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Drop shipping

by In the know
16 replies
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This thread is fascinating

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...od-income.html

What was interesting for me was the amount of people who make money dropshipping - I am interested because I import by the container load from the far east in order to have the best prices and fastest dispatch on ebay / Amazon - which frankly is the best way I know to make money there.

How the heck do you make money drop shipping? Through SEO/PPC ? your own sites?

Because on ebay & Amazon you will most likely lose out to those that hold stock.

Regards

Dan
#drop #shipping
  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    Originally Posted by In the know View Post

    How the heck do you make money drop shipping? Through SEO/PPC ? your own sites?
    My own sites and mainly PPC, with a bit of social media and SEO sprinkled in.
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    • Profile picture of the author In the know
      Originally Posted by Gambino View Post

      My own sites and mainly PPC, with a bit of social media and SEO sprinkled in.
      Interesting, I didn't think there was enough margins for PPC but I guess if you can drive traffic to your own site there is less price pressure.

      Sounds like I should be selling to drop shippers, cause I buy in volumes which allows me to be very cost competitive
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  • Profile picture of the author alksense
    Originally Posted by In the know View Post

    This thread is fascinating

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...od-income.html

    What was interesting for me was the amount of people who make money dropshipping - I am interested because I import by the container load from the far east in order to have the best prices and fastest dispatch on ebay / Amazon - which frankly is the best way I know to make money there.

    How the heck do you make money drop shipping? Through SEO/PPC ? your own sites?

    Because on ebay & Amazon you will most likely lose out to those that hold stock.

    Regards

    Dan
    I remember that thread I make money with drop shipping by selling on my own sites... I drive traffic via SEO (on site only), Google Shopping, Amazon Product Ads, thefind.com, banner ads on niche related blogs and through a variety of other methods based on the niche.

    - Anton
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    • Profile picture of the author internetsales
      I make my money selling online by using Ebay and a drop ship company. I list on Ebay and use www.miamiwrangler.com as my drop shipper. I've been able to sell a lot more and hassle with the shipping aspect of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Importexport
    Originally Posted by In the know View Post

    This thread is fascinating

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...od-income.html

    What was interesting for me was the amount of people who make money dropshipping - I am interested because I import by the container load from the far east in order to have the best prices and fastest dispatch on ebay / Amazon - which frankly is the best way I know to make money there.

    How the heck do you make money drop shipping? Through SEO/PPC ? your own sites?

    Because on ebay & Amazon you will most likely lose out to those that hold stock.

    Regards

    Dan
    Well Dan,

    Why don't you hold stock?
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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 In the know
      Originally Posted by Importexport View Post

      Well Dan,

      Why don't you hold stock?

      I do hold stock, but drop shipping is more "capital efficient"
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      • Profile picture of the author Importexport
        Originally Posted by In the know View Post

        I do hold stock, but drop shipping is more "capital efficient"
        I would question the value of that approach. Maybe less capital, maybe not.

        What if a bunch of your customers suddenly learn that an improved model of your widgets has been released just as they bought one from you.They return your widgets and want refunds. Do you have the capital to finance your suddenly acquired stock of returns? Depending on the value of the items, that could amount to thousands.

        Having bought on a B2B basis you have no legal right to return the goods, but you know that your customers will be backed by PayPal, eBay, and Credit Card suppliers.
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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 alksense
          Originally Posted by Importexport View Post

          I would question the value of that approach. Maybe less capital, maybe not.

          What if a bunch of your customers suddenly learn that an improved model of your widgets has been released just as they bought one from you.They return your widgets and want refunds. Do you have the capital to finance your suddenly acquired stock of returns? Depending on the value of the items, that could amount to thousands.
          Do you honestly think that is a valid argument?

          That is like saying everyone with a iPhone 5 will go to the Apple store when the 5s comes out to demand refunds.
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          • Profile picture of the author Importexport
            Originally Posted by alksense View Post

            Do you honestly think that is a valid argument?

            That is like saying everyone with a iPhone 5 will go to the Apple store when the 5s comes out to demand refunds.
            Definitely! This is a valid argument because it is supported by the experience of many warriors as posted on this forum. And no, I did not say "everyone with a widget", I said they had just bought a widget only to find a new model had just been released. Different scenario.

            It is a sad fact of life that marketers who use eBay and/or PayPal are at the mercy of their customers.

            None would dare try it on at an Apple store, but it happens all the time. There are many posts on WF where unhappy sellers have complained about this very problem, most notably relating to eBay sales.
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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 alksense
              Originally Posted by Importexport View Post

              It is a sad fact of life that marketers who use eBay and/or PayPal are at the mercy of their customers.
              Very true. Which is exactly why I stopped selling on there almost five years ago.

              Dan, like you said in the OP, stear clear of eBay and Amazon when drop shipping. Myself and everyone I know that's crushing it with this business model is selling through their own store fronts.

              Like I said earlier in this thread - Google Shopping, Amazon Product Ads, thefind.com and banner ads on niche related blogs are all great ways to start driving traffic to your store from day 1.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarginMetrics
    This was an interesting read. My company currently dropships and mainly sells via Amazon and Amazon FBA.

    Amazon certainly does a great job of being price competitive, however I've still found that there is a high amount of opportunity on many products.

    After reading this post I might have to take our own webstores more seriously

    Honestly it has been hard for us in the past because of the volume of orders generated by Amazon. However being dependent on Amazon sales is not a good idea either.
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  • Profile picture of the author CoolitDown
    This astounds me. I would love to make money drop shipping. Any good guides/WSOs?
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    • Profile picture of the author MarginMetrics
      Originally Posted by CoolitDown View Post

      This astounds me. I would love to make money drop shipping. Any good guides/WSOs?
      It seems like Alksense has a lot of good advice and courses about dropshipping, maybe you can take a look over his stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author tritrain
    Originally Posted by In the know View Post

    I am interested because I import by the container load from the far east in order to have the best prices and fastest dispatch on ebay / Amazon - which frankly is the best way I know to make money there.
    How the heck do you make money drop shipping? Through SEO/PPC ? your own sites?
    Because on ebay & Amazon you will most likely lose out to those that hold stock.
    Dan
    I used to store and sell products out of my house. I purchased direct from the manufacturers/producers.

    If I were to drop ship, I would probably use the Amazon Fulfillment, as there are some big advantages to it. You would likely have increased volume of sales, while having Amazon cut into your profits a bit. I believe that your products would also qualify for free shipping for Amazon Prime members.

    Since you probably have a larger margin to work with, because you source from overseas, it would be very reasonable (as apposed to how I was doing it). You may have much less competition for your products.

    If I were to do it all over again, I'd do it that way.


    As a sidenote: Here's what I experienced when selling on Amazon. Because Amazon has perfect information about buyers and sellers, they knew exactly what was selling best, whereas I didn't. When Amazon saw what was doing really well in my niche, suddenly they started selling it, and found reasons why I could no longer sell those items there. This happened over and over for me. So, there are some major concerns about selling on Amazon. Weigh the PROs and CONs carefully when considering Amazon as a marketplace.


    Caveat vendit!
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    • Profile picture of the author biz_online
      Originally Posted by tritrain View Post

      Because Amazon has perfect information about buyers and sellers, they knew exactly what was selling best, whereas I didn't. When Amazon saw what was doing really well in my niche, suddenly they started selling it, and found reasons why I could no longer sell those items there. This happened over and over for me. So, there are some major concerns about selling on Amazon. Weigh the PROs and CONs carefully when considering Amazon as a marketplace.

      Caveat vendit!
      This is exactly what I found true about Amazon. Everytime I got profitable, Amazon copied what I was doing.
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      • Profile picture of the author alksense
        Originally Posted by biz_online View Post

        This is exactly what I found true about Amazon. Everytime I got profitable, Amazon copied what I was doing.
        I've actually heard that from multiple people... I guess it makes sense but it's really crazy to think about. They are actually having people pay them to sell through them while giving them free data about what's selling and how to sell it.

        I love Amazon Product Ads and I've heard good things about Amazon FBA but I would not sell directly through them.
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