The reason we recommend sourcing products before creating your website is because finding suppliers can take a significant amount of time. There's no point in paying for a website if you don't have any products to sell.
There are several ways to source products for your store.
- manufacture your own products
- Order wholesale from suppliers
- dropshipping products from suppliers
If you want to manufacture your own product, you will need to find a manufacturer and set up a production line. It's expensive and time consuming, but it may be worth it to create something unique.
To set up your production line, you need to:
- Research manufacturers and narrow down candidates
- Choose a reputable manufacturer
- Work with manufacturers to create products
- Get a sample
- Investing in quality control
If you don't plan on manufacturing your own products, you can order your products wholesale or through dropshipping. Dropshipping is selling products that are shipped directly from suppliers to customers. This is a good option if you are just starting out, as it requires less initial investment. You need to find a supplier that offers dropshipping and set up an account with that supplier.
When choosing a supplier, consider the following:
- reputation
- price
- delivery time
- product quality
Common sources of suppliers, wholesalers, and manufacturers include DHgate, Alibaba, LA Showroom, Oberlo, Abound, Handshake, and FashionGo.
FashionGo is an example of a wholesale product marketplace.
