It is a fact that you can buy and sell anything in the virtual world! You no longer need to find store space, fix it up, stock and manage inventory and then wait for the customers to come in. Now, you can also participate in the retail experience, by setting up your own mail order business. You can choose to go the traditional way by printing a colorful physical catalog or create and online catalog a la eBay. Follow the instructions listed below to get started with your mail order business.
STEP 2:
Sign up to accept online payments. Over 90% of all payments made by buyers online are through credit and debit cards or through proprietary payments systems such as PayPal. To accept credit and debit cards as a mode of payment, sign up as a merchant with local franchises of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, etc. Many banks and financial companies provide this service, so you will need to research and check out a provider who gives you the best merchant discount and interchange rates.
STEP 3:
Lining up suppliers. This step is the most important segment of the start-up process and will require quite a bit of time and effort on your part. Your best option would be to look for and select a supplier who is willing to source the best material for you at wholesale rates and also arrange for the storage and delivery of stock as and when the orders start coming in. Look for drop-shipping companies as these will maintain your inventory for you, including packaging and shipping of individual orders. When you are more established in your mail order business, you can think of taking on the full activity yourself - a place to store inventory and take care of packaging and shipping orders.
STEP 4:
Select your product catalog. Rather than trying to sell everything under the sun, select a few fast-moving and popular items. It is better to start with a small catalog of less than 40-50 products and scale up as you get more familiar and confident with the mail order business.
STEP 5:
Setting up a website and printing a catalog. There are numerous resources available on the Internet which will help you set up a website listing all the products you will be selling through your mail order business. A local printer in your area can help you with producing a colorful and glossy catalog which can be mailed out to potential customers. Make sure to keep the number of printed catalogs you will be mailing out to a limited number, since this will cost you quite a bit of money. Identify a select list of potential buyers to send brochures to, these should be people you are relatively sure will use the catalog and start ordering. Take out advertisements in local newspapers or post fliers around the city, giving details about your new mail order business and website details.
STEP 6:
Getting your customers. One surefire way to get buyers to visit and buy from your mail order business is to give away a few freebies or discounts for early birds. Make sure that you highlight these offers in your promotional material, including the print catalog. Maintain an updated database of customers as and when the orders start coming in, reward prolific buyers with periodic gifts or discount vouchers to promote loyalty. Be prompt in ensuring the safe packaging and delivery of bought items, this will help you in building up a solid reputation among customers.There is not much cost involved in setting up a mail order business. All it requires is some basic investment, time and lots of effort to get going. Once the initial effort is out of the way, sit back and enjoy the profits rolling in. Remember though, to be constantly reinventing and revamping your inventory to keep the orders coming in and satisfying your clientele.
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