If you are going to start your own business, and you have chosen one of the online pathways, such as eBay, to conduct your operations, you have likely done considerable work in planning out many of the aspects of your business, including structure, marketing, an idea of the products you want to sell, and so forth.
When setting up your business, too, you must consider a couple of the hurdles that you will have to clear that are not a factor with traditional brick and mortar business operations.
Here are a few of these concerns, and some easy ways to factor in each as you prepare to set up your online eBay business.
SUPPLIER Whatever your product or item is that you plan to sell; chances are that unless you yourself are the manufacturer, you are going to have to get these products or items from somewhere.
One of the easiest things to do is to use Google, and do a search for "your item" + "Wholesale" and go through the list, determining which suppliers can deliver what you need, at the anticipated volume you need, to be able to turn a profit.
You need to consult with your business plan, which should have at least estimates for all of these costs, and make sure that the delivery costs from this supplier to you is not so prohibitive as to obliterate your profit margins.
Try to find a supplier that is reasonably close to where ever you plan to store the products as you await sale transactions.
WAREHOUSING INVENTORY Another thing you have to consider is where you are going to store the products and items after you receive them from your supplier.
It is from here that you will package and ship them out.
Depending on the size and nature of your item, the most cost effective storage method would be in your house (if yours is truly a home business that you run online through eBay) such as a spare bedroom or a garage.
But you need to make sure that this area is free from any kind of water leaks, and if your products are sensitive to light or temperature, you need to make sure whatever space you find accommodates the optimum environment for the storage of your products.
In some case, depending on the nature of your business and the products or items involved, you can arrange production and shipping on demand, and facilitate delivery from the supplier direct to the customer.
If you can arrange this with your supplier, it would be easiest, most cost effective arrangement for your eBay business, cutting your overhead costs and padding your profit margins.
DELIVERY You need to line up a delivery or parcel service before hand, a company that you will attempt to forge a close, long lasting arrangement with.
Try to use the major, well known companies even if they are a little more expensive, because nothing will kill your business more than being unable to reliably deliver your product to the customer.
Also, you will be passing along shipping costs to the customer, or building them into the price of your item, so make sure you don't skimp here.