Becoming an Authorized Dealer

The key part of being an official retailer is finding a supplier who will sell to you as it would any other retailer. That is, you have to become an authorized dealer. This often means signing some sort of dealer agreement, agreeing to meet various terms of sale and distribution, and sometimes agreeing to meet specified sales targets. In other cases, becoming an authorized dealer is no more involved than placing an order. How you become a dealer all depends; every supplier does it a little differently.

Note

One thing you'll almost certainly need to buy on a retailer basis is a state tax ID or reseller's license. Learn more in Chapter 5, "Establishing a Legal Business Presence."

If you're already set up as an authorized dealer for a bricks-and-mortar business, you're probably good to go when it comes to eBay sales. Note that I said "probably." That's because some manufacturers set limits as to how and where their products can be sold. I know of some musical instruments companies, for example, that prohibit their dealers from advertising their products onlinewhich means no selling on eBay. Other manufacturers will let you sell online but require you to advertise their goods at a set minimum advertised price (MAP). For dealers of these products, that means you can't use the standard auction process (where you'd be listing the items below the MAP); instead, you have to list your items with a Buy It Now price equal to the MAP and set a reserve price also equal to the MAP. When in doubt, check with your supplier as to what is and isn't allowed.

If you're not already set up as a dealer, you have some work to do. First, you need to determine what kinds of products you want to sell. You should do your homework before you make this decision, by finding out which product categories sell best on eBaywhich are hot, and which aren't. You probably also want to choose a category with which you're somewhat familiar so that you're not reinventing any wheels. You don't want to go into business selling hang gliders if you've never flown before in your life!

Note

Learn more about researching eBay sales in Chapter 2, "Researching Your Business Model."

Next, you have to find a supplier for those productswhich isn't nearly as easy as it sounds. The first place to start is with the products' manufacturer. For example, if you want to sell Sony electronics products, you need to contact Sony directly. In some cases, the manufacturer sells direct to dealers. In many other cases, however, the manufacturer uses a two-step distribution process. That is, the manufacturer sells to a distributor who then sells to dealers. If this is the case, you'll need to contact a distributor for the product you're interested in selling.

Where do you find manufacturers and distributors? For manufacturers, the best plan of attack is to do a Google search. This should lead you to the manufacturer's website, where you should be able to find some sort of contact information. Flex your fingers and either send an email or phone the main switchboard and pose your query.

Finding a distributor is often a bit more difficult. I suggest starting with the manufacturer, who will often direct you to the nearest authorized distributor. You can also try Googling, but that's more problematic, as you (a) don't know who you're searching for and (b) often discover that the distributor is a business-to-business operator that doesn't have a traditional consumer-oriented website. This leads you to more detective work, such as contacting other dealers (either online or in your area) and asking them who they buy from. Going through all these steps is a lot of legwork, but it's necessary.

Once you're set up as a dealer, you're in businessyou can start ordering products and selling on eBay.