A few questions on transitioning into a business broker?

**xmrkite** · 07-10-2010 08:13 PM

Hello.

I've been in the retail business for 10 years or so with my own company. I have some really great sources for my product and I want to make money off of having my great sources.

My retail business has tanked in this economy, so I figured I could become a broker (or whatever you call it), and go to my competitors and offer to sell to them.

They would receive shipments directly from my source overseas, and defective items (if any) would be sent back directly to my source, so i would not touch their products. I would only charge a very small price per item on top of the source's prices.

Since my sources are so great, i'm sure many of my competitors would switch and buy directly from me as I'd be saving them a lot of money.

My question is, how do i set it up so that they don't go around me and buy direct. I may be able to make an arrangement with my source to avoid this, so i'm not concerned about my source as we have a great relationship...it's the potential customers i would be worried about.

How do people who do this type of business accomplish this?
-Thanks

**Mark Atkinson** · 07-11-2010 03:14 AM

I think what you mean is becoming an affiliate for your "sources"

It all depends really. Do you sell your products online? You see standard procedure for online affiliate marketing is to have links to your sources on your website which contain your "affiliate ID" and when customers purchase products from their sites, your commission is automatically calculated and added to your account for payment.

I'm guessing, though, that this is not the way your business works. The only way I would see it working is to approach your potential customers without actually revealing who your sources are. Develop a catalog of all your products from various sources, shown at your prices. Then market this catalog. Even this probably doesn't work.

The thing with brokering/being an affiliate, is you have to bring something else to the party. If you're providing exactly what your source is providing at a higher price, people are just going to go straight to your source. IF, however, you provide a convenience factor (for example) making it easier for your customers to receive their goods than if they had to go through your source, then I'm sure customers would have no issues with paying a premium. This works the same with any other value you can add to the transactions.