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Many traders have already found success in the dropshipping industry. For those which are not familiar with that kind of business, this article gives some essential tips. However, what is drop shipping?
Imagine, you would have no stock to be able to sell articles comfortably and profitably. Exactly this offers dropshipping. Orders which arrived from end customers are comfortably forwarded to your drop shipper, generally a wholesaler or a manufacturer. In the next step
the dropshipper will supply the product to your customers, without any need for your activity. The only thing to do is to transfer the money you have received from the customer and to invoice. However, this is your only obligation you must fulfil and the difference between the wholesale price and retail price is yours. Very briefly, you are a reseller and profit from the fact that you must not order the product before you sell it. You book in advance, but only after the product was ordered and paid by the customer. And after reception of money the wholesaler supplies the goods directly to your customer.
You will not invoice for huge postal charges, because you do not deliver your products. Besides, you have no financial risk, because you order from the wholesaler after the original order took place. And maybe the most important thing is that you can save a lot of time, concentrating on marketing your products. Since there is no need for delivery and stocking.
In addition, the drop shipper provides the possibility to falsify his company name, the logo as well as the invoice in the sense that the customer not even suspects that the product’s origin is different. This is very important, because it protects your business, but also your idea. And thus you can be sure that the customer orders the next time once again in your shop and not even directly by the drop shipper.
Besides, possibilities come up to order from international dropshippers, as from Europe, Asia or America. However, different things have to be considered before you choose a reliable drop shipper. Some of the next tips might help you to find the right one for your business:
Tip 1: Pay attention to whether you find information on the internet about your drop shipper. Maybe you can read up in drop shipping forums whether there were already problems, or how reliable your drop shipper is. The dropshipper’s reliability is not only important for you, but in particular for your customers!
Tip 2: If you want to order, find out informations about the delivery duration. Some drop shippers need 8 or more days of process time to start delivery. If you have selected foreign drop shippers, pay also attention to international delivery times as it can sometimes take several weeks. Make sure that your customers are exactly informed about the delivery time.
Tip 3: If a problem occurs during the delivery or the delivery is delayed, speak immediately to your customer. It is important that you have a good communication to the customer and inform him, so that the he always feel to be in good hands.
Tip 4: Be careful with dropshippers where you firstly have to pays fees to be able to order their products. These are mostly unprofessional offers, and you can sort out these drop shippers with a clear consistence. A serious dropshipping partner would never suggest such kind of arrangement.
Tip 5: On the Internet there are many offers with dropshipping lists and addresses which you can buy. Please, notice that there are as many portals open to the public as portals with costs . Besides, the drop shipping lists to be sold are mostly only money machines with outdated links which you cannot use anyhow, because the listed dropshipping companies do not exist anymore, or, however, have never existed. Pay attention especially here also to seriousness and to reliability. Since only a serious list also contains serious drop shippers.
Tip 6: A good dropshipping reseller does not define a minimum order quantity (MOQ). Thus please pay attention to this. What’s the use anyhow, if you receive 100 products for a sensational price from a product line if you cannot forward single products to your customer? Exactly this makes the distinction between drop shipping and wholesale trade. You receive orders for single products, and only then you are able to forward them directly to the customer.
Tip 7: Try always to contact different drop shippers and to sell different products. Pay attention to gaps in the market (market niches) or to newly introduced products, because only then the profit is highest. Watch on eBay and other online portals, and check the prices, but also your profit margin. It is always better to trade with several products, than only with one product line.
Tip 8: And maybe the most important tip. Drive always a self-testing. If you want to order somewhat, try out the dropshipper as a start. Order some products for you, your friends or family members. Thus you can check how reliable the droshipping partner is. Only if everything was successful, you can carry out either a second test run, or now, however, you can start your business.
Tip 9: Pay attention also to the methods of payment. Often international drop shippers only provide a payment method with transferring the money to Western Union or other organisations. This can be however very anonymous. So keep in mind, if something goes wrong, you won’t see neither the money nor the products. The credit card is already saver. However, one of the most secure payment methods is Paypal. You find further information on their website. Paypal guarantees writing back of commissions up to a value of 500 euros. It is quick, comfortable, and if sometimes the product should not arrive, book the money back.
Tip 10: Sell not only on eBay. Try to marketing your products in your online shop to reach a larger potential on customers. Make some advertising for your shop and pay attention to search engine optimisation to hold your side completely on top in the search engine result pages (SERPS). Thus you can be sure that you are found quickly, and have new clientele over and over again. Besides, it looks more serious, as if you sell only on eBay. Also your eBay customers will give you more confidence if they find out that you are an online shop provider. |
