Importing Products from Overseas

If you’re ready to take the plunge—or just dip your toe in the Pacific Ocean of reselling—you might want to take a look at the behemoth of factory listings, Alibaba.com. Upon visiting Alibaba, you’ll encounter thousands of product listings, complete with prices, terms of purchase, and reviews of the manufacturer from other customers.

The simple and easiest way to get started is to select some kind of product line to experiment with. Yoga mats? Remote-controlled tractors? Adjustable cat furniture? It’s all there on Alibaba—just be aware that browsing the site is an easy way to lose an entire afternoon.

You’ll likely be more successful if you find some way to “brand” the items you buy. Matthew Konstanecki’s anti-mosquito wristbands were made to include the name Invisiband on them. Another popular Side Hustle School story featured a guy who made $300,000 reselling manual coffee grinders on Amazon. The only physical difference between his product and other, generic ones was a line of text that included his business name. (The real value came in the way he interacted with his customers.)

Finally, you can also hire a manufacturer to custom build a product for you, just like several of the stories featured here. Download a list of questions to ask potential partners at the link below.

100 Side Hustles

Coming June 4, 2019