Historic Collectibles: An E-Commerce Startup
Starting a business can be a daunting task. Many prospective business owners think it is less costly to choose e-commerce. While this may be so, an e-commerce company still requires an investment (Holden, Belew, Elad, Rich, & Gulbrandsen, 2008). The owner will mitigate some of the normal overhead expenses by taking on tasks instead of paying professionals and working from a home office.
Historic Collectibles will sell old postcards, stamps, advertising cards, and documents via the internet. Old items have a ready market from many buyers, including collectors, historical societies, and museums (Andrews, 2012). Even food and retail establishments look for items that are vintage themed. For
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Shipping ease and storage requirements are also factors the owner considered. Shipping costs are a matter of concern for any e-commerce site. Every year the major shippers raise their rates. The United States Postal Service will even eliminate its commercial base pricing in 2016, leaving small volume business owners to go back to higher priced retail pricing (Trunkett, 2015). It is hard to compete against larger vendors who offer flat rate or free shipping. However, items that Historic Collectibles will carry is generally small and lightweight, a plus from both the shipping and storage ends. Because first class postage is possible for most of Historic Collectibles’ stock, it may be easier to build the shipping cost into product price and make the company competitive with bigger vendors (Bulger, 2012).
Start-up costs for Historic Collectibles may include legal costs, setting up an office, establishing an online presence, purchasing software, a dedicated phone, and acquiring initial inventory. As a small one-person company, the first question is whether to begin as a sole proprietorship or incorporate as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Both allow for pass-through taxes, meaning the owner will report profits and losses on her personal income tax return (Holden et al., 2008). This eliminates the need to file a
The first key to starting a successful online business is to first understand ecommerce and how it operates. Most people understand that ecommerce or electronic commerce refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer
The Internet over the past few years has seen a huge increase in online businesses and consumers. Electronic-commerce is expected to generate $36 billion in revenue during 1999, up 140% from last year alone.[1] With such a huge amount of money to be made on the Internet it is becoming very appealing for small businesses and start-up companies to try and make their niche in e-commerce. The Internet is drastically affecting the way companies and people conduct business now. E-commerce encourages growth in existing as well as new businesses because of lower overhead costs, the huge consumer base and the freedom of information flow. However the online revolution has created a large
Antiques are items that stand the test of time. Imbued with history and grace, an antique can be an irresistible purchase. For visitors to Atlanta, antique stores, malls and streets are easy to find. With one of the largest antique markets in the world, Atlanta is the ideal place to go for rare, ancient items.
Before deciding on whether or not to engage in e-Commerce, a business must look at several factors in order to determine if they are ready and able to do everything needed in order to make it successful. Companies should initially perform a SWOT analysis in order to determine if selling products online would be beneficial to the overall company. They also need to make sure they understand they will be dealing with customers all over the world and are willing to take on the work involved to know all of the legalities involved. Taking a business online opens up a world of opportunities but also presents new challenges and difficulties. A company has to be able to spend the time and money in order to do the necessary research so
Antiques Roadshow is a television (TV) show where appraisers travel to different areas across the US and appraise and discuss objects that different people bring. The discussion of the object usually digresses into a broader history surrounding the object. Also, the owners of the object explain the importance of the object themselves. For example, brought an Olympic Men’s Basketball gold medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but the significance of the metal to him was that it was his fathers. Truthfully, anyone could go onto Antiques Roadshow because everyone has an object sitting around his or her house with sentimental value that can be brought into the broader context the time period or industry that it is from. That is why; I will
“The all my life for sale,” online project by John Freyer is a unique idea that I found very intrigued. Freyer sold everything he owned, from his personal photographs to his false teeth on Ebay. After he had sold everything, he determined to take on a journey and visit each item that he sold at their new home. As I viewed some of the items he had sold, a particular item caught my attention; the T-4 super camera and 50 photographs. As technology advances, newer cameras become better in quality so, eventually, the T-4 Super is going to be an antique camera.
For some, material possessions offer quality beyond physical form; they provide remembrance of past experiences and emotional connections, all holding value considerably higher than the devices intended use. As a result, these same individuals will often seek garage sales, auctions, and antique stores in favor of generic department stores, as the prior provide assurance that the items of purchase keep a deep, resounding history. The acquisition of the articles delivers not only serviceable use, but also an association with the prior owner, thereby yielding a social merit that is well worth the expense. “AllMyLifeForSale.com” is a prime example of merchandising articles not solely based on physical purpose, as similar websites such as EBay,
My wife and I have developed a marketing plan for the opening of a new antique store in our neighborhood. There are three reasons we believe this will be a profitable opportunity. First, we both love antiques, and have learned a great deal about authenticating, pricing and conserving the value of these pieces. Next, we have business experience from our venture in consulting work. And thirdly, one of the major antique stores in our area has ceased operations. Develop a marketing plan for business
An original 1935 Monopoly board game. A beautiful painted iron trunk. An old painting in a stunning frame. Light, airy gauze tapestries. Everything from fine china to sturdy Pyrex. The place is humming with life. Everything within the store has a sense of warmth, history, and character.
Fortunately, a journalistic interview with the Executive Director, Juli Ra shows positive results. Concluding several questions, this establishment plans on being around in the future to provide adequate spaces for vendors to supply the market that ‘has a large variety of antique, vintage, and artisan products’. This is what
E-commerce is a product that has been available since the early 90’s. It is something that people are familiar with. A product that is now part and parcel of people’s lives.
Many organizations industriously look for the opportunity to gain the competitive advantages in their industries. One of the opportunities that frequently used by the organization is the implementation of e-commerce. Thus, the e-commerce and the online sale transaction become popular in each industry. E-commerce provides many benefits, such as the saving of shopping time, the cost savings, convenience, and free from geographical constraints.
After I have gone through this article paper, my opinion would be, e-commerce is becoming a major factor in the development of business whether it is a global or a local business. This is happening because the selection of data innovation is on the expanding pattern and hence prompts various changes in business exercises. In any making decision situation, it has never been easy and that is the situation that the SMEs nowadays are facing in their business. Before I go further with the advantages of having e-commerce in SMEs, I will first start with the disadvantages. First and foremost is the organizational readiness. According to Chong (2009), the hierarchical preparation measures whether the associations’ traits are sufficiently adequate in receiving the e-commerce. They proposed that top administration backing is the most critical component to figure out if the organization is prepared to receive the e-commerce. Based on above citation, I can say that it is all depending on the level of understanding of someone in the SMEs in the usage of Internet at the workplace. In other words, this kind of people can be called as
Any small, local company looking to expand into the online market place also has numerous opportunities. Their business currently comes from customers walking up and down the boardwalk which has a limited season. By expanding to the internet, they will dramatically increase the number of customers exposed to their merchandize on a global scale. Mass production by the company will allow customers to get what they want but dilute their individual uniqueness (Pinker, 2002). Lastly, by orienting their sales to the online
Today, Sorzal Distributors count eleven major players in the artifacts industry that compete directly with them. This number of competitors in addition to others- is a proof that the artifacts business is an attractive industry with low entry barriers (in terms of regulations and capital). In fact, the market of artifacts witnesses different players in terms of nature of their products, scope of business and channels of distribution. These can be importers/distributors, specialty dealers, department stores, amateurs and dealers who sell their products through internet. These competitors display fierce competitive moves ranging from dealing directly with Sorzal's suppliers to selling fake artifacts at exorbitant prices in different locations of the country. (R. Kerin, R. Peterson (2005). Strategic Marketing Problems cases and comments (10th Ed.) In such industry circumstances, Sorzal's initial market segmentation has been blurred. Initially, the company targeted buyers of authentic pieces of artifacts in the United States namely collectors, then responded to its small customers number of gift and decorative items buyers. After the entrance of all these competitors to the market, Sorzal should reconsider