Hi all,

It's been a while since I've posted on here but I'm looking for a bit of advice from people who may know about this sort of thing.

I am in the process of setting up an online pet store, this is something I've been planning on for a while now and am now getting around to setting it up alongside my current job.

I know most details of setting up an online business but I'm struggling to know where to look for suppliers for a newbie in the market.

I have done research on the net and have found a few but not that many and I haven't particularly liked the stock they seem to have. One thing I want to make sure if that I have confidence in the products that I want to sell and that they would be something I would buy myself.

Can anyone advise me as to where to look for a first time supplier as I'm fumbling around in the dark a bit and just need that one thing to set me off in the right direction.

Many thanks for your help

I'm not sure you'll find many people here who would know where you should go!

As a starting point, do you know what products you'd ideally like to stock?

ebay
amazinganimalaccessories sell some bulk stuff

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Dan and Pippa!

Many people willing to sell you products in bulk, then you have the problem of dealing with the retail sales to offset the money sitting on the shelf.

Suggest that you see what the market you are selling to will spend money on. You would be wise to also run a stall at any open market, craft or boot fair - puts you in front of the real live customer so you can gain direct feedback and research your market. It's difficult to do that looking a computer screen waiting for the orders to roll in.

You might consider buying a product that you then add value to by customising and then selling on.

Can you afford to carry stock until sold?

There are lots of good on-line sellers, what is your unique selling point or sector?

Dog Collars-Dog Collars Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.com

Dog C Jackets-Dog C Jackets Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.com

Consider making your own?

This is something I looked at doing a few years ago and to be honest I was very naive about the time needed and also the money required. There are lots of great products out there - depending what type of stock you are looking for I would suggest smaller independent businesses who will be more likely to have lower minimum orders - go to some trade shows and get an idea of what's available. Competition is huge so you will have to make sure you have a top class website. Some companies will drop-ship orders for you which saves you having to hold stock, but then you don't benefit from buying in bulk.

Not trying to put you off, but it's a very hard market to get into.

My advice is to always do your research and if you are going to drop ship, make sure you have seen the quality of the products first!
If you buy in bulk without seeing the products you could end up with alot of products you can not sell, or do not want to sell as they might be bad quality!
My advice is, look around your pet shops near you and look at the type and makes of products you would feel happy selling and contact the manufactures direct.
Good luck!

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a Q from a newish fellow pet online shop person.

what online research have you done for the demand of your product. Are they buying keywords and what is your competition like?

Unless you have many important websites that will advertise you for free, or you can afford expensive adwords campaigns, you are going to rely on google organic search to get visitors for your site.

Have you got a good seo plan, that ongoingly will rank you ... or do you have some other great technique? Cheers Bruce

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www.dhgate.com is another popular Chinese wholesale gateway. Had no experience there myself though. Good luck.

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The online pet supplies industry is now very competitive. Not trying to put you off either, but to make a real go of it you, ideally, need to be on page one of google for your key search terms.

Its all very well having the right stock but if no-one can find you it won't sell.

I've been doing this since 1998 and up until 2008 it was a good business to be in but now its so saturated its very difficult to get to page one of google. It can be done though, through lots of hard SEO work - on site and off site.

Also I found that pre 2005 suppliers were strictly trade only. These days alot also sell to pet owners on a retail basis and you end up competiting with your own supplier/wholesaler. I once had one undercut me!

The key is to find a niche in the market, unless you think you can compete with the likes of P@H, Ebay and Amazon and supply a full range of products. Offer something others don't have or if they do add value and do it better.

Good Luck

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Cassie 2002 - 17th May 2012
Sadie Age 9