August 10, 2014

The most important part of running an online boutique web store is having a steady supply of wholesale handbags that you can sell for a handsome profit.

Unfortunately, the hardest part of running an online boutique web store is finding that steady supply of wholesale handbags that you can sell for a handsome profit!

Sure, there are all kinds of retailers and distributors out there promising the moon and the stars when it comes to offering industry connections, deeply discounted prices for wholesale handbags, and deep product lines to make sure you never run out of new and exciting styles to offer your customers.

Sadly, (most of) that kind of talk is nothing more than empty promises that could bankrupt your business from day one.

No, you’re going to need to make sure that you have a reliable supply of real wholesale handbags (and other fashion items at deeply discounted prices) that you can sell to your customers to remain competitive and carve out your own little corner of the online fashion retail world.

You’re going to need the three “secret sources” outlined below!

Purchase Wholesale Handbags at Purse Obsession

Purse Obsession is an online retailer that offers all kinds of wholesale handbags and purses for almost insanely low prices – the perfect resource for you to leverage when building up your new store.

You’ll want to check out all the different wholesale handbag product lines that they make available to find the right ones for your store, but remember that they have a constantly changing catalog of options. Just go check out the incredible selection of wholesale handbags offered at the Purse Obsession, all at the lowest prices. If you don’t find the exact handbag styles that you’re looking for right now (which is crazy, considering all of the different lines they offer) they probably will have it in the future.  Below are a few examples of the amazing selection of fashion handbags that they carry:

Combine all of that with the fact that they will do whatever they can to create favorable payment terms, ask for no minimum orders, and even work with you to create seamless shipping options for your customers, and you’re talking about a real partner in your success here.

Online wholesale marketplaces like Alibaba

These marketplaces have been springing up all over the web in the past few years, servicing all kinds of clients and customers. Alibaba is probably the biggest, most well-known, and reliable of the bunch (and their offshoot AliExpress is also great for smaller orders).

You’ll want to check them out to see what kind of wholesale handbag products they have that you can snap up for low prices to flip at your online store.

Most of the time, these orders will come with some kind of minimum purchase requirement – but not always. It’s something that you’ll want to look out for, and you’ll also want to make sure you ONLY work with reputable sellers on the site.

It’s a bit like EBay, in that you need to trust the people you’re doing business with – which means looking for perfect (or almost perfect) feedback and ratings. Anything spotty should throw up a red flag or too, and if you go forward with them you’ll want to keep orders small in the beginning to make sure they are on the up and up.

Commission your own bags

Lastly, you’ll want to consider commissioning your own line of wholesale handbags!

I know it sounds a little bit crazy (after all, you probably don’t have a world of experience in fashion or handbag design), but there are a lot of experts, services, and designers out there that will help you get your own line of handbags up and running.

Even if you only commission limited edition runs of your own brand bags, you can still order them in small enough quantities to keep initial expenses low and charge a premium price all at the same time – helping you rake in the big bucks!

July 27, 2014

One of the most important details you need to figure out about your handbag business –right up front, before you ever open your doors for business – is to determine whether you’ll buy your stock handbags in bulk and then ship it yourself or have someone else take care of the fulfillment for you.

There are pros and cons for each option, and there are even some businesses that mix the two together (though that can get a little bit unwieldy when you haven’t had any long term experience with an e-commerce site in the past).

In an effort to help you make the right decisions moving forward, we’ve created this quick guide to help you choose between bulk buying up front or dropshipping your bags going forward!

How do you want your online handbag store to run?

The first piece of the puzzle you need to nail down has absolutely nothing to do with the bulk buying or dropshipping (at least up front, anyway) and everything with how you see your handbags business running right from day one.

Do  you want a business that has a lot of personal interaction on your behalf, something that you can dig your hands right into, or do you want something that is a little more Ron Popeil and kind of a “set it and forget it” business?

There’s no right or wrong answer, but you need to know just how much personal involvement you’re looking for – and how much you’re willing to delegate to others.

Those that want the personal touch (and to have complete control) are going to want to look more seriously into bulk buying bigger handbag orders and then taking care of shipping on their own, while those that would love nothing more than a “push button business” should go the dropshipping route for sure.

Bulk buying gives you all the control in the world

When you bulk buy your handbags at wholesale (or any of your other products), you’re going to have complete and total control over the process in ways that you wouldn’t if you dropshipped.

Not only will you be in constant contact with the wholesale handbag suppliers themselves (always keeping an ear to the ground about new product lines, new pricing terms, and ways to speed up or streamline the overall purchasing process), but you’ll also be able to make sure that each and every handbag order that gets to your customers is 100% correct – again, something that dropshippers cannot promise all on their own.

On top of that, you’ll be able to physically see your wholesale handbag products, see which lines are moving and which ones are stagnant, and better tweak your store to move more merchandise going forward.

This is possible with analytics when you dropship, but it’s not that “gut feeling” you get when you see it all in black and white, right before your very eyes.

Automate your business with dropshipping

On the flip side of the coin, there’s nothing quite like being able to create on online business in an afternoon, pushing targeted traffic to it before dinner, and then making money while you sleep – all without having to lift a single finger of your own.

Some business owners dream of being able to take themselves (and their time) out of the equation as much as possible, and that’s something that dropshipping will let you do right out of the gate.

Someone else will handle order processing, someone else will handle shipping and fulfillment, and someone else will handle customer service – you get to sit back, relax, and move merchandise without having to do any of the heavy lifting!

There is no right or wrong way to run an online handbag store, and like we mentioned above you can even mix and match the two approaches if you want. It all comes down to how you want your business to operate, how you see it coming together, and how you think you can best serve your market!