Getting Around Minimum Order Quantities (Part 1)

Getting around minimum order quantities: I am sure you already know
that many suppliers and manufacturers have a minimum order quantity. This can
be a big problem to most people that are just starting out in eBay. Most people
can’t afford the minimum order quantity set by the suppliers, and this is the time
most people usually give up their dream of becoming a successful eBay seller.
Well guess what, there is an easy way to get around the problem of big MOQ’s,
and it works! This method is not something that is very often talked about, but a
lot of eBay power sellers used this exact method to start of their now enormously
successful businesses.
In order to be able to use this method to its full potential you must understand
that people are humans not machines. And humans can be easily persuaded into
doing what you want them to do.
Let’s say you are extremely thirsty, so you walk into a convenient store and decide
to buy a drink. You put the drink you want on the counter, reach into your pocket
and realize that you are 5 cents short. Can you convince the person at the cash
register to make an exception? Yes of course, more often than not all you will
have to do is ask.
Now, let’s say you are extremely thirsty, so you walk up to a vending machine,
reach into your pocket and realize you are 5 cents short. Can you convince the
vending machine to make an exception? No way, you can plead with it all day and
it won’t even listen to you. You couldn’t convince it even if you had a gun!
Something else you absolutely must know is exactly who you’re dealing with. Are
you dealing with the owner of the wholesale company? No, most likely not. You
are probably dealing with a sales representative or a manager. This is very
important because sales representatives and managers usually don’t have big fat
salaries and are a lot easier to convince than a highly paid president or rich
owner.
So what exactly is this method for getting around MOQ’s? Well it’s quite simple,
you need to make helping you something that is in the best interest of the person
you are dealing with. If you are simply going to go into the sales manager’s office
and say “c’mon, let me buy less than required….c’Mon, it would make me a lot of
money”. If you say stuff like that; you won’t get anywhere. You need to say things
that are in the person’s best interest, not yours.
So what is it that you should offer the person that has the power to help you
become successful? Offer them a part of your profits.
What has worked for me in the past and many power sellers I have talked to is
offering the person you are dealing with a commission for every product you sell.
This is a very attractive offer and most people will not be able to turn it down.
That is of course if you present it properly. Here is an example:
Let’s say that the product you want to sell is a highly profitable one, take luxury
car wheels for example. What you need to do before you meet the supplier (sales
manager) is work out how many wheels a month you are going to sell, how much
profit you will make per every sale and how much money you will be making per
month. With the car wheels you want to sell you can expect to make a profit of
$500 per sale and maybe even higher.
So you work out the profit you will make per every sale ($500), now you need to
figure out how many car wheels you will be able to sell per month, let’s say
around 30. That gives you a monthly income of $15,000/ month (30 sales
multiplied by $500 = $15,000).
After you’ve figured out your projected profit per sale and income per month, you
need to decide how much of that money you are willing to pay to the person (sales
manager) that is going to make it all happen for you. I usually give 20%, so do
other sellers and so should you. What does 20% mean to the sales manage? It
means $100 for every set of wheels you sell, if you meet your goal of 30
sales/month this will mean a $3,000 monthly commission for the sales manager.
Now tell me this, if you were offered a $3,000 passive monthly income, would
you turn it down?!
An eBay power seller I have talked to told me that the best way to preset this
proposal is in a friendly and comfortable environment, something like a café of
bar. The reason for this is because an unfamiliar office can be an intimidating
environment. You need to be somewhere comfortable. This will make both you
and the sales manager a lot more open and friendly.
You should also type up the offer and print it out, stuff it in an envelope and leave
it with the sales manager after your meeting is over. This is a powerful trick,
because when the sales manager opens the envelope and looks at everything you
have just proposed to him, all broken down and calculated it will be hard for
him not to see it your way.
When you type up this offer make sure to clearly break down all of the numbers
you mentioned, the typed up offer should not include a lot of text, just a break
down of the money the sales manager would be making if everything goes as
planned. Example:
Estimated profit per/ sale: $500
Estimated monthly sales goal: 30 sales
Commission; %20 or $100 per sale, $3,000 per month
You can also include an explanation of how you came up with those numbers.
Now I know that this may sound a little fishy and unethical, but nothing could be
further from the truth. If you do something like this, it will be a win-win situation
for everyone. You will be making money, the sales manager will be making money
and the wholesale company would not only be making money but also gaining a
long term business partner (you) that is a true asset to the company.
Multi million dollar deals are made every day using these kinds of “fishy”
methods, and almost every business and successful corporation that ever existed
was once involved in under the table deals when it was still in its infancy. You will
not breaking any laws or be hurting anyone by conducting this type of business.
Oh and as for that minimum order that you couldn’t afford. If you stick to your
plans and meet your goals you will be buying a lot more than the minimum order
required, every single month. Like I said, its win-win for everyone, because you’re
making money, the manager is making money and the wholesale company is not
only making money it’s gaining a valuable asset (you).
Like I said before, this is something not a lot of eBay power sellers’ talk about but
a lot of them do. It is important to know that you don’t have to keep paying the
sales manager a 20% commission forever. You can stop as soon as you make
enough money to be able to afford the MOQ. This is something that only has to be
done in the beginning (if you have no start up money) and is done by countless
amounts of new businesses every day.
My personal motto is, if I can’t use the rules to my advantage, those rules don’t
apply to me. A lot of successful people seem to agree with me, because this
method of getting what you want is exactly what “playing by your own rules” is all
about.