HI All,

I am just venturing into end to end office stationary business. Would appreciate if you guys out there could advise me on the following:-

a) Vendor / wholesaler in Klang Valley for all kind of stationaries especially papers.
b) cost that might be involved; planning to operate from the house at the beggining
c) markup / profit margin ;
d) approcah method with new clients;
e) etc

thanks guys

This post has been edited by speakeasy: Apr 26 2012, 03:23 PM

make sure you open in large population place with alot of school nearby.. i live in subang and i can tell you alot of business owner of stationary are living good.. you can consider subang, coz i see not much competitor yet, in my area beside from SS15 only 3 stationary shops.. and i know they earning good, coz everytime pass by even 2 cashier counter every needs to que up. profit margin is very variable, since lots of item. but the most profitable one are always toys or games. games like - chess, monopoly, cards game and etc etc.

This post has been edited by alwjmonster: Apr 26 2012, 04:09 PM

I did import china brand "Bymay" 百美 ball pen (black, blue and red ink) if you are interested.

(1 box = 50 pcs ball pen)

Price :
50 box = RM 10 per box (mean RM 0.20 per pen)
100 box = RM 8 per box (mean RM 0.16 per pen)

If you are looking for other type of china stationery in bulk, do let me know, perhaps I can find there and import to here for you.

My contact :
sweetlyzone@hotmail.com / 016-2957643 (Mr.Goh)

i'm looking for stationary supplier, any recommend?

got contacts from corporate..anyone interested to JV with me also welcome!

@speakeasy

Stationary is a price war game.
I strongly recommend you to take alwjmonster advice & setup a retail outlet as how he described because if you were to based at home, then you can only target offices in which they will make price comparison (that's where the problem come in).

Secondly, if you're stepping into the price war game, in order to win, your cost must be cheaper than your competitor. Unless you got close relationship with your supplier or you know where to source (obviously you don't since you just asked for those info) then you would have lose out in the first stage. Your competitor most likely exist in the market for sometime & the price that they are getting usually cheaper & most of them was offered longer payment term which help in your cash rolling & stock planning.

Mind to share with us your skill & expertise? If you can't beat your competitor in price, then you will have to find something else as your selling point.

Last but not least, to get those pricing info, just Google for the branch name, call the number & introduce yourself, you will be guided to the right person & from there you can get your prices.

This post has been edited by gs20: Apr 26 2012, 07:56 PM

May I know what kind of stationary you need ?

I almost venture into this business....After doing my research i found it hard to break even with the cost of rent, utilities and other overhead.. Its a very interesting business but competition everywhere making it seem impossible to earn a decent profit..Just my RM 0.02

I am actually operating from house at the moment and trying to establish a network of clients through my contacts.Still thinking of venturing into a physical shop as i will need to hire staff and overheads will increase. So i was thinking of just operating from home till i have a good database of clientele.

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Added on April 30, 2012, 8:42 pmYou mind to elaborate more on what you are looking at?

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Added on April 30, 2012, 8:43 pmthats why i am currently operating from home and saving on my overheads

This post has been edited by speakeasy: Apr 30 2012, 08:43 PM

What do you mean operating at home??

You turn your house into a stationary store or you make your house into a store room to store all the stock....If you wanna move in to a physical store be ready for long term investment because you will be tight down to all the stock in your store and not the stuff in your store will be sold off......I remember getting a quotation from China ordering 10k pens at only RM 0.15 sens each....If you got the right source then it will be fine.

Did the RM 0.15 already include shipping and everythings ?

In my opinion, 10K pen for RM 0.15 each is too expensive if direct brought from china, perhaps the person who quote you is middleman / reseller (price being mark up) ?

If we have a chance to cooperate, do let me know, as I am selling only the same price (RM 0.15) to local customer include delivery to doorstep (sorry for not disclose what price I get from China ).

It just a quote from a small company in China.....I just wanted to know their pricing that all

But i already drop this business idea when the location i was targeting.....the rent is nearly RM 2K per month....hard to break even:(

I was in a discussion on this business before. Stationaries are always on price war if you are to supply to offices. Retail shops can have better margin on stationaries but the rent and staff is an unavoidable overhead.

I was told that many setup a stationary shop but the main bread and butter is the photostating business.

All the best in your business.

But there are still many sucessful stationery stores out there...There one in klang, Kuan Yin book stores....got many branches leh.... all over klang...

nowadays the stationery store is not only selling the stationery stuff but also books, magazine, printing services, etc.

think of a way to provide one-stop-service, it is hot trend in the market now.

Thanks for the idea

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Added on May 16, 2012, 4:37 amthanks buddy

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Added on May 16, 2012, 4:39 ami have very limited stock at my place...when my clients place an order, it is then I source for the items and deliver them..I have 3 days to deliver the same so i dont need to store anything at my place.

This post has been edited by speakeasy: May 16 2012, 04:39 AM

Photocopying is usually a good service to offer, and maybe newspapers.

Nowadays you can forget about selling only stationary, your margins arent going to be alot. You're just buy and sell, how much profit can u make, and how many pens can u sell?

how about online stationery business? Viable in malaysia?

How much margin in term of % for stationery industry? I mean on average?

basically 3 types of models

1. Distributor/Importer/Manufacturer/OEM
2. Corporate Stationers
small $100,000 - $200,000
medium $ 201,000 - $ 1,000,000
large $1M - $20M (plus distributor)

3. Retails
KSF : location, services, stationery, etc
location = near school, lrt, good traffic
services = photocopy, binding, laminating, packaging, etc
stationery = stationery, books, cards, tools, etc
etc = newspaper, magazine, books, etc


from your posts, i can assure you will fail within 1 year.

A4, A3 paper = losing $ biz, profit $0.20 - $0.50 for corporate clients
if your capital is small, go for retails..... yes u pay higher rental and overheads but you will save a lot in :
1. credit terms, cash flow, collection
2. delivery (salary, lorry/van, petrol, parking, toll, AES
3. simplicity

good luck

This post has been edited by amco: Oct 28 2012, 12:16 AM

Is the pen good? I am afraid 6mths the pen cannot be used anymore. What i know standard is a good pen.

The quality which in my opinion is consider normal/OK.

Based on my experience, it can be last and use for more than 6 months and longer, until the ink was finished used.

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Added on October 29, 2012, 11:46 amThe quality which in my opinion is consider normal/OK.

Based on my experience, it can be last and use for more than 6 months and longer, until the ink was finished used.



This post has been edited by YuNGSeNG: Oct 29 2012, 11:46 AM

Take some time to think about all the various stationery items that you might need in your office and write them down as you think about them. That way you can be sure you will get everything that you need and that you won't be tempted to buy things you don't need.

Hi TS,

can I know the status of your business?

is it still continue or you have others business?

a very interested business...

Price war happens everywhere not only in Stationery industry.
By the way, are you a salesman? Supplier? Business owner? If you are either one of them you will know the price war is everywhere.

The way to be victorious is from cumulative experiences. When you have fought, you gained experience from it.

We are running stationery shop in Puchong.
Here is our website:
http://www.officeboy2u.com.my/
http://www.officeboy2u.my/

We are sourcing most of the major brand from Winsin Stationery. Located in Jalan Ipoh.