I'm having a bit of a head mess at the moment and just getting really confused. I'm only 17 and at college however I do have a part time job and I've put in a ton of hours over christmas to try get some money to put into buying something to sell on. Seen as I'm under 18 I get my tax back and I've worked it out to about 500 pound

My questions are do you think this is a decent amount of money to get started in trading? I am NOT going for the ipods/iphones/gameconsoles infact it's not even electronic I've done my research and I think there is a pretty decent niche in the products I want to sell.

I knwo it sounds like it should be plenty but I don't want to spend 500 on 1 type of item to get them at massive discounts and then not be able to sell them. It's not that no one would want the product, its that if I sold them at a car boot I'd just have hundreds of the same item and I think people would be put off if I had nothing else to offer?

I would sell on ebay but same again if people see a million of the same thing on ebay they just bid a penny and win the auction. I would sell on a website like appee or big cartel but I would only have 1 item displayed which I think would be a bit silly advertising a website to have people go there to buy 1 thing.

I told you my head was messed..
Just to clear up:

Should I buy alot of the same thing to get bigger discount or buy a few things at cheaper prices?
How should I sell these products?

By the way they retail for 6 pound. I just want something to get me started so don't slate me for selling something for cheap.

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Last edited by Bonkers; 28-12-2007 at 04:30 PM.

Just wondering what you mean by 'Seen as I'm under 18 I get my tax back', I'm 17 and am pretty sure that this isn't true otherwise I have been missing out on a trick.

I was in the same position as you last year , I decided to buy a variety of stock - around 15 different items and about 4 of each. The items varied in price from £3.50 to £10 and all retailed at over double their cost. The thing is that I was selling on a website so a variety is better than loads of one item.

If you want to sell on eBay then it would make more sense to buy 3-4 products buy a fair few of them so that you get better savings. As the profit when selling on eBay is lower than a website or car boot then it would be better to get a much profit out of it as possible.
Just make sure that they will definitely sell as their is nothing worse than having a load of stock you can't shift.

As for where to sell them then it is very dependent on what the product is, how much each one cost and what competition there is. If you check on eBay and see that you can compete on price and still have a good profit margin then go for it as they will usually sell faster than on your own website and with less work.

If you think that there would be demand for it at car boots then you can make a good profit as there are very little costs involved apart from the entrance/selling fee.

Whichever way you choose good luck and be sure to check out the articles section - it gave me so much good advice when I was starting.

I think he means that he earns less than £100 a week so it's tax free/reclaim tax until he 18 but i have to pay tax. i earn £105 a week and pay tax at 16

So, to clear up your mess brain, what is your interest to sell any particular product?

Any investment in a new product can be risky, £500 in reality (business) is not a massive investment but I realise that it is to you at the moment so can understand your concern. My advice would be research what is selling (which you seem to have done anyway) and then buy at the optimum cost and simply get on with selling them, this has a number of benefits:

1. You will get used to actually selling something and the processes and pitfalls associated with it.

2. If you actually reach the point where you are struggling to sell at profit point you can drop your margins to tweak interest and even go to At Cost to develop other areas of opportunities.

3. With a combination of profit items and potentially at cost items you should clear your money back at worst case scenario and at best sell them all for profit and start yourself on the road to becoming the next Richard Branson

Confidence is a key factor in a businessman's psyche, sure you will face problems but how you deal with them builds your business ethics and makes you the trader that you need to be

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Originally Posted by NorthyImports

i earn £105 a week and pay tax at 16

You said in another thread you earnt £100,000 a year?

That was a while ago this is since i stopped and done my school work

Bonkers, you don't have to look at it as an "either / or" situation.

Many wholesalers will give discounts for specific order amounts, regardless of the items ordered.

If you buy in full cases, rather than individual pieces, you may get a further discount, as well.

Say an item is £10 each, but you can get a case of a dozen for £100.

Then there is another item for £17 each and you just want 4 or 5. You could buy a case of 24 and save, but don't feel like you will sell that many of them.

Then there is the £25 item, with 6 to a case at £125. You think you can manage to sell 6 so you go with the case for a better price.

On and on like this, until you reach in the neighborhood of £550. This supplier gives a 10% discount for orders between £500 and £1000, maybe another 5% for over £1000.

So, you get that £550 order for your £500. There will be shipping involved, but that is not involved with the cost of the order itself, it's always added to the bottom total.

Now, I'm just playing with figures, but the point is you can mix and match stuff to get a better price. It just takes finding a wholesaler that will deal with you. Too many here are all tied up in importing from China and getting screwed over. Start with some UK wholesalers. Even some within easy travel for you, so you can visit them yourself and save the shipping.

Check out my thread on dumpster diving, just do a search for that term. Find a couple of local sources and begin your adventure in business.
.

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Originally Posted by pete

Bonkers, you don't have to look at it as an "either / or" situation.

Many wholesalers will give discounts for specific order amounts, regardless of the items ordered.

If you buy in full cases, rather than individual pieces, you may get a further discount, as well.

Say an item is £10 each, but you can get a case of a dozen for £100.

Then there is another item for £17 each and you just want 4 or 5. You could buy a case of 24 and save, but don't feel like you will sell that many of them.

Then there is the £25 item, with 6 to a case at £125. You think you can manage to sell 6 so you go with the case for a better price.

On and on like this, until you reach in the neighborhood of £550. This supplier gives a 10% discount for orders between £500 and £1000, maybe another 5% for over £1000.

So, you get that £550 order for your £500. There will be shipping involved, but that is not involved with the cost of the order itself, it's always added to the bottom total.

Now, I'm just playing with figures, but the point is you can mix and match stuff to get a better price. It just takes finding a wholesaler that will deal with you. Too many here are all tied up in importing from China and getting screwed over. Start with some UK wholesalers. Even some within easy travel for you, so you can visit them yourself and save the shipping.

Check out my thread on dumpster diving, just do a search for that term. Find a couple of local sources and begin your adventure in business.
.

There is no way I am going to start by making orders to china that is wayyy to risky for me (saving that money up then getting scammed in one go). I was thinking about local suppliers but I can't find any for the type of products I want to sell as it is a very niche product. Maybe when I know that the products will sell nicely and I've got regular income coming in then I may think about importing from China. Very good advice by the way thanks alot!

As for the question about the tax. I don't get taxed because I earn less than this certain amount that's why, I got mixed up

And for the guy who said he earned 100,000 BUSTED!!! jk

I've started drinking by the way since it being new years eve so if that made no sense I'm sorry.