If you are currently running an online store, continuous research and hard work are the key to success.

One of your first challenges is to decide which products you want to sell. Once you have decided on your product or product lines you will then need to find wholesale product sources. There are a few main  options that you have available to you and we'll quickly run through each of these before looking at why you might want to buy products in bulk.

Dropshippers

A drop shipper is a type of wholesale company where you can order individual products. These products don't need to be handled by you and the orders are dispatched by the dropshipper. When your customers place an order on your ebay store or website, all you need to do is pass that order on to your dropshipper and provide them with your customers shipping details.

There are many advantages to using a dropshipper mainly because you don't have to hold any inventory or worry about shipping products. A dropshipper is also useful for cash flow because you don't need to spend money before you make money.

When choosing a drop shipper you need to look for reliability and quality of service. A drop shipper will be representing your business. If problems occur in servicing your orders then this will reflect badly on your business. It is essential to find an honest, accountable and reliable drop shipper.

Importing

Another option would be to source the products from china or wherever they are made by yourself. There are a number of complications to importing, and this type of sourcing method should be avoided if you are just starting out.

You will also need to take care of shipping, transport and storage. Import duty is another factor to consider along with a host of required legislation.

Wholesale

Another more common option would be to bulk buy products from wholesale sources. These wholesalers are usually importers themselves, so you get the benefits of competitive pricing without the hastle of importing. You can purchase smaller quantities of product from wholesalers which should help with your cash flow.

Buying products in bulk is the best way to save money and increase profits. Although dropshipping services are very flexible you do pay a premium for them. Products will always be more expensive when purchased from a dropshipper as the dropshipper needs to include all shipping and handling costs in the product price.

The main things to be aware of when bulk buying products the storage of stock and the affect on your cash flow, as you will need to pay money up front. You will need sufficient space to store your products and enough money to make the investment.

One of the biggest problems that many small businesses have with dropshipping is the lack of control. It's often difficult to find out accurate stock levels from your drop shipper and this could lead to an unhappy customer if a high selling stock item is sold out.

Your reputation also hangs in the balance because if the dropshipper does anything wrong then it will be you that lose business. You have a lot more control of the entire process if you use a regular wholesaler.