The 'Alma Group'...?

[okgo]

Hi all,

Just scanning around the net,as you do, and I came across said company http://www.almagroup.co.uk/ and it looked interesting..

I then hunted around and found a few forums, couple of people saying that they had had moderate success out of it, I have a fair chunk of spare time and thought it might be something good to do to (laptops probably), and perhaps give me a bit of an insight into running things for myself..

What are your views? I am sure someone on this expansive forum would have heard of them

Ta

[Simpo Two]

Looks like a franchise to me.

I can see the point if it's a household name like MacDonalds, but if you've got enough marbles you may as well set up yourself and save the fee. The internet, eBay etc can be great allies.

[okgo]

Having done more looking around it appears to fall under the dropshipping umbrella..

I.e you sell goods, they distribute goods to customers, you never see goods..

Any other thoughts?

[oddson]

looks like a load of sh!t don't waste your money. If the money to made is so good then why are they flogging it all themselves and keeping the margin. I've imagine that there is some kind of up front fee to pay which is where they make there money liek most of these type of operations.

[escargot]

oddson said:

looks like a load of sh!t don't waste your money.

I agree.

But not because of this:

oddson said:

If the money to made is so good then why are they flogging it all themselves and keeping the margin.

The nature of wholesaling a product is down to high volume, low margin & letting someone else worry about the retail infrastructure.

I'd be more concerned that their website is a bag of st, every man and his dog are selling cheap ink cartridges online & on eBay. This isn't niche enough to compete with the more established retailers.

[okgo]

Yes, I have made the same assumptions having looked at it, but the "dropshipping" area interests me as a whole. I appreciate product is the crux, as you say there are hundreds of thousands of ink cart webshops..

But what are your views on the system?

[CoopR]

The droppshipping is good but paying for some type of franchise of a unknown company doesn't seem a great deal.

I'm sure you can find dropshippers elsewhere or do a bit of legwork yourself and get bulk deals from somewhere like: http://www.rdcremarketing.com/

[okgo]

Yes, I am aware that other websites exist to buy stock from as an individual, but they offer no website,support etc, I just thought it would be less messy if the wholesaler was doing the dispatches etc. Also it means there is support there for customers and it takes away the need of space from me.. As I have bugger all...

Is that a fair group of points, or am I missing something..

Edited by okgo on Friday 8th May 14:07

[CoopR]

The support is certainly a fair point, that does take a lot of work off your plate. How long a warrenty do they provide? Dropshipping is of course great.

I'm not sure about the whole website and store, it's pretty horrible and certainly does not look SEO opimised or use any up to date web standards. I'd be concered it would drive away more customers than it attracted.

Perhaps a good way to test the waters but personally would be looking to make serious improvments as quickly as possible if I found a decent market for the stuff.

[okgo]

To clarify, I have discounted that website, when you say "of course drop-shipping is great" are you a fan of the concept? Have you had first hand exp of it at all?

I would of course be researching the subject at great depth, I have found a forum http://dropshipforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6514 and this post is interesting.

Still unsure or products to offer, but this is something for me to think about, I think if this kind of thing has any chance of working then one should know about the products in great detail.

Thanks so far chaps..

[maser_spyder]

okgo said:

To clarify, I have discounted that website, when you say "of course drop-shipping is great" are you a fan of the concept? Have you had first hand exp of it at all?

I would of course be researching the subject at great depth, I have found a forum http://dropshipforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6514 and this post is interesting.

Still unsure or products to offer, but this is something for me to think about, I think if this kind of thing has any chance of working then one should know about the products in great detail.

Thanks so far chaps..

We do drop shipping for our products. A damned sight better products than ink cartridges and used laptops though.

Good idea, wrong products from these people. You're asking for stress and trouble....

[oddson]

You have no edge of anyone else in the market place if your buying cheap tat from a drophipping company though. To be brutally frank they rely on mugs that want to make a fast buck on ebay. Anyone else with a PC and internet connection can get the same products dropshipped to them for the same 'wholesale' prices. seriously, don't bother.

[oddson]

escargot said:

I agree.

But not because of this:

oddson said:

If the money to made is so good then why are they flogging it all themselves and keeping the margin.

The nature of wholesaling a product is down to high volume, low margin & letting someone else worry about the retail infrastructure.

I'd be more concerned that their website is a bag of st, every man and his dog are selling cheap ink cartridges online & on eBay. This isn't niche enough to compete with the more established retailers.

you just validated my point with that statement surely?

[okgo]

oddson said:

You have no edge of anyone else in the market place if your buying cheap tat from a drophipping company though. To be brutally frank they rely on mugs that want to make a fast buck on ebay. Anyone else with a PC and internet connection can get the same products dropshipped to them for the same 'wholesale' prices. seriously, don't bother.

This also has occurred to me, the item is the key to the success of this, as said laptops (in hindsight) are probably a awful idea, as the margin is tiny and there are many huge companies buying millions of them so you will never beat their buying power.

However if the right product is used then I think it could work as per shadowninja's idea.

[maser_spyder]

okgo said:

oddson said:

You have no edge of anyone else in the market place if your buying cheap tat from a drophipping company though. To be brutally frank they rely on mugs that want to make a fast buck on ebay. Anyone else with a PC and internet connection can get the same products dropshipped to them for the same 'wholesale' prices. seriously, don't bother.

This also has occurred to me, the item is the key to the success of this, as said laptops (in hindsight) are probably a awful idea, as the margin is tiny and there are many huge companies buying millions of them so you will never beat their buying power.

However if the right product is used then I think it could work as per shadowninja's idea.

If you're looking to buy products to sell, PM me, we can help with China.

If you're looking to drop-ship, I can advise on this too, but best not to put all the best ideas on a public forum!....

[okgo]

maser_spyder said:

okgo said:

oddson said:

You have no edge of anyone else in the market place if your buying cheap tat from a drophipping company though. To be brutally frank they rely on mugs that want to make a fast buck on ebay. Anyone else with a PC and internet connection can get the same products dropshipped to them for the same 'wholesale' prices. seriously, don't bother.

This also has occurred to me, the item is the key to the success of this, as said laptops (in hindsight) are probably a awful idea, as the margin is tiny and there are many huge companies buying millions of them so you will never beat their buying power.

However if the right product is used then I think it could work as per shadowninja's idea.

If you're looking to buy products to sell, PM me, we can help with China.

If you're looking to drop-ship, I can advise on this too, but best not to put all the best ideas on a public forum!....

Be home from work in a bit, will pm you.

Ta.