drop ship frustration.

by darbok
12 replies
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So I have three different dropshippers for what I"m selling i.e. intimate toys.. some of them are under 5 dollars wholesale, but then add in the dropship fee, the shipping fee and suddenly its 12.00 dollars before markup. This is very frustrating. I feel like I should try something else, but I know, no matter where I go there will be alot of fees if i'm not buying 100 dollars in stock at once. Its not so bad with my own store , but I want to be competitive on ebay without having to "steal" from amazon, but it seems like wholesalers while offering dropshipping really ring a person for using it, which is too bad because it makes it very difficult for someone with a low budget to compete and try to get further in the industry then they are. I suppose this is more of a rant then a question, but I also know many of you have wisdom on these things that I would never have thought of.
#drop #frustration #ship
  • Profile picture of the author ibas
    Drop ship margins are always thin - if there are any at all.

    Find a good supplier and start getting small stock and grow it from there.
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    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by ibas View Post

      Drop ship margins are always thin - if there are any at all.

      Find a good supplier and start getting small stock and grow it from there.
      People go for dropshipping partly because they are unaware that you can buy small quantities direct from the factory overseas.

      The profit margins are massive compared to buying from any kind of wholesale supplier, especially dropshipping suppliers.

      Don't let people scare you off with stories about huge MOQs. I have taught hundreds of people how to get real manufacturers to supply small orders.

      I give a lot of information about what you need to learn before you try to buy overseas on this thread If your secret B2B portals are so safe why don't you share?
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  • Profile picture of the author naidyphoon
    If you do your niche research right, you won't have to have low prices as your USP, and more than often, people will choose to buy from you. Good luck!

    Naidy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Recession_Proof
      darbok,

      Don't get frustrated! Frustration only leads to 2 things.

      Failure or Success!

      Don't worry if you have to "steal" from Amazon. You need to make money correct?
      Then if you have to ship items from Amazon until you get enough money to buy from your supplier then you do what you have to do.

      People will tell you "oh don't do that and don't do this". Some because they do not want you in the game, some who have never tried it and some are just "Negative Nancy's".

      What to do? Simple, IGNORE THEM.....

      The saying that I was told in my old Verizon days selling advertising, still holds true today. "It's always easier to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission". People are quick to get in your way when you present an idea or new concept, product, etc. But, they are quick to get out of your way if you gain momentum.
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  • So - you did a few things incorrect here.

    You went into a niche blind, thinking: "Oh, well, this must be a good niche, so I'll start selling it" without doing the proper competition/demand analysis

    Then you didn't research the marketing to find out how much the items were being purchased for to see if the fees were even going to be covered BEFORE you chose a supplier

    You considered buying from Amazon and flipping on eBay.


    There is a systematic approach to this.

    You cannot get married to a single idea and think it's going to work out. If you ARE going to dropship (which I don't always endorse because the margins and workload are terrible) then you need to get a sales history for negotiation leverage.

    Suppliers intentionally inflate their prices on people who are 'new'
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    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by Auctiondebteliminator View Post

      So - you did a few things incorrect here.

      You went into a niche blind, thinking: "Oh, well, this must be a good niche, so I'll start selling it" without doing the proper competition/demand analysis

      Then you didn't research the marketing to find out how much the items were being purchased for to see if the fees were even going to be covered BEFORE you chose a supplier

      You considered buying from Amazon and flipping on eBay.


      There is a systematic approach to this.

      You cannot get married to a single idea and think it's going to work out. If you ARE going to dropship (which I don't always endorse because the margins and workload are terrible) then you need to get a sales history for negotiation leverage.

      Suppliers intentionally inflate their prices on people who are 'new'
      Getting married to a single idea can be fatal in business. I have often seen people sourcing products overseas and they see something that takes their fancy so they order a quantity to sell.

      In the first place, just because they like it that does not mean there is a ready market for it.

      Secondly, unless they take a systematic approach as you teach, they often finish up with a product that has insufficient margin and they don't discover that until they begin advertising it.

      One of the most common support questions I get relates to that problem. Sourcing for most people begins with the idea that you describe: "Oh, well, this must be a good niche, so I'll start selling it", instead of beginning with orderly research to find viable products.
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      • Profile picture of the author jrose10
        What does one need to do in detail to conduct orderly market research? Is it merely pagerank competition and keyword search volume analysis?
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Fuhrman
    First as mentioned above you have to do your market research and check out the competitive landscape. But I would add that it helps to sell more expensive items because there is more margin in terms of dollars made. So even if your mark up is low % wise you can still generate enough cash profit to make it worth while. Once you have this going you can offer smaller items in the same category. This may be the opposite of what others will tell you but taking the higher ticket route has worked best for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
      Originally Posted by Tim Fuhrman View Post

      First as mentioned above you have to do your market research and check out the competitive landscape. But I would add that it helps to sell more expensive items because there is more margin in terms of dollars made.
      This is true. It's a huge help to have more expensive items to sell. However, I've also managed to get around some of the minimum order fees by simply promoting the item(s) in volume.

      Example, let's say your minimum order is $100.00 in order to avoid an additional fee and the cost of the item is $10.00.

      Guess what? I'm now selling them as 10-12 in a package. You can now afford to drop your price slightly to give people incentive to stock up. You'll sell more, they'll get a better price and you'll avoid paying an additional fee.

      Another thing I'll do is encourage buyers to order more by offering the discount, but if they won't bump the order I'll split the drop ship fee with them. You eat half and they eat half.

      Finally, if there are items that you're selling on a regular basis I'd consider stocking some. Yes, it ties up your money in inventory, but you're in business now, so it's good practice. I'm not saying to buy a lot, but I try to keep at least a few of my top sellers on hand for a rainy day. Companies tend to run out of hot sellers often and if you have them in stock you've positioned yourself as the "go to" guy.

      Get creative and figure out ways around these things. If you can't you need to move on to a different market.
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  • Profile picture of the author darbok
    its not so much about the prices or the shipping, which is too high anyway.. but its about the dropship fee, wholesalers really like to stick it to dropshippers with adding a 2-4 dollar fee per item.
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  • Profile picture of the author alterjones
    I'd consider trying to create your own product to sell... if that's not for you then take a look at a site like 88merchandise.com They have cool stuff but youll need a retail license to order from them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by alterjones View Post

      I'd consider trying to create your own product to sell... if that's not for you then take a look at a site like 88merchandise.com They have cool stuff but youll need a retail license to order from them.
      Creating your own product to sell can be as simple as finding a good product and having it private labelled.

      That can be done in surprisingly small quantities direct from the manufacturers in China. I and my franchisees did that very frequently during the 22 years that I ran my importing business.

      Private labeling costs will vary depending on the type of product. The set up cost will vary between $20 and $2,000 or more. The set up cost for the products we imported were generally around $45 to $50. The most we ever paid was $300. Total order cost including the product and the labeling was often only a few hundred dollars.

      In some cases we got the supplier to do bar coding and point of sale packaging.
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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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