How do I become an authorized pro audio dealer, and are there any tips?
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  1. #1

    Default How do I become an authorized pro audio dealer, and are there any tips?

    After spending so many countless hours looking at audio gear and DJ gear, it only seemed natural that I should consider how to sell this stuff myself?...So has anyone done this? I'm thinking of opening a virtual store, or possibly an actual store so I'm looking for any input.

  2. #2
    Tech Guru VanGogo's Avatar
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    Two things you need just to think about starting up, a business plan and capital.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by VanGogo View Post
    Two things you need just to think about starting up, a business plan and capital.
    The business plan is the easy part. First I need to find someone who will act as a viable mentor (or at least anaswer a few questions) so I can first quantify whether or not this is something I can be prosperous in.

  4. #4
    Tech Guru jakeintox's Avatar
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    I've been working for an event production company for several years, and we recently became dealers for a few companies. The first things our distributor looked at was if they already had a rep in our area, and if there was a potential client base here. Then they had to make sure we were a legit business, and had all the necessary permits, and had a showroom and/or means of selling their products.

    Trying to open an online store won't make you a lot of money. There is a minimum price you are allowed to charge, so you can't really undercut the big stores and will therefore eventually lose out to their superior marketing and established reputations. An actual storefront can bring you money, but you need the capital to buy your merchandise up front. If you're just looking for some really good deals, I can say from experience that you can usually find deals on ebay that are as good as dealer prices. Being a dealer is only a good deal when you need to buy in quantity, or have paying clients lined up.

    Imho (and experience) the best way to get into dealing audio is to create the business, establish a client base, then approach companies about becoming a dealer.

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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by jakeintox View Post
    I've been working for an event production company for several years, and we recently became dealers for a few companies. The first things our distributor looked at was if they already had a rep in our area, and if there was a potential client base here.
    So it has to be approved by the distributor first? Good to know.

    Then they had to make sure we were a legit business, and had all the necessary permits, and had a showroom and/or means of selling their products.
    I was thinking of managing an online store while I manage a couple other businesses (DJ'ing being one of them). So is it possible to be considered a legitimate business if all I have is the website? Only how do I create the website without authorization to sell the product first? Having a showroom is out of the question right now because I don't have the capital, nor do I like the idea of "going big" before generating some sort of interest or traction first. I was wondering if I could maintain it as a virtual store, sending the product direct from the distributor to the consumer, or at least having a minimal amount of stock in my already overstocked apartment.

    Trying to open an online store won't make you a lot of money. There is a minimum price you are allowed to charge, so you can't really undercut the big stores and will therefore eventually lose out to their superior marketing and established reputations.
    This answers one of my key questions "undercutting". I'm not looking to make a lot of money, just a modest income to support the modest income I get from DJ'ing (trying really hard to not go back to the corporate world).

    An actual storefront can bring you money, but you need the capital to buy your merchandise up front. If you're just looking for some really good deals, I can say from experience that you can usually find deals on ebay that are as good as dealer prices. Being a dealer is only a good deal when you need to buy in quantity, or have paying clients lined up.

    Imho (and experience) the best way to get into dealing audio is to create the business, establish a client base, then approach companies about becoming a dealer.
    How do you create the business and establish a client base if you need those first for the distributor to approve you as an authorized dealer?

    I guess the idea I outlined was that I could spend money and time on the site and putting together a great online store, and just sitting on it fulfilling orders as they come through while I focus on other things like DJ'ing. I have the capital to purchase some stock, but feel iffy about owning a lot of gear that I can't unload. And getting buyers lined up for product I don't have feels like the whole Chicken vs. Egg thing.

    Thanks for the input, lot's of great info here.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru 3heads's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jakeintox View Post
    Trying to open an online store won't make you a lot of money. There is a minimum price you are allowed to charge, so you can't really undercut the big stores and will therefore eventually lose out to their superior marketing and established reputations.
    I think this really is the crucial point. Look at it from the customers' point of view: why should they buy from your small onlineshop (with not much of a reputation) when they could just go to the big players, knowing beforehand that those will ship fast, have prices you probably won't beat and will reliably deal with any problems that might arise?
    If you really want to start a business to net you some income, you have to find a niche for yourself. Trying to break into a market that is already saturated will only cost you time and money (especially for the online market! a local storefront might be different, but trying to go up against the big online retailers without anything special to offer - not a good idea, imho)
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  7. #7
    Tech Mentor shr3dder's Avatar
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    I work for a audio distributor in Australia, we exclusively distribute a few car audio brands, a DJ brand and a couple of consumer based electronic brands (headphones, speakers etc). We operate more on the wholesale side though and supply products to a very large chain of Australian retail outlets.

    Online is very very very difficult unless you have the customers ready or can offer something unique or cheap. We've tried dealing direct with a few products and even without a retail markup it's hard to bring in enough customers.


    You need to be prepared to lose money, or at least have a very slow source of income, I wouldn't be rushing to go up against big retail outlets, you won't get anywhere near the prices they get from distributors like us, we don't look after the little guys at all, it sucks but it's all about how much you're going to buy, and the big guys, they're buying for 50-60 stores.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by jakeintox View Post
    I've been working for an event production company for several years, and we recently became dealers for a few companies. The first things our distributor looked at was if they already had a rep in our area, and if there was a potential client base here. Then they had to make sure we were a legit business, and had all the necessary permits, and had a showroom and/or means of selling their products.

    Trying to open an online store won't make you a lot of money. There is a minimum price you are allowed to charge, so you can't really undercut the big stores and will therefore eventually lose out to their superior marketing and established reputations. An actual storefront can bring you money, but you need the capital to buy your merchandise up front. If you're just looking for some really good deals, I can say from experience that you can usually find deals on ebay that are as good as dealer prices. Being a dealer is only a good deal when you need to buy in quantity, or have paying clients lined up.

    Imho (and experience) the best way to get into dealing audio is to create the business, establish a client base, then approach companies about becoming a dealer.
    You also need to factor in quota's, a lot of companies will expect a minimum order amount per year. Others will place you at a certain price point based on your performance. Some lines won't even talk about opening up their products to you until you've got $20-50k to invest.

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