In the last several weeks my columns have largely dealt with informing online and traditional retail store owners about wholesale suppliers that who have reputations for honesty, dependable delivery, and value. In order to save buyers from having to sort through them I thought I would provide a quick list of some of the excellent wholesalers featured in recent articles and touch on their strengths and specialties.

So without further ado and in no particular order here are four lauded wholesale suppliers;

1. United Auctions- A New Jersey based wholesale liquidation company. They specialize in apparel and shoes but offer a very impressive variety of merchandise from health and beauty aids to home decor. Extremely forthcoming with product information and a bidding system that allows users to automatically increase their bid by $.25 until a buyer preset maximum is reached.

2. Via Trading- A California based department store’s returns liquidator. The thing I like best about Via Trading are the incredibly complete product listings and the practical honesty they show regarding the products they offer. They don’t, as so many liquidators do, over promise. Their product descriptions are complete, accurate, and valuable. They specialize in brand name apparel but carry other merchandise as well.

3. Big Deals Outlet- A Minnesota based closeout wholesaler relatively new on the scene. Big Deals offers a wide variety of merchandise from small electronics to cookingware to office supplies. The prices are terrific and a simple flat rate shipping cost that makes life simpler for their customers.

4. Bidz- A California based jewelry auction wholesaler with a nearly unique live auction system. Some of the more interesting features include an entry that displays the product with a link to more information, the time remaining to bid with those ending soonest listed first, and the present high bid. There is also a compare price which shows the potential buyer what the maximum price other jewelers are offering the same items for. One of Bidz’s best features is a remarkably useful and detailed customer help section.

While there are certainly many other excellent wholesalers out there this list should help those new to the industry get a good idea what to look for in a wholesaler they can count on.

If you’re the type that talks back to the news, argues with pundits thousands of miles away from you, and thinks you could do a better job compiling the news than Rueters, CNN, or the New York Times it’s time to put the clicks were your mouth is.

A friend recently pointed me at News Spider, an interactive news source offering the latest news headlines, politics, and business news from thousands of sources worldwide. The site is informative, providing a wider variety of news sources than the average person would encounter on their own, and entertaining since you can rate each story using a four star systems. You can also leave comments on the articles for other users to read.

A quick survey of some of the sources that News Spider draws from include CNN.com, the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo News, the BBC, and Sports Illustrated. There are many, many more. This is a terrific thing because, let’s face it most of us get all of our news from a fairly limited number of sources, usually ones that reflect our own political perspective. Drawing news and opinion from sources we might not generally agree with helps us develop a broader perspective and escape the narrow definitions they carry with them.

While rating news stories is an entertaining thing to do, I wonder what precisely we are supposed to rate them on. Are we rating the accuracy of the story? If so, without access to inside information how are we to judge? Are we supposed to rate how much we liked to news? For example, I saw a story discussing the falling poll numbers of Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a conservative Republican, would I rate this story highly if I were a Democrat because I regarded it as good news and lowly if I were a Republican?

Perhaps we are simply supposed to judge the grammar and spelling. In any case I’m probably over thinking the ratings issue. The comments aspect of the site will provide endless amusement and argument fodder for visitors and I cannot praise the variety of sources high enough.

It is. It really is. If my head only had the same rocket power! Watch out for this guy.

Jason-

One thing I love about e-commerce is how easy it is for people like me, the woefully unqualified, to get a business going. The internet has made it possible for individuals with no formal business training to become their own boss and place their financial destiny in their own hands. Yes, information super-highway has truly created a road to success.

It has also created a primrose path simply beckoning the fledgling home-based merchant to headaches, worry, and the poor house. While it certainly requires a much smaller investment to get a online business running than a traditional brick and mortar stores there is still many risks. In fact, sometimes the relative simplicity and lack of expense carriers with it the very seeds of failure.

It is so easy to get going that many new business people fail to get the kind of preparatory information and advice that could spell the difference between success and failure. The factors that contribute to this lack of preparedness are numerous, often a new merchant simply doesn’t know that they need to know something or they believe that to get good advice you’ve got pay expensive consultant fees. The sad part is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

There are many sources of free advice for new businesses. A local chamber of commerce and the Small Business Administration will both provide aid and comfort to the start up business.

A personal favorite source of free business advice is the SCORE organization. SCORE stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives. It is a volunteer organization of, as the name implies, ex corporate executives who have chosen to offer their years of experience to small business people.

Their website has many articles and links to resources that can help a new business understand the challenges and requirements to come. You can also find a volunteer in your area that will sit down with you and help develop a business plan, find funding, and just settle you down when things seem bleak.

I want to wish all wholesalers success and good fortune at the ASD/AMD trade show in Las Vegas next week. Retailers will be flocking like hawks to find next seasons hot products and the big holiday sellers. I hope you’re ready.

I hope all of you retailers are ready too. You’ll be able to find hot deals on everything from Airsoft to Sunglasses. Speaking of airsoft, don’t forget to stop and check out the great deals from Point Act, a wholesaler of top quality airsoft guns. Say hi to Maylee Lieu at booth #L5219 – L5221and ask her about her case pricing.

Did I mention sunglasses before? That reminds me, Julian and Sam from Sunny Trading, Inc. will be there too. With over 30 years experience in the industry, they have every type of sunglass you may need. Whatever you’re looking for, they can help.

Don’t forget your sunblock because it is going to be hot. Remember to keep hydrated. You can bet the casinos will have the air conditioners blasting (they always have our best interests in mind ; ). I wish you all save travels and I’ll see you there.

Justin Prescott

I know that in a free market and free society that advertising plays an important roll. I recall as a child that there were television comercials from the Ad Council that stated “Without advertsing you wouldn’t know”. All very true I’m sure, but apparently there is no limit to the places we are to be exposed to marketers. I have no real desire to constrain the free exchange of ideas but…

I came across an article that said that soon CBS will be advertising the Good Morning America program by placing ads on eggs. Yes, soon millions of Americans will see an ad first thing in the morning, without turning on their TV, listening to the radio, or opening a newspaper. Simply fixing breakfast makes you a target.

If the idea makes you feel a little queazy don’t worry just reach for an airline sickness bag. However, if that bag comes from US Airways it will have advertising on it as well. The airline has announced that they will be placing ads on their airsickness bags starting this month. The new ads are expected to raise $10 million for the airline. It is difficult to imagine what companies would want their products associated with vomiting. Perhaps PeptoBismal or Imodium should get in contact with US Airway.

“You are making a move from talking to people, to having the people talk about you,” says John Condon, of Leo Burnett USA in the article on Yahoo News. Condon’s agency is not involved with any of these unusual campaigns but he makes a good point. I’m talking about it now, you are reading about it and I suppose that is all the advertisers are after in the first place.

Something that bothers me about this, and I love technology, is that as technology expands we are sure to find ads in many other aspects of our lives. A worst case scenario is presented as a joke by the popular animated series Futurama that takes place 1,000 years in the future. In the series the characters are subjected to ads that are broadcast into their dreams. I do not look forward to the time when that recurring dream about Marilyn Monroe involves her breathlessly telling me how much whiter my teeth could be with Gleam brand toothpaste.

According to the Holiday eSpending Report from Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings, and Harris Interactive, last years reports show that online shoppers spent $18.6 billion in the first six weeks of the holiday season (Oct.29-Dec.9). That is an increase of 16 percent from 2004. With more buyers shopping online in 2006, those numbers are expected to increase even more. What wholesaler with a website used to conduct e-commerce wouldn’t want a piece of that?
According to the eSpending Report, online shoppers spent the most on apparel/clothing in the 2005 holiday season, totaling $3.4 billion (17 percent) of total online revenue. The consumer electronics and computer hardware categories placed second and third with revenue totals of $2.8 and $2.7 billion. Books and toys/video games completed the top 5, reporting online revenues of $2.2 billion and $1.4 billion.
Seeing as that apparel and consumer electronics are amongst the most popular gifts purchased online, wholesalers should be using every avenue they possibly can to make their products available to the wholesale buyers online.

Happy Holidays: Jonathan Prescott

The holidays are right around the corner. Every eBay, retail, flea market, and wholesale seller is looking for ways to increase their sales. You can attract more wholesale buyers and attention during the holiday season by promoting special offers. Make your special offer as attractive as you can afford. Give the reseller special holiday discounts. It grabs the attention and motivates many prospects to buy. Have a special combination price. If you are a wholesaler of fashion accessories, for every buyer that wants handbags, you can offer a special price if they purchase the matching belts. This can help increase the number of orders for certain products and increase the average size of the sale. The buyer will spend additional money to take advantage of the good deal. You can offer a free bonus that has a high perceived value to your customers and that doesn’t cost you much. Wholesale buyers often complain about the cost of delivery; especially now with the high gas prices. For a holiday special, you can stand out from the competition by offering free, fast delivery.
This will motivate the prospect to take action today so they can be sure to have their shelves stocked with the hottest holiday products. Not to mention everyone loves something for
free. Your special holiday offer should always have a deadline. It will help create a sense of urgency. All of you internet savvy wholesalers using the benefits of wholesale search engines and directories, like Top Ten Wholesale.com and WholesaleU.com, must not forget to advertise your holiday specials at the very top of your company’s websites.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas in August,

Justin Prescott

During the last week America Online has announced a number of changes to the way they are going to be doing business. Despite its media saturation, countless unsolicited cdrom mailings, and mainstream success all is not well at AOL and has not been for sometime. In the last four years America Online has lost more than 9 million subscribers.

Various well documented partnerships with other online companies, such as a special advertising relationship with Google, rumors of purchase by MSN, and attempts at a nation wide broadband venture, have all failed to return significant health to the company.

In another round of what some would call desperation moves AOL had made a number of services they used to charge for free. In an attempt to reach the broadband useing customers that have been fleeing AOL in droves AOL has now made its email and many of its softweare downloads free.

This point makes me wonder how AOL managed to continue in the belief that they could charge people for services that the industry standards set by Google, Yahoo, etc. have made free. Consumer expectations of free services from search engines has become higher over the years and AOL has lagged far behind.

The bad news change is that AOL has also announced plans to cut its workforce. The company expects to cut 5,000 jobs from its global workforce of 19,000.

“It sounds like the first shoe’s falling,” said David Hallerman, a researcher with the company eMarketer Inc. was quoted as saying in an AP story on the subject.”It’s clear that’s part of a large savings that AOL is going to have to go through. The biggest cost in any business is employees.”

True, and often the employees pay the biggest costs when belt tightening time comes.