Electronics Shop Questionnaire

Thread Starter

jackm123

Joined Aug 10, 2014
2
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takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
ive done the questionnaire.

I would not recommend most of the ideas.

I recommend to use ebay first and improve on all aspects:

-buying from distributor
-quality and shipping time
-good and cheap wrapping (an art of its own)
-advertising the items and researching the market
-expand over time

then after a year or so, you can decide if selling to customers + buying bulk + paying taxes is for you.
 

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
ive done the questionnaire.

I would not recommend most of the ideas.

I recommend to use ebay first and improve on all aspects:

-buying from distributor
-quality and shipping time
-good and cheap wrapping (an art of its own)
-advertising the items and researching the market
-expand over time

then after a year or so, you can decide if selling to customers + buying bulk + paying taxes is for you.

I agree with this 100%. You'll want to get a feel for the market first and then go from there. Ebay is a great way to do this--it doesn't cost much to list, and it's the first place a lot of hobbyists look for cheap components.
 

studiot

Joined Nov 9, 2007
4,998
Welcome, jack.

It was not clear to me whether your survey was intended just as a theoretical project or a real one.

Since you are actually doing Business Studies I assume most of your work will be about business plans, premises, insurance, delivery methods, finance and so on.

One thing to consider is what happens when things go wrong, as they inevitably do.
It is not the fact that something goes wrong that causes the upset, it is how you put it right
I buy commercially and automatically delete suppliers that fail to recognise this simple fact of business life.
 

THE_RB

Joined Feb 11, 2008
5,438
...
I buy commercially and automatically delete suppliers that fail to recognise this simple fact of business life.
Interesting. :)

I buy commercially and know that many suppliers handle problems very badly. I just factor that issue into the total cost/benefit ratio of that supplier.

But I buy from China a lot... If you eliminate the a-holes there's nobody left. ;)
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Amazon ,is setting up a business model to do service work ,they figure that they can sell

you a service contract and complete service quicker.
 

MrSmoofy

Joined Jul 28, 2014
112
Amazon ,is setting up a business model to do service work ,they figure that they can sell

you a service contract and complete service quicker.
Wouldn't surprise me if they pull that off. Just this weekend (ordered on Friday) got my shipment Sunday delivered by USPS. USPS wants to end Saturday mail delivery but Amazon has convinced them to make Sunday deliveries.

I thought it was a mistake until the shipment showed up. :eek:
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
@loosewire: I came across an Amazon ad for its 3D printing service the other day. That was news to me (I am generally out of technical circles today): http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=8323871011

In theory. it could be made in the delivery truck as it is on the way to your address. When everyone has 3D printers, Amazon will simply be selling license for copying.

@studiot and The_RB: In my business, labor was the most expensive component of our service and turn-around time (responsiveness) was the most important measure of performance. Thus, we did not waste time with suppliers who didn't fix problems immediately, even if it meant a special shipment to Minnesota in the dead of Winter.

I am not quite sure what this means:
The_RB said:
But I buy from China a lot... If you eliminate the a-holes there's nobody left.
We never bought directly from China, and we had plenty of conscientious suppliers in the US.

John
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Completed the questionnaire. Some of these ideas might stand on their own, but have been done. Sale of member supplied components/kits (sounds like eBay). Selling electronic kits (been done by many others).

Can't see them as the basis for a self-sustaining store.

I agree with the others who emphasize fast, inexpensive shipping! I hate paying $10 or more on a $40 order. Thankfully, my last order was about that total, but shipping was less than $5.00
 
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studiot

Joined Nov 9, 2007
4,998
If you eliminate the a-holes there's nobody left.
There's always someone willing to take your dollar.

Typical examples.

When they were first in I used to sell several sets of Netgear powerline kits per week so would order 3 - 6 sets at a time from supplier A.

Came the time when one unit was dead straight out of the box.

I made jpanhalt's special journey to replace with another from my stock.

Ex-Supplier A wanted the dead kit returned for autopsy and would not replace or refund for a couple of months.

Had to install distributed wifi in the shadow of Porlock Hill, so ordered 3 Cisco access points and various other kit, to be delivered direct to site.
Offered special geographic instructions because GPS units are notoriously unreliable on Exmoor.

Along with the hotel owner, his builder and 5 operatives I waited all day for the delivery.

When telephoned at 5pm to ask where the delivery was the supplier B said, the carrier tried to deliver but there was no one there to receive it!

The builder had was working on the outside of the hotel and I saw several of his delivery vehicles come and go with no problem during the day.

I had to make a special journey the following week to complete the installation.
 
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Thread Starter

jackm123

Joined Aug 10, 2014
2
It was not clear to me whether your survey was intended just as a theoretical project or a real one.
Hi,
Just to clarify this is a theoretical project in which I am only required to produce a business proposal. I will not actually be making this shop.
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
Hi,
Just to clarify this is a theoretical project in which I am only required to produce a business proposal. I will not actually be making this shop.
Without real experience such a proposal will be out of this world and bad and not profit generating or generating less profit than others.

Most business plans are based on trying out ideas and ditching the non-working one's quickly.

Also there are things such as diversification- if you specialize your market is more narrow, and if it dries out or goes bad for a while, so does your business.
 

studiot

Joined Nov 9, 2007
4,998
Without real experience such a proposal will be out of this world and bad and not profit generating or generating less profit than others.

Most business plans are based on trying out ideas and ditching the non-working one's quickly.

Also there are things such as diversification- if you specialize your market is more narrow, and if it dries out or goes bad for a while, so does your business.
One of the principal aims of this site is to support students.

Any business, and electronics is no exception, rests on a great deal of boring, grinding administration (to engineers), otherwise known as 'business studies' to students.

Students need to start somewhere so let us help those willing to learn and go forward.

IMHO, jack has shown considerable enterprise asking a group ouside his own.
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
One of the principal aims of this site is to support students.

Any business, and electronics is no exception, rests on a great deal of boring, grinding administration (to engineers), otherwise known as 'business studies' to students.

Students need to start somewhere so let us help those willing to learn and go forward.

IMHO, jack has shown considerable enterprise asking a group ouside his own.
What bothers me is to get that considered enterprise acclaimed and archieve a paper and then will be seen as "business expert".

most such people I ever saw and who dont actually depend directly on running such a business have quite weird ideas, similar to customers making dumping price offers and expect free shipping too.
 

studiot

Joined Nov 9, 2007
4,998
What bothers me is to get that considered enterprise acclaimed and archieve a paper and then will be seen as "business expert".
And you are able to condemn jack's course out of hand, without actually knowing jack_s--- about it exactly how?

One of the things I would expect a student electronics engineer to do on an electronics course would be to design and build a good few circuits and test them out in front of experts.

One of the things I would expect a student of business studies to do on a business studies course would be to prepare a business case for something and test it out in front of real experts.
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
And you are able to condemn jack's course out of hand, without actually knowing jack_s--- about it exactly how?

One of the things I would expect a student electronics engineer to do on an electronics course would be to design and build a good few circuits and test them out in front of experts.

One of the things I would expect a student of business studies to do on a business studies course would be to prepare a business case for something and test it out in front of real experts.
before becoming student, learn to make a living with work. not feed the system with 100k to 200k.

I have seen the questionnaire and even if it is a theoretical study, most of the questions are not much relevant, and alltogether it is pretty much out of this world.

If you run a business just a few months and dont have enough money, or less than you'd like to have, you'd learn fast. Because following irrelevant ideas wont benefit you.

If you do a theoretical study, well, at least you can examine all sort of stuff maybe it is relevant or important, maybe it is just blatantly absurd.

From what I have seen in terms of teachers, oh yes, fine experts, those wo werent able to hold the quaffle some day were punished to repeat canned statements from old books year after year.

If you want to be successful with technology you need to grow up with it, not go university some day.
 

THE_RB

Joined Feb 11, 2008
5,438
...
I am not quite sure what this means: (re buying from China)

We never bought directly from China, and we had plenty of conscientious suppliers in the US.
...
If you never had to buy from China and deal with them that explains it. :)

Basically in business sometimes the choice comes down to paying $1 a component from a great supplier in the US who really takes care of you, or paying 11 cents for the same component from a China supplier who is a total a-hole when something goes wrong...

Like I said, (in my experience) you have to weight up the cost/benefit ratios of both suppliers, rather than to just eliminate the a-holes.
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
If you never had to buy from China and deal with them that explains it. :)

Basically in business sometimes the choice comes down to paying $1 a component from a great supplier in the US who really takes care of you, or paying 11 cents for the same component from a China supplier who is a total a-hole when something goes wrong...

Like I said, (in my experience) you have to weight up the cost/benefit ratios of both suppliers, rather than to just eliminate the a-holes.
you have to learn how to pool your orders, most stuff you can get from Farnell for instance, their prices are not bad.

on ebay you can also get a lot of stuff which Farnell does not have. If you dont want to wait 3 weeks or more, and dont want 2000pcs LEDs bags around, buy it from someone who imports them for you.

Most chinese sellers are OK and speak english well but what do you expect from a fashion boutique? The item works for you or it does not.
 
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