As I have written about at length already, there is loads of fake MAC around. Hello Kitty this, Hello Kitty that. But finding authentic MAC wholesale makeup products is not actually very difficult if you know where to look – there are trusted sellers of MAC listed on our Members Area that you can access right away if you decide to join Cheap Slap.

So, going back to my point about MAC wholesale, and this applies to Benefit as well, is they are the most in demand brands that everyone is looking for. This inflates the wholesale price making them both more expensive, because of the limited supplies. If I had the choice between an $8 MAC wholesale item and a $2 Stila or Clarins item, I know which I would pick.

Also, eBay is not a good place to sell authentic MAC or Benefit because you are competing against people selling much lower priced fakes. But you can still get a good mark up on MAC and Benefit if you sell elsewhere, e.g. cosmetics parties, fairs and market stalls or car boots. The trick is to be the first person in your area doing it.

Post flyers on cars or through letterboxes offering makeup parties or letting people know where you will be. Think about a website, even if it is only one page, showing your offers and put the website details on the flyers too. It’s about getting yourself in people’s faces, so get some slap on and don’t be shy!

Now is a really good time to get going because the busiest time of year is coming up – if you can get organised now you can seriously clean up in October and November with customers buying for Christmas. It seems like the whole world is skint and looking for bargains at the minute, so I think this year will be busier than ever.

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2. Buying Wholesale Makeup From The US
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Just for the record, there are several good wholesale cosmetics and beauty suppliers in the UK and you will get full details of those if you are a member of Cheap Slap (what do you mean, you’re not? You need to join Cheap Slap right now!!) There is easily enough of a good selection available from the UK sellers to get started, and I know some people with established cosmetics businesses who only ever use the recommended UK suppliers.

However, a lot of the best wholesale makeup deals are to be had from US sellers, especially for the most in demand high end brands like MAC, Benefit and Bobbi Brown. There are quite a few trustworthy US sellers with authentic wholesale makeup products for sale, so it makes sense to keep your options open and consider buying from them at some point down the line.

When buying from the US, the additional costs you need to consider are the shipping costs, VAT and customs duties, and also any extras like a handling fee.

The main suppliers all use major couriers to ship to their UK customers, and shipping quotes are usually available before you order. The cost depends and the size and weight of the package. You pay the agreed shipping cost up front at the same time as you pay for your order.

Obviously, and it depends what you are buying, but in my experience shipping is usually never more than around $50, and that can be for up to 200 items – remember that lipsticks, mascaras, eyeshadows etc are small and light. So the cost of shipping per item for small items can be very reasonable.

You can always ask for a couple of shipping quotes depending on the quantity of items, as there may be a minimum charge which makes it work out more expensive per item. For example, the cost to ship 100 items may be only a little bit more than for say 20 or 30 pieces.

VAT also gets added to any goods shipped to the UK with a value over £18. VAT is charged at 17.5% on the value of the goods so you will need to factor this cost into your budget as well. I should also mention that VAT is also applied to all orders from UK suppliers as well, and UK suppliers always list their prices before VAT. That means that you will always have to pay VAT, and you will never have to pay any additional VAT just because you are buying from the US. It is possible to reclaim VAT if you are VAT registered, but most people reading this will not be.

Next up, customs duties. I am no expert on this because there are loads of different customs rates depending on what the product is, so as a rule of thumb I just budget for another 10% of the order value.

Finally, a handling charge of around £10 or £15 is added by the courier company (or £8 if your package is delivered by normal post). You will need to pay the VAT, customs duty, and handling charge when the package is delivered. The courier company usually telephones you for payment by credit card beforehand and the post office leaves a red card through your door with details of the charges due before the item can be delivered.

When you work it all out, the additional charges of buying from the US still make it worthwhile. I know, because I do it all the time, and so do a great many other eBay cosmetics sellers. The fact is that to get the best stock, the US is where it’s at. It may take a little longer for your goods to arrive, but only a few days, and the little extra effort involved is well worth it.

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The collection was announced at New York’s cool Beauty Bar, a place that sounds like my kinda heaven. It is a bar where you can indulge in beauty treatments, cocktails and cosmetics. It’s a converted salon with a retro feel and I would like one to open over here in the UK, please.

Described as a “frump-fighting, pro-pixie, anti-seriousness collection of colour” the limited edition Alice & Oliva for MAC line includes three shades of So Rich So Pretty Nail Lacquer, £8 each, three shades of Dazzleglass Creme gloss, £14.50 each, and three shades of Partylicious Pigment, £15 each.

My top picks are the Nail Lacquer in Morning.After; as the must have nail shade for next season is deffo teal – so it’s worth getting in on the act early with this creamy, opaque version. And I also love the Pigment in Later, which is a loose black eye shadow shot through with purple – which is perfect for creating a fast, multi-tonal smoky eye with just one product.

Word on the beauty boardwalk is that Harrods in London have bagged the exclusive launch of the collection this August. I can’t wait!!

Keep your eye out for any wholesale makeup deals on the collection coming up in the next few months after its launch. MAC bring out new limited edition makeup collections so regularly, that you can be sure that this one will not be around on MAC counters for very long.

For reliable sources of authentic MAC wholesale cosmetics, just check out the sellers on Cheap Slap. If you are not already a member, why not join Cheap Slap today? It only takes a minute and gives you instant access to an enormous range of high end wholesale makeup deals, all of which are available for immediate purchase.

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1. Where To Find Prescriptives
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A lot of fake beauty products are for items that do not actually exist in the proper range – different MAC colours etc. I give several warnings on Cheap Slap about sellers to avoid, but always always do your own due diligence as ultimately your cosmetics business transactions are your own responsibility. Pay by Paypal for maximum buyer protection (and make sure that you NEVER pay by bank transfer).

Sorry that’s not more definitive, but it pays to trust your own intuition and if anything seems at all dodgy, then always walk away. There are enough genuine deals around to get a good selection of stock without resorting to desperate measures.

Two very widely faked cosmetics brands are MAC and Benefit, but many other beauty brands are too, so never assume that all the other brands are okay either! You will gain a lot more confidence once you have more experience dealing with the wholesale makeup sellers and a wide range of cosmetics products, but when starting out it is a good idea to be cautious.

If you are sourcing wholesale cosmetics products yourself, do a who.is search to check where the website is registered. If it is registered in China – avoid! A lot of Chinese websites look like they are US sites because the products are listed in US dollars but a who.is search should give you more information.

Cheap Slap members have a head start with our list of trusted wholesale makeup suppliers, as well as warnings about the cosmetics sellers to avoid. Many people have thanked me for saving them from unscrupulous sellers.

If you are not a member yet, why not take a minute and join Cheap Slap today – members can contact me directly any time for advice on wholesale cosmetics sellers or websites you may be unsure about.

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As a result, many people only found out about Prescriptives going out of business after it had already happened. That left it a bit late to stock up on all their fave Prescriptives items, through no fault of their own.

When you think about how often you buy some cosmetics items, it may only be once or twice a year. So it was unlucky for anyone looking for Prescriptives makeup and perfume after the end of January closure deadline had already passed.

The current situation is that there is still some Prescriptives stock available, but it is selling out fast. If you are in the US, try the main Prescriptives website although many items there are sold out already. Another possibility is the Cosmetics Company Store chain of outlet stores in the US. Apart from that, several wholesale deals for Prescriptives have been appearing from the wholesale makeup sellers found on Cheap Slap, athough they are being snapped up by clever Cheap Slap members in a heartbeat. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some you can name your price when selling on eBay.

A lesson for everyone to learn from this is never to underestimate the value of discontinued makeup and beauty items. Prescriptives is an extreme case because the residual stock following closure of the brand is still extremely limited, but if you think ahead you can build a profitable cosmetics business by supplying hard to find cosmetics items for great profit margins.

MAC special editions are a good example. Because of their rarity and limited supply, they usually hold their resale value well, and they are regularly available from the trusted sellers on Cheap Slap. Beware though of other sites selling fake MAC special editions in large quantities – for example the MAC Hello Kitty range is being widely conterfeited at the moment.

Stila is another brand whose distribution outside the US has been discontinued. This has resulted in increased demand for Stila products in places where it is no longer available over the cosmetics counter. However, in the case of Stila, there is still a lot of stock around which means that the prices are slightly lower (both wholesale cost and resale value).

Do your homework and keep up to date with the latest cosmetics news – and if you hear of any other popular cosmetics brands going out of business, start stocking up!!

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Strictly speaking, if you are not an authorised supplier of the cosmetics brand you are selling, and you do not have permission to use the makeup brand manufacturer’s stock photos (which are copyrighted) then you
are supposed to take your own photos of the products and use those images on your site (or eBay).

In reality, if you copy and paste photos from another site you might be okay but you could be asked to remove the photos if anyone checks. In that case you would have to use your own images.

My recommendation would be to always use your own photos for selling makeup on eBay. There is so much fake high end makeup on eBay that using stock photos actually makes the listing look dodgy, even if your products are authentic. Also, there are more official checks on eBay making it more likely that you will be asked to remove the beauty product image if it is copyrighted.

If you have your own cosmetics website, then you are less likely to be caught using someone else’s images. Not that I would ever encourage you to do that. Of course not.

For authentic wholesale cosmetics stock to sell on eBay or for starting your own website, you will find great deals on authentic MAC, Bobbi Brown, Stila, Too Faced and more from the trusted sellers featured on Cheap Slap.

Not a member yet? Big mistake, as your competitors already are!! Get a move on and join Cheap Slap today!!

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If you are one of the lucky ones to have been able to get your hands on some of the remaining Prescripives stock you will know what I mean when I say it is still selling like hot cakes. All my Prescriptives products have sold out as soon as soon as they have been listed on eBay – and many other Cheap Slap members report the same experience too.

The closure by Estee Lauder of the cult Prescriptives brand earlier this year means that there is a hungry crowd of customers willing to pay well over the odds for the limited remaining stock. The end of Prescriptives is sad for its fans, and personally I liked some of their stuff, but it was not a mainstream brand and for financial reasons it had to go.

For makeup sellers, the decision to discontinue Prescriptives since the end of January 2010 is a fantastic opportunity because whatever Prescriptives products you can get your hands on will fly off your shelves for a very handsome profit. So if you do find some, my advice would be not to hesitate if you are thinking about buying, as the deals will not be around for long.

Prescriptives in the US are still selling any remaining stock from their main website, but many lines are already sold out. You may also find some stock in the US in the Cosmetics Company outlet stores. This fab chain of makeup outlet stores is owned by the Estee Lauder group and also features discounted deals on brands like MAC and Bobbi Brown. The only drawback is that they often limit the number of items you can buy on any one visit (so if necessary send in all your friends and rellies to buy on your behalf)!

I am also pleased to report that there have been a few Prescriptives wholesale makeup deals from the sellers you will find on Cheap Slap. The deals have mostly been for foundation, in assorted shades, so if you are already a member why not log in and check out the latest deals today. If you are not a member, what are you waiting for?? Join Cheap Slap today!

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Does that sound like you? I know it can seem daunting at first, but if you break it down into smaller steps it becomes a lot more manageable and doable. Don’t try and do everything at once or you will get brain fry, and when that happens you will just go into meltdown and achieve nothing.

eBay is very much a shot in the dark for newbies, which is why so many people fail when they start blindly selling on eBay without any idea what they are doing. So why not think about putting eBay on hold at first, you can come back to it later once you get some experience under your belt.

I suggest you start with what you know and who you know – family, friends and colleagues. You need to be pro-active and do some market research in your own personal marketplace. Ask your inner circle what products they use, everything from day to day items to more luxury buys. Ideally you want to try and get as much information as possible. So you could make up a mini-questionnaire which you can ask them to fill in by hand, or email, or post it on your facebook page and ask friends to comment. How about saying something like this:

Hi everyone! Please help me start my new makeup business by telling me about your favourite beauty and cosmetics products. Then I can source your favourite items and sell them to you cheap!! Just fill in the blanks….

1. What’s in your makeup bag???

Foundation – eg Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse
Mascara – eg Lancome Flextencils Black
Perfume – eg Agent Provocateur
Eyeshadow – eg Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy
Lipstick – eg L’Oreal Glamshine
Concealer – Touche Eclat No 1 etc etc

2. What makes your body beautiful?

Body Lotion – eg Dove gofresh
Fake Tan – eg St Tropez Everyday
Cleanser – eg Clarins Cleansing Milk
Moisturiser – eg Olay Total Effects
Body Scrub – eg Sanctuary etc etc

3. What’s on your beauty wish list – is there something that you would love that you would buy if you could find it cheaper??

4. Would you buy your favourite products from me if I can find any of them cheaper?

etc etc – you can go into as much detail as you want, but the more info you can get, the better.

Once you get the replies you should hopefully begin to see a pattern forming of the sort of brands and products that the people you know would buy. Then use the suppliers on Cheap Slap to source the type of products that fit their profile. The idea is not to try and find every exact product, but you should be able to find lots of similar things that would appeal to that person.

Please don’t be shy – you can hide behind your computer screen and your virtual business will get nowhere fast. If you are starting a business and selling something, you have to believe in it, be prepared to promote it and ask people to buy it!

What, you’re not a member of Cheap Slap yet? Hurry up and join Cheap Slap today! It’s the best business investment you can make for a new cosmetics business. Members can contact me directly for advice whenever required.

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I am sorry to report the news just in that a UK cosmetics seller has been ripping people off and quite a few victims who have lost money have come forward so far.

This seller has their own website and has also been advertising on various trade websites. People affected all appear to have received the same email from the seller in the last couple of days, which says that the seller has been let down by their supplier and has lost a lot of money, blah blah, blah. No word on refunds for their customers though.

What gets me is that even if that is true, the seller should never have been selling cosmetics stock in the first place that that they had not actually received from their supplier. It does seem very suspicious that the seller never answered any phone calls or emails, except to say that the mysterious non-existent goods were on their way. Which of course, they weren’t.

Thankfully it also seems that their website has been closed down, so hopefully no-one else will be ripped off but that is not to say these people could not pop up again using a different name. I have already posted a warning with the full details of who the seller is inside the Member’s Area. So if you are already a member please take a look now so you know who to avoid. If you are not a member, well all the more reason to join so you do not become the next victim of scammers like this one.

My main duty of care is to Cheap Slap members which is why I am not posting the name of the seller here on the main website. But I do hope that this serves as a general warning for anyone reading that you really need to be vigilant at all times. Cheap Slap members can always contact me for advice if they are unsure about a wholesale cosmetics website or seller and I will tell you what I think. I had a bad feeling about this one and unfortunately it proved to be right.

The other thing is, never assume that just because a seller is advertising on trade directories like eSources, Tradekey, The Wholesaler etc, that they are legit. That is why Cheap Slap does not include any paid advertisements from sellers. Our recommendations are made purely from personal experience and with the help of feedback from other members and are not swayed by the advertsing buck.

I have lost count of the number of phoney people who contact me recommending a certain makeup seller because they want to get on my list. Well, try looking for another dodo folks, because there ain’t none at Cheap Slap.

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They claim to offer what sounds like a brilliant service where for a weekly or monthly fee you can set up a website in any one of the product categories, one of which is beauty.

The way it is supposed to work is that you select the beauty/makeup/cosmetics products that you want to sell on your website and decide what price you want to sell them at. Then you sit back and wait for the money to roll in. When someone buys from your website the dropshipper fulfils the order and you pocket the difference between what you charged the buyer and what the dropshipper charges you.

I can see how this could sound tempting for anyone who has not fully thought it through, but my advice would be to steer clear. You will get no-where with it, mainly because:

1. There will be hundreds of identical websites to yours owned by other people who have joined up for the same service. No-one will ever find your website unless you do tons of work to promote it, which will either take a long time, or probably mean paying for google ads, which cost a fortune.

2. The beauty brands sold by these dropshippers are usually things no-one has even heard of. I doubt you will get a good selection of products.

3. You have no idea what the dropshippers’ prices are before you sign up. They may not even be cheap, so to make a profit your site would not be competitive. Also, some of these sites change their prices without warning. For example, say you list something on your website at £8 because the dropshipper is charging £7 for it. Someone buys the product from your site, and then you order it from the dropshipper, but surprise surprise the dropshipper’s price has gone up in the meantime to £9! Your margins on dropshipping will be very low to start with so it leaves you very vulnerable to any price changes.

4. The price for the website deal is overpriced and not competitive. Also, the website is not yours to keep and you have no control over how reliable their system is. You would lose your business unless you pay them forever whatever they decide to charge you. What if you had a really successful business going and they keep hiking the price up?

If you want control over your own wholesale makeup business, then you can always start your own cosmetics website at some point in the future. But don’t run before you can walk. Wait until you already have a few customers and you know what you are doing. If you do not have a clue where to start, then joining a dropshipping company like this is definitely not the answer!

Why not join Cheap Slap instead and gets lots of sensible advice from a friendly wholesale makeup business guru like me

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