Please Sell My Products! How to Be the Perfect Supplier and Attract Quality Re-Sellers
December 18, 2007
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Many, many thanks to Fairy Godmother Erika Wilde of StopDirt.com for sharing her magical wisdom yet again! Enjoy her 10 secrets to being a perfect supplier!!
As an internet reseller for eight different suppliers, I’ve had my share of good and bad experiences with suppliers. I am approached almost weekly by people who want me to sell their products on my websites. I turn many suppliers down because they did not have enough of the perfect supplier qualities. If you are looking for resellers to sell a product that you produce, follow these ten tips to become the perfect supplier.
1. Drop Ship. You save your resellers time and money by drop shipping your product directly to their customers. Most resellers are willing to pay a nominal drop ship charge, usually $2-$5 per item. By drop shipping your product, you allow the reseller to enjoy ultimate cash flow by receiving payment from her customers before purchasing the item.
2. Offer Branding. Put your reseller’s contact information on the product. Can you offer a custom tag or sticker on the product? This leads to repeat business for your reseller.
3. Ship Blind. Do not include your contact information or the purchase price. Instead, make sure all the contact information will point customers to your reseller, not you.
4. Allow Resellers to Pay You By Credit Card. This saves accounting time and lets the reseller earn miles or rewards.
5. Ship Quickly. Make sure your product gets out the door within a couple of days. Slow shipments are the kiss of death for resellers. Immediately inform resellers about backorders or delays.
6. Ship Correctly. Send the right product to the right person.
7. Provide Internet-Ready Images. Resellers will be much more likely to add your products to their website if the reseller does not have to take her own pictures. Provide as many quality images as you possibly can.
8. Load ‘Em Up with Info. FAQ’s, tech or ingredients lists. Detailed product descriptions. Provide as much information as possible in a cut-and-paste format that makes for easy uploading to a website. Remember, your reseller needs to be able to answer all customer questions and she needs to know everything about your product. Make yourself available to answer questions and provide product updates.
9. Send Samples. It is hard for a reseller to sell something that she hasn’t actually seen. If your product is too expensive to send out for free, you can request that the products are returned to you after the reseller checks them out.
10. Don’t Compete. If you plan to sell the product yourself also, sell it at full retail so you aren’t undercutting your reseller’s profit. Feel free to set at MAP price (minimum advertised price) to protect your brand image, but make it low enough for reseller promotions and profit.
this is great! Just what I needed to hear this week. I am starting to sell my art to ‘resellers’ so thanks! I can’t wait to start implementing!
HI Erika,
those are very good tips, I would say that shipping on time is very important. As a reseller, I appreciate great pictures of products that help the product sell well, fast shipping, and prompt updates on inventory. I also appreciate reasonable shipping charges, product press clips, and being listed on their website as a fellow vendor of their product. Thanks for your article.
Thanks for the great article! Great shipping prices, quick shipping, and photos I do not have to edit are so important to me. Like Marina said, product inventory updates and good communication skills are also a must! There is nothing worse than receiving an order…only to find out it was out of stock three weeks ago.
I also wondered about the free sample issue. I would love suggestions as I obviously can see both sides. As a seller, it is important to know the product fully and actually feel it in person. However as a manufacturer, sending out free samples to EVERY store/online site that requests them is not an option. Is there an alternative to this?
Jamie, I agree that it is definately a dilemma on how best to provide samples for resellers. I have several mat suppliers who provide free samples endlessly — both to my customers and me. It’s fantastic. But on the other hand, my RaceDeck garage floor supplier charged me $40 for a reseller “start up” kit. I was happy to pay the $40 at the time because the kit had $100 worth of products in it, as well as videos, t-shirts and promo literature.
I think as a supplier you really need to judge how much it actually costs you to provide the samples. If it is a minimal investment, offer it for free.
But if offering samples to everyone is just too costly, remember that a serious reseller will be willing to pay. Especially if you can make the samples appear more valuable.
Also, brain storm how you can “miniaturize” your product and send out a tiny sample version of it… or a small piece of the product… or color swatch only.
Thanks for that information! I currently send out samples of the materials I use along with all pertinent info, just not a full sample. With the amount of wholesale requests I receive, right now it is not possible to send out to all that request. That really is my fault- I probably should restructure and raise minimum orders and then it would not be such a stretch. I feel like that is such a fine line, too, because I personally hate really high minimums. It limits how much I can carry.
It would be great to find some sort of balance. I am going to brainstorm a start up kit- that is fantastic. Thank you again–I apreciate it!
Great info. I plan to link to this from a page on my website that moms visit to find out how to get their product on Mom 4 Life. Also, to chime in on what Jamie Bird was asking. I give companies the option of sending their product with a pre paid return envelope if they would prefer to get their sample back rather than having me keep it.
I thought of something else I might add into your point #2: Add your retailers info (address, website, etc) to your website under a “where to buy” or “stores” link. It provides extra sales, an inbound link to their site and shows them that you really support them selling your product.
I will also add to #10 that it really says a lot to your retailers if you don’t sell your product via retail on your website. I know that a ton of people do it but it does in fact put you in a position where you are a competitor to your retailers and this is not the best way to support them in my opinion.
I want to sell a product I developed. It is a DVD program accompanying textbook that helps non-native English speakers improve their English speaking clarity. It’s ready to sell - meaning it is already in DVD form, with nice label and in an attractive box. If you go to
http://www.barrierbreakers.info you can find out about it. It’s called SILC - Saying It Loud & Clear. I am wondering if I can just sell the Rights to it outright to someone who wants to market it. My email address is
joey@qldnet.com.au
Hello
Our business hand makes Eco-Friendly therapy products & gifts in Williamstown NJ, which are herbal therapy wraps, called CozyComfy’s, treat Arthritis, Migraines, stress, Insomnia & rejuvenate, & are microwaveable or freeze.
We also make DeadSea Salt Bath Teas with Camomile & Lavender, naturally therapeutic.
Feedback from our customers, who buy online or at festivals, is 98% positive, but in our 3rd year we are still not where we want to be in growth & revenue.
I would like to make contact with several health food shops, hospital gift shops, & natural food markets, to introduce my product & give samples & get a contract to sell my products.
I don’t feel cold calling is productive, & want to instead send an introductory letter with a sample of my product.
Finding an Angel Investor or getting a grant to open a shop, is very frustrating since there are thousands on the internet & we do not know who is trustwothy or reputable.
I feel certain once I open my shop, it will be successful, since there are no other natural therapy product shops in our area. I already have the location picked out which is high traffic & would bring customers daily.
I would appreciate any advice you would be able to give.
Thank you & looking forward to hearing from you.
Olivia,
I like your idea of sending out a sample with an intro letter to your potential resellers. I would recommend following up each sample with a personal phone call and/or email. Track the samples so you know what day they will arrive, then follow up the same day or next day. I think you’ll find that is a much easier way to get a re-seller interested in your product than just a cold call.
Remember when you follow up in person to be sure to tell the reseller on how easy you can make it for her to sell your product. You can’t ONLY present your product. You need to present YOURSELF as reliable. While the reseller wants a quality product, she also needs to know that she can trust you to provide many of those “top ten” things listed in my article so she can make money and not waste her time.
Best of luck in business!