The Wholesale Forums

[MathewLisett]

Well after racking my brain for the niche market.

and falling flat on my face nearly with Wii's

i then thought what the hell am i doing, some items which are the reason i want to go into business and the reason why i want to this site im getting funds for.

and thats big shoes and big clothes, 2 things that big and tall people like me and bigger can not find the fashion they are after , every store you go into done cater to these sizes...i know ive tried.

so the next thing for me to do is contact those companies and go further.

which brings me to a question, im thinking the best way or one of the good ways of gaining research into the markets of the above is to do surveys to then have evidence to show the companies its needed.

As i am planning to do surveys for people to fill in a little form with simple few questions, what is the best way of doing this.

[BillyA]

A survey is great, but the most important part of a survey is to collect leads. Names, addresses, phone, email, etc.. Then, once you've analyzed the data, and decided which problems you will solve (ie. which niche you will focus on), you then have a ready-made customer list to get you started.

[Pete]

I have a freind in the clothing business who I set up a Point-of-sale system for. He has specialized in big and tall and US postal uniforms for years. He went online and began selling like crazy. He was sending 5 or 10 suits at a time to customers in Saudi Arabia and that area.

The only timeI've heard the term "portly" in 50 years was in his shop.

He's stopped doing is, as he started getting a lot of bogus orders and decided it wasn't worth his time when all was sais and done. He'd even hired a guy just to handle the online / export end, but now he's back to just postal and other uniforms online. Gave up the suits, shirts, etc.

I was good while it lasted for him. This is a number of years ago, late 1990's maybe 2000, 2001.

[MathewLisett]

Yeah, with my head hard on wii's etc, my plans for me to correct whats wrong with a number of products seemed to have been the last on my mind.

do you happen to know if there are any guide line surveys that i can look at for an idea.

also im thinking the best thing is if can get hold of contacts that do drop shipping, this would save me money gettign the items to me and save space with in the house

[Pete]

No idea on the survey, nor any idea how to get anyone to respond.

For stuff to sell and dropshippers, click the top link in my signature.

[HaRdy SiNgH]

with surveys you have to be careful that they are targeted at the correct or right type of people ... also what do you expect to achieve by these surveys? How do you know people will answer your survey and give honest answers?

[MathewLisett]

hardy.

surveys are not fool proof.

So its a simple case of hit and hope, as there is no theoritical or physical way of ensuring they are truthful

[greedyboy]

I wouldn't bother with this survey rubbish. What I think you are referring to is market research. At you level/scale that can simply be done online by finding as many online and offline sellers of your product, compiling a list of their core products and then comparing prices.

You can then find your supplier(s) compare the products and prices and then see if you can compete or find an alternative route to market.

I find doing is more importing than talking. If you have a gut feeling on a product, just go and buy some, stock them on eBay at 99p and see what joe public is willing to pay. There is your market research/survey.

[MathewLisett]

ah yes, that rings a bell

watched my fave prog dragons den last night, they were showing old eps, and one o wich had a husband and wife with this towel with pockets.

i knew he was going wrong when being asked questions, the husband would reply with a "business lecture" lol i laughed and thought you have just blown it.

but with this, he actually stated what you just said., but in a faster way to which i didn't catch all of it, and you just cleared it up.

in other words do a bit of window shopping with the product you want, shop around take note and get the lowest price, but with selling it try beat the best price

[Tango34uk]

So you need BIG sizes, well he is some help for you.....

Have a look at Thatchreed get them to send you a trade catalogue web address as follows:- http://www.thatchreed.co.uk/

They won't let you purchase any items if they think you only sell on eBay (But I belive there are ways around this.... )

Right they sell Military and civilian outdoors clothes, but in larger sizes you can make an amazing markup.

You can get a pair of combat trousers from them in any size from 28" - 52" for £9.50 + vat so in english thats £11.16 These sell in normal size for around the £29.99 mark, and in the larger sizes I have seen these go for £49.99 each!

Good luck,

Regards