5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE SELLING ONLINE

1. Find out the rules

In return for a steady stream of ready buyers, the seller has to abide by the marketplace's rules and policies or risk losing your selling privileges. As a new online seller, you have to be informed about the  requiered doccuments for your legal business in your own online shop.

2. Do not expect overnight results

Online entrepreneurs have spent years developing trust with their customers, building customer mailing lists and earning repeat customers. Entering a new marketplace, you will have little or no feedback or reviews, and buyers are more cautious with a new, unproven seller. Don't expect to get an immediate rush of customers and sell out in a day. Nobody makes a million dollars overnight. It takes perseverance, patience and testing to become successful selling online.

3. You must reinvest to grow

If your initial investment is $1,000 and you "make" $1,500, you are left with only $500 to either pay yourself or reinvest. It's critical to set goals and reinvest your profits back into your business until you achieve those goals. While you need to pay yourself enough to survive, initially having adequate inventory and sourcing additional products is a high priority. 

4. Document your process

Online sellers do not perform the same tasks every day, and it is important to document processes to ensure that you do not have to relearn a task that you learned a month ago. Eventually, you can archive your notes, but initially, you will want to document everything to save time in the learning curve and make it quicker to answer the customers.

5. Understand your competition

It is important as a new online seller to do some competitive research. Much of e-commerce is price-based and you will have the desire to make your prices look competitively. It will be difficult to compete against another seller who is selling your widget for less than you pay wholesale, so it is critical when you source to make sure you can be competitive.