I have thought about starting a small internet specialty business, selling gun parts and/or accessories. Perhaps a smaller and more specialized version of "Top Gun Supply." Anyone have advice or experience with this type of venture? I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the subject.
Starting an internet gun-accessory business.
- Thread starter RM
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Prices. You need to see whether exactly what you are going to sell is being already sold cheaper than what you can sell it for and make a reasonable profit. I worked with a supplier (not shooting stuff) once for a short while and discovered that people were selling the same wares on ebay for what I was being charged wholesale. That was the end of that venture.
Second is the online market. Your prominence on the online search engine is going to determine how much site traffic you have. That search engine is google. Most people that search online only read so many pages of search results - so you need your website optimized to be near the top of the list of results. The services of a good search engine optimizer (SEO) are not cheap.
I would not try and discourage you. I would suggest you specialize; find a line of very uselful products you can get consistantly and very cheap wholesale, or be prepared to operate on a very small profit margin with a low dollar return per hour spent.
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http://searchronpaul.com
http://ussliberty.org/oldindex.html
http://www.gtr5.com
http://ssunitedstates.org
Second is the online market. Your prominence on the online search engine is going to determine how much site traffic you have. That search engine is google. Most people that search online only read so many pages of search results - so you need your website optimized to be near the top of the list of results. The services of a good search engine optimizer (SEO) are not cheap.
I would not try and discourage you. I would suggest you specialize; find a line of very uselful products you can get consistantly and very cheap wholesale, or be prepared to operate on a very small profit margin with a low dollar return per hour spent.
----------------------------------
http://searchronpaul.com
http://ussliberty.org/oldindex.html
http://www.gtr5.com
http://ssunitedstates.org
I'm not trying to sink your boat but I want you to understand what kind of customers you will need to attract and keep -someone like myself who buys all of my "hobby" supplies online nowadays.
These are the companies I use and in this order.
Brownells
Midway
Ammoman
CDNN Investments
Sometimes even Botach
You will need to beat their pricing and service (Botach doesn't count) in order to earn my business.
Unless you have a specific niche or manufacture a specialty product that I want but can't buy elsewhere, I honestly won't ever use you. If you do have products that knock me off-of my feet, I will recommend you to all my friends and over every Forum I visit.
These are the companies I use and in this order.
Brownells
Midway
Ammoman
CDNN Investments
Sometimes even Botach
You will need to beat their pricing and service (Botach doesn't count) in order to earn my business.
Unless you have a specific niche or manufacture a specialty product that I want but can't buy elsewhere, I honestly won't ever use you. If you do have products that knock me off-of my feet, I will recommend you to all my friends and over every Forum I visit.
Neo-Luddite
Member
The services of a good search engine optimizer (SEO) are not cheap.
Dovetailng off LAK's advice, here is one such provider and product;
http://www.gravitystream.com/
Just offering up as an example.
Dovetailng off LAK's advice, here is one such provider and product;
http://www.gravitystream.com/
Just offering up as an example.
Monkeyleg
Member.
I'll echo what's been said above, and add a bit of my own perspective.
My gun-related site has been around for four years. I've been doing search engine optimization (SEO) work for several years, including paying work. My site is now first-page for literally thousands of different search terms.
If I were charging myself for the SEO work I did on the site, the cost would have been between $3000 and $5000 a month.
Now the site is getting 14,000 to 17,000 visitors a day and roughly 1.5 million page views a month.
With all of that traffic, selling stuff off the site should be easy, right? Wrong. There are people who visit sites to buy, and people who visit sites for information. I've learned that the latter group make up the majority of my site's visitors.
So, I'm having to start almost from square one with Google AdWords and optimizing totally separate sales pages.
It's hard to compete on price. My cost on a set of Crimson Trace laser grips for a Glock is $152.96. I'm charging $189.95 with free shipping. After US Postal Service priority mail, and 1.7% in credit card fees, I make about $23. Even on $300+ items I'm still making $20 to $25. And there are a lot of outfits that are cheaper.
One of the biggest obstacles is trust. Outfits like Brownells, Impact Guns and others have been around long enough that people know them and trust them. Being the new kid on the block means it will take time to get known and trusted.
If you're serious about pursuing this, visit WebMasterWorld.com and do a lot of reading.
My gun-related site has been around for four years. I've been doing search engine optimization (SEO) work for several years, including paying work. My site is now first-page for literally thousands of different search terms.
If I were charging myself for the SEO work I did on the site, the cost would have been between $3000 and $5000 a month.
Now the site is getting 14,000 to 17,000 visitors a day and roughly 1.5 million page views a month.
With all of that traffic, selling stuff off the site should be easy, right? Wrong. There are people who visit sites to buy, and people who visit sites for information. I've learned that the latter group make up the majority of my site's visitors.
So, I'm having to start almost from square one with Google AdWords and optimizing totally separate sales pages.
It's hard to compete on price. My cost on a set of Crimson Trace laser grips for a Glock is $152.96. I'm charging $189.95 with free shipping. After US Postal Service priority mail, and 1.7% in credit card fees, I make about $23. Even on $300+ items I'm still making $20 to $25. And there are a lot of outfits that are cheaper.
One of the biggest obstacles is trust. Outfits like Brownells, Impact Guns and others have been around long enough that people know them and trust them. Being the new kid on the block means it will take time to get known and trusted.
If you're serious about pursuing this, visit WebMasterWorld.com and do a lot of reading.
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