Interesting Discussions With Suppliers/Distributors This Week
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Posted by PatriotFamilySupply, . 99 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
I’ve seen lots of comments here and in Ebay forums about slow sales this summer. Seems that trickle down effect has hit suppliers as well. At least one supplier I talked to this week – a very large manufacturer in the Midwest USA – has said they have multi year trends mapped for product sales, and they’ve seen a marked slowdown over the past two summers, with an expected pickup in the fall and winter months. That makes sense when cash strapped families need to choose between “nice to haves” and “must haves” like summertime sports for the kids. Next, I asked two suppliers if they were aware of the changes Google was making, and how that would hit their base of smaller businesses that fulfill web orders and used drop shippng services. Interesting – both said they hadn’t heard of the changes and they weren’t thinking through how it would impact their wholesale customers and eventually order volume. If I were these folks, I’d be VERY worried about sales commissions, etc. That makes me wonder if smaller site owners that relied on Google search even know about these upcoming/ongoing changes. I have some hard decisions to make. My wife and I have a significant sum of money we WERE willing to invest in our business up until a couple of weeks ago – when we heard of the changes Google was making. We have since kept that money on the sidelines for the most part (put over $6K in orders on hold). So I am kind of on hold until we figure out how things might work and how much money we can afford to pay Google for web clicks. That stinks as we were just ready to go live with a new website and narrow our product focus down to preparedness/survival/outdoors stuff. Suddenly, that corporate job is starting to look mighty attractive again. Thankfully, web sales is not my sole source of income. Anyway, I just thought it might be worth it to mention the whole Google thing to your suppliers if you are a wholesale buyer. |
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Posted by redredconv, . 50 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
Honestly. I don’t believe the average Joe Shopper understands the Google thing….I didn’t. I thought when I googled a product, I got reviews and places to buy (ebay, amazon, etc). I thought when I clicked ‘Shopping’ I just got the SAME places to buy (without the reviews, wikipedia, etc). Unfortunately, Google is a household name – “Google It” a common expression. The average computer user / buyer is clueless that they are going to be led to sites that pay to advertise; manipulated away from the small seller. Unless you have reason to know better, Google has a reputation for providing ALL the stuff, information, shopping, etc – not just what someone paid to have shown Googlers. BING hasn’t caught on. If whatever search engine decides to ‘play fair’ was smart, they’d advertise how Google only feeds you websites that pay to be shown, not all the places you can buy a product. IBZ's Yard |
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Posted by TippysQuaintCottage, McConnells, S. C.. 1,102 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
I just dropped Google checkout. All of a sudden, they wouldn’t let someone check out and pay for an item. I never could understand what corrections I needed to make. Maybe when things settle down and someone can explain what to do in English— not computer language, I will try it again. Tippy's Quaint Cottage |
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Posted by TipTopMgr, NC. 6,503 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
It was nice reading your post and getting an inside view of slower sales on a big supplier and what that supplier thought. Selling online is not my sole source of income either even though I wish it was. I do need the additional income though. When a sale happens it is great that it does. I just wish that I would not be so surprised when it happens. I used to not be so surprised (lol but not so lol). Even so, I do not blame Bonanza for what is going on right now. I’m just waiting to see what happens, but no matter I’ll still keep selling because like I said, I need the sale when it does happen. I’ll just have to be careful and not play around so much in the forums like I have been because time is money to me. Tippy, do you have your URLs (to your more booth details page on Bonanza) in the areas where Google Wallet requires us to put our shipping information and I think the other one is for our Return Policy? Another thing is Mark had posted a short while back something about our callback URL (someone correct me if I’m wrong there, please). I went in and changed it at that time but I cannot remember what I had to do… TipTop Mercantile |
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Posted by TipTopMgr, NC. 6,503 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
Oh and I have to say that as a shopper also I will miss being able to see all the products from every site showing up in Google shopping. I do not see myself using it too much anymore on browsing with the intent to shop, unless something changes. TipTop Mercantile |
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Posted by RayvensRarities, In the middle of the state of, Oregon. 16,332 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
A comment that IBZ’s Yard said is what I’m seeing is going to be a BIIIIG problem and that’s the comment about most people not understanding or knowing what Google’s doing. That reason is why I’ve commented about folks tweeting and facebooking and every other way of getting the word out about this and let the general public know what the monster that is Google, is doing to us. And while it has a DIRECT and IMMEDIATE impact on us, it will indeed have a trickle down effect on suppliers and manufacturers in both the ones that don’t pay Google to be seen and getting tossed out of searches, and by us that buy from those suppliers and manufacturers not buying cause we can’t be seen and aren’t making sales so we aren’t going to be buying much anymore. I’ve been told that Google has already shut us out of being seen on searches done on the “smart” phones and things like the tablets and such. I don’t know as I refuse to have as little as possible to do with that monster and the searches on the smart phones (which I have) run on Google to the best of my knowledge. At least mine does This move by Google is going to hurt internet sales and it’s going to hurt big and deep. And not just us little guys. It’s going to hurt some of the bigger companies that don’t or won’t pay them to show in searches. I think the OP is smart to have held off buying and looking at taking a real job. I really feel sorry for those sellers that depend on the income from internet sales cause I doubt they’re going to be getting much more come Fall, and isn’t that nice of Google to do this right before the heaviest shopping season of the year |
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Posted by PatriotFamilySupply, . 99 total posts | Posted 10 months ago
As I’ve mentioned in another thread, our Ebay sales are doing pretty well for just starting out under a new business name. We’ve sold a surprising amount of product there in the past month without trying too hard (most of it in the past week), and admittedly I screwed up a couple of listings by missing a key word in the title. As it is, my wife and I discussed our current plan of attack on our date night this evening, and decided we will keep going but probably change up our listing tactics and search for additional selling venues. I have an interview in good ol’ Chicago this week – if I land that job then we’ll feel safer making a larger investment in inventory since we’ll have my day job income to live on. I always forget my dreams for a growing family business might take a year or two or five to play out. |
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