I have no real experience doing market research. I would like some information on what I should look for in researching a "platform" such as eBay, Amazon,etc. I also need information on what questions I should get answered about products I want to sell. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
The Gadgeteer
Hi Lola and welcome to the forum,
In regards to what sort of research you need to do, it really breaks down like this. Pick a product/s, then hit your chosen market place (eBay for example) and start looking at your competition. This will give you a price and service guideline that gives you an indication of what you will need to at least match to be competitive.
After you have that, then you start looking for suppliers and see what the best deal is that you can get. If you find a supplier that gives you the margin required to compete and leave you something in your pocket after removing your costs, including payment fees, shipping and whatever else.
If you are unable to find a supplier for that product/s that will allow you to compete, then you have to move on to another and start the process all over again. It's time consuming for sure and most won't spend that time and just jump in, but if you jump in blind then there is no telling what you will hit, you're purely relying on luck and luck runs extremely thin in this industry.
In regards to what questions you need to ask, I think the best way to approach that is from a buyers perspective, Think about all the questions you would have if you were the customer, warranty, shipping and so on.
I hope that gives you a decent starting point :)