If you sell unlocked cell phones, brand name cell phones or mobile phone watches online you could honestly say that the market has never looked better.
The number of phones and mobile phone companies has soared in the last 12 months. Besides big-name players, like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola there are now many Chinese mobile phone manufacturers looking for their place in the international mobile communication market.
Wifi, Bluetooth, MP4 players, MP3 players, WAP capabilities, cameras, and docking ports for multiple SIM cards are all becoming common features on mobile phones with customers expecting more out of their phones than ever before.
Demand for branded and wholesale mobile phones is also strong with mobile phone use overtaking landline use in some parts of the world and consumers changing their phones every 15 months on average.
So how can you, as an online reseller tap into this profitable market, what is the best way to find a supplier and how do you source this new, profitable range of products?
It doesn’t matter if you’re considering stocking mobile phones through your online auction business or looking at expanding your range and taking on a different supplier. The process of sourcing mobile phones from makers of cellphones in China is exactly the same and simply finding the companies through a wholesale directory, business directory or online is just the first step.
When you find the firm that has products you think you want to resell you need to go through the steps to make sure it conducts itself professionally and won’t harm your seller reputation. Ignore the following signs at your peril:
- It doesn’t have any contact details or the contact details turn out to be not working.
- Their website is badly put together, has very few product photos, or stolen product photos and has little to no contact information
- Many people have complained about them on dropshipping, e-commerce and wholesale forums or fraudwatch sites.
- Promotional material they use looks suspiciously like materials from another wholesale dropship company
- Their products are priced too high or too low
Doing market research on the wholesale mobile phones or unlocked phones you are thinking of stocking is also a worthwhile exercise. By checking to see if the features are in demand or that style of phone will sell well can potentially save you thousands in unsold stock or free up a product line for a more profitable item if you are dropshipping. It will also help you determine what price you should be paying, what price you can sell it for and the profit margins you can expect.
Once you have done your online research and found the phone looks OK on paper then its time to order a sample. This is much easier if you do it through a mobile shop in China which has no minimum order quantity, like Chinavasion but you may be required to order about three or four to test.
When testing a wholesale mobile phone it’s important to be as thorough as you can possibly be. Here are some things you might want to check:
- The manual is in English and makes sense
- The handpiece doesn’t click or creak when it is handled and doesn’t feel cheap
- There aren’t any bubbles in the screen, its set in the right pace and there aren’t any black lines when you switch it on.
- The battery won’t take a full charge, it doesn’t last as long as the supplier suggests or smells funny when it is being charged.
- A component is missing, or doesn’t work as promised.
- The phone’s speaker or microphone quality is poor or the buttons are hard to operate.
If the unlocked cellphone passes mustard then the next step is to put it on your stock lists.
By checking out the companies you’re thinking of buying from and researching the products you want to put online you’re sure to find unlocked cellular phones that won’t only sell well they’ll keep customers happy and profit margins strong at the same time.
