Selling iPhone/android accessories (not me/new shopping cntr

[extraT]

Chaps,

An in law is thinking of opening a small stand/shop in a new shopping center that's opening up near him (non U.K. Based, major European city, excellent footfall)

Does anyone have any experience doing this? Pitfalls? Advice/experience? Where could he source the stock? Alibaba?

He seems to think it would be, well, not easy but easier. Wants to get out of the rat race etc...

Thanks!

[uber]

The key to making money in these kiosks is scale as each unit does not make huge margin due to high rents and extended quite times. The biggest in the US is happy to break even during the week, profit at the weekend and expect a maximum profit of $1000 a week which is why they have 100+ units.

[rog007]

Bit late methinks (admittedly I'm referring to UK market only).

Has said mall not already got such a trader lined up or in situ? It's now a race to the bottom. Early days I knew some who were selling faster than they could source, but no longer. Now it's not such a busy time, less weekends, so lots of standing about during the week.

[daemon]

extraT said:

Chaps,

An in law is thinking of opening a small stand/shop in a new shopping center that's opening up near him (non U.K. Based, major European city, excellent footfall)

Does anyone have any experience doing this? Pitfalls? Advice/experience? Where could he source the stock? Alibaba?

He seems to think it would be, well, not easy but easier. Wants to get out of the rat race etc...

Thanks!

So he has no experience at all, no suppliers, no idea what the market might want but hes hoping to hit the ground running by opening a stall in a new shopping centre?

I think his desire to get out of the rat race is blinding him to reality.

[Dejay1788]

Race to the bottom. Unless they're going to be very, very cheap then they won't sell. I used to sell them on Amazon for a while and know that it's a very competitive market. With a stall you're going to have more overheads to cover.

Can your relative sell for less than they're going for on Amazon or Ebay? I doubt it.

The only way I can see this working at all would be selling premium products but that's not going to be easy.

[_Nathan_]

You say this but a stall in my local shopping centre sells the same £2 eBay tat at £10+ and hes always busy

Dejay1788 said:

Race to the bottom. Unless they're going to be very, very cheap then they won't sell. I used to sell them on Amazon for a while and know that it's a very competitive market. With a stall you're going to have more overheads to cover.

Can your relative sell for less than they're going for on Amazon or Ebay? I doubt it.

The only way I can see this working at all would be selling premium products but that's not going to be easy.

[daemon]

_Nathan_ said:

You say this but a stall in my local shopping centre sells the same £2 eBay tat at £10+ and hes always busy

Busy talking to people or busy selling?

I had a look at the one in Manchester Arndale today and there were a couple of people having a look at stuff but i didnt see anyone buying.

[Nickyboy]

I rarely see people with phone cases anymore. I have a silicon one i paid 79p for and it's been on there for 18 months. I wouldn't even think about paying more than a couple of quid but all the tat you used to see about 10 years ago seem to be gone, I deliver to a phone shop and he has a large range of them, they're £5-£10 each, i know he only pays around £1.50 for them but he says he sells so few of them he has to price them high. He makes his money on repairs, accessories are just a side he needs to bring people in.

[DSLiverpool]

Pama have all the motorway services sewn up and they are £££ but have a near captive market for chargers etc but in a mall you have loads of choice and I really can't see it without a huge usp

[edc]

As a consumer, if I needed such a thing my first thought is to grab my phone and browse ebay/google to check the prices. If I saw something in a shop and thought that would be useful then for something like a phone accessory I would check your price, walk away check my phone and most likely order online at a cheaper price!

[fridaypassion]

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