Getting in on Internet Home Business Income

Written by Strand Davis Sunday, 12 June 2011 04:32

Legitimate work-from-home Internet business has the business world on fire. Internet business appears to be so hot that not even a down economy can dampen the flames. In fact, with profits in excess of a billion dollars a year being made on the Internet, work-at-home business, whether online or off, is a potential treasure chest waiting to be opened. The real treasure, of course, is the freedom and independence you achieve when you succeed in making your living "off the grid" with your own legitimate home income. Rest assured, legitimate work at home opportunities do exist.

Legitimate work-from-home Internet business has the business world on fire. Internet business appears to be so hot that not even a down economy can dampen the flames. In fact, with profits in excess of a billion dollars a year being made on the Internet, work-at-home business, whether online or off, is a potential treasure chest waiting to be opened. The real treasure, of course, is the freedom and independence you achieve when you succeed in making your living "off the grid" with your own legitimate home income. Rest assured, legitimate work at home opportunities do exist.

Although the concept of selling physical products over the Internet is simple in essence, newcomers usually find that find products to sell and then finding product suppliers are their two biggest problems. This is in part a by-product of being new to ecommerce. Once you know what products you want to sell, finding suppliers is not generally difficult. After all, at the very least all you need is a phonebook to call the manufacturer and find who their wholesale distributors are. Perhaps the manufacturer is also the product distributor. You see how easy that is? However, let me advise that before you even think about finding product suppliers, you figure out a business plan that will guide your business, its development and course into the future. Once you begin business planning, many of the big questions about products, suppliers, market research and product niche will begin to answer themselves.

Again, I don't want to minimize the question of how you find products or how you find sources of products, but in my opinion this is a little like putting the cart before the horse. Yes, product supply is important, but many of your questions will be answered once you work out a business plan. If you want to set up an ecommerce site but are stuck on the product sourcing issue, back up and work out a business plan. Use the advice on the ftc.gov site to help you. Having said that, you can generally find product distributors and suppliers by contacting manufacturers, and some people use online wholesale-drop ship membership sites.

The secret of eBay power sellers and eBay "wholesale" product sourcing is the acquisition of low cost goods. By "low cost," we mean prices below wholesale. The real secret, the naked and unadorned secret to this is buying in bulk quantities. The larger the bulk, the better because the greater the quantity, the lower the price. EBay sellers aside, buying products in large, bulk quantities is important to any ecommerce business just as it is to any brick and mortar retail business.

As you begin to figure out your products and market, you achieve a much more intimate understanding of the meaning of "niche." A niche market simply means a much narrower slice of an already profitable, larger market that has special appeal to a smaller population of buyers. Do you need a narrow niche market to make money? No, but it is often easier and less expensive to set up an ecommerce site where the niche products are fewer, more specialized, and focused on an easily identifiable target sub-group of buyers. What I think is wild about this is that your office can be wherever there is a Wi-Fi link. Or, you can run your business from a public library, or even from a dorm room. Basically, you can find and sell your products anywhere you call home (that has an Internet connection) at the click of a mouse or using a Skype connection.

Solutions to finding product suppliers are available online are wholesale drop ship memberships. Salehoo, World Wide Brands, and Aid and Trade are three well-known examples, though you will find many others if you look. Such memberships claim to offer contact information to thousands of suppliers across many different product categories and often provide a means to network with other people engaged in ecommerce. Wholesale memberships can be helpful if they fit your business model. It is important to do your due diligence and remember that they are just one resource at your disposal. Keep in mind that successful product sourcing begins with your business plan. You can also do search engine searches using the term "wholesale + your product." I would also advise research using the Thomas Register.

When you are ready to find product suppliers, remember that it is vital to understand that the purchasing goods from a licensed wholesaler also requires a sales tax permit. Even if you don't sell products to residents of your state, if you plan on using true wholesalers, your permit allows you legal right to buy wholesale products without paying sales tax. Wholesalers, in turn, are required by the terms of their license to have on file proof of your sales tax permit. Keep in mind that if a business does not demand your tax permit, it is not a true wholesaler. If you are a new eBay seller, you need to be aware of the kind of product supplier you are doing business with. Your supplier should be open about their business and inform you up front if they are a wholesaler or some other kind of product supplier. Your job as a retailer will include charging sales the tax to those buyers who are residents of your state and then to pay it back to your state treasury department at tax designated tax times. Right now, the issue of how to handle sales taxes when selling to residents of other states is a legal question that is still open.