Glen from miniatureparts.co.uk sells pit bikes, mini motos and all the parts associated with mini motos. He is based in Bristol and has been trading online for the past five years after starting his business from home and building it from eCommerce trading only to branching out to a bricks and mortar store.
Hi everyone, Glen from Miniature Parts shares his incredible journey on SellingOnlineToday! Download Link
Some thoughts from the interview
“I started with £1000 and the shelves in my extension it my house and it grew from there”
“Kind of a back up plan I was never intending to do this, just to make a little extra money”
“You can use Alibaba it is like the worlds market place, you can contact any supplier, you can find any goods.”
“As it gets to the uk border there are complications. I was nervous about the whole import side of things but once you do it a couple of times it gets easier.”
“In the industry I am there are agents and these agents have relationships … with lots of factories and they make their money from buying direct from the factory and selling direct to you.”
“Basically anyone can import from china.”
“I have never been to the agents that I deal with (in china). There is no benefit from it.”
“Ebay) is already there. If you are trying to get you website up and going it is hard as there are other websites.”
“The traders tend to get a rough time from ebay sometimes but have to take it on board and accept that as a business seller..”
“You send the parcel out there is nothing to stop you from putting a business card in there and trying to drive sales to your website.”
“People like to buy on eBay because it is very safe”
“I like to treat people fairly, if they spend £5 or £100”
“I do all (photography) myself under some bright lights and some pieces of paper for backgrounds and take the pictures and then Photoshop. Its all stuff I learned myself. I’m not a genius when it comes to computers.”
“It’s very time consuming… It’s a lot to learn. Doesn’t have to be that complicated. I’m under the opinion you can sell on eBay with a blank background and a little bit of writing just as well as someone who has spent a lot of money on html code and fancy listings.”
“People on eBay are driven by price and bargains.”
“It less time consuming to put something on the website than it is to go through the whole ebay process but you don’t get as much traffic”
“Treating customers fairly and being reasonable. Ebay teaches you to be fair. If you make a loss now and then that’s part of business.”
Best advice: “Keep your head low and don’t put your eggs in one basket. If you’ve got an idea start off small and let it grow naturally”
What do they offer?Miniture Parts sell Mini Moto and Pit Bike Parts and ride Mini Moto and Pit Bikes! They have over 11 years experience in these bikes. Miniature Parts fix and service pit bikes, and are proud not to be "some faceless company who imports massive amount of poor quality items without a thought for the customer." They know what it’s like to have reliability whilst out for a Blast!
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