Dollar store concept

johnsonong

Hi Guys!

Just want to know your views on operating a dollar shop regardless physical retail shop or online

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

Probably not a good idea on eBay considering once you back out listing fees and final value fees you're not looking at making very much. I supposed you could make money if you inflated the shipping cost a little bit. That's not a route I'd go, buyers are starting to know exactly how much is costs to ship and they'll call you out on it.

I guess no matter what venue you go with for a dollar store, online or brick and mortar, you have to pump a lot of product. Probably would need a staff too, that's way too many products for one guy to handle.

I think they can be successful. I've been to a few true dollar stores and man those places are packed with people, especially if in a lower income area of town.

johnsonong

Hi TBlack41!

Thank you for the reply! Yeah, You are spot on the part about eBay, that is why I'm selling through my own website instead :)

The thing about dollar store is even though it is good for budget customers, the quality of most products won't last that long. Guess this is one of the killer

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

Good to meet you Johnson!

Maybe you would consider yard/garage sales. I've got some friend in the mid south of Mississippi, and yard sales are a pretty big deal down there. Sometimes they even advertise community wide sales. When that happens my buddy will get a couple of lots from liquidation.com of pretty cheap items and usually doesn't sell them over about $5.

I know that is straying from the dollar store concept pricing items at $5, but it's a pretty big difference.

I suppose it depends on where you're located at. In the south the yard/garage sales are a big deal, and I've seen a lot of communities in California where flea markets are the big deal. I was even thinking about doing some flea marketing because it's really cheap to be a vendor....depending on where you're at like $10-15 for the day.

johnsonong

HI TBlack41!

Is this counted as an TRUE dollar shop? Link hidden: Login to view

Guess pricing products at below a dollar is not their main practice?

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

I guess when I say TRUE dollar store I mean that every single item in the store costs $1.

I see many places that follow the dollar store concept like the site you gave a link to, where any given person should be able to afford the item. Some items are 89 or 99 cents, other items are $1.39, either way you cut it the merchandise is still cheap and it follows the dollar store concept (maybe in the sense that it all averages out to about a dollar.

Where I live we have like 3 or 4 dollar store concept places, but only one TRUE dollar store. I like that TRUE dollar store place simply because I know that no matter what item I'm interested in, it only costs a dollar.

Where about are you located Johnson?

johnsonong

I'm from Singapore :)

I am thinking of implementing the dollar store concept into my website. I sell mainly IT Gadgets, Accessories, and computer peripherals :)

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

Haha, maybe you should sell wholesale to small US sellers like me. Many people think if we import from a place like Singapore that we will become rich.

What is your website and do you currently ship internationally?

IT gadgets are a great sell in the US right now, but can be expensive to get your hands on over here.

johnsonong

I thought China will be the first place most of the people will think off if they want to import? haha..

Link hidden: Login to view is my site and yes I do ship internationally.

However, I have not yet finish editing and uploading products to my site yet. So you might see some dead links here and there

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

That's an impressive site man! I wish I knew how to develop something like that.

Yeah a lot of Americans do associate China with importing goods. But I met this girl a while back who was going to college here that was from Indonesia. She was telling me about a Nike factory there. She also said there were American business people over there all the time looking for products and looking to set up factories there.

Do you buy your inventory and ship it yourself or do you drop-ship?

Depending on how you get your stuff, you may fare well selling to American small businesses.

LOVE the website....great name too!

johnsonong

Glad you like it! Thanks man! It means a lot :)

I do both actually. Keep stocks and also drop ships :)

Regards

Johnson

tblack41

Nice, do you get your stock from a company in Singapore? Are you working with closeouts, over stocks, returns?

johnsonong

Hi TBlack41

As far as I know, it's kinda hard to find prices that can even be on par with my china suppliers in Singapore, except if you buy in bulk or lots from them.

So far in Singapore, there is a few shops that sells IT gadgets, accessories and computer peripherals, but from what I see they are not doing so well..

In my own opinion, the problem lies with the branding of the shop.

Regards

Johnson

fudjj

Given the right socio-economic area, a bricks and mortar dollar store will usually always prove very popular.

Online, I'm not so confident personally. I think after you build in the shipping cost you will be pricing yourself out of that market. People want convenience, but the market you are aiming at often puts cheap above convenience.

Of course you might find markets where these stores aren't on the ground, and you could find buyers there. Something that would need a lot of research I would think.

richelle_salehoo1

Customers may easily get attracted to your site seeing you offer $1 items but once they see the shipping rates most likely more than 50% of them would not go through with the transaction - Seeing they are obviously paying more than a dollar for the product. (This is just my opinion as a buyer myself, so I might be a bit off on the percentage.)

I think a brick and mortar dollar store is more feasible, although you'd have to factor in your rent and staff wages into the entire equation :) But I'm sure people flock to stores like these. A few years back, the "Liang Kuai" ($2) stores were very popular in Shenzhen, even if you see one in almost every corner in the shopping district each store was still over flowing with customers and the lines to the cashiers were always filled. I used to buy several items there and resell them to friends :)

All the best!

SaleHoo Directory

SaleHoo Dropship

SaleHoo Educate

SaleHoo Market Insights NEW