DJM Direct is based in Nelson, Lancashire and many years ago Jay worked for a small business in Huddersfield and sold DIY products, contracts etc. In 2004, after experimenting with different products and finding the right products, they decided to move into to a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Lancashire and continued expanding and looked for other means of selling and went onto Amazon, their own eCommerce site and in 2013 they expanded the warehouse to 20,000 sq. ft., and have turned over 2 million last year and have started their own brand just over 12 months ago.
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“I worked for in an iron mongers based in Huddersfield and west Yorkshire. My father bought it in 2004 and he couldn’t pick a worse time basically.”
“We had to look at other means outside of the Huddersfield area to get business in and that is when I discovered eBay.”
“We found out that it covers the whole of the UK, and you can go further than that, and it is open 24 hours.”
“We sold power tools on there, large tool boxes and it wasn’t until quite a while later that we started to get a little more serious about it.”
“In 2011 my job was getting harder to service the accounts because the accounts weren’t there to service so we said let’s see what eBay can do.”
“We moved to a purpose built warehouse, a 10,000 square foot warehouse and I took a member of staff with me.”
“We have looked at other means of selling and we went on to Amazon and a year later we launched our eCommerce site.”
“Last year we turned over 200 million pound”
“We stock around half a million pounds of stock here now and ¾ of that is branded DJM. DJM is a brand that we started from scratch.”
“We have people in the UK that source it in from China.”
“Someone can walk in off the street and purchase something here but 99% of our stuff is sold online”
“We sell through eBay, through Amazon, through our own eCommerce site and recently we have been approached by Groupon.”
“We never run out of stock because of the amount we have in.”
“It is a dog eat dog world out there.”
“They will undercut you by a pound and someone else joins in and you find that you were selling something at £100 and now you’re selling it at £80.”
“DJM Direct products it is unique to us and we can hold the margin on it.”
“The power tool market the margins get smaller and smaller and smaller.2
“There is no pint selling things if you can’t make money.”
“You have got to be careful when buying seasonal stock. You have to be aware that you might need to sit on that stock for 12 months”
“EBay from what we put in, the charges, and what we get back out it is the one I prefer personally.”
“Going to the future eCommerce I am wanting to push.”
“With eBay and Amazon your business is in their hands.”
“We have tried to slash 10% off our eBay prices to get people on to our eCommerce site.”
“I haven’t’ got massive experience on SEO so I have had to trust other people.”
“With SEO what happened for us was we were putting money into it and not getting anything out of it.”
“I am into making profit and not just turning over. A lot of business owners start chasing turnover, they don’t realise the costings, damages, returns and everything else”
“I see some businesses selling things too cheap, make a lot of noise in the market and then they are gone”
Best advice: “Before you upload a product get an eBay and Amazon calculator and check to see what net profit you are making. From the start make sure you are making money.”
What do they offer?DJM Direct supply a great selection of home DIY tools, gardening equipment and furniture, tools, workwear.. you name it they sell it!
How to contact DJM Direct!TwitterWebsite Facebook Or email: jay@djmdirect.com
ResourcesCheck out my list of resources, free tools and great advice: Resources Here
I offer strategic consultations for your own eCommerce business: Consultation Here
Selling on more than one platform? Want to be a guest on my show? Click here to contact me!
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