We are entertaining the idea of renting a retail space that will cost about $500/month-all utilities and Internet included.

 

There are plenty of problems with the wife's plan, but none are insurmountable if she's good at selling.

 

#2 - She doesn't know much about merchandising. She just bought a bunch of stuff to sell.

 

So first...any general comments, tips, recommendations?

 

 

Just a thought - how about trying to get her job in retail working for someone else (sounds like you have tourists in your 1000 person town) and then as she works there and develops a relationship with the boss, have her suggest they add some of her items to the inventory.

 

That way she

(1) Learns the retail business from someone with some experience since you indicated that she doesn't know much about merchandising and you have no experience in the area.

 

(2) Can see if she ENJOYS that type of work first before you make a large capital investment so she is FORCED TO DO that type of work.

 

(3) You can avoid a large capital investment and the hassles of starting a business

 

(4) Once she gains the confidence of her boss, you can see what if anything sells.

 

Several outcomes could then occur

(#1) She hates the retail business or isn't good at it - You have given her a chance and you do not have a large capital investment so she can decide to do something else

 

(#2) She loves the retail business but isn't good at it - she will have a mentor to help train her and slowly improve her skills while you avoid losing your shirt like thousands of small businesses each year. Once she is skilled enough then she can try her hand at her own business and it will have a much better chance of succeeding

 

(#3a) She loves the retail business and is great at it - her boss will recognize this and perhaps offer her a partnership share ... a home business is hard and I didn't get the indication from the tone of your posting that you wanted to spend every moment of your weekend selling dresses and souvenirs and filling in when she is sick etc, etc. I am guessing that if you had a real interest in retail then you would already have been in that line and have many years experience.

 

(#3b)Alternatively, she could then branch out on her own (and maybe steal one or two of the bosses best employees to go in with her) trained and equipped to handle things. That means less financial risk to you.

 

(#4) You lose your ass financially and/or the tension of the work ruins your marriage. Not to rain on her parade but MOST small businesses fail in 3 to 6 months. The work can be very boring sitting in an empty store waiting for customers for hours at a time. Working in a family business (sounds to me like you will need to help out quite a bit) is very very stressful and can cause the breakup of your marriage. If she (and you) like to gamble your money, Vegas has much better odds and the prices are low now so you can get a good deal. You will also enjoy it more.

 

My advice: one toe into the water first and gradually get in. Ask yourself if a store was already opened in your small town selling the stuff she is planning on selling, how much would YOU buy? How much would your friends and relatives buy? Would it be a novelty where you bought a bottle of rattlesnake wine for $18 and never came back? Store survive on repeat purchases. Sounds like you are setting yourself up for failure. Take your time and go at it slowly.

 

Old proverb: "He who dives in quickly, may break his neck in shallow water"

 

Good luck to both of you!

Edited June 29, 2010 by True Blue (see edit history)

[areynolds]

Better get those long term issues ironed out before you get into it. Explain to her

you are supporting her by ensuring this lasts long term.

Isn¡¯t there a Flea market someplace that would be better suited for this type of adventure?

 

I personally never had much luck selling on eBay, seems I always break even at best but maybe you can do better then I.

 

That is a good idea my wife sells goods that her family back in china sends to us via dhl shipping and she is very successful at 5 different farmers markets per week. it is alot of fun for her and she gets out to talk to people all you have to make sure that you do is to get a resale permit so she can pay taxes on the sales. the permit is free to get so dont pay anyone for it and that way she can see the demand for her products before she gets stuck in any amount of a lease which if she gets discouraged then she may try to walk away from a short lease after a short time ....we find that the fun chinese stuff we have is best when in the market atmosphere as most people dont search for stores of it but when they come across us they love our stuff.....lol

[knloregon]

Is the worm turning?

 

While import has always been an interest, for the last several years, we have been exploring export of western goods to China.

 

USD/RMB seems to have raised interest, at least, in the currency shift. Today, I was in the local dollar store to buy some paper napkins, and a whole extended family (six adults) Chinese (Cantonese) had shopping carts filled to overflowing with items related to personal hygiene, and OTC drugs. Each item cost a dollar (of course)

 

---they told me they could sell them in China for much more, particularly since all the packaging was in English---a perceived premium for quality---even though some of the items were manufactured in China.