How to get started with dropshipping

[gazla]

hi all, im gary and have just joined today, i am currently looking int getting started in drop shipping but am a little unsure about how to get started, sourcing reputable suppliers etc, any advice or guidance would be most welcome

[DropshipForum]

Hi Gary,

Welcome to Dropship Forum :)

Dropshipping can be a bit of a catch-22. On one side you have the middlemen dropshippers, asking for fees to dropship, and offering generally overpriced or saturated products. The advantages of those types of services is that:

1. you may get a website set up for you (although in most cases the websites aren't very attractive and therefore not conducive to sales), and;

2. the middlemen dropshippers who market these programs try to be as friendly as possible to you, in an effort to get you to sign up to their services. Therefore if you are looking for fictitious friends, middlemen dropshippers are for you.

The disadvantages of middlemen dropshipping services do in our opinion outweigh the benefits:

1. You are starting with a business that thousands of other start ups are trying out. Start ups tend to settle for low profits, which means that if you want to compete you have to lower your margins too;

2. Products are generally overpriced and mass market, which means that you will be competing in an overcrowded environment;

3. Many out of the box dropshippers have been banned by the likes of Google Shopping and eBay for passing product feeds with out of stock products. You risk promoting products that are no longer in stock, having to refund buyers, getting disgruntled customers, losing fees and reputation. Plus you are significantly limited in the sales channels you can use.

4. SEO has changed dramatically in the past months. Unless a website is bringing you significant margins, you will spend any meager profits (if any) that you are making from middlemen dropshipping on constantly trying to get your site to rank higher. SEO is today very much a real time process, and no longer a one time process. Unless you have regular funds to optimize your website, it will drop in rankings every time you stop optimizing for it.

Dropshipping can work, but there is just one way to make it work. And that is to identify a niche. Sounds cliché, but a niche is never common, it's different, unique, and targeted. First identify a need, and then see how you can fulfill that need by partnering with local manufacturers or distributors that are willing to dropship for you.

This approach has two key advantages:

1. Your products will be unique. Unique does not mean low demand. Unique means that you have first carried out sound market research, identified a need, a target market, and how you can reach that target market.

2. Because you are focusing on just one niche, you can dedicate your marketing efforts to that one niche only, and have a better chance of dominating it or of at least being visible. You could create blogs, forums, social media profiles all centered around your niche, and around discussions relating to your niche. Even having just one product (it could be for example a unique new product that has not achieved popularity yet, and where the inventor or licensor is looking for exposure) can be a very successful approach to dropshipping.

Most start ups make the mistake of thinking that they should dropship the latest in demand products. Electronics, clothing, gadgets, you name it they are all the worst markets to get into if you want to set up a successful longer term business using the dropshipping model. The rule is, the easier a dropshipper can be found, the further you should stay away from them. Develop a product strategy first, research your market, identify the costs of reaching it, approach suppliers, measure margins, and then evaluate worthiness.

Hope this helps ;)

[johngibbons]

Hi Gary,

Dropshipping is a business transaction concerning three parties; wholesaler, retailer and consumer. Dropshipping provides benefits to the 3 parties involved in the business transaction. The wholesaler directly sends the product to the client. The reseller does not need to maintain inventory and stocking of products. Here some tips when you start dropshipping business:

1 Give focus on the order processing and delivery time.
2 Visit other dropshipping sites and join forums to have additional knowledge on the over-all operation.
3 Consider eBay in selling your products. Hire an SEO (search engine optimization) expert to put your site in high ranking in search engine .