A Singaporean seller seeking advice

pc82

Hi all,

I am a new timer who is planning to start an online store in Singapore to sell books. However, I realise most of the suppliers, dropshippers here are located overseas (i.e. USA). Hence, shipping fees will defintely be very costly if I am to ship to Singapore. Secondly, the delivery time will also be very long. With these 2 factors, I will not be able to compete with local online book stores.

So I'm seeking advice for the following questions:

- How do I actually source for my books to kick start my online business?

- Generally, do most online book store start off with dropshipping?

Can anyone advice me on this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

irene_salehoo

Hi PC82,

Welcome to SaleHoo! :)

I did try to search, and realized that no Singapore based books suppliers actually drop ships, as there are just too many options for the people to source them from in your country. With extensive range of printed books and at deep discounts, people can purchase directly from some of these large online bookstores -

Link hidden: Login to view

You may probably negotiate a drop shipping arrangement, but there should be a strong point for you to show how you can be a good addition to their vast arms of distributorship, so to speak. :)

Then importing books from other countries to Singapore is also not a very profitable business idea, because in Asia, â€˜Internationalâ€™ copies of educational books are all legitimately produced through the publishers in Singapore and Bangkok. These books are exactly of the same content and sold at bookstores such as Waterstones or WH Smith in UK. In Asia, these books are priced at just 20% of their UK cost to help the local market with education but the page to page content is exactly the same as those sold in UK, only that they indicate a Singapore publisher to their name. Add to that the shipping cost. And the growing competition from eBooks sales.

Sorry to disappoint, but it wouldn't hurt to start with the right info. :)

Let us know how we can be of further help. :)

pc82

Hi PC82,
Welcome to SaleHoo! :)
I did try to search, and realized that no Singapore based books suppliers actually drop ships, as there are just too many options for the people to source them from in your country. With extensive range of printed books and at deep discounts, people can purchase directly from some of these large online bookstores -
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
You may probably negotiate a drop shipping arrangement, but there should be a strong point for you to show how you can be a good addition to their vast arms of distributorship, so to speak. :)
Then importing books from other countries to Singapore is also not a very profitable business idea, because in Asia, â€˜Internationalâ€™ copies of educational books are all legitimately produced through the publishers in Singapore and Bangkok. These books are exactly of the same content and sold at bookstores such as Waterstones or WH Smith in UK. In Asia, these books are priced at just 20% of their UK cost to help the local market with education but the page to page content is exactly the same as those sold in UK, only that they indicate a Singapore publisher to their name. Add to that the shipping cost. And the growing competition from eBooks sales.
Sorry to disappoint, but it wouldn't hurt to start with the right info. :)
Let us know how we can be of further help. :)

Hi Irene,

Thanks for your valuable information. Think I gona rethink my business plan. Hope I can come out with something that will work. :)

richelle_salehoo1

Welcome to the site, PC82,

I see that Irene has provided you with really helpful information to address your concerns :)

In case you need help with anything at all please don't hesitate to let us know.

All the best!

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