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Difficulties in Dropshipping business

by alexismedley
13 replies
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Hi
I am planning to start a dropshipping business. As many people on this forum are familiar with dropshipping, so I would like to hear difficulties that many people face in this kind of business.
#business #difficulties #dropshipping
  • Profile picture of the author fearlesspioneer
    Solutions are always more than difficulties. Don't worry, just do it. It's low risk because you don't have to invest much money to keep a stock of products. One thing you should be cautious of is PPC ads which can cost you money very fast.
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  • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
    What I have seen a LOT is that people have no creativity at all, I've been on many dropship websites and most of them look like shit! Bad English, confusing layout, annoying colors that don't match and simply a lack of effort.

    Usually when i check out their social media accounts, they all suck, no activity and just plain boring and then they complain that dropshipping doesn't work.

    To be successful in dropshipping it's like running any other company, takes a lot of hard work and continuously effort.

    Too many people think dropshipping is easy, set up a website, import items and that's it, the reality is different
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    • Profile picture of the author Splatterfox
      Originally Posted by BillyBatts View Post

      What I have seen a LOT is that people have no creativity at all, I've been on many dropship websites and most of them look like shit! Bad English, confusing layout, annoying colors that don't match and simply a lack of effort.

      Usually when i check out their social media accounts, they all suck, no activity and just plain boring and then they complain that dropshipping doesn't work.

      To be successful in dropshipping it's like running any other company, takes a lot of hard work and continuously effort.

      Too many people think dropshipping is easy, set up a website, import items and that's it, the reality is different
      THANK YOU, very well said.

      The difficulties in dropshipping are, you might already expect, finding a somewhat desirable product and marketing it accordingly.

      Many people watch some FB Ads YouTube videos and think they are social media marketers now. Others spend a few hours on AliExpress and think they are the next importing gurus. Others again open a Shopify store on a weekend and feel like people out there are just waiting to buy their stuff and make them rich.

      ITS NOT EASY is all I can tell you. There is a reason why the vast majority makes no sales at all.

      Here some things to keep in mind when building a store from scratch:
      • good target audience
      • good ad (creative + placement)
      • good landing page / product page
      • exciting product pictures (the AliExpress standard crap is often useless)
      • competitive pricing
      • competitive shipping times
      • transparency in your terms
      • overall site trust (highly important, cannot be "faked" by just adding the Shopify badge and thats it)
      • social proof (people pay high attention to other people, thats why reviews and testimonials are so important)
      • interesting and enticing descriptions
      • high usability of the website
      • payment methods that your customer likes

      Of course your creativity is limitless here - maybe you want to go with content marketing or pure word of mouth or do something completely different and unique.
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    In addition to everything that SpatterFox mentioned, nothing matters if you do not have a great supplier with good margins, quality products and great service. Most people fail at dropshipping for the same reason that they fail at everything else - they look for the easy way of doing things, using suppliers like AliExpress and DHGate or almost as bad, using dropship supplier directories like DOBA and WorldwideBrands.

    Put in the real effort and CALL the brands directly (no, don't Email them). If they won't dropship, get the contact information from them about their distributors who might.

    Without a quality dropship supplier who has good margins, you have failed before you have even started.
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    • Profile picture of the author alexismedley
      Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

      In addition to everything that SpatterFox mentioned, nothing matters if you do not have a great supplier with good margins, quality products and great service. Most people fail at dropshipping for the same reason that they fail at everything else - they look for the easy way of doing things, using suppliers like AliExpress and DHGate or almost as bad, using dropship supplier directories like DOBA and WorldwideBrands.

      Put in the real effort and CALL the brands directly (no, don't Email them). If they won't dropship, get the contact information from them about their distributors who might.

      Without a quality dropship supplier who has good margins, you have failed before you have even started.
      I have been talking to several drop shipper these days and they all have almost similar issues. I am not planning to use Aliexpress or DHgate as prices are not competitive. I am planning to
      1. Find a reasonable buy and ship company in China so that i can purchase cheap items from Taobao or from any other chineas website or even supplier (I know this is not an easy task)
      2. Purchase some inventory and hold it in their warehouse
      3. Use epacket to send it to any address
      I know this is not that easy, but I cant think of any other feasible alternative.
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      • Profile picture of the author Splatterfox
        Originally Posted by alexismedley View Post

        I have been talking to several drop shipper these days and they all have almost similar issues. I am not planning to use Aliexpress or DHgate as prices are not competitive. I am planning to
        1. Find a reasonable buy and ship company in China so that i can purchase cheap items from Taobao or from any other chineas website or even supplier (I know this is not an easy task)
        2. Purchase some inventory and hold it in their warehouse
        3. Use epacket to send it to any address
        I know this is not that easy, but I cant think of any other feasible alternative.
        If you want to buy stock upfront then don't store it in China, store it in the country you wanna sell (for example US). You can use the Amazon warehouse or some other fulfillment centers for that.

        If you store it in China you have the same shipping disadvantages that pure dropshippers have.
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        • Profile picture of the author Importexport
          Originally Posted by Splatterfox View Post

          If you want to buy stock upfront then don't store it in China, store it in the country you wanna sell (for example US). You can use the Amazon warehouse or some other fulfillment centers for that.

          If you store it in China you have the same shipping disadvantages that pure dropshippers have.
          That's right. You can send to a fulfillment service in the country where you are selling.

          Beware of Taobao agents. They not only charge you a commission, but also they often get secret commissions for the suppliers.

          Don't forget Taobao is a retail site, being very similar to eBay. If you want to maximize profits you need to buy direct from genuine manufacturers in China.

          Walter Hay
          Provenchinasourcing.com
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          Use emotions and perceptions to build a great brand. Ask me about my book LabelsThatExploit. For safe sourcing and easy importing from 41 countries globally, see https://provenglobalsourcing.com
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      • Profile picture of the author fearlesspioneer
        Originally Posted by alexismedley View Post

        I have been talking to several drop shipper these days and they all have almost similar issues. I am not planning to use Aliexpress or DHgate as prices are not competitive. I am planning to
        1. Find a reasonable buy and ship company in China so that i can purchase cheap items from Taobao or from any other chineas website or even supplier (I know this is not an easy task)
        2. Purchase some inventory and hold it in their warehouse
        3. Use epacket to send it to any address
        I know this is not that easy, but I cant think of any other feasible alternative.
        I think you can start with aliexpress to do dropshipping. Just to test the market. As time goes on, find out the bestsellers in your store. Then purchase some inventory for those products directly from a manufacturer or taobao. And hold in the country where you sell.
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  • Profile picture of the author atulsha
    After having done all that than the next thing is the online marketplace for selling your products and unless the site is easy to navigate and good detailed information most won't buy if they come to the site at all.

    Having a good clean site with detailed instructions would be a good place to start that has static links to products so that will help with SEO as well
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  • Profile picture of the author kazim
    I must say that at the staring you will face many difficulties. But there is solution too. The big advantage of drop-shipping business is that you don't have to invest a lot. So there is minimum risk. For the beginner it is important to connect with experience person. I suggest you to join this FB group. Here you will find many experienced drop shipper.
    https://web.facebook.com/groups/3057...bookmarks&_rdr
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  • Profile picture of the author john76
    Hope this is not a stupid question. I don't know much about drop shipping but from what I understand of it. Your more or less a middle man between the customer and the wholesaler via E -commerce web-site. Your job is to promote or internet marketing . Not too different from what affiliate marketing does.
    Is this correct?
    And also why not the customer just buy directly from the wholesaler ?
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    • Profile picture of the author salmanhaider
      The customer cant buy directly from the wholesaler because of the lack of knowledge. The customers dont have enough market related knowledge to take the right decision. This leads to others getting their cut,
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    • Profile picture of the author phenomix
      Originally Posted by john76 View Post

      And also why not the customer just buy directly from the wholesaler ?
      Because they don't know who the wholesaler is and think you are the one selling it.

      Also, why do you buy food from a supermarket instead of going through their wholesalers?
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