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4 Replies Last post: Sep 15, 2008 5:38 PM by Lighthouse24

I've a good idea but i dont know where to begin first

Aug 12, 2009 6:59 AM

Click to view alexmay38's profile Start-up alexmay38 2 posts since
Aug 12, 2009

Hi everyone,

I would like to open up an online clothing store. I'm new at this business and I dont have a big budget. My questions are:

1. Should i buy the goods first then make the website? or the opposite?
2. How much does a simple website cost?
3. What kind of payment is prefered by the customers?

Thank you for all your help.
Tags: alternate_financing_startup, business_start_up, business_credit, investor, investment_loan, cash_flow Report as inappropriate
Click to view chwmqq's profile Professional chwmqq 6 posts since
Aug 12, 2009
1. Re: I've a good idea but i dont know where to begin first Aug 12, 2009 7:20 AM
in response to: alexmay38
I think you can register c2c site.
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Click to view DomainDiva's profile Mogul DomainDiva 1,731 posts since
Oct 10, 2007
2. Re: I've a good idea but i dont know where to begin first Aug 12, 2009 9:03 AM
in response to: alexmay38
First you need to understand what a good specialty clothing / accessory online store looks like. I would suggest that you visit ebags.com, coldwatercreek.com and jjill.com to see some really good website and shopping nirvana. Ebags is my favorite.

Then decide what you are going to retail. Clothes? Women, men, children, steam punk, goth? Are you wanting to be a specialty store?

Accessories? Low...medium or high end?

Shoes? No that is way too much inventory and if you only carry certain sizes, people will get angry if you don't have their size and say ugly things about your site on the internet.

You will need someone to constantly maintain the website. My suggestion is to find an unemployed tekkie, make them a partner and go from there. One person cannot do it all. Website design and maintenance can be very expensive. Beware of offers to do things for free...you get what you pay for. Then you have to get people to your website.

Online retailing can be a very expensive proposition. First, do your homework as I suggested in the first paragraph. Do not be in a rush.
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Click to view SME_ally's profile Mogul SME_ally 42 posts since
Feb 8, 2009
3. Re: I've a good idea but i dont know where to begin first Aug 13, 2009 1:18 AM
in response to: alexmay38
Hello,
To answer your questions, I would do:

1. build the site first then buy inventory
2. ecommerce sites are not simple. you'll need a db, payment gateway, and SSL certificate
3. if you use Paypal, it'll accept Paypal transfers as well as credit cards. That'll cover 90% of your customers.

A very well designed e-commerce site can cost a few thousand dollars. Or if you are good with html and scripting language then you can try open source CMS such as Drupal, Joomla etc. But if budget is tight, I am promoting an affiliate portal where you can access thousands of wholesalers selling over a million products. I'm sure there are many clothing wholesalers in the list. Membership to this site will also give you a free online shop preloaded with 150 products to get you selling immediately. The cost is a one-time fee of $37.97. There is a must-see video that shows you how to use the portal. Here is the link http://www.wholesale-portal.com/?id=103171

Good luck with your business!
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Click to view GhostRider103's profile Authority GhostRider103 17 posts since
Aug 5, 2009
4. Re: I've a good idea but i dont know where to begin first Aug 13, 2009 2:43 AM
in response to: alexmay38
I think you should actually try to do both at the same time.

Hire a web design company to get started on your website, which will take a couple of days. While the design company is in the process of getting your website completed, then you can do your other things that you will need to do.

I recommend checking out www.knrdesigns.com to get your website designed. Very professional work, but not too expensive.

Good luck with your business.
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