Need some information/advice

[94Civic224]

I have thought about maybe creating a website selling car accessories, but am not exactly sure how I would do this. Anyone have any information on this? Do I need to be a wholesaler, or what? Anyone have any previous experience in this?

Thanks
Mathew

[chasloa]

I believe egsi knows a bit about this sorta stuff, but hes in Australia.

[save a civic]

you need to contact the 'federal board of equalization' and tell them you want to apply for a 'reseller's permit.' it's about $15 and then you will need to have a 'ficticous business name.' they will charge you $5 to see if it is already taken and if not you get it for i forgot how much and must advertise for at least 2 weeks in a paper. they give you a list and you go there. advertising is anywhere from $18-$40. just get whatever because it will be just letting the public know you are now doing business as that name. the whole process is fast and cost me about $50 total. also note you will get a ton of calls from people asking you to advertise with them and if you want a company card and if you want to register with the better business bureau. you dont need any of it. then just go to the wholesalers you want to apply for accounts, most are free and have not buy in except some of the big brands like greddy...any questions let me know... it seems like alot but it's not.

[Steve-O]

im in ontario canada but i started my own "home-business" with the initial intention to sponsor myself. as a side aspect if that was i could offer parts to people locally and elsewhere. it's www.519racing.com (http://www.519racing.com/)

up here in Ontario, i required a business license ($60CDN) and a Vendor's Permit which alllowed me to re-sell items to others so i'm assuming it will be similar if not the same for you.

after the red-tape is taken care of and you are governmentally permitted to operate a business, next step is finding distributors to purchase products from at discounts which you will resell to people. if you are like me and can't afford the initial buy-in (some dealers need $1000+ depending) because you run out of your house, you have to find a dealer who does not require an initial buy-in. PROS to this is you don't have to put cash up to start selling products but CONS are your discount is usually minimal. PROS to buying-in are you get deeper discounts and your profits are greatest when re-selling but CONS are you need to put up your own cash which can be substantial at times (i.e a call by myself to Skunk2 discovered that i needed $7500US for their highest level of wholesale pricing; one dealer here in Ontario required a significant buy-in with a monthly quota to meet in order to keep your account active)

i found two dealers which didn not require a buy-in, one giving a 50% discount on a wide range of products and another gave me approx 25%. these required no initial buy-in.

after you have your dealer accounts set-up, next step IMO would be to find a reputable website hosting company and begin to build your site (or hire someon to do it if you have the money to spend). I went with www.ixwebhosting.com (http://www.ixwebhosting.com/) and purchased their Saver's Plan ( http://www.ixwebhosting.com/index.php/home.dspPage/page/info.dspProductSaversPlan/IXWEBSESSION/fabd173899cf1c90cb89324f58cd0ddc/IXWEBSESSION/fabd173899cf1c90cb89324f58cd0ddc

this package gave me tons of space on the net, my domain name, more email mailboxes than I would ever need and other bonuses which i found to be of great value and more than adequate for my needs. I'm not saying you should go with them over someone else or another company you know or would prefer, but if asked and I had to make a recommendation, I would suggest iX hands-down. it helps that they got the best reviews when i did research on web hosting. I had to use their customer support several times when building my website (which is still unfinished and slow in coming LOL) and it was top notch. The live online help was fantastic. The reviews for the top 10 hosting companies can be found here: http://www.thehostingchart.com/index.html

best thing to do is START SMALL. if possible, do it out of your house for the first while to test the market. some of your biggest competitors are online sites (Ebay IMO will probably be your biggest competitor) and owning a shop while trying to be competitivly priced, sell products AND pay the rent, utils, etc. can be a tough task, especially for a new and mostly unknown business.

ive found in the year that ive had my business that figuring out your market is KEY. if you live out in the country and everyone within a 50 mile radius drives a pick-up, online is probably your best bet as you said you plan to do. keep in mind tho that the internet opens up the doors to a WORLD of competitors so keeping on top of things price and tech wise, not to mention marketting your site is paramount to keep afloat.

i'm not a business expert by any stretch so anyone please feel free to jump in or add to this. i'm just giving my own opinions based on what i've done and learned from having my own business.

hope through all this babble you found some or all of the info useful. LOL I think everyone on here knows by now that I love to talk :p

[Top Aussie]

yeah u basically need dude.


1. wholesale account, so u can sell at retail and make some mo.

2. some sort or licence/permit not sure what u have in the US, we have abn's

3. website, stickers, cheap advertising.

4. UNDERGROUND IMPORTS owns

[Steve-O]

...4. UNDERGROUND IMPORTS ownsMaybe over there is the OZ, but heyah in da southweSSIIIIIIIDE it's 519 ownin dis Chatham-Kent scene BOAH :p

LOL to be honest, so long as I get discounts on my parts and everyone who buys from me is happy with my service, then i'm happy

[Top Aussie]

maybe?? for real steveo i own dude,

send me some shit man!!

[Apex001]

ok I started my site but due to probs I never finished it.

1) get a biz license and register with your the name with city. if you bought the site allready you can use that as a way of copyrighting or registration of biz name.
1a) Open a bizz account! BOFA is awesome for small starter biz's. you can start up an account for as low as $100.bucks with all the biz benifits.
2) get a wholesale account. you might not need retail unless you open a shop somewhere. use your home address and guess what TAX write off! you can write off most utilities as well. have some distributer names ready, they'll ask for it.
3) Get good local distributers. try to keep all your vendors local since you dont want to wait for a shipment from out of state and keep your customers waiting. dont be afraid to ask your local perf. shops if they do wholesale, they want to make money as much as you do.
4) Good ecommerce! www.oscommerce.com (http://www.oscommerce.com), that says it all. its the best and free oscommerce you can use hands down. more bells and whistles than you'll need and you can add and uninstall what you dont need.
5) also webhosting that works. www.akashik.net (http://www.akashik.net) awesome support and super affordable. they work with you and help out when you have q'z.
6) MERCHANT ACCOUNT!! A must! you can signup for paypal but if you dont want a merchant account or you get declined(which there are so many to choose from) you can use www.2checkout.com (http://www.2checkout.com) as a 3rd party merchant account.

after that all you need are pics, contents and a nice look to the site. and well your gonna spend tons of money on advertisement. just remember, its normal for loosing or not making money for the 1st year. dont forget to mail in the taxes! SAVE ALL RECIEPTS FROM VENDORS! you will be taxed!!! If you need or want more info PM me.

by the way my site still under dev is www.theimportshop.com (http://www.theimportshop.com)

[save a civic]

didnt you guys have to advertise for 2 weeks minimum? i have a few reseller's permits and they all required me to do this. it was like $18 in some no-name paper. anyway, good for you if you didnt have to, sux for me. www.tinyimports.com

[Apex001]

you can to help register the biz name. thats part of the biz name stuff. you do this so if anyone contests you about the name they have the right. look for a small rag, they might not charge.

[makku]

hey don't forget the sales tax info... I think in CA at least, you have to register so that they know you're going to be paying sales tax at the end of the year.

BTW, you get the ficticious business license at the County Clerk's office.

Also, if you want a business bank account, you need to bring a copy of your ficticious business name receipt (after they stamp it) and some personal documents since you're the account holder. Pretty easy to get... but you will be FLOODED by junk mail trying to get you to buy their VISA card reader :)

As for starting a website, you need somewhere to host it. That's the hard part... the easy part is registering a domain name. Try dotster.com... $20 to have your domain name point to where your website is really located. (Could be on a school server for all you care)

Two programs to make webpages are MS Frontpage and Adobe GoLive. I actually like GoLive alot... takes some getting used to though. With GoLive you can make a picture in Photoshop and cut it up for links. Then Golive will let you easily put it back together like a puzzle and make links for each piece.

[russianwonder32]

as i read this i was jw how much realistic money this pulls in.... i mean how do people ever find out about ur site ..... advertising locally will only get u so far. how do u get people across the country to log on to ur site etc? for some reason i am very interested in this.

[makku]

have a "special", advertise on message boards

make a "coupon", and post it up on coupon boards like fatwallet.

give people another reason to go to your site, such as video downloads or tech articles they can't get anywhere else.

advertise on Craigslist.org

sell one or two items on ebay and put a big link to your website for everything else

lots of ways to do this ;)

[jdmism]

Whassup? no offense, but just my "canadian" two cents...
which is worth more to some and nothing to others.

I have been in the import SCENE/INDUSTRY since 1989.
I HAD a successful business for 6 years.
I have been involved, if not OWNED interest in EVERY aspect of
our industry from manufacturing to retailing.
So to say I know my "ish" is an understatement!!
I am not blowing myself up or a name dropper in any way.
BUT, I've been there since day one and know alot of "players" in the industry.
If you want some SERIOUS help/assistance.
I will be more than glad/willing to help you in any way possible.
Just contact me at jdmism@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to help.
In case you're wondering what happened to my business...
"divorce is a BEEYOOTCH; but I still gots the goods"
I have different PRIORITIES now, but I still got love for the scene.
This is not intended to disrespect or offend anyone for any reason.
So if I have done that to you or anyone reading this post,
I apologize ahead of time...
So many peeps trying to either just hook themselves or their friends up.
Start a so-called "business" which it really isnt and end up "whoring-out" the market.
Others have no other reason than being a hater and let jealousy and pride ruin others who are really making an impact on our scene.
Because they have REAL and GENUINE love for us...
I could go on for days. So just hit me up and we'll talk about the SPECIFIC questions that you might have...
REspect,
JDMism

[Steve-O]

[QUOTE=jdmism]...So many peeps trying to either just hook themselves or their friends up...Start a so-called "business" which it really isnt and end up "whoring-out" the market...[QUOTE]Well, I'm not really offended (taken back would be a more pleasing word) but I just wanted to clear some things up on behalf of everyone out there who has the same goals and dreams as I do. PLEASE UNDERSTAND that I can't speak on behalf of everyone and this is just my opinion, however I know alot of people who start a home-based (no retail storefront) business or have the desire to start one either because:

A) they do not have the funds to open up a big shop or jump right into a retail store. Most buy-ins require a substantial payment up front to get a decent discount
B) they want to help out others while in essence "sponsoring" themselves
C) just love the scene in general and are have always wanted to start a business of their own and have to start on the ground floor
D) waiting for their 6/49 or Super 7 ticket to come i so they can open a shop up qithout losing sleep some nights because they didnt make enough sales to pay the rent or utilities on the shop over the winter
E) they're part of a small group of enthusiasts in their locale where a full blown shop may not survive very long
F) all of the above

I did not actually start my business until AFTER I purchased pretty much every part you see listed for my car. Yes, I paid FULL RETAIL for pretty much everything I have today. Even with my business discount, I find many places (Ebay being the biggest one) are cheaper than what I can get parts at discount for. You don't know how frustrating it is to have people ask you for prices a thousand times day in and day out. Then when I do give them a price which I feel is competitive, they only complain because it's either too high to them or "I can get it on Ebay for this much"........and believe it or not that's on RACTIVE and the cheap knock-off stuff. When people ask for quotes on parts like Spoon and so on they act like I'm taking their first born or something when that stuff is WAY better quality and warrants a higher price tag.

One of my best friends is manager/mechanic at the local mountain bike shop I ride for. He told me something I will never forget to this day and is easily one of the best pieces of business advice I have heard:

"If for every ten prices you give out to people, if one of them buys then you're doing good."

I'd be happy with 1 in 20 right now :?

That's what pisses me off the most about this business. Everyone wants parts but it seems like they don't want to pay for them. I understand that paying more for something when you can pay less is quite appealing but it seems as if everyone wants to lowball everyone else, even to the point of knowing that they'd make that person take a loss on it. Sure, you can say WELL IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY PRICE THEN GO SOMEWHERE ELSE but no one seems concerned with helping out business. Case in point...the mountain bike shop I go to religiously and support is right here in town. I know I can get parts from Ebay for cheaper, but there are benefits that far outweigh saving a few bucks buying from some unknown online retailer who oly knows you buy a customer number. I am planning to buy a bicycle light system from them to replace my existing one and even tho I know it may be a bit more than one from Ebay or a mail-rder retailer, it's the satisfaction of knowing I'm supporting good people who are in not just to make money but because they LOVE what they do and GENUINELY want to help people out.....and that's exactly how I feel about my own business.

See, thats the beauty of having a business in your home...I don't have to worry about making rent on a house AND a shop at the same time. I don't have to worry about losing everything I have because everyone in town wants LED washer lights and neon license plate frames as opposed to Spoon strut bars and Comptech sway bar sets. Believe me, if I jumped right into a shop in town here where I live, unless I sold Ractive and LiteGlow exclusively (my biggest local competition worth mention being retail giant Canadian Tire) I could put Spoon and Skunk2 parts on my shelves and they would gather more dust than the Gideon bibles you find in your hotel room nightstand drawer.

Again I'm not hatin on your or anyone else in the business, I'm just kind of taken back by the "whoring out the market" aspect which by that statement could technically encompass everyone who starts a home-based business. But I do see this "whoring out" phenomenon is having an impact on those like me who have to start out tiny and work their way up. Case in point...I have three distributors who are more than helpful with me and gave me the biggest discount I could get from them even without a buy-in. They are probably some of the nicest people I have met in the business and always talk to me like I'm a good friend when I call for prices and ask questions about items no matter how many times I call. However, there are even more who seem to think that because I don't have $10,000 to buy into their business and I don't make $5000 in sales each month that I'm not good enough.

Now, before I garner hate mail for that comment, I understand that they sometimes have to be scrutinous because these days pretty much any John Doe can go out, drop $60 and buy a business license and get a Vendor's Permit. But that's the beauty of this democratic Canadian society. The small business entrepreneur can start easily wqith relatively nothing and with luck, hard work and good business ethics could one day become a superpower in the import performance world. To prove this point, look at RM Classic Cars. Their office is located here in Chatham, Ontario and they do BILLIONS of dollars in sales WORLDWIDE. They are a part of the Barret Jackson Auction and are world renowned and famous for their restoration abilities of classic autos and modern exotic supercars. The largest auto show of the year here in Chatham saw an Enzo Ferrari and other rare automobiles in the MILLION dollar price tags. Local resident Rob Myers is the co-owner and I have personally met and talked with him on a few occasions. You would never believe that he started out in his GARAGE restoring cars for friends. Imagine how a dealer would feel if they turned him down years ago.

Believe me, if I could make some sort of lively hood out of selling aftermarket performance parts both in a retail store and online, I would be doing it right now. Unfortunately, my dream to own my own sport compact performance and parts shop is stuck at the home-based level because I have a gf with a beautiful little girl who is now in our care, a new house to make rent payments on, utilities, groceries, a mountain bike, snowboard and import building hobby all on the same budget which used to be funded by a $20.00/hr factory position which closed up shop early this year. Now the wife and I are forced to make ends meet with a total combined income between us of $16/hr. I am starting at the local Honda dealership for an entry level full time tech position in the new year but it willbe a while before I am up to a decent wage again.

Again, I'm not lashing out at you man and I'm sure your comments weren't directed at any of us in particular or to finger anyone out. It's just that when it seems that people are "whoring out" the parts market or complain about it thereto, it may just be that they don't have the funds to get their business to a level where they can make a living off of it. **EDIT** If there's anyone out there who's whoring out the market, it's almost every fly by night Ebay retailer who sells shit for dirt cheap and sells everything under the sun. Granted, I understand that Ebay is a great selling tool and I'm not knocking the already established businesses who have retail outlets or have previously had their own online retail site as well and decided to branch out to Ebay to tap another market. If we want to find people who are whoring out the industry, I say look to Ebay first. I have sold maybe 20 items thus far (all of them being RACTIVE and PIAA items) and I have my own decent site with brands and contact info. I'm unable to actually stock anything because I simply don't have the room or the funds to do it. If there's one thing I love to do tho it's help out fellow enthusiasts any way I can be it with a special deal on their first purchase or giving them a break on an installation price.

I can promise everyone here this...if I had it my way and if this area had a market that would support my business being in a shop, provided the funds were there and I knew that I didn't have to worry about coming up short some months because myself and a few of my friends are probably the only ones who are into it this deep, 519RACING would already be up and running, serving the small but tight-knit crew of enthusiasts here in Chatham-Kent.

I wholeheartedly respect you jdmism and what you have brought your business up to depsite your no doubt painful separation. As well, I find myself envying those who have had a better break, already have a business running or are more well off than I and can keep things they already have going desptie setbacks and rough spots in the road.

If it's one thing I have for this scene and EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN IT (be they ricer, racer and everything in between) it's LOVE and RESPECT. everyone I know can back me up on this. I alreayd have my dream job at a Honda dealership. The last item to cross off my perpetual happiness list is my own performance business FOR Hondas. If I can wake up one day, go to work WORKING on Hondas and making them go fast and handle well, you will see someone who will never stop smiling.

Sorry if I upset anyone with this :(

[jdmism]

Aloha,

MAN......that is some tight words of wisdom!!
You hit the nail on the head:

People need to do it out of the LOVE and GENUINE PASSION that they have for the industry.
Not because they see an easy way to make $$$$.
some see the "take the money and run" light blinking....
So they step in and handle their business.

OTHERS like you and me...
don't give a crap about becoming "JILLIONAIRES" (although it would be nice)
our first priority is to share the love that we have for imports with strangers that have no idea what its about.

When I say "whoring out" I'm talking about the former not the latter.
they step in and jack up the market with their "buy one get 5 free" offers and
turn the market upside down for a few months. then when they're out of business cause they got cutoff by their suppliers for messing up the pricing schedules that took countless man-hours to define AND are made to prevent this kinda stupid crap.
who is to suffer the long lasting effect and consequences?

YOU AND FREAKING ME!!! thats who...

then you have a ja-zillion people calling you or emailing you
about dumb @$$ prices and the whole:

"I want it YESTERDAY and I want it FREE-99-to-go"

What do you mean I gotta pay for it?
Aren't you giving stuff away for FREE?

Whats a spoon? Whos BRIDE? JUN-where?
I don't even own a honda... I just wanted free stuff..... YESTERDAY!!

What do you mean I gotta pre-pay for the stuff AND shipping?
don't you PERSONALLY make it right there in your living room with your lego set and then drive it to my house from another country???

Don't they sell carbon fiber stuff at Circle K?

What do you mean they dont have VOLK rims at PEP BOYS?

not to mention all the BS that happens behind closed doors...sometimes.
when a little shop turns into the huge business and forgets where they started and forgets about the consumers (yes, you and me too!!) that helped build the SOLID foundation that their now POS company is standing on....

I have a dear and personal story to tell of a business that wasn't the
GLOBAL POWER HOSE that they are today. when they were a little mom and pop shop that did it all right
....(and kinda sounds like what you're doing today!)
I dropped my car off to get a swap done and being in the USMC and being away for extended periods of time I was gonna pick it up in a few weeks.
Well, I had this prototype CF hood that was the ACTUAL first for our industry.
Just chilling on my car. I even told the owner, i dont care what happens to my ride, But you need to make sure that my hood is intact when I return.
I ended up coming back early from sea ops and went to check on my car...
Lo and behold my car isnt there......WTF???!
so i get into it with the mgr..
*aloha guys. whassup with my hoopty?
uuuuuhhmmmm...
its not here..
*what do you mean its not here? where is it? did it get jacked?
uuuuuhhmmmm...
its not here..
*where the fuck is my car?!
uuuuuhhmmmm...
you gotta talk to the owner..
*where the fuck is the owner???!!
uuuuuhhmmmm...
he took your car for a test drive...
*okay.......(as I wait at the shop)
30 minutes pass
1 hr passes
2hrs passes
...(I start walking around the shop and what do I see on the engine stand..
my freaking swap jus chilling un-installed.....WTF?!!)
*hey mister mgr dude...is that my motor on the stand?
uuuuuhhmmmm...
*cause it sure looks like my parts are on it...
uuuuuhhmmmm...
*you've had my car over a week...
uuuuuhhmmmm...
*and why is the owner test driving my hoopty with the stock motor in it?
uuuuuhhmmmm...
*okay I need answers NOW or somebody is getting the beatdown
BEFORE I call base legal and get uncle sam so far up your @$$....yada yada
(you get the picture)
uuuuuhhmmmm...
come back tomorrow...
ohh heres the owner on the phone...
*Hey where you at? is my ride okay?
Yeah, everything is fine shannon.
I'm up in NOR-CALI...(the shop is in san dawg)
*WTF are you doing up there with my car?!!
I'll be back tomorrow and we'll talk...
Did I tell you the good news?
we're gonna give you that B18B swap for FREE....
everything is FREE, labor and everything...
you need some wheels too?
the FIRST import showoff is coming up soon?
can we take your car as one of our shop cars?
*i don't give a *&^#^%$ (*&^#@^%$)( just get my car back to me tomorrow..

to make a super long story short...
they jacked my car and took it to a manufacturer so they could copy my hood.

they made two molds of my hood that my 2 friends worked their ass of to build from scratch.
(and if you know anything about working with glass and CF
the "plug" piece has to be flawless before the mold is made
...countless tedious hours of prep work)
my 2 "nobody" friends are the owners/fabricators of MB products..
the one-piece fiberglass front ends and suspension stuff

the shop owner got paid skrills for bringing them my hood
and made royalties then and to this day on that bull-"ish".
All the owner had to say was:
thats business and there is nothing you can do about it.

I called the military lawyers and investigated it
and since the vehicle was in their possession
for that time frame. they could do what ever they wanted with my car

as for the CF hood it wasnt DIRECTLY copied by their business so I had to chase down the company that actually did the copying...
but by this time.............screw it!!

today they are a HUGE and well known company based out of san diego...
...hint hint hint!!

Just like you I paid retail for everything on my car. Most of all I trusted these people as if they were family. I did business with them for two years before the incident. they forgot that I was "family" first.....

I respect what you and others do in the industry if they do it out of the love and passion of the sport FIRST and FOREMOST!!

Keep on keepin on...it'll happen one day....
cause you're building your own market, not one that is alreaday established!!
Be Blessed,
JDMism
the-shann-dizzle-foh-shizzle
p.s. I gots stories for days.....

[makku]

wow! that really sucks! don't be afraid to give out the names... it's not like they can sue you... (unless you have legal action pending then i understand)

good to see there are still honest people in the business these days...

[Steve-O]

im glad i didn't upset ya jdmism. i wasn't out to knock ya or be hard on ya. it's nice to see more people who share the love and respect :TU: :TU:

granted, it would be nice if we were all able to make a living doing what we love. im kinda partway there with my job at Honda House. it's only entry level but it's more than what im making now and its working with Hondas so the only thing that can touch it is having my own perf business and racing Hondas for a living.

til then, im happy just to be a partof the scene. we'll never be ablt to police it or keep the wrong people out of it. we just have to make sure we dont become one of them.

*~sniff sniff ~* i love you guys :)

[jdmism]

..even if it hurts and stings a little!!
KEEP IT REAL!!

MAKKU: I'd rather get past the drama, hopefully "that" company treats their present customers better and learned from their mistakes.
BTW: where did you get that FILTHY-SICK avatar?

Steve-O: best of luck and if you need help with some accounts...
"divorce is a beeeeyyotch; but I still gots the GOODS" ha ha ha
here to help if you need it!!

D-series Brethren: I pray for all of you EVERYDAY, whether you like it or not!!

Be Blessed,
JDMism

[makku]

BTW: where did you get that FILTHY-SICK avatar?

made it myself from an anime called Macross Zero. (a story before Robotech)

[jdmism]

Makku,
havent watched it in a while, hard to come across where I'm at in AZ...
got the classics though:

Legend of the Overfiend
Vampire Hunter D
Twin Angels
The Guyver
The Professoinal
Ninja Scroll
and of course my fave Initial D
ha ha ha
you are def an inspiration my man.....
Be Blessed,
JDMism
BTW thanks for the help on my oregon trip!!
I ended up flying her out of AZ in the end.
BUT will have to make the drive in a few weeks for Xmas....