SMC

I tried SMC also and quickly spent several hundred dollars on catalogues and a membership which I never recouped my investment from. I would have to agree that you might as well try the free to start drop shippers first since it will cost you nothing but your time.

I had forgotten I had tried SMC years ago. Yes it didn't work out for me either. I love what I am doing now though. I finally found a home where I don't have to sell anything, go to meetings, try anything, or switch anything. And it doesn't take alot of my time.

bacpro
If you do get this can you send me the info for the free website and dropship company thanks

Here's the thing with SMC. The catalog prices are in most cases too high. I discounted 25-35% and could make sales.

I also built a couple of online stores and was able to sell SMC products there without any trouble. The secret is to focus on one niche area per website and be sure to pick items that will hold up well during shipping.

Probably the biggest problem I had with SMC is the quality is not consistent. Many of the current products are fine but others are really cheaply made. This seems to be a big problem in the drop-shipping industry as well. Lots of junk out there. You need to be selective.

Like anything else, success with SMC products is all about choosing the right products and then marketing them properly. The reason most people fail in any home businesses is that they don't do their product research and don't have a clue about marketing and sales. Don't rely on the little SMC marketing manuals to teach you these things, either. Do your homework and study marketing and pick up a few books on selling.

I have since turned away from selling SMC and have moved on to affiliate marketing. No more returns, no more damaged products, no more catalogs to buy. The companies I affiliate with take care of all that.

However with hard work preparation you CAN make money with SMC. I do think there are easier ways however.

Ernie

SMC is a RIP-OFF. I tried them, got the catalogs and couldn't afford the junk they are peddling. Most of the stuff is dollar store/discount store quality and costs 3x as much! You can't make money with SMC that I know of. They also continued to charge my debit card even after canceling my membership and I ended up having to close that account to get them to stop charging me!

- good luck!

My father tried doing SMC about 10 years or so ago. He didn't have any luck. He tried doing flea markets, craft shows, and home parties. Nobody was willing to pay much more than the "wholesale price" for anything. My father ended up taking a loss on most of the items. Another thing about SMC is that while it is a legitimate company, the amount of people selling it is entirely to high. Every where my fahter went, there was at least one other person selling SMC products. To sell a lot of merchandise you need something that not everybody else has.

I don't think flea markets are the way to go with SMC products since people at flea markets are looking for really deep discounts.

Personally I can't imagine too many offline methods that would work very well, for SMC products but that's not to say its not possible. If you target the right audience and provide them with something they are collecting and avid about anything is possible.

There are a lot more better quality products these days in the SMC catalogs now than there were 10 years ago but you still need to be very selective as there's still some low-end stuff too. There are also better defined categories which makes niching easier.

This is how to make money with SMC. First stock nothing and only sell things from a specific niche. Don't spend any money on catologs. Instead build a website around that niche and have everything drop shipped. You can download pictures and product descriptions from the SMC members area. That's how I did it. I bought Pay Per Click advertising on specific keywords pertaining to my niche products.

As I mentioned above, you need to select higher quality products that hold up during shipping. Also choose products of lighter weight to keep the shipping cost down.

By the way, PPC advertising is not for the faint of heart. Study it carefully or you can lose a lot of money fast. I would recommend Perry Marshall's book, "Definitive Guide to Google Adwords".

Another way to advertise would be to purchase ads in ezines directly related to that niche and advertise your niche website there or in purchased solo ads to their readers.

Of course you will still need to build your website, set up your payment processing, develop all your own advertising, manually place all your orders with SMC and offer customer service to those who purchase from you or visitors who have questions.

It's a lot of work but it can be done... with SMC or with any other drop ship products.

Hope this information is helpful.

Ernie

Thank you so much for the information all of you have posted. You have saved me from makeing a very bad choice. I am new to the home based biz thing. And i am still looking for the right one. If anyone knows of a lagitamit oppertunity PLEASE E-mail me. And those who talked about the wholesale list and drop ship list would you please send me the info. And whatever else i need to know to make this work. Are there licences to operate on line? Do i have to pay for permit's or anything. I really don't know anything about this kind of thing at all. And i am so afraid of falling for a scam. I really need this to work. I want to beable to quit my job and be at home with my babies. And at this point i'll try anything. Please can someone help?

I joined SMC about three years ago, but had the good sense not to buy one of their websites. I built my own on Vstore, and did make a few sales but certainly not what you would call an "income." I have since become a ghostwriter and gotten in to affiliate marketing, which has produced a very healthy income for me and my family.

Would I advise anyone to join SMC? No. Save your money!

mysticwmn
I also tried SMC a few years back..Although I had a little success, it was definitely not worth the time. Also, i did not receive credit for all my signups. They seemed to have been taken away from me and picked up from someone else..i would not reccomend SMC..

bacpro
Hello John,

Could you send me a list of the dropshippers/wholesale sites? I am trying to find out more about doing this as a business.

Thank you so much!!

andi462

Is it safe to say that giving the long standing of SMC that unless you find some creative way to sell something a particular niche that you are subject to lose money with this business?

This just does not seem to be something in which the average and ordinary person has a true chance to be successful at.

However, don't give up there are viable solutions for true home business success. Also don't let past failures dictate your future.

SMC is a lie. They had an ad for getting paid to TYPE well it is not that at all it just took me to some web page where I could sign up to buy and sell using their catalogs (which I wouldn't do). I canceled my membership but had to go through my charge card company. It is not easy to cancel they have a # and you wait and wait and no one answers the phone. I am still trying to get my free trial membership fee back. They are saying they will not refund me my money of $2.95 but what they sold was internet fraud as it is not as described. STAY AWAY their products did not look like anything I would want and would do better at Kmart.

Yes, I would love a list of dropshippers and wholesalers! Thanks much!

SMC has been around, it seems, forever. I signed up probably 30 years ago. It was great to learn about the sales business--even before the Internet took off. But, I never wound up making much money.

Today, selling on the Internet is very competitive. As has been stated, concentrating on a single niche would be the way to go with SMC products. And, it would be best to offer products from other dropship sources in addition.

I am a total dufus. I just spent over $500 dollars signing up with SMC. First thing Monday, I'm going to call them and cancel my membership. I knew I should have researched this company before I wasted my hard earned cash and yet another stupid scheme.

My husband used to work with someone who claimed he made 5 figures with SMC. It was obvious to me he was just trying to recruit us or something, because he was still a dishwasher at my husbands job!

bacpro
I ran across your post from 4/06 where you suggested to someone that they build their own website & offered to send them a site to create a free website along with a list of wholesale dropship distributors. I know it's been 5 years, but can you send that info to me as well?

Thank you,

Patty

Hi John

I am not sure if you will even get this 7 years later but I just received a call from SMC and started doing some research on them and came across this site. Do you still have the info for the free websites and distributors? I am a single mom of 4 trying to make some extra income so if you have any information that would be wonderful.

Happy Holiday to you and your family.

God Bless

Susan
[email protected]

The problem with starting a business on the internet with SMC is that if you sell, (and I am making this item name up), item #1000, Yellow Bird, you will find at a minimum 300 item #1000 Yellow Bird listed on Google or any other search engine. So you cannot depend on the search engines to help you sell.

In addition, if you try to sell on Amazon, you will also find 300 Yellow Birds. The only person that is actually successfully selling the Yellow Bird is the SMC member who started 10-15 years ago, whose business is more developed than yours and can sell way below the price that you have to pay. Trust me on this!

This is true for ebay and most other major markets that you might want to sell on. I wouldn't call it a scam, because there are actual products for you to sell. There is actually an SMC warehouse. But if there was another word that could adequately express how profoundly saturated the market is with these products, I would use it.

If you are some place where people do not have access to the internet and have a hard time getting things generally, maybe Alaska, you might do well there. Any place else, think long and hard.

As a matter of fact, to prove my point, just ask them for 1 product, any SMC product. Then ask them for the item number. Then put the item number and the name of the product into Google. You will then see what I am talking about. You will be behind all of those people already selling it.