I want to open an online shop for dogs. Right now I am having a hard time determing how much start up stock to buy! I am only selling collars and leads. Any advice would be appreciated!!

This is the million dollar question for all retail (online and traditional) businesses. Several things will help you decide:

1) How quickly can you get inventory? In as little as 2 days or as much as 2 months?

2) How much space do you have to stock inventory?

3) Can you get a price break for large quanitities of inventory?

4) How much can you afford to spend on inventory?

Obviously, you don't want to buy too much or too little. If you can get inventory stocked quickly you can bring in a dozen or half dozen of each style and reorder as you need them. This will help you decide what styles to keep and what to clear out.

Keep in mind what is hot today may not be tomorrow. Watch your pet magazines, show circuits and local pet stores for trends.