Do you think you can be successful by buying and selling goods? Do you want to have the opportunity to earn money from this trade? Buying and selling products is a very old art and today it is the lifeblood that sustains capitalism. In this article you will find some basic principles, designed to facilitate your entry into this ancient world of commerce.
Steps
Step 1. Choose what kind of goods to handle
Potentially you can deal with the sale of any type of object, but if you want to have an advantage, it is better to become 'experts' in only one market.
- Remember that today, unfortunately, everything has a price and it is therefore possible to buy and sell anything. You can sell or buy physical objects, such as orange juice or umbrellas, or intangible objects, as it could be a service or a share of shares.
- Keep a couple of basics in mind. The rarer a commodity is, the more people there will be interested and willing to pay an ever higher price to be able to take possession of it. This is the simple principle of supply and demand, which governs the free market. Based on this principle, this explains why a natural diamond is valued much more than an artificial diamond, the former being a very rare commodity.
- If a lot of 'work' or 'a lot of experience' is needed to produce an object or provide a service, the purchase price will increase accordingly. If it takes a lot of time or a great deal of experience and specialization to obtain a product or service, its price will rise and be higher than that of a product that can be obtained directly on site and by several people.
Step 2. Do a market research
It is imperative that you know the average price of the product you are interested in, whether you want to buy it or sell it to someone who knows its value.
- You can observe and learn about the markets through a retail outlet, a wholesale outlet, the internet or through other means of evaluation. If you can, check at what price the product you are trading is sold or bought in 'open markets', such as eBay.
- The market value of a particular product or service can sometimes be subject to change. This happens for a series of different circumstances, for example, look at the price of milk, which has undergone only a slight change in its price over the last 10 years, and then that of gold and oil which, on the contrary, have undergone enormous fluctuations in the price. their price.
Step 3. Search for a supplier for the product you want to trade
Make sure that he is a reliable and honest person and that he sells you the product at a price that allows you to have an adequate profit margin.
- Normally you will go to wholesalers. A wholesaler is an intermediary who buys goods directly from the manufacturer, and then resells them to retailers (without changing their value), who will in turn sell them to end customers.
- Obviously, managing to deal directly with the manufacturer will eliminate many 'links' in the market chain, increasing your profit margin. Whenever possible, always try to buy directly from the manufacturer.
Step 4. Sell your product
Always observe the market, to understand when it is time to sell. You will need to find a market that supports you and you can rely on.
- As a general rule, you want to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at the highest possible price. In this way the profit margin will be greater for you.
- There are some 'nevi' in this rule. If a product has a very low price, it would be logical to think that the quality is also very low. Let's take an example: you want to buy an umbrella for € 1, and then sell it for € 3, thus respecting the 'buy low and sell high' rule. Unfortunately, however, the quality of your umbrella will not increase along with the selling price. So, you could choose to buy a higher quality umbrella, for € 5, and then resell it for € 10. This way you will need to make fewer sales to get more final revenue. In a perfect world, full of common sense, quality should always pay a lot, but unfortunately this is not the world we live in today.
Advice
Don't quit your current job until you are sure you are successful and until you have an adequate portfolio of buyers
Warnings
- Make sure you've done your research thoroughly to make sure you're getting a good deal and you're not getting scammed.
- By talking face-to-face with your buyers, make sure they are trustworthy, to avoid future problems.
