should i open a store and sell instruments

[six-one-6-six]

Hi friends i need advice

i am thinking of opening an ebay store and sell imports (basses and guitars), i know the supplier very well , and quality is ok for beginers

i just wonder if it's a good market to tap in, i mean i dont know anyone who has these ''types'' of instruments.

any comments on this

[TMBTC]

I have wanted to do the same for a while but haven't been able to pull the trigger.... Kurt over at Rondo seems to be making a living selling imports.

[davidjbass]

Very tuff market. The economy is down. Sales are down. Unless you have a lot of money to tie up for a while I would hold off and see how things go economy wise next year. My 2 cents.

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by davidjbass

Very tuff market. The economy is down. Sales are down. Unless you have a lot of money to tie up for a while I would hold off and see how things go economy wise next year. My 2 cents.

Being only 16 I know a limited amount about most things economy related, but I agree with this. With the way things are falling, daily, and instrument prices arent too consumer friendly, I would stray away for a year or two.

Unless you can beat the price:quality that Rondo has.

[4001]

Originally Posted by davidjbass

Very tuff market. The economy is down. Sales are down. Unless you have a lot of money to tie up for a while I would hold off and see how things go economy wise next year. My 2 cents.

+1 on that.

[JTE]

Do you have a business plan, financing, a good web-master to have a GREAT site, connections in the biz who'll get your products known? And, are the instruments better than Rondo, Essex, etc.? No point trying to sell the same stuff everyone else has unless you can do it (and make a reasonable profit) for SUBSTANTIALLY less.

Don't forget to include costs for taxes, regulatory compliance (Sarbane-Oxley is a bi...), customs fees, insurance, being able to comply with laws regarding mail-order shipping delays, etc.

I don't know if you should get into the business, but that there's a start of the list of things you'll need to KNOW about before you start down this road.

John

[six-one-6-six]

here is a few
these would be around $250.00 , maybe shipped for free (i'm working hard on that)

[CTbass613]

and licensing/trademark fees...as those two look very similar to fender/warwicks...they will come after you if you don't get permission first.

[MonetBass]

Originally Posted by JTE

Do you have a business plan, financing, a good web-master to have a GREAT site, connections in the biz who'll get your products known? And, are the instruments better than Rondo, Essex, etc.? No point trying to sell the same stuff everyone else has unless you can do it (and make a reasonable profit) for SUBSTANTIALLY less.

Don't forget to include costs for taxes, regulatory compliance (Sarbane-Oxley is a bi...), customs fees, insurance, being able to comply with laws regarding mail-order shipping delays, etc.

I don't know if you should get into the business, but that there's a start of the list of things you'll need to KNOW about before you start down this road.

John

John is quite the wise man. Heed his advice. There is so much more to starting a business than most folks realize.

[six-one-6-six]

Originally Posted by JTE

Do you have a business plan, financing, a good web-master to have a GREAT site, connections in the biz who'll get your products known? And, are the instruments better than Rondo, Essex, etc.? No point trying to sell the same stuff everyone else has unless you can do it (and make a reasonable profit) for SUBSTANTIALLY less.

Don't forget to include costs for taxes, regulatory compliance (Sarbane-Oxley is a bi...), customs fees, insurance, being able to comply with laws regarding mail-order shipping delays, etc.

I don't know if you should get into the business, but that there's a start of the list of things you'll need to KNOW about before you start down this road.

John

thx John , yeah i know..i've been doing this (imports) for around 5 years (for fun)

and i got laid off last week so....i wanna try this

[Mark Wilson]

Doesn't belong here.

Off to Misc.

[J. Crawford]

The bodies all seem to be misproportioned, especially that Wick knockoff.

The headstocks, too.

[six-one-6-six]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

The bodies all seem to be misproportioned, especially that Wick knockoff.

The headstocks, too.

of course , it's not a warwick!

[Spinal Tapper]

IMO, I'd look more into the buying/selling of used guitars/basses.

Incredible deals on used stuff can be had right now, although the market isn't impressive for selling anything right now, I think you could ultimately make more selling used quality stuff than brand new goods that haven't found their way into a good reputation yet...no offense to your goods though...but people won't spend much on something they can't try out first, or haven't had positive recognition amongst a community.

SX or Rondo is a great example of this. If you can't beat him pricewise and on customer service, I'd just focus on used stuff that practically sells itself.

I know a guy my age that makes close to 6-figures a year buying and selling specifically early 80's Fullerton Fenders (strat guitars mostly, some basses once in a while) for the past 2 or 3 years. He has a great interactive, clean looking website, but does most of his stuff off Ebay.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by six-one-6-six

of course , it's not a warwick!

That doesn't mean you won't get sued by them. And by Fender, and whatever other brands your maker is copying.

[six-one-6-six]

Originally Posted by bongomania

That doesn't mean you won't get sued by them. And by Fender, and whatever other brands your maker is copying.

i know dude , but this is 3 pic of 125 models....

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by six-one-6-six

of course , it's not a warwick!

I didnt meant to say it was, but the wick one seems to almost look like it couldnt function correctly the way its made.

IMHO.

[six-one-6-six]

all things aside would these sell for 250? keep in mind that these a beginers items......could also do custom shapes

[bongomania]

I don't think you'd get a lot of business with those at that price, no. The big two reasons why I think that:

1) Rondo sells an established, well-known level of quality at that price point.
2) Any time you have to make the excuse that the gear "is for beginners", that means you already know the quality is poor. Since the quality is poor, you will get a lot of returns and complaints from people who expected something better, even "for beginners". As a startup business, the last thing you want to deal with is a bunch of returns and fielding unhappy calls and emails.

[MichaelScott]

I think you should do this. Bad economic times are the BEST time to start a new business. You just have to do a lean start up and have a very aggressive sales strategy. You also have to be providing a tremendous value to consumers. The reason people don't think it is a good time to start a new business is because most business don't know how to aggressively pursue customers- they just wait for customers to come to them. You have to go out and get them in economy's like this

Would those sell for $250? Look at your competition. SX makes a very good quality instrument for less than that and they have a pretty loyal fan bass here on TB. You'll need to have a comparatively higher quality of instrument, plus better color/finish options, and you'll have to generate the same sort of press SX has here on TB by going out to hustle?
Are your instruments better quality then SX? $100 better quality?
Are you going to be able to get more/better finishes then SX? Cool colors/pick guards and the like? (SX offers a very limited selection of colors).
Do you have enough balls to hustle to local stores and get your basses in people's hands so they can play them? Are you willing to send some out to the top TB posters here so they can write reviews?