Wholesale Designer Handbags

After thoroughly reviewing Jana’s list, I would highly recommend it to anyone planning a retail business where designer handbags are the primary, or even just a secondary product line.

Besides the fact that this is a real list of real suppliers that are above board, I really love the way Jana has layed out the format.  She specifies the brand, the supplier’s contact info, shipping and payment terms, return policy and phone number etc.

What really stood out to me was the fact she had a comment column with some great info, stuff like “Has a large inventory in stock; low minimums; Drop-Ships. ” I can tell that she did her research thoroughly and used these contacts herself.

Another note – Jana separates out the vendors that drop ship vs. those that just do wholesale.  This can be really powerful if for example you want to start a boutique with just an online presence first (like an eBay store or an ecommerce website) and then build a brick and mortar business later.

Drop shipping allows you to test the market, see what sells, but without investing a lot of money, time, and energy upfront on a storefront presence.  What a great tool…!

Jana also breaks everything down between Europe and US, and I really love the designer labels you can find in her database, like:

Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Celine, Chloe, Dior, David Yurman, Ed Hardy, Fendi, Isabella Fiore, Kate Spade, JP Tod’s, Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton (USED), Marc Jacobs, Michale Kors, Mui Mui, Prada, Sky

I kinda wish I knew about this when I started our boutique ;)

One final note. There are a few  ebooks courses out there claiming to give out a similar resource to this, as a “free bonus” and I have looked into those lists.  Most are either not valid (because they deal only in knock-offs,) outdated, or not even “wholesale” lists at all, because the prices are at retail levels, not wholesale.

To be quite frank, so many of the “wholesale lists” being circulated on the web are really just rehashed versions of the same, outdated or inaccurate material. And if they are being made available “free”, that is a sign the person offering it found it for free as well.

Jana’s database is a well researched, well organized, current resource that you can use to find great merchandise at a price that will let you earn a profit – online or off. Something that powerful, and valuable, just isn’t made available for “free”.

I am convinced this is a great resource for those wanting to save time and start building a business.  I spent a lot of time researching on my own vendors and suppliers when I started, and I wish I had this database back then.

Talk about spending your valuable time the way you should be –  like running, managing, and promoting your business, instead of being bogged down trying to find wholesalersJ

Hope you like it!
=)

Get Immediate Access

So, without further delay, here it is! We hope you like it, and pleeeeeaze submit a comment to let us know how you liked it, or if you have any questions. Who knows, if you ask a great question, we may just record a video specifically to answer it!

We hear this question a lot, and decided to do a quick video to talk about why there may be no better time than now to launch your retail boutique.

If you have any questions or comments, please do post them in the comment section below. Thanks!

In retail, it is crucial for customers to get a good vibe when they first walk into a store. The first impression of how the store is designed and how your products are displayed plays a huge part in making your sales. How might we achieve this? There are many ways to get customers to walk into your store and get them to feel comfortable to stay and shop. For obvious reasons, if customers don’t feel comfortable at the first minute they walk into a store they will walk out. But if they like how it feels when they walk in, then the chances of making a sale is higher.

You always want to display your hot selling merchandises in the front of the store. Do not clutter up the middle fixture of the store with too many products. Keep it simple and clean. If you are selling clothes, soaps, shoes or jewelery, this is where customers will come first and glance or feel the merchandise. Make sure to keep the fixture heights low enough so it is easy to feel and touch. Sometimes, it is also a good idea to put fresh flowers or something colorful to catch customers attention. Most women love flowers and color. Just choose flowers that have subtle fragrances. Most of my retail consulting clients have told me that every time they change or put a new bouquet of fresh flowers, their sales end up being pretty good for that day.

It is also good idea to keep products organized. Keeping items organized is so crucial. If you are the owner of the store and you walk into your own store, you will know where everything is. But look at it from a customers eye who has never walked into your store. Are all the products easy to see? Can they see what your store is about? is it easy for them to walk through the isles? Are there little fixtures that are making it too hard to walk? Take products off the floor, only stock inventory at that level. Are items displayed in a good flow?

I have seen in many stores where there are so many fixtures and too many products. I didn’t know where to start. Customers find this confusing and will walk away. If they see things are organized and not chaos, it feel as a safe surrounding to walk around. You can always play calm and sooth music. Another good tool is having a water fountain. The sound of water is very relaxing and soothing. Art work is also a great touch for walls. I have personally liked mirrors on the wall especially if your space is small. It really opens up the space and makes it look bigger.

In one of the articles I recently read while doing market research, it stated that most people are shopping when they feel stressed. In our modern lifestyle ( I don’t want to say it) but most people are stressed easily these days. So if they feel relaxed or calm, they will want to stay in the environment for a while, which gives them more time to browse your entire store, and increases the chance they will buy.

So, that’s the warm and fuzzy side. Then comes the not so warm and fuzzy. Putting numbers together on paper, deciding on funding options, choosing solutions for employee taxes and payroll….generally all the stuff that induces yawning or sleep in most creative people. Of course, a very common motivation for having your own business is greater financial reward and freedom, and that goes for “creative types” as well. But even with dollar signs in your eyes, the dreaded (by most) “Business Plan” behind your boutique may not be as appealing as all that “fun” stuff I mentioned above. In fact, for a lot of small business startups, the biz plan is either way to thin, or non-existent. No matter how much “fun” it may (not) seem to us, it is very important, and should not be “permanently procrastinated”.

And, under the subject of business planning also falls business financing. Again, I think we can all intuitively agree on how important this is. None of us would get any business off the ground without it. And here is where most would-be entrepreneurs get the most hung-up. The thought process for many of us is “You have to be rich to own your own store or business…” Or, “it will take a fortune to get something like that started…” If these tapes aren’t playing in your own brain, there is a good chance they are being parroted out of the mouths of skeptical friends and relatives if/when you mention the idea of starting something of your own. (My personal policy is NOT to mention a new venture until I’ve already started it – I prefer not to risk contamination with the doubts of others…)

The fact of the matter is, start-up funding requirements can vary widely, from “that’s not so bad” to “ouch, thats a lot of money.” Variables include your own existing resources and talents, average costs for the product area you specialize in, whether your vendors will provide 30-day net right off the bat ( so you can earn money prior to paying them for inventory…) etc.

So, depending on your boutique, you may be able to launch on a shoe-string, or not. If not, you have to decide whether to use OPM (“Other Peoples Money”- could be bank or SBA loans, investors, venture capitalists, etc.) or (God Forbid) your own money. My personal take on this, after having the experience of launching retail and consulting businesses, is this; If your credit and situation allow, go get an SBA loan (in your business’s name i.e. form a corporation) or some other reasonable small business loan program. If this is not feasible, next best is to be using funds you raised (i.e. saved or acquired) and hopefully, follow the “shoe string” route so as to retain as much of your cash resources as you can, and still launch.

What I would NOT do: Categorically, under no circumstances, would I begin to think about using consumer credit (i.e. credit cards) to finance any aspect of my business, except maybe minor expenses such as supplies and gas, to be paid in full each month. This includes so-called “business” credit cards. Those are generally just typically high cost consumer credit lines that are marketed to the business community. They are no less dangerous in my book than any other credit card.

Why dangerous? Because they’re expensive, and can reak havoc on your credit profile should you have a period of struggle (like 90% of new small businesses) at any point in the first 5 years of your business. The other no-no in my book, which may be obvious to most in the wake of the sub-prime lending fallout of the past couple of years, is to put your home or other assets in hock to raise funds for a startup. Granted, a lot of people have probably done this, and some probably succeeded, but bottom line, this is not a sound business strategy. Namely, placing any of your personal assets at risk to fund a business is not good practice. Just read about Trump or Kiyosaki, and you learn that they subscribe to the OPM strategy whenever possible, and specifically, the creation of a corporate entity (i.e. the “corporate veil”) and establish credit specifically for that entity. This shields you from any personal loss in the event the business folds. That way, if the business does not take off, you’ve minimize your liablility, and protected your credit profile. Exactly what Trump did when his business(es) bankrupted, and he somehow came out swinging shortly thereafter and re-built an empire that dwarfed his previous one.

And if you’re a stubborn entrepreneurial type, you’ll want the option of creating a whole new concept, writing up the plan, and getting back out there. That’s really hard to do if you’ve compromised your personal assets and credit the first time around.