Product Condition Selection (Part 1)

Now you need to decide what condition the products you are selling is going to be inand where are you going to get those products.What I mean by condition is: are the products you sell going to be new, used orrefurbished?I will start with new products first:
NEW products advantages:
• They are new, in shiny boxes and have factory backed warranties! Thosethings are all very important to the person buying the products off of you.
• If the product turns out to be flawed you will be able to send it back towhere you got it from and get a replacement or repairs.
• New products will attract more attention and usually get more bids.Everyone wants new stuff! So when you sell new stuff make sure you letpeople know that it’s new! New products are something to brag about.NEW products disadvantages;
• It is harder to get your hands on new products and you will almost alwaysneed a tax ID. Stuff like kitchen knives and toasters is usually easy to findand available to anyone who can afford the minimum order quantity.
• Stuff like plasma TVs, laptop computers and DVD players are a littleharder to find and unless you order a truck load can sometimes leave littleroom for profit (on eBay). Stuff like expensive watches can be nearlyimpossible to get new unless you have a friend or partner who already hasaccess to what you want.
• Most suppliers sell new products to retail stores, you are not a retail store!Retail stores sell everything for full price, most of your sales will be at least25% lower than retail, this leaves you with less room for profit!Now even though the disadvantages seem discouraging, you can make a ton ofmoney selling new stuff! When you sell new you usually have the latest productsthat are being advertised while you sell them, if the competition is selling used orrefurbished stuff the probably have last years models. So your products areprobably superior.Used products can be great sellers, depending on what you sell. Not everyused product is a good seller and most used products are hard to sell. Becauseevery one wants NEW stuff and used products usually don’t come with aguarantee.You need to sell stuff that keeps its value over time. Watches, jewelry, antiquesand collectibles are examples of things that keep their value very well. Usedelectronics and even clothing can also be good sellers, as long as their relativelynew. A camcorder that is only one year old and is in good condition will alwayssell. A 20 year old stereo with scratches and cracks won’t.If you are going to sell used products that don’t keep their value very well(electronics, shoes, food?) you should sell relatively young products that are goodsellers. Camcorders, DVD players, MP3 players, designer clothing etc. etc.In other words if you are selling stuff like electronics, clothing, accessories andother stuff that doesn’t keep its value very well. You should sell stuff that isrelatively new and is somewhat “hot”.If you are going to sell stuff that keeps its value well than sell stuff like watches,jewelry, collectibles, antiques and unique items. Unique items sell good becausethey are interesting and rare, the age sometimes ads to the value just like incollectibles.
USED products advantages:

• Used products are extremely cheap, especially when bought in bulk.Unlike new products, used ones don’t have a concrete value. The value isusually either guessed or what ever someone will pay. This is a greatadvantage because sometimes you will be able to buy a product for just afraction of what it will go for on eBay.

• You can make the products come to you, instead of gong to the supplier.You can run ads in newspapers and have a website that says you buy usedstuff (the stuff you want to buy), so if you want to buy bikes simply say “Ibuy used bicycles”. This way you are also invantages:

the driver’s seat, you decidewhat you want to pay!
• Used products can be easier to get your hands on than new ones. Whilenew products are easier to find a supplier for, used products can be easierto actually buy for resale. You don’t need a tax ID, you don’t need lots ofmoney and you can make the product come to you!USED products disadvantages:
• Used products are not NEW. When most people buy something they wantit to be brand new, they want a guarantee, they want to be the first ones tolay their hands on what they bought, they want that “new smell”. If you areselling a used product, there is no “new smell”.
• Used products are usually at least one year old and sometimes they areoutdated. To some people an outdated product is useless, they want thelatest model.
• There are tons of people selling used stuff on eBay, and many of thosepeople are powersellers. If you do decide to sell used products, I and manypowersellers recommend that you sell something that holds its value verywell.