How and where to find suppliers for your online store

Any work online store begins with a search for suppliers. The further work of the store will depend on how well you find a partner for yourself, because if the wrong product is sent to your customers or the order is collected for a long time, this will affect your reputation. How to find suppliers, where to start.

Suppliers can be divided into 2 categories:

• suppliers who work only with wholesale

• suppliers who work in dropshipping

If you do not have start-up capital, experience in trading and the site is just starting up, the best option would be dropshipping.

Where to find suppliers

Google search engine

The first simplest but not the most effective way would be a Google search bar. The disadvantage of this method is that at the very beginning of the list it is unlikely that you can really find the first supply chain, mainly in the Google top - intermediaries.

To narrow your search you can search for "suppliers of drop shipping", there will already be a request "drop shipping women's bags" or "drop shipping baby clothes".

Marketplace

The second way to find suppliers is through marketplaces. These are platform sites on which suppliers place their products. It works on the same principle as Google - at the top are those who paid for the ads. It is also difficult, but possible, to find the first link. Today, the most popular marketplaces in Ukraine are:

• prom.ua

• rozetka

• bigl.ua

• Allbiz

If you choose from foreign marketplaces – there is Aliexpress, TaoBao. If you are interested in medium-sized bulk shipments, take a look at Alibaba. There are a lot of directories with marketplaces on the Internet, it will take some time to choose the most suitable. To prevent the search from happening in vain, immediately pay attention to which countries the MP works with, what payments it accepts, and which delivery services it sends the goods to.

Bulletin boards

Recently, placement on boards has become an even more priority and profitable way than placement in marketplaces. Of course, you won’t find a factory or factory on bulletin boards, but a small sewing workshop or an official dealer is quite possible.

Alternatively, you yourself can place an announcement on the board that you are in search of a supplier. Indicate the niche in which you work and your terms of cooperation and the first calls will not be long in coming.

Catalogs and supplier bases

What really does not take away from our people is the ability to make money on absolutely everything. Today you can buy a supplier base at a very symbolic price, but this method has its drawbacks:

• Links to sites may not be relevant if the database was collected 5 years ago;

• While you were only looking for a base, suppliers from the list have long been enriched by the fact that they made themselves advertisements and raised prices for goods;

• Usually people who collect the base do not bother with how organized and reliable the supplier is, how convenient the delivery and payment terms are, how much the product range and type matches your concept, etc.

• It is not worth hoping that the goods from the catalog will be unique - this base has already been sold to 10, 50, 100 businessmen who have made purchases and have long been selling.

One option would be to hire a person who, for a certain amount, takes the time to put together a decent supplier base for you according to your criteria. You can leave a request for such a service on freelance exchanges or on the same bulletin boards.

Exhibitions

Visiting the exhibition you can make new useful acquaintances and gather a base of suppliers. The exhibitions are attended by manufacturers who are looking for additional distribution channels. View a calendar of exhibitions in any country and subject on the website worldexpo.pro.

Sites of the largest Ukrainian markets

Today everyone wants to expand their customer base and even the most modest stores are trying to talk about themselves on the Internet. Why not, because this is a good way to raise profits. Try to find representative offices of the largest Ukrainian markets on the Internet.

TOP markets in Ukraine include:

• “Barabashovo” (Kharkov)

• 7 km (Odessa city)

• Khmelnitsky (Khmelnitsky city)

Typically, the quality of the content on such sites leaves much to be desired: photos right in containers, in a wrinkled or packed form, on the phone and with coffee in one hand, but your main task is to consider a diamond in the dirt, and then make a photo shoot of the product and add a high-quality description. Also an important factor is the price which does not include the same photo shoot, salary for copywriter and marketer.

It may take a week to find worthy suppliers, but it's worth it, because you will then be engaged in your favorite business all your life. By the way, if you are still in search of ideas for what to do in 2019, then our article is possible: “15 ideas that you can earn in a crisis” will be useful.