Clothing website – where do I start?!?

[ScarlettCrossbones]

Hello all, I've got an idea for a website selling a particular specialised type of clothes (obviously can't go into great detail!), but I have no idea where to start ? many different companies sell these clothes among the rest of their stock, and I want to bring together all the brands in one place ? should I just contact each individual company to ask if I can sell on their clothes? Will they sell them to me first at a cheaper price? Sorry to be so completely naive! (But I don't see any websites out there with the particular kind of range I'm planning to sell, so I'm hoping it'll be a winner!)

Thanks!

From personal experience, clothing is one of the harder things to sell online. I've only stocked a limited range, but:

• You have to carry quite a lot of stock (all the colour / size options) which you'll have to pay for upfront until you build a credit record with each company,
• you need really good photography, and
• you need to deal with the hassle of returns.

Normally you'd just contact the companies in question and ask for a trade price list, which will give you wholesale rates. I'd get your own company email account so they take you more seriously.

An easier option is drop-shipping where you agree a slightly higher price for the goods, but the supplier ships the stock for you.

Good luck!

That's great, Dubh, thanks for the info ? just the sort of thing I was looking for!