Buying Bulk At Markets

[jazvisa]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

I bought some hand carved items from the markets and threw them on ebay to see if I could make a little money. Well I did, even after ebay fee's. Now I want to buy about 50 pieces of this item.

How is this usually done?

At the markets or do people go straight to the maker?

Will the lady at the markets realise what im doing and want a piece?

Is it safe to explain my setup to her?

Sorry if this is stupid question but just want to know the Thai feeling on this kind of thing

[mizzi39]

This thread may not last long if the Mods deem it "non Thai related".

I sell a very hard to find (unique) Thai product via Ebay. I actually go to the village and hand select this specific product myself. The profit that i get is between 300-500% so well worth it. The merchant does not care if you are reselling it or not as most that deal in bulk products, especially ethnic products do not use online marketing as a medium. The ones that do are usually selling them on Thai websites, or atleast this has been my experience. If your product really sells you may want to think about registering a domain and selling through your own site. E bays fees can be a killer! Good Luck!

[jazvisa]

This thread may not last long if the Mods deem it "non Thai related".

I sell a very hard to find (unique) Thai product via Ebay. I actually go to the village and hand select this specific product myself. The profit that i get is between 300-500% so well worth it. The merchant does not care if you are reselling it or not as most that deal in bulk products, especially ethnic products do not use online marketing as a medium. The ones that do are usually selling them on Thai websites, or atleast this has been my experience. If your product really sells you may want to think about registering a domain and selling through your own site. E bays fees can be a killer! Good Luck!

Cheers for the advise wow 300-500%, I wish I knew that product

How would I go about finding the village they are made in? Im guessing the vendor would never tell.

There cheaper here in Chiang Mai than anywhere else so I have a felling its somewhere up this way.

Can you point me in any direction to a different forum I could discuss things like this? Even a Thai forum would be fine. Please PM me if you can, thanks again

Edited September 18, 2009 by jazvisa

[DonJuanDemarco]

what makes u think its made in some village and not a factory? take the product to some factory owners and maybe one could make it for you. your goals should be to get directly to the source.

u also need a work permit for this business, which may or may not be legal in thailand, i dont know.

[bkkjames]

what makes u think its made in some village and not a factory? take the product to some factory owners and maybe one could make it for you. your goals should be to get directly to the source.

u also need a work permit for this business, which may or may not be legal in thailand, i dont know.

OTOP.

[DonJuanDemarco]

well if that is the case it should be pretty easy to locate the product, lol.

[bkkjames]

what makes u think its made in some village and not a factory? take the product to some factory owners and maybe one could make it for you. your goals should be to get directly to the source.

u also need a work permit for this business, which may or may not be legal in thailand, i dont know.

OTOP.

Guess I should have clarified for those joining us today from neverneverland.

http://www.thai-otop-city.com/

[jazvisa]

If I find the product and its not made in a factory, will I still need a work permit?

If so then its not even worth trying to get one

[bkkjames]

If I find the product and its not made in a factory, will I still need a work permit?

If so then its not even worth trying to get one

what he is getting at is that you are not allowed by law to operate a business in Thailand / work unless you have a work permit.

in laymen's terms: you can't operate a ebay business in Thailand without a company / work permit.

nothing to do where you source the product from. It has everything to do with where you are living.

now if you are a Thai national, everything I have just written is pretty much irrelevant.

[jazvisa]

And im guessing the penalties are pretty harsh.

Would it be likely for someone who is dealing in small quantities and being discreet to get checked up on?

[Scott]

Fortunately for the OP, however, it isn't illegal to go shopping. So go shopping and once you find a source for your product then you can deal with the issue of legalizing a business adventure.

[bonobo]

I have a small company as a side business in the US selling OTOP silk.  I do a couple trade shows a year, and the silk sells quite well.  Since I have the silk back there in my home in California, I decided to sell some between retail and wholesale prices on eBay.  Nada. Never sold one.  Yet tehy fly off the shelves at stores or at local markets.

I think eBay is great for some items (I have bought coins, bikes, and a few other items there), but other items needs to be touched and examined for sale.

And selling onesies or twosies from Thailand, I would think the shipping/duty costs would really eat up into profits.  Some people have been successful at it, but I don't think it would be particularly easy.

[mizzi39]

And im guessing the penalties are pretty harsh.

Would it be likely for someone who is dealing in small quantities and being discreet to get checked up on?

It is called registering your business offshore. As far as Ebay goes, yes you can sell from Thailand or anywhere else in the world as long as you are registered in your home country along with an account, whether it be Paypal or your bank account. Totally legit and you are not breaking any laws.