posted on July 11, 2001 09:53:31 AM new
I just became a wholesaler with SMC and thought right away to put my items on the auction sites. so far I have 4 items on ebay and no one has even so much as bidded on my items. As I do searches and what not I see other SMC wholesalers products on the auctions and I see they are experiencing the same thing. Why is this? the products are VERY nice. Could it be the short descriptions that smc uses in their catalogs? I notice that mostly everyone copies the description verbatim.
Is there anyone out there having success selling they SMC wares on any auction site? and if so could you give a few tips on what you are doing?
posted on July 11, 2001 10:18:11 AM new
Sorry, but buying from SMC is far from wholesale. You're actually paying (in many instances) inflated retail. It's really sad to see so many taken in by their hype.
But don't despair, there are indeed true wholesale (and less) sources available, but be prepared to do a lot of research.
First and foremost, SMC sells a business Opportunity...Yeah right..!!
SMC is a spinoff of the old "Import/Export" business opp called 'Mellinger'...Basco is also a spin-off of Mellinger...That guy (company)has made billions of $$$'s selling business opps that do not work for most people...1 half of 1% ever make their $$$ back...Beware..!!!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
..."If you keep doing what you've been doing...
...you'll just keep getting what you've been getting"...
posted on July 11, 2001 10:56:05 AM new
Actually I do know of an SMC person doing ok, but not online. She rents space and sells her stuff there. This is a very small town, and she does the bulk of her sales around holidays. These are good things for quicky gifts or obligatory gifts. She also has gift cards, beautiful wrapping paper, etc. So she offers more than just the items. It's one-stop, and the buyer is off with that gift s/he forgot to buy, complete with card and wrapping.
I'm afraid on eBay and online there's just too many.
My suspicions of SMC were because of the monthly fee. I figure if you make money they make money, so why the monthly fee? The sample catalog also didn't thrill me.
posted on July 11, 2001 11:02:20 AM new
It doesn't do well and you are surprised? You are far from being the first to put that so-called merchandise on the auctions, eBay has been flooded with that stuff for years. It did pretty decent when only a handful of sellers were doing it, now everybody thinks they can make a quick buck selling something that no one else can sell. I really hope you did your research before you bought into SMC and not vice-versa. Cut your losses and get out of it now.
(I don't sell that stuff, but I am a firm believer that selling all that wholesale crap by the truckloads was when eBay starting going south)
posted on July 11, 2001 11:16:29 AM new
Thanks for the heads up you all. I don't know what to say? I still think they have some great products, maybe not auctions but an online store?
I became a member of SMC over 20 years ago. Back then I did very well with their products. I sold them at local swap meets, and to retail gift stores. That was then, now days I can hardly give the stuff away. I’ve tried ebay and a few years back did OK nothing to write home about. Ebay is so saturated with SMC products it is rare to see sellers with many bids. Lots of listing but few sales. What gets me is their stuff is pretty nice.
My sister took the catalog to her work around Christmas holidays last year and made a fair amount of money. She sold almost $2,000 worth of products. I never did that well selling where I used to work. Guess it’s all where you are and what people think. She lives on the east coat I lie in Arizona.
I don’t feel SMC is a rip off. They have been in business for over 30 years and while they do sell a business opportunity they also move a huge amount of inventory and I do mean huge. So someone is selleing their stuff. Can you get things cheaper than through SMC? Sure you can, but then your faced with minimum orders and you certainly can’t get the assortment of items from one vender that SMC offers. All in all they aren’t bad. I still use them for premiums and gift giving and sell some of their stuff from time to time but gave up on trying to sell at our local flea market or on ebay a long time ago.
One lastthing I'd like say. No matter what MY experience has been or others who may write here on this forum don’t let ANYTHING people say discourage you from following the dream that made you order the catalog in the first place. You just might be the type of person to find a new angle on selling the stuff and make a fortune doing it. Remember many entrepreneurs failed numerous times before they became a house hold word.
One last thing if you are looking for true wholesale vendors to buy from try places like the ASD Show which is held twice a year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year in August when I went there were 7,200 vendors offering literally thousands and thousands of products for sale. They have all the products you can thing at three different convention centers. I do mean everything.
posted on July 11, 2001 11:54:46 AM new
There are many other "wholesale" catalog style companies like SMC. You can see their merchandise all over eBay and the web. For the person just starting out it seems like a good deal because their "wholesale" price is so low relative to their "retail" price.
The problem is they use really inflated retail prices to begin with. And for the most part, the quality is absolutely horrible.
The fact is money does not come that easily. Anything that is advertised all over the place as being a money making opportunity really isn't because no one will hand you over the keys to success.
If you want to sell on eBay, you will first have to decide on a category and then do a lot of research to find out where to get merchandise low enough to sell. You will find lots of "wholesale" sources but in many categories, merchandise sells for way less than wholesale.
But it won't be so simple as listing merchandise from a catalog that hundreds of others are using.
And even if you have an online store, that stuff is all over the internet. So you won't really have any niche or advantage over the thousands of others selling it.
posted on July 11, 2001 11:59:15 AM new
Gee,
Thanks Colonel! You words were both motivating and encouraging. I have set in my heart to follow your advise and I appreciate your personal testimonial. it spoke volumes to me! I agree wholehearted with everything you said.
You have military background? is that why you are called the colonel? Cool, I used to be a United States Marine. Loved the Corps with a passion.
Thanks again! You have helped more than you know! I just ordered the swapmeet kit about 2 weeks ago. i just got it yesterday. Image my chigrin when I get so many people responding with SMC bashing remarks. I hate to waste money and at that moment that's what it seemed like I did. Until the Colonel came along and set everything straight!
posted on July 11, 2001 01:19:11 PM new
I sell at both a flea market and on eBay, and do quite well at the flea market with the SMC stuff. This is in spite of the fact that there are 4 other SMC dealers there. Why do I do better? CUSTOMER SERVICE is key. I sell at 25% of catalogue price and sell more of my chosen niche products than the guy two aisles over selling at 50%. I get along well with the other two and we just don't order the same stuff. The 50% guy is a jerk, and people tend to avoid him.
That said, however, I would not even attempt to sell the SMC stuff on eBay, there is just WAY too much of it there.
How do I find out exactly when that "show" is in Vegas? I dont live that far (7 hours), and have tried to find out when their toy shows, vendor shows, etc., are, and never have! Thanks for any info (in advance)
posted on July 11, 2001 03:14:03 PM new
If this sounds like a promotion I apologize. I have no connection to this organization other than I attend their events religiously. It’s just one of the biggest wholesale shows in the country and a great place to go to see what’s hot and what’s not for people selling at swap-meets, flea-markets, retail., wholesale and especially for people selling on eBay so I feel this is eBay related. In fact probably 90 + % of everything you see on eBay comes from one of the vendors displaying at this show. I’m sure there will be a lot of people upset with me for even divulging this information. It certainly is worth 50 times the amount you would pay for one of those so called CD’s where the Power Sellers buy from.
The ASD/ AMD Shows will be held August 12 –16th, 2001
There will be over 5,000 booths of toys, apparel, gifts, health and beauty products, luggage and bags, novelties, stationery, food, close-outs, consumer electronics, and much, much more.
Last year there was over 65,000 people in attendance
The Sands Expo Center there will be:
Variety Goods
General merchandise
Close-outs
Premiums
Imports
Dollar Store Items
Toys
Gifts
Apparel Accessories and more
Vegas Hilton has:
Hardware & tools
General Merchandise
Outdoor Gear & Clothing
Military Surplus
Sporting Goods
Consumer Electronics
Off-Price Apparel and more
posted on July 11, 2001 07:42:17 PM neweastwest - are you talking about the SMC thing or the Las Vegas shows? Just curious because the Las Vegas thing sounded interesting. (NOT the SMC thing. I've seen that junk!) Thanks!
posted on July 12, 2001 05:56:28 AM new
Actually eBay is a great venue for selling SMC type gift items. Where else can you find that kind of traffic and from all across the country??? All you have to do is "package" the items properly. However, if you follow what 95% of the people selling SMC items on eBay are doing there's no way in heck you can compete! The market is FLOODED with the same type of auctions. But there's ways to overcome that!
Selling and dropshipping SMC items is the easiest form of eCommerce you can find! You don't handle any inventory. You're also selling THEIR items, not yours --- use this fact to your advantage! You don't package any goods. You don't worry about insurance or tracking. All you do is take a customers order and forward it to SMC (Website or phone) and pocket the difference between your wholesale cost and the sales price. Can take 2 minutes to fill an entire order! I kid you not! The quality of the products and the way SMC professionally packages the items is real nice too. People really do comment about how well the items are packaged and your feedback will reflect it. If you use UPS, packages are tracked and insured as well.
You can sell SMC items on eBay. Just be "different" in the way you market the items and find ways to offer customers the most bang for their buck. Part of this means finding ways to minimize the impact of the shipping fees and small order handling fees which can seem high. These make great Buy It Now items as they usually don't generate much bidding activity but they do make for good impulse buys. Don't worry about bidding activity (it won't happen since the market is flooded with these items), instead try to set a margin your happy with for each auction and then try to sell in volume using Buy It Now. Usually you'll find a few "types of auctions" that will sell over and over and over again. Milk these babies as many times as you can!!!
posted on July 12, 2001 09:52:35 AM new
Yo eSeller004! You'z da man (or woman)!!!
this is just the type of information I was looking for!. I am very much sold on SMC as a viable way to make money. But I will admit the nay-sayers got me pretty down a bit. it's good to hear encouraging words like yours!
That's just the way I was thinking. The presence SMCers are doing nothing more than just throwing their stuff up there and hoping that it will fly. I always felt that if you did something different success would follow. And I feel that some of the stuff in the catalog will sell better than others, just gotta find out which ones.
So from listening to you, is it safe to say that you have had some success with listing SMC items on auctions (not just ebay)? So are you saying work the shipping in to the item price yet lower the "shipping cost" to make it appear as if the shipping is low when all the while it's being made up for by the price of the item to cover shipping?
However, if you follow what 95% of the people selling SMC items on eBay are doing there's no way in heck you can compete! The market is FLOODED with the same type of auctions. But there's ways to overcome that! 