Hello!

My name is Colette Marshall. I am the Business Development Manager of eBay Certified Solution Provider Worldwide Brands, Inc. We are a fully-staffed Product Sourcing Research company that has dedicated the past seven years to finding and qualifying genuine wholesale suppliers who are willing to work with home-based Internet Business Owners.

Our job is to do the very time-consuming research it takes to find genuine wholesalers who are willing to work with eBay Sellers, so that you can spend your valuable time where it’s needed most; running your eBay business, instead of searching for suppliers.

Chris Malta, our CEO, is also the Contributing Editor for Product Sourcing for The eBay Radio Show, and host of the Product Sourcing Radio Show. Many of you may have met us at eBay Live this year. We had a booth there, and Robin Cowie presented several seminars on product sourcing.

Today I’m going to talk about building supplier communications. Please ask as many questions as you like!

Creating a Solid foundation

In the beginning, there are a number of ways that you can find a wholesaler. The recommended method is to find the market that you want to sell to, discover what they need, research it, and then find that supplier to source it. Worldwide Brands has over 7 years of experience in finding genuine, factory direct wholesalers that will work with online retailers including eBay sellers. As an eBay Certified Solutions Provider, we’ve developed OneSource to help you with the process of researching and identifying a product idea and then finding a supplier to source it. You can also research wholesalers your self. To learn more about various methods and avoiding the middleman, please visit past workshops by Worldwide Brands Inc.

For the purposes of this workshop, I’m going to assume that you have found the supplier that you want to work with and you know that they will work with you as online seller and allow their products to be sold on eBay.

Setup your account with the supplier
True manufacturers and Factory direct wholesalers will always request for you to set up an account with them. Remember, this is a business for both of you. The supplier wants to move product in and out of their warehouses as fast as possible. They need certain information for billing purposes as well as shipping purposes.

Common Items on Account Setup form:

• Business Name And Tax id


• US Wholesalers


In order to work with a GENUINE Wholesale Supplier, you DO need a State Registered Business Name and Tax ID. It has nothing to do with where you sell; it's who you BUY FROM. REAL Wholesalers are required by law to keep your Tax ID on file and must have proof that YOU are a legitimate retailer. If you are working with someone who says they are a Wholesaler but they DO NOT ask for your Registered Business Name & Tax ID then there is a 99% chance that they are NOT a genuine Wholesaler!
If you do not have a Registered Business Name and Tax ID then do not worry. Those items are NOT that hard to get. Just contact your local County Clerks Office and they will direct you (usually to a State Website) where you can easily file online and be registered within a few days (and sometimes even sooner!)

• International Wholesalers

As an International Retailer, you would not be required to provide a Tax ID as that is for US residents only. You will still need to provide proof that you are a legitimate business. This means you will have to provide a Registered Business Name to the Suppliers you want to work with. If you need help getting legal, you should contact your local city hall or government agency. They should have details on where to go and what to do to become a Registered Business in your location. You can also locate information online as to what you need to obtain in your country to setup a legal business. Keep in mind that not all suppliers can work with international retailers because of trade and export agreements that they have with their manufacturers regarding selling outside the US.




• Business Address, Phone, Fax, Hours of Operation, Length of Time in Business

A supplier needs to know when the best times to contact you. In addition, they want to know that you are a real business as well that they can rely on to sell their products. Whenever you call a supplier, make sure that you don’t have loud pets in the background or kids screaming in your other ear. Another recommendation is not to call from your cellular phone. It doesn’t sound very professional when your cell phone keeps cutting out. When you’re working from home, you need to keep in mind that the distracting noises in the background can give you an unprofessional image. A professional business would not have these distracting noises in the background.


• Trade and Bank references, Dunn & Bradstreet number (business credit reporting agency)

Some wholesalers will request for bank references to confirm your business’ account legitimacy. This is especially true when you are purchasing large bulk or requesting 30 day terms. A supplier needs reassurances of payment like any other business.


• Physical Storefront

Some wholesalers will request photographs of your physical storefront. Generally, these wholesalers will not work with online retailers, because they carry high dollar brand name items that they are restricted to where retailers can resell these products. If you’re requested for a storefront photograph, be honest and explain that you are an online retailer who sells on the eBay platform. They will let you know which products within their catalog you will be able to sell or they will let you know at that time whether the account setup process can continue. It’s better to be shutdown early, than have your account shutdown later in the middle of an auction.

Build on that Foundation

Once your account is setup there are some key factors that you need to make sure to do before you start listing products. Here are the top tips to help develop your relationship with your suppler:

Read the Suppliers Policies and Procedures
The wholesaler’s policies and procedures will always detail how to submit orders and send payments. Make sure to read through the supplier’s procedures instead of calling and asking basic questions on how to submit orders.

Know the Suppliers Ordering Process and How it effects your advertised shipping time to your customer.
In the supplier’s procedures, they will indicate the shipping time. Make sure to read this and take note of it. You don’t want to list a product that will “Ship next day” when the actual time frame is 24-48 hours. In addition, suppliers will not ship your product unless they have received payment for the product especially with dropshipping. If you send an email request late evening and then they send you an invoice for payment the next day but you don’t send a payment until late the following evening, your shipment is going to be delayed even more. Make sure to account for all this in the time you state in your auction listing.

Don’t constantly contact the supplier for every little question
Instead of picking up the phone every time you have a question, compile a list of questions and send an email to your representative. Remember, suppliers are in the business of getting your products out the door as fast as possible. They don’t always have a full-time customer service team.

Be sure to receive the supplier’s newsletter if they offer one and make sure to read it
Many suppliers provide a newsletter that will detail upcoming specials and new products. They’ll also list important information about your accounts or any events that may impact shipping of your orders. Make sure to sign up for the Supplier’s newsletter and read it thoroughly. Also, keep watch of the supplier’s website for updated information.

Know what the supplier’s current inventory stats are to avoid back orders and delays in shipping. (most of the time they offer real time inventory on their website)
Unless you have exclusive rights to the sale of a product, there are other sellers that the supplier is feeding from their inventory. Always make sure to check a supplier’s inventory statistics so that you can avoid back orders and delays in shipping. If you’re drop shipping your products, we always recommend that you purchase some of your product to have on hand in case of an out of stock situation occurs so that you can still fulfill the order.

Plan Ahead and share your plans with your supplier.
If you want to run a sale or special and you expect a large volume of orders, let your supplier representative know. This way if the supplier can decide when they need to submit a larger order to the manufacturer to replace the product or order sooner to make sure that with the lead time they will not have an out of stock situation.

Request Samples of product from your supplier
Samples of product are sometimes offered at account setup, but as a new account, suppliers may want to see your order potential first. Once you’ve shown that you can deliver consistent orders, ask your representative if you can have samples of other products that you’re interested in selling. Suppliers are always happy to help increase sales.

Happy Monday

As you can see, we've posted the workshop material early. We'll be back Tuesday (tomorrow), July 24 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time to take your questions and comments on the "Building Supplier Relationships is Very Important Especially for the Holiday Season" material.

See you then,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

Thanks for coming today. If you have any questions, please ask away. I will be happy to answer.

Another question also...
We were looking for drop shippers at one point to help build our business, but we noticed that the majority of them will not ship to Alaska or Hawaii. Why is that?
Del & Kathryn
TIMECATCHERS - Antiques and Collectibles eBay Auctions
IT'S ALL WRITE - Quality Pens and Refills eBay store

Great question, Del & Kathryn

Suppliers are in the business of moving product as fast as they can out of their warehouse. If you as seller are dropshipping and are only bringing in 1 or 2 sales a week to a large supplier this might be concern for them. However, it is all relative. If you're working with a smaller supplier for a niche product, then this might be what they consider to be consistant. That is why building your relationship is very important.

The key is to remember when setting up an account with the supplier to be straight forward if they request that type of information. Most of the time suppliers will let you create an account and start generating sales. As you build up sales, you will then have access to other features such as net terms.