Dropship Your Way To Success

    



    


Many people know they would like to start an Internet business, but they don't have a product to sell. The solution is often drop shipping.
Drop shipping is a business arrangement in which a company (often the manufacturer of a product) sells a product at wholesale prices to a reseller and ships the product directly to the reseller's customers. The retailer makes the company's products available to customers, often through a web site, collects payment, and then orders the product from the manufacturer. This arrangement works well for both the manufacturer and the seller. The manufacturer is able to make the product available to a large number of retailers. The retailers are able to sell products they would not otherwise have access to. Drop shipping allows almost anyone to start a retail company without needing to order large amounts of inventory. This eliminates the need to store the product and cuts overhead dramatically. The reseller only orders products after he has sold it, and in most cases only after being paid. For small businesses concerned about cash flow, this is very attractive.
There are two different philosophies concerning what items to sell via a drop shipper. You may choose whichever appeals to you. The first group believes that you should research the market to determine what items to sell. They say you need to find a high demand item, then locate a drop shipper that sells that item. The second group believes that you should sell what you are interested in. If you like knives, find a company willing to drop ship knives. If you like power tools, find a drop shipper for those. They believe that if you sell something you enjoy, you will do a better job selling. Whichever method you choose, an outstanding way to find a drop shipper is the web site, World Wide Brands (http://databuilders.net/wwb). The people at WWB work full time finding companies willing to drop ship their products for you, Their database is updated constantly to insure only the best companies are made available.
If you decide to go it alone and find a drop shipper yourself, look for a company that either drop ships exclusively, or requires you to register as a member before getting the wholesale prices. If anyone can log into the site and pay the same low price, why should customers buy from you? Many companies require you to provide a business license number before allowing you to register. This is to insure you are a legitimate retailer. If you do not have a license, you should get one. Ideally, the company will deal exclusively in the product you want to sell.
I also do not support companies charging for drop shipping. You may see some offers similar to "Sell hundreds of products for only $29.95 a month." They go on to tell you that you can make thousands of dollars selling their products on E-Bay, so the $29.95 they charge shouldn't matter. There are enough companies that don't charge anything. Avoid paying for the right to sell someone's product for them.
Perhaps the most difficult part in starting a drop ship business, is building the web site. If you have never built a web site before, it can be an overwhelming task. You must consider each detail, from deciding what software to use, to finding a host, and accepting payments. I recommend using osCommerce to build your online store. It is free software that can be modified to look like you want it to. There is an online knowledge base that can answer many of your questions about setting it up and configuring it, or you can let someone else set it up for you.
Thousands of people are making money using the osCommerce, drop shipping combination. It is a powerful, inexpensive way to get your business started.
About The Author
Jason Conley is the owner of Databuilders, a web hosting company for small and home office businesses. He has built a number of drop ship web sites using osCommerce, and contributes regularly to the osCommerce support forum. You can contact Jason at jkconley@databuilders.net, or visit Databuilders at http://databuilders.net.
    



    
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Dropship Your Way To Ebusiness Success

    



    



Q: I would like to start my own eBay business, but I really don't want to invest in a ton of inventory until I can get a better handle on what might or might not sell. I read another column about dropshipping, but I'm still a little fuzzy on how the whole process works. Do you think using dropshipping is a good way to start an eBay business and if so, how do I get started? -- Candace M.
A: Dropshipping is a topic that I first addressed in my column way back in April, 2003, which is decades ago in Internet years. But with the continuing growth of eBay and it's positioning of itself as a viable way for anyone looking to launch an ebusiness, the topic of dropshipping is now hotter than ever. It is also now more misunderstood than ever.
Dropshipping has been around since Sears first started selling goods from its mail order catalogs over a hundred years ago. However, the idea of dropshipping still confuses many people who don't understand exactly how the process works.
By definition, dropshipping is a method of selling and distributing goods wherein the distributor or supplier of the product (the dropshipper) ships the product directly to the end user (your customer) on the retailer's behalf (that's you).
The process of dropshipping involves three parties who take a product from manufacturing to market. They are a manufacturer, a distributor, and a reseller.
Let's use a blue widget as a sample product to demonstrate the process: Blue Widget Manufacturing (manufacturer): This is the company that manufactures blue widgets. Blue Widget Manufacturing does not sell directly to the public or supply the retailers who ultimately sell the blue widgets to the end user. They prefer to use distributors to handle the task of taking their blue widgets to market. Blue Widgets sells blue widgets by the truckload to distributors who pay $5 per blue widget.
A1 Distributing (distributor/dropshipper): A1 Distributing is the company that purchases blue widgets in bulk from the manufacturer and supplies them to resellers at a cost of $7 each. The distributor does not ship blue widgets to the reseller, but ships orders directly to the reseller's customers as the widgets are sold.
Big Bob's eBay Widget Store: Big Bob sells blue widgets to the public from his eBay store. Bob orders the blue widgets from A1 Distributing as he sells them (usually one at a time) and has A1 ship the blue widget directly to his customer. Bob sells blue widgets to the public for $10 each, which means that for every blue widget sold he nets $3.
How The Process of Dropshipping Works
Here are the seven steps involved in starting a dropship ebusiness:
STEP 1: Choose A Product To Sell
The very first step in any sales process is deciding what product to sell. There are many factors that should be considered before deciding on a product to sell, but for now let's say that you decide to sell CD players on eBay.
STEP 2: Locate A Supplier Who Will Dropship For You
Using a research tool like Google, Thomas Register, or an industry-specific resource like The Ultimate eBay Dropship Power Pak, you search for and find a company who will dropship CD players for you. The company offers you a 35% mark up over cost, which means that they will supply the CD players to you for $100 each and you should be able to retail them for $135. You make sure that the dropshipper has a good stock of CD players on hand so you don't end up selling a product that must be back-ordered.
STEP 3: Set Up An Account With The Dropshipper
You contact the company that can supply the CD players and set up a reseller account with them. This can often be done online or by phone, but some companies will require that you complete and return a reseller application to open an account. Some companies may also require a tax ID and business license.
STEP 4: Advertise The Product For Sale On eBay
Now that you have your supplier lined up and know that the product is in stock, it's time to make a sale. You advertise the product using an eBay auction. Since you know what you must pay the dropshipper for the product, you know what the minimum amount you will take for the product. In this case you start your auction at $100 since that is your cost. If you are confident that you can get more than $100 for the product you can start with a lower price, but remember that if the product goes for less than what it costs you to fill the order, you will lose money. Also remember that the dropshipper will charge shipping, so you should figure that into your sale.
STEP 5: The Product Sells
Great news: your CD player sells for $135 and your customer pays you with a PayPal instant payment. I highly recommend that if you are selling on eBay you use PayPal or some other online processor to accept instant payments. This allows the customer to pay you faster, which lets you place the order with the dropshipper faster, which gets the product to your customer faster.
STEP 6: Place The Order With The Dropshipper
After your customer pays you, you should contact the dropshipper immediately to order the product on your customer's behalf. The dropshipper then ships the order to your customer under your company name and address.
STEP 7: Follow Up After The Sale
This is where many new ebusiness people drop the ball. Just because your customer has paid you and you've placed the order with the dropshipper does not mean that you are out of the loop. Quite the contrary, if there are problems with the order you are the one that will be held responsible in the eyes of your customer.
Be proactive in your customer relations. Follow up with your customer to let them know that the item has been shipped. Offer yourself as the personal contact for any issues that may arise. This is also a great way to sell that customer more products. Invite them to check out your eBay store or website if you have one.
Many people are afraid to use dropshipping as a method of sales due to the horror stories that fill the Internet about unscrupulous dropshippers who take the money and don't fill the orders, merchandise that is eternally back ordered, unscrupulous middle men posing as dropshippers, etc. Make no mistake, the dropshipping industry ? like most other industries ? does have its share of shady characters who would rob you blind given the chance, but there are also hundreds of honest dropshippers who can help you build a profitable eBay dropship business.
Dropshipping is a complex topic that can't be completely addressed here. For that reason I have written a detailed report on dropshipping that is available to Entrepreneur.com readers for free.Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneurand syndicated columnist, Tim Knox.Tim's latest books include "Small Business Success Secrets"and "The 30 Day Blueprint For Success!"Related Links:http://www.smallbusinessqa.comhttp://www.dropshipwholesale.net


    



    
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Drop Ship Your Way To Ebay Profits

    



    

One of the most difficult things to do when looking to start an online business is to find that elusive supplier that will supply you, put simply you need a source of real products to sell. Drop shipping is a perfect way to achieve this and lets you develop the perfect online business..
The perfect online business is one in which you are selling a product whereby you DO NOT HAVE ANY STOCK and you DO NOT PHYSICALLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PRODUCT and all you do is COLLECT THE MONEY AND PASS THE CUSTOMERS DETAILS ON.
Sounds to good to be true! - well it definately is TRUE.
THIS IS DROP SHIPPING AND ANYONE CAN DO IT!
Read the following example :
You decide that you want to sell Mobile Phones, you then realise that to do this the traditional way you would have to hold a large amount of stock so that you have the range and product available for your customers. Without a massive amount of working capital you have no chance, also by the time you get your business noticed the lines you are carrying are out of date and not worth what you paid for them.
However, now consider this:
You sign up to a Mobile Phone drop shipper, they give you a list of products that they can supply. You now go away and advertise this list on your online store. You take an order from your website for a Motorola phone, you have this advertised at $200.. You then collect the customers details via your website, all good shopping cart software provide this feature, and then contact your drop shipper and buy the same phone for $150 and pass them your customers details. That is the end of the sales process for you, what happens next is :
The drop shipper SENDS THE PRODUCT TO YOUR CUSTOMER and usually it goes under plain packaging or some drop shippers can also put YOUR COMPANY DETAILS on the packaging when they send it to your customer.
Thats $50 PROFIT for VERY LITTLE WORK!
Just 10 orders a week will give you $500 profit.
Drop shipping is fast becoming the easiest way of starting your own online business because it offers a very simple formula for success :
The drop shipper sets the price that you pay, you then set the price that your customers pay and the difference between the two is your profit!
SIMPLE ISNT IT.
Because it is that simple a lot of people are jumping on the drop shipping band wagon and it is not unusual to see lots of different websites using the same pictures and sales copy to sell the same product, usually because they just simply publish the promotional materials that the drop shippers provide for them.
It is important at this stage to remember that the internet was based upon the ability to share information and content. It is this simple word, CONTENT, that will help you to distinguish yourself from the rest and will also ensure that your search engine rankings are developed to increase the traffic (ie. customers) to your website.
This is simply using information and content to ADD VALUE to your website, customers want to be able to learn about the product before they purchase and having content specific to your area will allow this distinction in the mind of the customer. In order to make a success of your online business you have to make your customers want to come back. Think of your favourite websites, why do you keep revisiting them? Simple, because they provide you with something that is of VALUE to you.
Drop shipping allows you to develop your business in this manner because instead of worrying about stock levels and shipping you get to focus on listening to the market and discovering the products your visitors want - and then being able to rapidly add them to your site.
Its CONTENT SPECIFIC TO A WANT.
Drop Shipping is EASY - Have I said that?
BUT, don't get carried away. When you see the products that the drop shippers offer you simply think I can sell that, that, that and that and before long your list of things that you want to sell is massive and this is counter productive. In order to make drop shipping successful for you I would suggest to
FOCUS ON ONE PRODUCT AT A TIME
Build this up, when this is established then it gives you the ability to go into other areas a lot easier and your current customer base will give you a good source of potential new customers straight away.
A great way is to focus onto a product that you like, know a lot about or use personally in a hobby etc. This gives you the opportunity to develop your website as an authority on the subject and as such ADD VALUE.
Like any business venture there are some points that should be raised before you build your online empire the easy drop shipping way :
Don't just use the first drop shipper you come across as they may not give you the best deal on this particular product. Like all things shop around a number of drop shippers to find the one most suitable to your needs.
Some drop shippers operate a handling fee over and above shipping costs, this is usually quite a resonable fee and needs to be factored into your pricing structure.
Some drop shippers try to charge you a monthly 'members' fee as another means to make money from you, in my opinion these should be avoided as the only time you should have to pay a dropshipper is in connection with a specific order. You will find that the majority that charge a members fee are the ones that offer no true value to your business anyway.
As with any developing business the question of credibility is key, unfortunately there are a number of con artists out there that are aiming to take your money for nothing in return. A key phrase to remember is :
IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IT IS!
Research is key, for example :
How long have the drop shippers been in business?
Do they respond to your information requests quickly and professionally?
Do they offer buying accounts?
What payments do they accept? (if just Western Union run a mile)
This list is endless, that is why I only recommend two sources of drop shippers information. Both these lists are maintained by professionals that constantly update thier lists and only recommend the best, most reliable and trustworthy dropshippers. These sources can be found from the link in my signature box at the bottom of the article.
As you can imagine the idea of drop shipping fits in with online auctions, in particular eBay, perfectly as eBay will provide you with the traffic and all you have to do is make that ad stand out from the rest (my FREE resources on my site will help you) and all the rest of the work is done for you.
You just concentrate on developing your business and using ebays traffic to make money and you cannot lose.
Mike - webmaster at Online Auction Traders Resource
Visit ebay information central to use the FREE resources to develop your online business.

    



    

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Drop Shipping Your Way To Increased Profits

    



    

Drop shipping, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is a system whereby you promote the products of a particular manufacturer, take orders directly, and the manufacturer/source handles all the inventory and fulfillment functions for you.
In a nutshell, here is the drop-ship system:
>You generate and accept the order.
>You take your profits out of the sale price.
>You forward the order and the wholesale cost to the drop shipper.
>The source factory ships directly to your customer.
The benefits of this arrangement are probably obvious:
* No inventory cost to you.
* Substantially higher profits to you over what most regular affiliate programs allow.
* The ability to quickly set-up inexpensive, highly targeted, niche or mini-sites to test and promote diverse products.
This process has been around for years and has been responsible for many highly successful mail order dealer relationships in the past. Many of the top catalogers and other direct response marketers, have been using this system to increase profits for decades. If you have ever ordered a high priced item from a mail order catalog and been told that the product was being shipped from the factory... then you have experienced drop shipping first hand.
Drop shipping is, I believe, a virgin un-tapped storehouse of profits for todays internet marketer.
On-line directories exist [http://www.dropshipprofits.com] which reveal essential contact information for drop shippers of over 2,000,000 products and 4,000 brands. Most legitimate drop ship sources will require that you have a state tax reseller number in order to approve you to sell their products and give you the wholesale pricing you are looking for.
Beware of any drop ship source which requires you to pay a fee in order to become a drop-ship dealer... or requires a membership. These are generally organizations which make their money selling "drop ship licenses"... and are, for the most part, scams. Legitimate drop shippers and factory sources never charge you any fees other than the actual wholesale cost & shipping costs of the products you sell.
Another caveat... always make sure that you have a written agreement with the source factory that you own the customer! The factory or drop ship source should agree in writing not to solicit your customers in any form. This is very important to you. Your customer list is one of your most important assets. If the factory you are dealing with balks at this request... use another source who will agree.
Almost every conceivable type of product is available from a drop shipper willing to ship products in single units under your companies name. Pick your interest area... electronics, consumer products, agricultural & industrial products, office equipment & supplies, hobby gear, recreational / sporting goods, clothing, furniture, etc. The list of available products from drop shippers is almost endless.
The products actual source is invisible to the consumer. The seller (you) is able to build a database of customers that he/she owns and controls (by agreement with the manufacturer) and has all the direct marketing advantages that accompany that arrangement... while eliminating the need for maintaining expensive inventory.
This arrangement offers maximum flexibility and cost savings for the seller. If a product does not sell well online you can pull the advertising (web page or mini-site) instantly with very little cost to you outside of the actual time it took to build and test the web marketing effort. Or, since this type of page/mini-site is so inexpensive to maintain and host... you can simply leave the pages online and take whatever orders trickle through... while you move on to the testing and promotion of new drop ship products. A quick marketing test can be done on eBay or other auction site to determine if the product sells... and at what price.
The manufacturer benefits from this relationship by gaining a legion of active marketers promoting their products... at little or no cost (other than those small costs involved with supporting the marketer with online marketing materials like product images, sales materials, etc).
As a marketer you are looking for several key components in developing the drop-ship relationship with a source factory or distributor:
** High Quality Products
** Blanket Product Liability Insurance (if applicable)
** A clear guarantee and return policy
** High Quality Marketing Materials ... product images (gifs, jpegs, etc.), selling copy, other suitable web graphics, etc.
** A Customer Service Department that will work with you to develop the best selling situation for you.
If you are a manufacturer seeking to expand distribution (or an inventor with a new product ) you will find the willingness to drop ship in single units will give you a strong competitive edge while you carve out increased market share at little cost.
If you are an online marketer interested in offering high profit products to your niche market (your website visitors) without incurring high front-end development or inventory costs... then drop shipping is for you.
Internet marketers are uniquely positioned to take profitable advantage of the drop ship arrangement and should give this system a serious look.
(c) Copyright 2005 Thom Reece
Thom Reece is CEO of Online Marketing Resource Center [http://www.E-ComProfits.com] and publisher of "Thom Reece's Web Marketing Strategies & Techniques Newsletter". You may subscribe free at: http://www.WMSTDirect.com, mailto:thom@e-comprofits.com

    



    

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Drop Shipping Secrets And Sources Revealed

    



    

Unfortunately for those just breaking into the wholesaling business, drop-shipping source information is jealously guarded. With a firm understanding of the service they offer, it isn't hard to see why. As opposed to the typical wholesale resource, drop-shippers offer a myriad of benefits to their buyers:
? You have no excess merchandise to house between orders.
? You're saved the hassle of calculating shipping, packaging orders, and standing in line at whichever postal service you may use.
? Drop-shipping is a great resource for people who own and run web-sites out of their spare time.
? Drop-shipping doesn't require you to make any out of pocket expenses.
As you can see, drop-shipping is pretty attractive. One of the biggest arenas for wholesalers who use drop-shipping sources is eBay, but it can work with any type of online presence. In an ideal situation, a drop-shipping transaction works as follows (assuming that you already have a customer relationship with a drop-ship source):
First, you'll select which product(s) you'll offer for sale on your website, email ad, auction listing, etc. For each item, you'll need a good quality color photo in .gif or .jpeg format. You'll also need a product description, retail price (giving yourself a margin of at least 25% profit), and check out/shopping cart features.
Then, once the information has been uploaded and is ready for public viewing, a buyer will place an order and make full payment for the item.
After this, you'll place an order with your drop-shipping company and they will locate, package and ship the item to your customer, while (usually) at the same time keeping your cash saving secret safe using unlabeled boxes and invoices, or shipping it using your business contact information. You'll send whatever the wholesale price payment is to them, keeping the extra as profit for your company!!
With the smoothness and ease of this, it's no wonder that people out there are charging outlandish prices for directories, lists and memberships to drop-ship sources "clubs". These packages can run from the low $10's well into the hundreds of dollars.
But not anymore.
Today, I'll reveal to you ten great drop-shipping companies free of charge! While these companies may charge fees for their service, the information is completely free! So don't miss out, get your wholesale business up and running the smart way!!!
1. http://www.qualitybooks.com/dropshippers.htmAll of the information that you'll need to open your own online bookstore!! They also offer a Webpage CD that provides you with products, sales page templates and more. They have a one time, lifetime membership fee of only $49.95, which is covered by a 30 day money back guarantee.
2. http://vistawholesale.zoovy.com/The source for wholesale products such as novelties, general merchandise, novelty lighters and more. They supply eBay sellers, flea market dealers, retail outlets and the general public with the hottest products on the market today, at below wholesale pricing. In addition, there is no minimum order, volume discounts, world wide shipping, no fee drop-shipping, and no membership fees!!
3. http://www.usdropshippers.com/Now you do! With USDropshippers.com, just find the manufacturers you would like to work with on their categorized pages. The manufacturers will look at your store and decide whether or not they would like you representing their products. After the manufacturer accepts your store, you will receive a password to download the manufacturer's product database and digital artwork. And best of all, you set your own prices, It's your store. As orders come in to your web based store, you fax the orders to the manufacturers and they drop-ship to your customers using a generic invoice with your store's information. With USDropshippers.com, your customers are always your customers!
4. http://www.crystalquest.com/dropshippingprogram.htmMake money drop-shipping water filters and related products. Quoted from the website, "It is very easy to resell our products. We work on a "Per Order" basis. Basically, you make a sale, collect payment from your customer then place the order with us. We will ship the order directly to your customers."
5.http://www.optimumdiscounts.com/catalog/wholesaledropshippingcatalog.phpThis website offers a lot of great categories and prices for products that they'll drop-ship. However, they don't guarantee that all products will be in stock. Their shipping costs are based as a percentage of your order price. Categories include: As Seen on TV, Cameras, Electronics, Radar Detectors and more!
6. http://www.information-entertainment.com/Business/dropship.htmlThis website is AWESOME!! They offer an extensive list of companies and their contact information of sources where you can find great drop-shipped products. It'll take a little effort, most of the listings don't include website or email addresses, but the list is amazing and well worth the time and postage.
7. http://stealthwholesale.com/Stealth Wholesale Inc. is a wholesale/drop-shipping company that specializes in products such as tools, electronics, furniture, models, lighting and more. You'll need to open an account, and as best as I could tell from their website, there isn't any charge to open one!!
8. http://www.securitywholesaler.com/A great site that offers security based products (home security, personal security, safety weapons, pepper spray, child safety) for sale and offers drop-shipping at a cost per address of $2.00 or $2.50 if you'd like to include a catalog. Definitely worth checking out!!
9. http://www.ewis.ca/onlinestore/scripts/dropship.aspThis link takes you to an electronic product wholesaler and drop-shipping company. Benefits include no minimum order and no drop-shipping fees. Check out their wide selection of electronic products in the toolbar to the left.
10. http://smartvitamins.com/Cash in on the growing trend in the health and wellness industry! This website offers you the chance to open your own online or auction vitamin/supplement business. Click the link provided to view the many benefits they offer.
Armed with this information, you should have more than enough resources to help you get your online presence up and running. Without the risks of high inventory and overhead, you're giving yourself an even better chance of success. No longer will you have to suffer sitting in the dark while others are reaping the profits of drop-shipping!!
Jennifer Gibbs is a successful freelance writer who lives in South Georgia with her husband and her son. If you're looking for high-quality writing at very reasonable rates, check out her website at http://www.jennifergibbs.com, or send an inquiry to info@jennifergibbs.com.



    



    

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