|
All Inventory Source Recent Postings
|
Introduction to Business Tax & Reseller ID's |
|
|
TAX / Reseller Business ID's
Getting started with your wholesale drop ship ecommerce reseller business has some challenges, but getting started with the correct paper work to begin your business and to create accounts with legitimate drop ship distributors is not one of these issues.
Q. What is a federal tax ID number?
A. A federal tax identification number (also know as an employer identification number or EIN), is a number assigned solely to your business by the IRS. Your tax ID number is used to identify your business to several federal agencies responsible for the regulation of business.
Q. How is this number used?
A. In order to do business with a REAL Wholesale Suppler, you will need to supply a "Sales Tax ID number". Some states may have different names for the ID, such as a "Reseller ID", "Tax ID", "Business ID", "EIN", etc., but the reason it is needed is because wholesalers have different tax implications then sellers of retail products and so they do not charge you tax as the reseller they will have to show the IRS they are working with legitimate businesses and those businesses, such as yourself, have charged the tax as part of the retail sales process. Your website or online marketplace is often configured to charge tax to those in the home state for your business as needed. Every state has a web site listing information about the tax rules in that state, and where you can obtain your "Sales Tax ID number".
Q. I was asked to have an EIN, is this the same as a Tax ID?
A. This is just another name for the Tax ID. A federal tax identification number (also know as an employer identification number or EIN), is a number assigned solely to your business by the IRS. Your tax ID number is used to identify your business to several federal agencies responsible for the regulation of business. Any business offering products or services in US that are taxed in any way must get a federal tax ID number. It's safe to say that any business that has employees and/or pays any kind of taxes will need a federal tax ID. An EIN is a nine-digit number (for example, 12-3456789) assigned to sole proprietors, corporations, limited liability companies (LLC), partnerships, estates, trusts and other entities for tax filing, banking, and business purposes. The information you provide through this easy to use website will be used to acquire your ID.
Q. Is it hard to get this ID?
A. No. Getting your state tax ID number is a VERY simple process, and the forms can take just a few minutes to complete. A sole proprietorship will suffice until you become a bigger company when you fill out the paper work. If you need to list the type of business you are going to be you can list yourself as a "retail store" or simply as a "service". Filling out a form, while not exciting, will be one of the easier aspects of setting up an online business and running it successfully. You will need to take time to build a website, cross market products online, and spend time responding to customer questions and marketing your site, so there will be plenty of things to add to your "to-do" list. However, once you are done you will be running your own ecommerce business, and there is no need to view these early steps as a challange when they allow you to start your business easily and correctly to be successful.
Q- How do I get started getting a Tax ID or Reseller ID for my drop ship business?
A- The process can be slightly different from state to state, but all have an online accessible form. The easilst approach is to checkout the information for your state on the Small Business Administration's website or go to the Small Business section of the IRS website. You can view some of these links below:
http://www.sba.gov/
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
|
|
|
Business Tax IDs, Reseller Applications, & How To Get Started With A Wholesale Distributor |
|
|
Business Tax IDs, Reseller Applications, and How to Get Started With A Wholesale Distributor
One of the single most important aspects of successfully selling products online is being able to obtain products and process them from a REAL wholesale supplier directly. When you get stuck using a middleman "service", you not only pay more in shipping and fees for your orders, but you also hurt your own profit margins. You can avoid these risks by working with Inventory Source, the largest and most trusted data service provider for drop ship resellers. We have been working to help resellers work directly with verified wholesale suppliers since 2002. You can see how much these middleman "services" cost you by using our Middleman Drop Ship Calculator: CLICK HERE
However, it is important to understand that trust works both ways. Many wholesale product distributors, especially those that offer drop ship products, know that some online merchant either do not want to dedicate the time needed to run a home-based business or they might simply create an account to get access to discounted prices for direct purchases. A large percentage of new wholesale accounts are created by resellers who are just looking to research prices or are not able to get setup with a website to sell products online. The application process and client management activities can be expensive for wholesale programs, so sometimes they are reluctant to take on the risk and cost of approving and maintaining accounts unless they know the applicant is committed to their new business venture. Some wholesalers might add additional steps to their application process to help weed-out the less serious applications. After all, if you are not willing to take 10 minutes to complete an application, you are likely to be less willing to put in the time need to market or manage your online product sales. What does this mean for you? Jut know that a wholesale reseller application does not have to slow you down, and it is not something to fear. With a little preparation you can start the application process correctly and make the impression you need to form a successful business relationship.
1. Business Name and Tax ID/Reseller ID:
It is surprising how many entrepreneurs let this simple step prevent them from successfully selling online. If you are looking for a way to sell products as a business, without actually being a business, you will quickly realize the only companies willing to sell to you are other resellers disguised as a product source. A legitimate wholesale distributor must verify that you are authorized by your state to collect sales tax, which is easily captured by any online marketplace or store platform. Real wholesalers can loose their business license if they sell to resellers without collecting a tax ID or reseller ID. Some distributors might be located in a tax exempt state or the specialty products they supply could be non-taxable, but this would be the exception rather then the rule. (It is important to note as well that while real wholesalers will ask for a Tax ID, there is nothing keeping a middleman or fake wholesaler from asking for this as well. After all, the more we educate drop ship resellers about how to find true wholesalers, the smarter these middleman companies try to become to get new accounts. Asking for a Tax ID, even when they have no use for it, is an easy step for a website to take to try to make themselves look more legit. Of course, you can avoid some of this headache by using our free verified wholesale drop ship supplier directory with your free account status.) Make the right impression when beginning your application and have these details on hand when starting your application process with a new distributor. Learn more about Tax and Reseller ID's here: CLICK HERE
Make the right impression when beginning your application and have these details on hand when starting your application process with a new distributor.
2. Trade References:
It should not come as a shock that companies are concerned about credit, perhaps now more then ever. Distributors often extend credit to their retailers with "Net Payment Terms". This allows you to order products for your customers, receive an invoice, and pay for your orders after the products have been shipped. Sometimes the supplier might allow 30 days or more for the payment to be submitted. When credit payment terms are offered, part of the application process will include some form of bank or trade references. This just means the supplier wants to verify you have a valid bank account or have a good relationship with other suppliers where you order products for your business. They can also check your credit before offering you payment terms, just like a credit card company would before approving you for a new card. If you are new to online sales, do not worry. Some suppliers only allow credit card payments or upfront payments when you place orders. Also, those programs who might ask for account bank or trade references often allow both payment types. If these details are an issue for you to produce at this stage in your operations, simply let your wholesaler know you are not looking for extended credit terms and that you are willing to pay for the products at the time of order placement. This can also be done to speed up your application process. Moreover, once you have worked with them and have a track record of good payments, you can often request payment terms if needed or easily use them as your first trade reference. Some resellers work with multiple suppliers when starting a business for this reason. They might start with 2 or 3 suppliers with a simple application process and credit card payment options and as they build a trade reference history they find it is easier to create accounts with a growing network of distribution sources.
3. Common Questions:
How Long Have You Been In Business?
Honesty and integrity are just parts of being in business and building your brand and reputation. If this is your first venture, let them know. You want to be honest with your wholesaler so they do not close your account once you have begun selling your products online and committed yourself to new product sales. Every business had to start from somewhere, but just let them know you are prepared to take your business seriously. If you prefer, you can let them know you are already using Inventory Source data services to support your online sales and are ready to easily manage your online product listings. This way they know you are committed to running a fully managed ecommerce enterprise promoting their latest products and selling products online with custom category tools, MAP protections, quantity stock checks, product marketing file support, and more. Also, by being upfront with the distributor about your experience, they might have some sales reps who are more specialized in helping new accounts become more successful. Some of the smaller programs may not assign a reseller to a specific representative, but the larger distributors often assign an account representative to each reseller in their program. A new seller has different needs and questions then the more established and experienced merchants, so by being clear about your current status and experience, the distributor has a chance to match you with an appropriate sales representative.
Do You Sell From a Physical Storefront?
Some wholesalers, especially smaller regional distributors, want to see a picture of your brick-and-mortar location or verify that you are already in business selling and marketing physical inventory. This happens when they have rules they must follow to protect physical sales territories or rules enforced by the manufacturer who might only work with smaller regional distribution companies. Sometimes this is just another common question on the application so they can get an understanding of how you might stack up in their reseller network. If you have one or more physical storefronts they might expect you to be one of their new larger sales account and may want to offer price discounts, additional services, or simply change your account type to include a corporate relationship manager. However, some firms ask this question because they might have rules about which products they allow to sell online so they prevent internet only resellers from creating accounts. Inventory Source helps to take the guess work out of this process by only integrating with suppliers who are already setup to approve new online specific resellers.
There are challenges to selling products online and running a successful ecommerce business...but creating a wholesale drop ship reseller account is NOT one of them. Inventory Source can help you find distributors to work with, and we provide you with the details needed to create your account with these suppliers more quickly. And, with a few minutes to prepare, you can easily complete your application approval process and begin selling products online. When you work with the distributors directly, this direct relationship is the clearest way to succeed in ecommerce sales. |
|
|
Design Trends for 2009 |
|
|
People are always looking for the next big thing and the next new trend. As we get ready to party like its 2009, there are already a few predictions for what will be hot and what will not. Pantone provides color standards to the design industries, and their prediction for the color of 2009 will be shades of bright yellow, specifically "Mimosa", a vibrant shade of yellow. "I think it's just the most wonderful symbolic color of the future," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "It's invariably connected to warmth, sunshine and cheer—all the good things we're in dire need of right now."
Several popular fashion designers are including the bright yellow tones, as are home furnishing companies for the upcoming spring lines. While vibrant colors are a natural choice for spring, people are specifically looking for new "bright spots" in the things they buy after much of the darker news they have faced in 2008, and a sunny yellow seems to be turning into the next color trend. Tom Mirabile, vice president of global trends and design at Lifetime Brands, Inc., which includes product brands like Cuisinart, Farberware, and Pfaltzgraff, has already commented on the trends generating from many of the European markets which seem to draw inspiration from yellow for many upcoming products.
What does this mean for your ecommerce business? Should you customize your template design or logo to use mimosa, marigold, or other non-mellow, but still yellow colors? Should you browse your catalog and set yellow toasters, yellow iPod accessories, yellow camping gear, and yellow apparel on special or mark them as featured products? These are all good questions to ask, and reviewing your branding and marketing strategies for promoting your site are something all ecommerce business owners should do as we close the books on 2008 and get ready for 2009. If you are looking for design help for graphics, logos, templates, and marketing materials the Inventory Source Design Team can help. If you are looking for ways to feature new products on your site or need customized data solutions to promote your products on Google Base, NexTag, JellyFish, PriceGrabber, Shopzilla, Amazon, or eBay, just contact the Inventory Source Support Desk for the solutions you need.
While color might not be the most important attribute for you to consider as you evaluate your online sales strategies, it is still good to know that predictions for brightness are already beginning for 2009.
|
|
|
Holidays Special - 10 Simple Steps for a Successful Dropship eBusiness |
|
|
10 Simple Steps for a Successful Dropship Ecommerce Business Holiday Launch
Many of us have already started our shopping lists and general "To-Do's" at this time of year. Some people think about beginning a new business as they look back on the year.
Do not feel like you need to wait to check this off your list, because it is never easier to start an online business then with the help of Inventory Source as your "plug-in" IT Department and business jump starter.
| | We have pulled together a simple 10 Step Checklist to launch your new website on the right footing and begin the new year with the right approach. While we started this list with the recent store owners in mind.....this list is a GREAT way to launch a business at ANY time during the year and an excellent reminder for existing sellers to reassess your strategy during the holidays. - Activate your Ecommerce Business
The first step to building your search rankings will be to connect your domain name to your ecommerce hosting account. - Register a new domain name from a registrar like Godaddy. Always protect the access to your domain name account.
- If you do not have an existing website, take advantage of the Inventory Source Hosted Site Special and get a new business today.
- Follow your Getting Started Guide and platform setup instructions to begin configuring the basic features of your site.
- Point your domain name to your site when ready. This process can take 24-48 hours to complete.
- Keep Your Inventory Current
Do not miss a sale, avoid hurting your feed back with bad reviews, or delay the addition of hot new items from your product suppliers. - Inventory Source Automation users can have this happen automatically every day so you only need to spend your time marketing your site and managing orders.
- Inventory Source Download File and Custom File Users can update their site in bulk each day. If you have other external products on your site make sure you have enough time to also dedicate to these listings.
- The Inventory Source Wholesale Drop Ship Data Solutions can load thousands of products to your site as easily as managing one product with detailed titles, descriptions, categories, images, and more directly from your supplier sources.
- Build Consumer Confidence
Build trust and Reassure your customers that you are a credible business. - Create a professional design
- Add clear return policy, shipping details and business contact information.
- Encourage product reviews or post testimonials from clients. You can start this by writing your own product reviews for some key items and encourage your family and friends to add input.
- Review your category structure to assess its format, especially if you use more then one product source. Inventory Source users can take advantage of the Custom Category Mapping Tool for automated management of this or you can submit mapping changes for your Custom Files.
- Think about what makes you shop at other online websites, and assess how well your ecommerce site matches those needs.
- Generate Customer Traffic
Drive more buyers to your ecommerce store and get it noticed in search engines. - Submit your site to search engines and post the link on various sites, such as on forums and blogs. These are FREE steps that you can take on your own!
- Add meta tags or a site map to help with natural search and indexing.
- Add content pages and talk about your categories, your brands, and your products.
- Start a paid search engine marketing campaign such as Google Ad Words. Start with small daily budgets while you learn how to improve your advertisement's wording, keywords, and landing pages. The more specific your add is to the landing page, such as connecting an add for a product model and linking to that product detail page rather then your website main page, the more effective your add will be for conversions.
- Design Your Price Strategy
You do not have to be the cheapest seller online and often the cheapest seller is not the top volume seller, but you do need to review online listings to make sure your prices are competitive. - Create a promotional offer or consider offering Free shipping or lower your price settings and increase your shipping fees if you prefer.
- User your websites Sales or Specials functionality to discount and feature more of your items. Retail chains do not have the same products on sale all year, so consider changing and updating your promotions.
- Offer Gift Cards or Voucher Codes for good customers to encourage more repeat business.
- As you generate traffic try adjusting your prices to find the correct balance between margin and volume. With the Inventory Source Custom Price Setting tool for automation and custom file users these changes can be managed at the push of a button for any website platform or marketplace.
- Try adjusting your prices at least every three weeks over the first 5 months to have enough data to test your strategy fine tuning.
- Increase Your Conversion
- Promote your top selling products on key pages of your site like your homepage using your Specials or Featured modules or with a new main page graphic linking to the brand, category, or product.
- Use cross sell functions to help promote other products to your customers at checkout.
- Pick just 5 products a week and look at the title or description to see if you can add more details, technical specifications, or sales oriented content. This will improve your natural search rank and help with sales conversions for people looking at your product listings. Unless you are manufacturing your own products, this is a simple and small step, but an important step and helps you stand out from other resellers and even some of the larger ecommerce websites.
- You are not the only one to a popular product, but be the only one to sell it your way. You can add content about the brand or say why that model is better then others in the product line. Who is the target for this product? Is this product easier to use then similar items? Does the existing content use the name or nickname commonly used and search on by most customers? Just remember that the manufacture can make great products, the supplier can distribute great products, but as the retail store owner you can add the most value by thinking about what is needed to help an item be found and sell. Use the season or holiday to help prioritize your product listing improvements.
- Tap Into Your Existing Customers
Generate repeat business from your existing customers. - Send a promotional email to your customers.
- Add an opt-in form to collect visitor emails.
- Encourage customers to write product reviews for the products they order.
- You want to find ways to balance "spamming" your clients with value adding service. Do not just send a common update to everyone. Look at ways to send a targeted mailing based on their order history. Did someone buy an HD DVD Player? Thank them for their purchase and recommend HD cables or DVD's. Did someone order a large multi-person tent? Recommend other family oriented camping gear and sale items. If another customer ordered a high-end single or double occupancy tent the same product recommendations might not be best? Focus the recommendation on other high-end brand name camping items.
- Market Your Products
Drive new revenues by marketing your products. - Get listed on various shopping portals
- List your ecommerce business on complementary sites and deal sites
- Take advantage of Inventory Source Custom File Services for sites like Amazon, eBay, PriceGrabber, Shopzilla, Jellyfish, Nextag, and more.
- There are many market places where you can list your products, but Google Base is one of the simplest options and it is free to list your product data with a Google Base account.
- Focus On The Holidays
Motivate customers with holiday appeal....and do not forget that there is a holiday or two every month to use for marketing your site. - Add holiday promotions.
- Highlight holiday-based products and suggest holiday gift ideas.
- Offer free or discounted shipping, especially with multi-product orders.
- Clearly define your delivery and return dates and confirm this status with your suppliers. It is not uncommon for wholesale distributors to make changes to the order process or delivery options, especially during peek sales holidays.
- Offer Great Customer Service
This might seem obvious, but make it easy for your customers to shop and avoid the stress of holiday shopping.
- Respond to customer questions on your site or products quickly and professionally by phone or email. If you have problems managing your call volume during holiday sales consider alerting them on your voice mail message to use email support during peek shopping days for a quicker response.
- Process your orders promptly....this can be hard to balance with your own holiday planning and your business but with focus and good planning your can meet your objectives.
We hope this has helped to show you how simple a new business launch can be, and reminded you that during the holidays, any holiday, it is important to look at your marketing efforts and ecommerce "salesmanship". If you have ANY questions on any of these steps or need professional support from the most trusted name in dropship data solutions, just contact Inventory Source today.
| |
|
| | << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
| | Results 1 - 8 of 279 |
|
Blog 
