Other People`s Products Can Make You Rich
by Stephen Pope
Published on this site: January 17th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Although there are advantages to selling your own proprietary
products and services, there are also drawbacks. For example,
the time and investment required to produce your own book,
invention, or other product could mean a long delay in receiving
profits and cashflow essential to your business survival.
For this reason, you may decide to sell other people`s products
and services, either exclusively, or to complement your own
product line.
You could stock an entire retail store with products, buy
a franchise or other business, or obtain a distributorship
or dealership. However, this could require a substantial financial
investment.
Here, then, are just a few, low-cost ways to profit from
selling other people`s products and services.
- Commission Sales
Act as a sales representative or agent of a company and
sell their products or services for a percentage commission
of the sales price.
Many companies on the Internet offer associate or affiliate
programs that you can join to earn commissions selling their
products and services. Sometimes you can even make money
from the efforts of other affiliates who sign up through
your website.
Thus, without having a product of their own, some persons
are earning their sole but substantial income from affiliate
programs.
- Consignment Sales
You can take other people`s products on a consignment basis,
making your commission when you sell the item. Many second-hand
shops, arts and crafts stores, and other retailers operate
this way.
You can also sell products of others through Internet auction
sites such as eBay or Yahoo! Auctions.
- Drop Shipping
You could buy inventory wholesale and try to sell it retail,
but what if it doesn`t sell? Even if you do sell, do you
really want all that money tied up in stock? For these reasons,
many businesses use drop shipping as a method of doing business.
Whether from your home, retail store, directly from your
website or through an online auction, you can arrange to
sell an item before you purchase it. That way you have nothing
invested in inventory and won`t get stuck with stock that
won`t sell.
For example, let`s assume that you have just sold a product
to a customer for $100.00 plus shipping charges of $15.00.
Having received the customer`s payment, you now need to
e-mail or fax your order to your drop ship supplier. You
will need to pay your supplier your cost of $50.00 plus
$15.00 shipping, leaving you a $50.00 gross profit. Your
supplier will now ship the product to your customer.
- Finders Fees
Did you know that you can earn fees simply by introducing
buyers and sellers?
For example, a mining company may need to buy certain hard-to-obtain
equipment for their operations. You could negotiate a percentage
finder`s fee for finding this equipment for them.
Conversely, you could also obtain a finder`s fee from a
company that is trying to sell off their excess machinery
but is having difficulty finding a buyer.
- Joint Ventures
Joint venture arrangements can be profitable. As an example,you
could arrange to feature someone else`s product in your
e-zine or newsletter in return for a commission, even if
they don`t presently have an affiliate program.
The above list of low-cost ways to make a profit from other
people`s products and services is by no means exhaustive.
However, it certainly illustrates that, with some effort,
other people`s products could make you rich.
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits
for over twenty-five years. For profitable Work at Home Small
Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
|
