Ecommerce or AWS/affiliate

[Xander]

I've got a concept for a new site I want to launch but am tring to decide on whether it should be ecommerce or AWS/affiliate. Ecommerce (buying/shipping myself) would be better I think in the long term (repeat visitors/better profit margins) but will a lot more to setup initially and require more work. AWS/etc on the other hand will require minimal work but may result in less repeat visitors/buyers(with are really important).

So those who sell through AWS/affiliate do you see many/any repeat visitors/buyers?

[Chris]

Do you have a source for the product wholesale? If not you can't do ecommerce so that makes the decision for you.

[Xander]

No I don't have one but I would make make some calls to get them(multi source). The trouble is its not a unique/rare product(s), is ecommerce only really worth the effort if there aren't many/any competition?

[Emancipator]

its not so much about competition its what your doing to overcome it. Example, look at my website. I am not exactly in a niche but it does ok. Give them something they want and even if you have thousands of competitors they will come to you.

[Chris]

Well in making an ecommerce site the first steps have nothing to do with the Internet. The first thing you need to do is get your products, or atleast get an account with the wholesalers/manufacturer so that you can get your products when needed. Then you need to setup the business/bank account type stuff. Get your merchant account, etc. Then you can worry about the website.

Unique products do much better online, if its hard for someone to find locally they will look online for it. Online competition doesn't matter so much as offline availability.

[chromate]

Just to echo what Chris says really... Don't under-estimate how hard it is to get a supplier to actually supply stock for you! If you have no trading history etc then it is a real nightmare. I've found most suppliers are not in the least bit interested unless you have a current retail outlet and have trading history with other supplier references etc.

If you're dealing with branded products then it's even worse, as the brand will want to ensure that their brand reputation is protected. This may even mean attending compulsory training courses for to the product you want to sell. They will undoubtedly also want to know about your customer service / pricing policies etc

You may think, if I show them enough money they will be interested. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work like that.

I would suggest starting an AWS site for the product you want to sell. If it gets successful, then simply swap the aws for an ecommerce version. The results from the AWS site will be a reasonable indication of what to expect from an ecommerce venture.

[Xander]

Thanks for the advice. I think theres probably too much offline availablity, I'll try affiliate instead; just have to make the content(50% of the site) as sticky as possible.

[manonthestreet]

Why not start out as an affiliate and then if you see a demand and you could make more by fulfilling yourself make the switch.

No investment in products until you are sure you can sell them?