How to Start My Own E-Cig Business

The e-cig or electronic cigarette is a smoking alternative that is designed to help smokers reduce the harmful side effects of smoking, lower the costs associated with buying traditional cigarettes, smoke in areas where smoking is normally prohibited and even quit smoking. Various models exist, but the basic premise is that the smoker inhales water vapor mixed with nicotine. The e-cig presents a new business opportunity to entrepreneurial individuals. To start your own e-cig business, you simply need to find a supplier willing to drop ship your e-cig orders and begin promoting your products online.

Find e-cig suppliers that offer drop shipping. Drop shipping is a business model where you make a sale to a customer and forward the shipping information to the supplier who then ships the product to the customer with your logo or in a plain package. Your profit is the difference between the sale price and the product cost. Use an online database of drop shipping companies to contact multiple suppliers for the best prices and a large product selection.

Contact each potential supplier to inquire about shipping times, shipping rates, bulk discounts, customs fees, minimum orders and other important details regarding their method of drop shipping.

Choose the drop shippers that meet your requirements and make a test order to verify that they deliver on time and that their products are of good quality.

Choose your preferred model of sales. Drop shipping requires an appropriate online sales portal. The best methods are building an e-commerce website or using auction sites such as eBay. Many companies offer fully functional e-commerce stores for relatively inexpensive prices. Many e-commerce platforms also offer integration with certain drop shippers' websites, which make the order and fulfillment process seamless. However, e-commerce websites do require additional costs such as web hosting and domain registration. Auction sites are free or have low-cost solutions for vendors that sell a lot of volume.

Promote your e-commerce store or auction listing. Use online marketing techniques like banner ads, article marketing, YouTube, social media, mobile marketing and others to create links to your products. Generate as much traffic as possible to your website or auction listings to maximize your sales. Use forums and blogs to interact in conversations about the market and educate people about the benefits of your products. This will attract visitors to your offers and increase the number of sales.

Tip

Paid drop shipping directories offer the most security for locating reputable suppliers. Make the initial contact by phone whenever possible to ensure that they have a customer-support system in place. Try selling the various products on auction sites to test their marketability before launching an e-commerce store.