Problem with shipping/getting started.
Ok, so here is my situation. I have my store up in one of three niches, got the back end almost completely done and understood ( what a steep learning curve that was), and I have a list of prices from one of my suppliers. Since I am just starting out, I am pretty much just putting any supplier products on there right now, with the hopes of getting approved by the bigger brands once they see my website. So, this is all new to me and I am super confused ( either that, or thinking the correct thing).
I get the list, start the pricing and product sourcing. Peeking on google and on google shopping to see what other people are selling it for, to see if I can beat that. Keep in mind, WHY in the world I picked such a niche with MANY products for my first store is beyond me- butttt that is kind of what I did. So, I have MANY products in this niche. The thought of pricing of them is exhausting- but the good news is, no matter what product from my niche I type in, I keep pulling up the same stores as competition ( sometimes even in google shopping, versus just google).
BUT, one of those competitors I just CANNOT beat. I was looking at product X for example. From my distributor, that product is 14.50. The shipping on that product is 13.98 ( yeah makes no sense) for a two lb product. That right there totaled is 28.48. This site was selling that product for 27.49! (included shipping) I mean they already have it beat right there. Knowing that, I had to take a real good look at my distributor again (its simpledistributors.com). Almost 14.00 bucks to ship a two pound product GROUND? REALLY?
My general guess then is that the owner of this website with whom I cant seem to beat his prices- do you all think he has a cheaper wholesaler/getting the same products somewhere else cheaper? I'd like to know where because I have searched my rear end off.
Can I beg attention for another question here? Say I have product x,y,z on my store. Someone comes to my store and they order all three products. Little do they know, all three products are from three different wholesalers. I do NOT want to charge three different shipping prices to the customer, but I have to have that cost figured. So in my opinion, I want to just have the cost of the product INCLUDE the cost of shipping so that we do not run into this fiasco. I dont want to pee off any potential customers. I have actually had that happen to me a few times... went to a site
ordered a bunch of thing and then seen more than one shipping charge. I left that site and went elsewhere where I ended up not having the same problem. I think that generally is very bad practice, either charge one shipping price or wrap it up in the cost.
Am I ok in thinking this or am I REALLY far out there in left field? Also, if anyone knows wholesalers cheaper than simpledistributors ( who also dont seem to have a CVS file), please let me know! I am sourcing my butt off here, but just to get started, I have to have some initial products on the site and I am not sure that their shipping price ( plus 2.50 "handling" fee) is reasonable at all.
I just need to know I am going in the right direction with my thinking here. Anyone?
http://www.storkandveil.com/wholesale-drop-ship-info/