Help a dropshipping newbie please

by Sdeek
9 replies
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I have been a stable reader and buyer of WF products since 2010 and now that I have an urge to get into drop shipping I decided to register and interact

Here is my situations:

I have a good connection In China that can supply me with Cellphone accessories (the niche I am interested in)

I mainly want to get into cellphone covers and since I need to test the waters I thought dropshipping can be low risk given that I trust my shipper in China (basically my uncle is the shipper/ )


Here is my dilemma:

SHIPPING kills my margin!

Average price of my items would be $.5- $1 shipping alone for each item may go up to 9-10 dollars (USPS)! Which clearly cuts into my margin, from my DD it looks like to compete I have to sell my covers for $8-15, I know that there are many ebay and amazon dropshippers working with low priced items such as mine, how do these people make it work ? i.e. a dropshipper selling an item from China for $7

I saw that on Aliexpress many sellers offer free shipping on dropshipping but I learnt that they utilize uber cheap services where an item could take 2 months to be delivered 

Please help a newbie solve this puzzle!

I thought about testing with US based dropshippers but so far no luck!

I am willing to share my contact in China with any warriors btw

Thanks
#dropshipping #newbie
  • Profile picture of the author violet0176
    There's no there there. Everyone and their grandma sold cell phone covers years ago. It's played out now and you can't compete with China. You need to find a new niche. Don't keep all of your eggs in the cell phone cover basket because those covers are a dime a dozen. If you actually want to build a reliable income, you will move on or at least source a variety of products in addition to phone covers.
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  • Profile picture of the author nwik
    Find another niche and think of another product to offer.

    Be innovative. Don't stick to only one.

    Don't settle with just one if you have a choice to make it more.
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  • Profile picture of the author waynmeyer
    Working with small margins is indeed a tough cookie to crack, however it is possible.

    Firstly, we need to know where you selling the item, if you planning on selling on ebay or amazon then you need to be aware that Chinese suppliers are already selling on ebay, thus you would be in a competitive niche here, the only way out is to purchase high volumes at discount bulk prices to beat these power sellers.

    However you might not be willing to spend cash upfront and would prefer to purchase only upon sale per individual sale. This is where is gets difficult, if you able to purchase bulk you can ship the stock directly to your fulfillment agent and get discounted local shipping prices for the entire batch you imported.

    This however is all only going to work for selling in established marketplaces. If you want to sell on your own website then of course you cutting out the competition "substantially" not completely. However now you need to calculate the costs to acquire sales /traffic as well as overheads like hosting.

    Personally i have had huge success with having my own eCommerce websites which i pump advertising into using my custom built formula to drive unstoppable sales and profits with highly exclusive niches and keywords.

    Certainly hope my 2cents worth helps you get closer to your target.
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  • Profile picture of the author Samfakroon
    Hey Hey No No guys I sell Cell Phone Covers on shopify 2016-04-03_1321 - samfakroon's library

    $29 and am not kidding selling like crazy so Cell accessories with shopify will be best to go for. there is an small initial cost for setting up the store and so on but thats about it. advertising it and selling the accessories is a piece of cake. Shipping should be 7 - 14 days max selling to the USA.

    Hope this Motivates you

    Thank You

    Sameer
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    • Profile picture of the author violet0176
      Originally Posted by Samfakroon View Post

      Hey Hey No No guys I sell Cell Phone Covers on shopify 2016-04-03_1321 - samfakroon's library

      $29 and am not kidding selling like crazy so Cell accessories with shopify will be best to go for. there is an small initial cost for setting up the store and so on but thats about it. advertising it and selling the accessories is a piece of cake. Shipping should be 7 - 14 days max selling to the USA.

      Hope this Motivates you

      Thank You

      Sameer
      Okay, if you're selling quality leather or high-end cases that are not available everywhere, that's one thing. Selling the cheap plastic $2-$6 cases that are all over ebay and selling for 50 cents from China, I don't see any profit to be made. But hey, I've been wrong before, so I'm only speaking for myself. Some people are can sell anything with the 'right' marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hearn
    Cellphone cases is a bigger niche than everyone thinks. You can try the following:

    1. Cases with battery included. These sell really well especially for new models like S6 and Note. There are even some models with a solar panel on the flip cover. It does almost nothing charging wise, but that's a matter of size and panel efficiency.

    2. Cases with wireless charging. Although wireless charging is not that popular some covers sell well especially for Samsung and LG.

    3. Active cases especially for LG(circle) and Samsung.

    4. Utility cases: anti shock, anti scratch, anti dust etc for outdoor use.

    The items above are priced from $5 to $15 of Ebay and Ali. Beside those there are loads of related accessories you can go into. A key chain stick with dual USB and microUSB or Apple connector for example. You can either go directly on those websites and see what sells or think a little in advance and be a visionary :")
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  • Profile picture of the author Faisal Qureshi
    Have you done some market research regarding this dropshipping business?
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  • Profile picture of the author sasse2017
    Their are so many items you can sell just take a look at amazon.com
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgeyBoy
    Though I'd share with you my 2 cents on drop-shipping.

    Ive been selling items on Ebay for around a year now. My items all come from one supplier - Amazon.
    I dont invest in any stock whatsoever.

    When I get a sale I simply purchase the item from my supplier, and have it sent to my buyers address.

    With this system that I've been using, I'm able to scale up my business how I like.

    Most of it is now automated, using some simple online software.

    Im currently doing 100+ sales every day, its really quite crazy!
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