Make a living off of ecommerce?

Let me start off by saying that I know it is not a walk in the park to start an online business, I know that it takes hard work. I have been tossing the idea around of starting an online store after college; it is something I would really like to do. However, my main question is, is it realistic to think that I could make a very good living off of an online store? I know that people get rich everyday selling online, and I know that there are very successful online stores out there, but how realistic is it to get to that point? If I had a good business plan, good product, good site, spent time advertising, etc, is living well off of an online store likely? Is there a significant rate of failure?

That being asked, my next question would be where to start. Would it be smart to begin by selling on eBay, in order to build up inventory and knowledge of online retail with the goal of eventually moving to an independent site? Or is it a better idea to just develop a killer business plan and start the site right off of the bat?

Like I said, I am still in college and have plenty of time to think about this, but the idea of owning and managing a successful online business is what I want to do.

Thanks for your insight

The answer to your question simply put lies in what you are selling. If you have a unique product that people are looking for, you can create a market for and you are not in an overly crowded market, you can make a living, even a very good living.

An extreme example of this is a product that was sold years ago and made the entrepreneur millions. It cost nothing to the entrepeneur and was the only of its kind in the world. It was so deceptively simple that anyone could own one without buying it but it became such a cult symbol that people were willing to fork over their hard earned cash to own one. The spin off businesses made more millions.

Want to know what it was?

Thanks for the reply

What was it? I would guess the pet rock maybe?

The only thing is that I am not trying to design a product to sell, I simply want to market goods already in existence. For example, one of the ideas I have thought about would be an outdoor store of sorts. Selling tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, maybe some hunting accessories, and all around outdoor survival equipment. Now I know that there are already some major dealers in this market (cabellas, dicks sporting goods, gander mountain), yet I have seen many independent sites that seem to do pretty well. Although manufacturing my own product and selling it would probably make a killing if it actually took off, I’m talking more about just creating a normal internet store.

thanks again for your help

Bingo. You got it!

Good luck in your venture. You can open an outdoor store and get out there and compete.

Generally it is a good advise to start a small business without investing too much money. If it becomes a success, excellent. But if it fails, well, it was worth a try at least.

Depending upon what you are selling, an eBay store could be a good start. No HTML/CGI experience required, no programming needed. Also other hosted shopping carts could work well.

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I am still in college and have plenty of time

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No comment ;-)

There are mainly four things which decides how much you can make from an e-commerce store:

1- The product you sell.
2- Advertising
3- Quality of product.
4- Your customer service.

Like any business, the potential for success is dependent on your business plan, strategies, and action. Then again, you know this.

A great place to start to sort of test the waters is Amazon.com. You simply owe them a commission on any sale. This can give you a sense of interest in your vertical, brands, and items.

Good luck.
BEC

thanks for the replies everyone.
Most likely I'll try to start something small up on eBay or amazon this summer. Knowing me I'll probably have more questions then.
Thanks again

Hi,
A successful e-commerce architecture requires a merged approach combining expertise from both the network and application development camps.

Just passing by and this thread caught my eye. My straight honest answer to you is "No" You seem honest and thoughtful, but it takes more than one person. On the internet you are not competiting against the guy across the street selling hamburgers. You are competiting against the world. And you have probably heard this before, but the real world can be cruel and unjust. My best suggestion to you is to find a management job with a company, get some real world experience, and do the internet as a hobby.

Although your post appeared pessimistic to me at first glance, but then I read this:

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My best suggestion to you is to find a management job with a company...

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You are an incurable optimist when believing that it is so easy to find a "management job" right away ;-) In most cases you just "manage" to turn hamburgers...

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Originally Posted by twturtleltd

Just passing by and this thread caught my eye. My straight honest answer to you is "No" You seem honest and thoughtful, but it takes more than one person.

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I get where you're coming from, but I'm not sure if that's quite the case. I know of plenty of stores in the niche market that I am looking into that are run by only one or two individuals, and they are very successful. It might be good to get real world experience first as a bonus....but if the research is done and the right planning is done, and the right advertising is done..I don't think having prior business management experience would be necessary (I'm minoring in business, so there's also that.) I've done a lot more research since I've posted this topic, and have come to the conclusion that dedication, the motivation to work hard, and a good niche product are the three main factors one needs to be successful in ecommerce, or even a b&m business for that matter. Please correct me If I'm wrong, I'm still a newbie....just my thoughts.

It lies in what you want to sell and how hard work you will do.

dont forget the marketing aspect. it would help to understand internet marketing and seo to some degree as well.

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It lies in what you want to sell and how hard work you will do.

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I even would go so far and say that you will be successful (regardless what you sell) if you just work hard enough.

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dont forget the marketing aspect. it would help to understand internet marketing and seo to some degree as well.

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Not just marketing... every day I see poor websites created with Microsoft Word or equal "solutions" just because people think they have the knowledge to build a website of their own.

In most cases this is not really caused by exaggerating oneself but more by a lack of money. So maybe we should say that some cash reserves are required to start a successful online business.