Are you looking for ways to sell products for companies and get paid? If you’re not interested in creating and selling your own, selling other companies’ products is a wonderful way to make extra money from the comfort of your home.
It’s also a great way to work on your own flexible schedule, have autonomy and independence in your work, and have no ceiling to the amount you can make. If you’re successful enough selling products for companies, you may even be able to make a full-time income and quit your day job.
In this post, I’ll discuss the four best ways to sell products for companies, why you should do it, and much more.
In This Post:
- Why you should sell products for companies
- Companies that let you sell their products
- Best ways to sell products for companies
- Tips to sell products for companies
- Frequently asked questions
- Final thoughts
Best Ways to Sell Products for Companies:
2.) Direct Sales
3.) Dropshipping
4.) Wholesale
Why You Should Sell Products for Companies
Not only will you get paid to sell products and services for companies, it’s also far easier than creating and selling your own products.
If you create your own product, you will have to spend countless hours designing and creating it, including many other things, such as market research, manufacturing, managing inventory, etc. You also won’t have to spend time worrying about the potential of your product failing.
Companies That Let You Sell Their Products
Whether it’s through affiliate marketing, direct sales, dropshipping, or even wholesale, nearly every company will allow you to sell their products and services.
Considering this, it’s not so much about which companies let you sell their products and services, it’s more about which methods you can use to sell them.
So, let’s dive right into the 4 best ways to sell products and services for companies.
4 Best Ways to Sell Products for Companies
If companies want to earn the most profit, it’s important they target and reach the right audience.
One way of doing so is through advertising, whether it’s with television, magazines and newspapers, radio, social media, or any other type of advertising method.
However, these advertising methods can be extremely expensive and eat away at profit margins. So, this is where you and I come into play.
Companies are willing to pay anyone to market their products and services to their target audience.
This is beneficial for companies because they only pay a commission when someone converts a lead to an actual customer. This is far less expensive for companies than traditional forms of advertising.
However, it’s also beneficial for the person selling the companies products and services for the many reasons mentioned above.
So, here is a summary of the four best ways to sell products for companies and get paid:
1. Affiliate Marketing
The first way to sell products for companies and get paid is through affiliate marketing. Within the blogosphere, affiliate marketing is by the most popular way to make money with various types of advertising.
As defined by Investopedia,
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company.
In other words, a companies affiliate program incentivizes anyone to promote the companies products and services by offering to pay them a percentage of every sale they make.
For example, a blogger might write an article about the best lawn mowers. If their review influences a reader to buy one, the reader might click on a link within the article that takes them to Amazon where they can buy the specific lawn mower.
If the reader buys the lawn mower, the blogger would earn a small commission for sending Amazon a customer.
One of the major advantages of affiliate marketing is that you won’t have to manage inventory. You also won’t have to provide customer support or deal with shipping and delivery.
This make a great opportunity to earn passive income by selling other companies’ products.
How to Find Affiliate Products to Sell
There are quite a few different ways to find affiliate products to sell. For example, you can use an affiliate network, such as ShareASale, ClickBank, or even Amazon.
Companies that need help advertising their products and services turn to these affiliate networks to find affiliate marketers who are willing to promote their products and services.
As a result, these networks give affiliate marketers access to thousands of merchants in a single place.
However, keep in mind that just because you have an account with an affiliate network, doesn’t mean you can sell products for just any merchant.
To promote a product you find on an affiliate network, you will have to apply to the specific merchant. The merchant will then review your application and either approve or reject it.
2. Direct Sales
With direct sales marketing, you sell a line of products in a non-retail environment. The only way a purchase can be made by a customer is through someone who sells the product.
Meaning there is no wholesaler, distributor, or retailer between the company and the customer.
As defined by the balance,
With direct selling, distributors avoid intermediaries in the supply chain and sell products directly to consumers. In traditional retail settings, products are sold online or at a physical store, but direct selling relies heavily on salespeople getting in front of customers in nontraditional settings
All things considered, if you’re an expert and confident sales person with a particular personality, direct sales may be the best method for you to sell products for companies.
The major advantage of direct sales is that you can work for companies under their business license. You will also have access to exclusive products and services which are only found through distributors.
However, the major downside of direct sales is that it has a bad reputation and many people view multi-level marketing companies as pyramid schemes. So, you may have trouble converting potential customers that have experience with pushy sales people.
Most Profitable Direct Sales Companies
You’ll make the most profit by selling products and services you’re most passionate about. If you don’t care about what you’re selling, it’s too easy to lose interest.
Considering this, the most profitable direct sales company is whichever one you’re most passionate about.
However, if you compare direct sales companies by profitability of their revenue, top direct sales companies are:
- Amway
- Avon Products
- Herbalife
- Stella & Dot
- Vorwerk
- Infinitus
Keep in mind that you will be investing money into these programs, so make sure you do extensive research before applying.
3. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a fulfillment model that involves selling a product on your own website that you bought at a lower price elsewhere.
As defined by Square,
Drop shipping is a retail fulfillment method in which a business doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. When a drop-shipping retailer sells a product, it purchases the item directly from a third party (a manufacturer, wholesaler, or another retailer) that ships the product directly to a customer.
Here is how dropshipping works:
- You build your own website that acts as a virtual store
- You request approval from vendors to list their products on your website
- When someone buys the product from your store, you purchase the item from the vendor and then the vendor ships the product directly to the address of the customer.
For example, say a customer comes to your website and buys a product that costs $100. Once the order is processed, you then place your own order for the same product from the supplier which costs $60. In this case, you will earn $40 every time you sell this product.
The primary benefit of dropshipping is that you won’t have to worry about storing and managing inventory. You also won’t have to invest much money to get started.
However, there is a downside of dropshipping, which you need to watch out for. Since you won’t have control of inventory, there is a chance someone will order a product from your website that is currently out of stock.
You also have to be careful about choosing vendors that won’t let your customer down and send low-quality products. If this happens, your reputation can be damaged.
4. Wholesale
As a wholesaler, you will buy products in bulk from a manufacturer or distributor at a discounted price and then resell them to retailers at a higher price. It’s different than affiliate marketing and dropshipping because you will have to manage inventory and deal with shipping.
As defined by Investopedia,
Wholesaling is the act of buying goods in bulk from a manufacturer at a discounted price and selling to a retailer for a higher price, for them to repackage and in turn resell in smaller quantities at an even higher price to consumers. Due to the large quantities purchased from the manufacturer at a discounted price, the wholesaler can also pass on this discount to retailers. The retailer sells at a price that reflects the overall cost of doing business.
For example, say you’re an animal lover and you find cat collars that you want to sell. You will then contact the manufacturer who will then connect you with a distributor. Depending on how many you buy, the distributor may sell you the collars for 25% off of the retail price.
Once you sell the collars at retail price, you will make 25% on the money you paid for them every time you make a sell. Considering this, wholesaling can be extremely profitable if done successfully.
However, the downside of wholesaling is that it can be very difficult to find a manufacturer that you can trust and is willing to trust you. You will also need a business license and a reseller’s permit that you wouldn’t need otherwise if you chose a different method to sell products for companies.
Finding Wholesale Suppliers
Finding profitable suppliers can be rather difficult in wholesale. However, the best way to find wholesale suppliers is through trade shows such as the ASD Marketweek.
Trade shows are the best way to network and they will also allow you to meet face-to-face with vendors.
Another way to find wholesale suppliers is online. Simply do a Google search for a product you’re interested in selling, visit the companies website, and then send them an email about selling their product. They will then approve or request your request.
Tips to Sell Products for Companies
Here are a few tips to help sell products and services for companies successfully.
1. Choose Reputable Companies
Before selling products, you need to choose reputable companies. Simply research the company you’re interest in selling for, before you start working with them.
Search for reviews online that are written by other sellers to make sure they have had success working with the company.
You should also research the company’s quality control, customer service, affiliate payment and commission rate, and other policies before committing.
2. Sell Products You’re Passionate About
Not only should you work with reputable companies, you should also only sell products you’re passionate about. As previously mentioned, selling products you believe in will make it much more easy to successfully market and sell the product.
You will also be far more confident in your selling abilities if you can stand by the quality and usefulness of the product that you’re selling.
If you can, use the product yourself before you sell it. The company you work with will most likely offer to send you a sample. If not, try to find someone you know that owns the product and will allow you to test it out.
3. Be Professional
Practicing professionalism when you’re advertising or selling products for companies will help you be far more successful.
Even if you’re dealing with family or friends, business should triumph over your friendships whenever money is involved. No matter the circumstance, always behave as if you’re engaging in business relations.
4. Build an Online Presence
For example, if you don’t have a blog and are planning to sell products for companies, investing in a website is definitely worth it. This will expand your potential audience tenfold.
Make sure your website is clean, professional looking, and provides valuable information about the products and services you’re selling. Also include visible links for readers to purchase your products.
You can also create business pages on social media websites, such as Facebook and Instagram to reach a n even larger audience and drive traffic to your website.
5. Avoid Scams and Pyramid Schemes
If what a company is offering sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. If you’re doing direct sales, make sure to proceed with caution and avoid scams and pyramid schemes.
A pyramid scheme is an illegal multi-level marketing company that encourages people to invest money into the company and then recruit other people to also invest, but the company has no actual product the sell.
If you’re still not sure what a pyramid scheme is, you can learn more about them on the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer information page.
Sell Products for Companies and Get Paid FAQs
Here are the answers to a couple of the most frequently asked questions about selling products for companies.
What Are the Most Profitable Products to Sell?
The best and most profitable products you can sell are ones that are expensive and have a high conversion rate.
Simply put, you want to sell products that will earn you the highest commission possible but are also easy to convert leads into actual paying customers.
For example, consider two products. The first one costs $500, but only converts 2% of leads to actual customers. On the other hand, the second product only costs $30, but converts 30% of leads into customers.
In this example, a seller would make more money with the $30 product because they can make far more sales.
The goal isn’t to just sell the most expensive product possible, but to sell the most expensive product that also has a relatively high conversion rate.
What Are the Best Products to Sell Online?
The best products to sell online are digital products. This includes tutorials, courses, eBooks, software, apps, or anything else that isn’t a physical product.
Profit margins tend to be higher for digital products because the product only needs to be created once and there is no physical inventory. Considering this, sales after production and marketing are 100% profit.
With this being the case, companies that you sell digital products for will most likely pay higher commission rates than companies that sell physical products.
Final Thoughts on Selling Products for Companies
As demonstrated above, there are several ways to make money by selling products and services for companies. The difficult part is deciding which method to use, finding products and services to sell, and then converting leads into actual customers.
The best products and services to sell are ones that have a high price. It’s also important that the products and services you sell aren’t difficult to convert. If something you sell doesn’t convert then you simply won’t make money.
To increase your conversion rate, believe in yourself and the products you’re offering, don’t rush the process – selling successfully takes time, and always act professional.
