Buying & Selling

[wannabeetrader]

I know that the idea I have is FAR from original and has been tried and failed by many. However I think with a good amount of research, a lot of hard work and some good advice, I (along with a very good friend of mine based in BKK) will make a decent go of this.

I would like to source some great, popular items from Thailand that I would sell on the net, probably mostly on Ebay. If you look on Ebay, you can see plenty of stuff for sale that has come (not all admit this) from Thailand.

I would like to know what goods you guys think I should be asking my friend to source. I am thinking clothing (hippy and not), muay-thai equipment and clothing, buddhist art, home-furnishing, northern crafts and small furniture items.

I would like to know what kinds of things you people would source if you were in my shoes, and where to get them from.

I am thinking of Pratunam for clothing, Khao Saan for hippy clothing and art-work chatuchat for various and Bobae for sports-wear.

Ideally some of you may have experiance of doing this and can advise me of things to look out for and the best way to go about my 'plan' (in terms of photgraphing the items, shipping them to customers and buying in bulk or not)

I want you to know that I do know a fair bit about ebay and about the clothing industry. I am not scared of hard work and do not lose interest in things if they don't go to plan at first.

Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.

[londonthai]

sell exactly what the other are selling - but slightly cheaper.

get everything on chatuchak - bobe doesn't exist anymore, khaosan is expensive.

[wannabeetrader]

sell exactly what the other are selling - but slightly cheaper.

get everything on chatuchak - bobe doesn't exist anymore, khaosan is expensive.

Thanks for that! Any particular things you would say were great products to sell? Also, would you buy in bulk or buy smaller ammounts and sell them, then do the same again?

I like your thinking about doing the same just cheaper. I will do this. But I would also like to find a couple of original product-ranges.

I am not so naive that I think I will 'open up a new market'. But I reckon I can find a few things that are not so common on ebay. How about Beer Chang T-Shirts ; )

[Jet Gorgon]

Londonthai knows best. Do Chatuchak. But you have to go and check out the goods yourself at least once. Do the garden section too, as there are tons of knicknack stalls. Hang out on Sukhumvit and Khao Sarn for a few days to see what the farang are buying. If you want specifics from me, I'll have to charge you!

[wannabeetrader]

Great advice so far......thanks!

One problem is that I am stuck in the UK so I will have to trust my friend to search out goods and sellers. I will setu the ebay store and deal with the selling. I will tell him to get his ass down to chatuchat and find us some good stuff!

What are your top three products guys? I know I may be asking too much and getting cheeky, but you don't get if you don't ask. My top 3 at present, just from spending a fair bit of time around BKK are;

1) Traveller <deleted> ie.Beer Lao T-shirts, fisherman's trousers, Billabong boardies, cheap jewelry, hindu T-shirts

2)Muay Thai stuff ie. Shorts (great designs and I reckon they sell well), focus pads, T-Shirts, leg guards etc etc

3)Buddha Statuess/Carvings/Mini Spirit Houses - Appeal to the holistic folk. Cheap and look great in most rooms.

[Jet Gorgon]

You are looking to get ripped off, Dear. And forget about the Buddhist statues. That's a big no no. Check out Thai gov websites re export of Buddhist images. You need to do alot of homework.

[wannabeetrader]

You are looking to get ripped off, Dear. And forget about the Buddhist statues. That's a big no no. Check out Thai gov websites re export of Buddhist images. You need to do alot of homework.

I thaught that was only a case in point if the statues were antique. I was more thinking about cheap rubbish. I know I need to do a lot of homework jet. But I won't be detracted easily. I reckon thousands have this same idea and then lose interest after a few weeks due to losing a bit of money and getting 'ripped off'.

I am not one of those people. My family has been in this kind of business (buying &selling) for about 80years, so it kind of runs in my genes.

Would you recommend any good products or places to look for them?

[fxm88]

I thaught that was only a case in point if the statues were antique. I was more thinking about cheap rubbish.

Please understand that it's not always easy to tell the difference between antiques and cheap rubbish -- that's why you have to get the export permit.

[wannabeetrader]

I thaught that was only a case in point if the statues were antique. I was more thinking about cheap rubbish.

Please understand that it's not always easy to tell the difference between antiques and cheap rubbish -- that's why you have to get the export permit.

Thanks for that info fxm. Its not like I was pinning much on a few crappy buddhas. I'll just scrap that idea. Does the same rule apply for spirit-houses?

[Jet Gorgon]

OK, I'm gonna give you one big tip. Never, EVER use crappy as an adjective for a Buddhist image. Edit that out of your last posting or ask one of the MODs to do it for you. That is highly offensive.

And, if you have buy/sell in your genes, you should not be on this forum asking us for advice either.

[wannabeetrader]

OK, I'm gonna give you one big tip. Never, EVER use crappy as an adjective for a Buddhist image. Edit that out of your last posting or ask one of the MODs to do it for you. That is highly offensive.

And, if you have buy/sell in your genes, you should not be on this forum asking us for advice either.

I don't actually know how to edit my posts, so I couldn't delete the adjective. I would not say it was HIGHLY offensive to call a cheap, plastic Buddha image crappy, but thats just me.

I am not calling Buddha himself any names, just a low-class imitation statue. Is there no difference in your eyes? the last thing I would want to do would be to offend those lovely, peaceful, respectful Thai people.

As for your last point I have to object. It is BECAUSE of this history of business that I am asking opinions bfore diving in. Could you please explain your comments jet?

[LaoPo]

OK, some advise from an 'old' soldier in trading/buying/selling in the Far East.

1. act on your own and follow your own taste and instinct about what's selling or not; don't rely on a friend no matter how close you are.

You, yourself have to develop a close relationship with the sellers; don't leave that to someone else in case something happens !

2. Go to Thailand and visit exhibitions/fairs; it will save you LOTS of travelling and time+money; all the important manufacturers are there.

link: http://www.thaitradefair.com/

3. Don't start with selling too many products at the same time but limit yourself with the number of products, especially in the beginning.

4. focus on a specific group of buying people; young or old; girls or boys; teeners/twennies or just ladies wear.

remember ladies always buy; men seldom buy anything but gadgets....!

5. Search on www.alibaba.com as well; it's a trustworthy organization as an intermediair between producers and buyers, all over Asia.

Good luck

LaoPo

[Jet Gorgon]

To edit your comments, and better do my reference to your offensive remark, too, go to My Assistant, moderating team, and click on one of the names. Ask the MOD to delete these remarks.

Quite frankly, it doesn't matter if a Buddhist image is fashioned out of leftover spinach or concrete bits; it is still sacred here. So please desist from writing negative comments about these.

And, hey, I think I gave you some good advice already. I do my own biz and my own leg work. As I said, if you want to do a good trade, you have to come and check it out for yourself. If you send money for goods, you'll likely wait ten lifetimes for the goods. But the money will be put to good use by your "friend". There's another piece of free advice.

Good luck.

[roamer]

I don't wanna rain on your parade, but I'm going to anyway. Check out the items on your list, then check each of them on ebay and find out the average price they sell for, or more often , don't. Check your listing fees against the sales figures.

Your in the UK, your friend is buying in Thailand and presumably posting....you find an item that sells, how long will a repeat order take to reach you, 8 weeks postage, airmail would hit any profit margin severely. if your friend is coming back with it, well wheres your resupply ?

I'm only hitting the basics here, there are many more problems.

It can be done, I know because I've done it, as have others. But those that have are unlikely to share the secret of their success with you for obvious reasons, but I seriously doubt its been done with any of the items you mentioned, or at least not in the way your planning to do it. And judging by some of your comments above re Buddha, your lack of knowledge is astounding.

And I might have had a little more respect for your business acumen (in the blood you say?) if you had researched this forum a little more carefully and posted this in the right section. Good luck, but do a forum search first.

Edited January 17, 2007 by roamer

[wannabeetrader]

To be perfectly honest, nobody else's opinions of me matters a jot. I know I am new here and yet to prove my intentions, but I WILL do this, with the help of a bunch of ex-pats or not.

I will obviously do more research in the coming weeks. I merely wanted to find someone with experience who MIGHT want to help me out. I guess the world of thaivisa is colder than I had considered.

Good luck with all your ventures. Me and my friend of over 15 years WILL make this happen. If bald, overweight, sweaty teachers with 17 year old dark-skinned Thai gf/bf/lbgf can sell stuff on ebay, so can I!

roamer, your point was one of my main reasons for coming here for advice. I don't know whether to buy small or take a risk and buy in bulk ( though not huge bulk). Shiping the stuff back to the uk is not cheap but I've done it before.

It may or may not be of interest for you to know that I used to ship football shirts from Bobae back to the UK. This was hugely successful for a while, but it was not the way I wanted to live my life.

[roamer]

To be perfectly honest, nobody else's opinions of me matters a jot. I know I am new here and yet to prove my intentions, but I WILL do this, with the help of a bunch of ex-pats or not.

I will obviously do more research in the coming weeks. I merely wanted to find someone with experience who MIGHT want to help me out. I guess the world of thaivisa is colder than I had considered.

Good luck with all your ventures. Me and my friend of over 15 years WILL make this happen. If bald, overweight, sweaty teachers with 17 year old dark-skinned Thai gf/bf/lbgf can sell stuff on ebay, so can I!

roamer, your point was one of my main reasons for coming here for advice. I don't know whether to buy small or take a risk and buy in bulk ( though not huge bulk). Shiping the stuff back to the uk is not cheap but I've done it before.

It may or may not be of interest for you to know that I used to ship football shirts from Bobae back to the UK. This was hugely successful for a while, but it was not the way I wanted to live my life.

Ok. Thaivisa is not as cold as you think, you could have got worse in the business section, which is really where this belongs. But, you don't do yourself any favours...could be one of those "bald, overweight, sweaty teachers" you referred to was helping you out.

And its easy to upset people when you talk about Buddha using the adjectives you did, let me explain and repeat the point that was made earlier by Jet, its the IMAGE that is important, 24K gold or plastic, its the same.

Anyway business. Look if ebay is your market and you know how to use it, research the items you are proposing to sell, narrow down a seller,do a check on items sold by that seller, work out if there is a profit in it after your overheads. I think in most cases you will find yourself scratching.

You need to ship at least a reasonable amount of something to make a profit, more often than not you have to take a gamble....problem is your gambling on your friends intuition to buy the right stuff. Go ahead, but if buying and selling is in your genes then you need to do the footwork yourself and rely on your own intuition.

[Pattayatony]

To be perfectly honest, nobody else's opinions of me matters a jot. I know I am new here and yet to prove my intentions, but I WILL do this, with the help of a bunch of ex-pats or not.

I will obviously do more research in the coming weeks. I merely wanted to find someone with experience who MIGHT want to help me out. I guess the world of thaivisa is colder than I had considered.

Good luck with all your ventures. Me and my friend of over 15 years WILL make this happen. If bald, overweight, sweaty teachers with 17 year old dark-skinned Thai gf/bf/lbgf can sell stuff on ebay, so can I!

roamer, your point was one of my main reasons for coming here for advice. I don't know whether to buy small or take a risk and buy in bulk ( though not huge bulk). Shiping the stuff back to the uk is not cheap but I've done it before.

It may or may not be of interest for you to know that I used to ship football shirts from Bobae back to the UK. This was hugely successful for a while, but it was not the way I wanted to live my life.

Do yourself a big favour forget Ebay the cost are getting too much they have just increased their fees again this month. Shipping from Thailand can be a nightmare at times. Thailand is too expensive for these products now most buyers are getting from China. Most clothing suppliers in Pratunam are now buying in China.

[dgoz]

sell exactly what the other are selling - but slightly cheaper.

get everything on chatuchak - bobe doesn't exist anymore, khaosan is expensive.

errr, why didn't I think of that?

This is Asia. If anything is being sold at a reasonable profit margin and someone is actually making money from it, someone else will come along and undercut that margin because they can live with a smaller margin and profit.

This process goes on and on until there are people selling the stuff to break even.

You may, or may not have the intelligence to work out your expenses and realise that your actual cost of the goods is not only just the price you are paying but also the associated costs of doing business. Most people here in Thailand (your competitors), cannot. Therefor the minute word gets out that some Farang is buying something and selling it on Ebay, before you can say "I cannot make any money selling it for that price!" ten other people will be selling that product on Ebay as well.

If you want to make money stay in your home country. Why do you think S/E Asia is poor?

[BIGTOE3]

To be perfectly honest, nobody else's opinions of me matters a jot. I know I am new here and yet to prove my intentions, but I WILL do this, with the help of a bunch of ex-pats or not.

I will obviously do more research in the coming weeks. I merely wanted to find someone with experience who MIGHT want to help me out. I guess the world of thaivisa is colder than I had considered.

Good luck with all your ventures. Me and my friend of over 15 years WILL make this happen. If bald, overweight, sweaty teachers with 17 year old dark-skinned Thai gf/bf/lbgf can sell stuff on ebay, so can I!

roamer, your point was one of my main reasons for coming here for advice. I don't know whether to buy small or take a risk and buy in bulk ( though not huge bulk). Shiping the stuff back to the uk is not cheap but I've done it before.

It may or may not be of interest for you to know that I used to ship football shirts from Bobae back to the UK. This was hugely successful for a while, but it was not the way I wanted to live my life.

A TROLL I THINK - HE DOFF PROTEST TO MUCH AND KNOW NOT WHAT HE SAYS.....

BT

ps and a bit cheeky

[OlRedEyes]

Sorry to say but you come across as a wide-eyed wannabe heading for a big loss. I'd slow down and learn a little first. As you say, lots of research, remember? Do the research BEFORE getting so keen, else you won't see the facts from the fever.

[Chang_paarp]

Great advice so far......thanks!

One problem is that I am stuck in the UK so I will have to trust my friend to search out goods and sellers. I will setu the ebay store and deal with the selling. I will tell him to get his ass down to chatuchat and find us some good stuff!

What are your top three products guys? I know I may be asking too much and getting cheeky, but you don't get if you don't ask. My top 3 at present, just from spending a fair bit of time around BKK are;

You have spent a fair bit of time in BKK and worked with Thais? This is a version of the buffalo story.

1) Traveller <deleted> ie.Beer Lao T-shirts, fisherman's trousers, Billabong boardies, cheap jewelry, hindu T-shirts

Expect a visit from the legal department of Billabong if you use ebay, the company may have been started by hippies but they are aggressive businessmen now. As to the use of registered trademarks read the rules on ebay.

2)Muay Thai stuff ie. Shorts (great designs and I reckon they sell well), focus pads, T-Shirts, leg guards etc etc

3)Buddha Statuess/Carvings/Mini Spirit Houses - Appeal to the holistic folk. Cheap and look great in most rooms.

See the above posts. You may want to look at a different country for these. If you want Hundu t-shirts don't go to India.

[wannabeetrader]

Thanks for all the advice. I know I may be asking for troube involving a friend in this but I have to take that chance. I have a job here and I can't just take a month off to look around Asia.

I am NOT a troll. A person with a bad atttude maybe, but not a troll.

I apologise profusely to all buddhists I may have offended with my terrible language. I have said 50 Hail Mary's and am going to Mass all week.

[Pattayaman]

With an attitude like yours i doubt you could hack it in Thailand for long.

quote name='wannabeetrader' date='2007-01-18 09:23:24' post='1089019']

Thanks for all the advice. I know I may be asking for troube involving a friend in this but I have to take that chance. I have a job here and I can't just take a month off to look around Asia.

I am NOT a troll. A person with a bad atttude maybe, but not a troll.

I apologise profusely to all buddhists I may have offended with my terrible language. I have said 50 Hail Mary's and am going to Mass all week.

[wannabeetrader]

Of course! Because Thailand is just jam-packed with educated ex-pats with wonderful atitudes.

[bendix]

Like everywhere, wannabee, there are good and bad expats in Thailand. Different people come here for wildly different reasons.

I'm sure everyone here wishes your new business venture the success you obviously deserve.

[wannabeetrader]

Thanks for the veiled bad wishes. Means a lot.

[Heng]

Get a real merchant account, channel as many sales to your own website as much as possible without blatantly breaking eBay rules (and getting NARU'ed). Paypal + eBay fees can be brutal.

[JimsKnight]

I'm suprises people are even giving out info. He's a blatant wide boy thinking just cause its a bit cheaper here and we live out in SE Asia he can turn into delboy millionaire!

People who tend to do this kind of thing rarely make a decent profits, they usually treat it as a kind of hobby as opposed to getting rich off it.

Unless you fancy whiling away the hours on a very low profit margin enterprise then I'd try another avenue, one that gets your head out of 'I want to make money out of Thailand SE Asia' is advised.

Edited January 18, 2007 by JimsKnight

[LaoPo]

Get a real merchant account, channel as many sales to your own website as much as possible without blatantly breaking eBay rules (and getting NARU'ed). Paypal + eBay fees can be brutal.

What do you mean by NARU'ed, Heng ?

I've no idea about fees from Paypal and eBay....any info ?

LaoPo

[Heng]

Get a real merchant account, channel as many sales to your own website as much as possible without blatantly breaking eBay rules (and getting NARU'ed). Paypal + eBay fees can be brutal.

What do you mean by NARU'ed, Heng ?

I've no idea about fees from Paypal and eBay....any info ?

LaoPo

LP,

NARU = Not a registered user. It means the same as being suspended from using eBay without the ability to open another account.

This might be helpful fees wise for info:

http://home.alltel.net/micrep/fees.html

It depends on what you are selling. For a friend of mine, her items sell for around $100 a piece. These items are handmade, a bit fragile *well packed shipping for her customers costs them about $10, and somewhat valuable (at least to the point where she has to start the auctions around $50... which I assume is what her cost is). So, after each sale... she has to pay eBay/Paypal about $9.00. In this situation, it's easy to calculate as 9% of every single sale. That adds up. Probably one reason why eBay has been profitable since day one. They don't have to sell anything... they just have to keep their warehouse of computers running (which I hear they aren't so good at doing any more). A great stock to own back in the day. Management has been doing more than a few silly things in the last few to several years though.