I want to enter the field of dropshipping, what should I learn first?

Learn to do research - google the term...


how to start drop shipping


and you'll have pages of google results - and some very good youtube videos with free courses and instructions. Avoid buying ANYTHING until you know what you want to do - what you want to sell - and how you plan to sell it.



No one here can give you a dropshipping course in a forum post - but if you learn the basics on your own - you can get help with details here.

First off Welcome to the Warrior Forum, since you are brand new you should visit the Community Guidelines. You will need to find what buyers are looking to purchase. Then you are going to need to source the products from a drop shipper and know where to list them.

Look up Dave Hermansen and see his posts. https://www.warriorforum.com/members/davehermansen.html

Edit, I just saw what Kay posted, follow that advice first!

Also, a legitimate drop shipping business is not that easy to get started. Most people who make it sound lucrative end up selling courses or drop out. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort in getting started/

Mimouni, for the sake of all Warriors, I want ask you, WHY?

Why do you want to enter the field of dropshipping? How did you arrive at the point that you decided this is what you want to do? Can you help us understand your reasons, because, once we know those, we may be able to better guide you.

As has been mentioned, Dave Hermansen is one of our more active Warriors and has the expertise you might need, I believe he even has some free information too. It can be a very lucrative field, although, may take some TIME to get it established.

Just wondering HOW you came to this desire? If you care to share we might be able to give you even better advice, fair enough?


GordonJ

The problem with dropshipping is that everybody's doing it.

If you plan to use a service like Alibaba or similar, it will be
difficult to set yourself apart from all the other people who
are doing the same exact thing.

Unless you have some compelling reason to use this order
fulfillment method, like product is too large/costly to maintain
inventory or ship twice, you need to think about what you are
getting into.

Also, dropshipping is not the magic passive income system
that it is portrayed to be. You still have to deal with customers,
complaints, returns, refunds, etc.

I started dropshipping in 1999, my first line of products were
custom pieces and it was more efficient for the manufacturer
to ship the items directly to my customers.

After that I sold furniture, above ground swimming pools,
and other items, and that business lasted about five years
until I got tired of dealing with all the issues and by then
I found other ways to make money online.

I'm not trying to discourage you, just making you aware of
some of the pitfalls of dropshipping.

There are lots of dropshipping guides here and on reddit

Start by mastering market research to find your niche and learn how to source reliable suppliers those are key steps to get rolling in dropshipping.

For me, whenever I would like to venture into a new opportunity, i would:

1. Go YouTube and checkout what people are talking about Drop shipping.

2. Go on to Udemy and check if there's any best selling courses related to Drop shipping and enroll to the course.

All in all, I would

Learn and gather as much info as i can through research, learn from others, attend classes, find drop ship community etc.

Learn as you go .Building brand awareness is,going to be key If I was in your shoes I would network with others in the industry and I would also be actively engaging consumers to get a better understanding of what they need .

Do you have a blog or a YouTube channel to compliment your business?

If you are getting started, Buildup and learn the essential skills to succeed ie marketing. You can even monetize it while establishing your dropshipping buisness.
Have you ever conducted a buisness in the online space before?

First off, thanks for the props from DWolfe. Although flipping (buying and selling) websites was how I got into eCommerce and became nationally known, we transitioned into dropshipping from there after my brothers and I saw how lucrative it was.

I certainly don't agree with all of the negative things some have pointed out about dropshipping. It's the model I have used and taught for more than a decade, after all.

The two most important things are finding the right niche - one with some demand, lower competition and not sold in any kind of decent variety in local stores - and having the right supplier. These were major points in the course we used to sell and we showed people how to do those things, rather than just hoping to get it right and relying on the accuracy of random Google searches and videos, as some have suggested. As most people know, there is a ton of outdated and inaccurate information online, after all.

The right supplier is whichever one is as close to the top of the "food chain" as possible, preferably the actual brand/manufacturer will dropship for you but if not, one of their major distributors.

The reason that some people think that this business model is so saturated is that most people are taking the easy way out - using dropship directories, which are only middlemen who take half the profit for themselves - or they are using things like Alibaba, which tends to provide a bunch of cheap, poorly made products that anybody and their mother have access to.

A good dropship niche is one where you are providing actual brand name products that people are searching for - not generic wannabees. It takes perseverance and skill to set up good suppliers of brand name products. Most people are too lazy to establish those relationships.

(Incidentally, we removed access to our popular dropshipping course a year ago but, due to demand, are considering a re-launch of a brand new course ... perhaps coming soon ...)