Which option best suits me?

[MrMiyagi]

I am starting a sport clothing line that would target a niche market. My network at the present time are my training partners and others who are also obsessed with the sport.

Here are my 3 options, the way I see it...

1. Should I "start out of my basement" and sort of have a grassroots word of mouth/local advertising and see if my product is viable?
Then do the whole e-commerce thing?

2. Just sell my line on an e-commerce site and virtually nothing else to keep start up costs low compared to:

3. Sell my product along with related established brands (buy in bulk) to make the store more "legit". Much higher costs.

Anyone ever have this problem?

[marc77]

Am I right that you are designing the clothes yourself ? And also fabricate them yourself (or at least give it away as commissional work) ?

If not, I think starting a business "out of the basement" is a good idea - low investments, you can see how it works... if your business develops positively, then you may decide to expand. If not, well, then you haven't lost much.

You may sell accompanying products as well from third parties, but only if it is necessary to prevent people to buy elsewhere.

During the first time, you should concentrate yourself on a few selected items (not too less, so customers have some choices, but also not a wide variety that becomes hard to manage for you).