Drop shipping vs Wholesale vs Give Up

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

I have been promoting on Facebook the last month and I am up to 930 likes and a few subs. Unfortunately, there are no sales yet, due to my markups. I had chosen the drop ship route because my background is in web development and already had the VPS running my personal sites and email. As I mentioned above I am disabled and on a limited income, having no real knowledge in drop shipping and absolutely nothing about wholesale at all. I went for the "free drop ship option".

So my questions are; should I continue this route or is there a cheap way to get into wholesale. I don't have a clue where to even start. I was even looking into a site with dropshipdesign or wholesale2b, until I started reading the forums. My gut tells me to continue plugging along with my website, drop my margins down to the bare minimum and shoot for the 600 a month. I have the time to work on the site as much as my body will allow. But if there is a better solution I would love to hear it!

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post , any helpful info would be greatly appreciated!

Frank C

Hi Frank,

I don't think the pricing is the primary issue you should concern yourself with.

The navigation and design of the site really needs some work.

Take a look at these sites for some ideas:

Pet Supplies, Accessories & Products Online - My Pet Warehouse
Pet Shop & Pet Warehouse| Buy Pet Supplies Online | Petbarn
https://www.petsmart.com

Notice the commonality of the navigation links and the site structures.

Notice the various terms of service and FAQ that potential customers would be questioning.

Notice the "Trust Badges" and Brands to reassure the visitor.

You need to answer every visitors objections using a variety of things like testimonials, guarantees etc.

Once you fix up the design you should test by sending paid traffic from google or Facebook and see if you can get conversions.

Then scale up.

Hope that gives you something to go on.

Best regards,

Ozi

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tahoecale

8 years ago

I would do as much research on the competition as I could. I would find out how their sites look/work, their pricing, functionality, everything. From there I would make my site the best out there and beat all the competion, or at least be on their level. I would say, stick with what you got. Keep working on it and do your research.

Good Luck to You

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violet0176

8 years ago

I've found that drop shipping works best when you have 3 or 4 websites in different and well researched niche(s). That way money is always coming in.

As far as wholesale goes, unless you plan to place bulk orders, you't won't see much profit in wholesale compared to drop shipping. If you apply with distributors, you can get wholesale pricing and they will still dropship for you. Really depends on your niche and how successful of a relationship you build with the Distributors/Suppliers.

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Thank's all for the great advice, Yea the layout needs major work. I was planning on doing that took me some time learning how to get the different style excel sheets to work with my site. Will be working on the menu and layout next.

Thanks again for your time

Frank

Thanks

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derekwong28

8 years ago

I have done wholesale and drop shipping and I would strongly advice against doing wholesale in your situation. There is just much more work involved and there is also a big risk of having unsold inventory.

I would also look at affiliate marketing instead. It is quite easy to make 400-600 a month with affiliate marketing. I suggest working with product datafeeds of individual merchants.

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Thanks again everyone

Thanks
1 reply

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Oziboomer

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

Thanks again everyone

Please come back and share your progress.

Everyone who has made a success of selling online knows the effort it really takes to build something successful and I know I can speak for everyone when I ask for your updates as it not only inspires new entrepreneurs but keeps people who have helped along the way engaged and motivated to help.

Oh...welcome to the forum BTW.

Thank you for reading the feedback of others and thank you for responding and not abandoning your first post.

Best regards and best wishes for your success.

Ozi

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Oziboomer

Please come back and share your progress.
Ozi

Hi Ozi,
Thanks again for your input, right now I am just focusing on the web site design. I am slowly but surely, starting to get it to look better.

https://critterscorners.com/

It will take me some time to get it just right!

Thanks again for checking up on me

Frank

[ 1 ] Thanks
2 replies

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Oziboomer

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

Hi Ozi,
Thanks again for your input, right now I am just focusing on the web site design. I am slowly but surely, starting to get it to look better.

https://critterscorners.com/

It will take me some time to get it just right!

Thanks again for checking up on me

Frank

Thanks Frank,

Sliders are a bit "old" and not as effective as they once were.

Use that valuable real-estate on your site to get a better result.

Try something to grab people's attention and to get them to opt-in. Use the space wisely as that will often be the only chance you get to grab their attention.

Maybe...

"Register now for 12 months FREE shipping"

"Tell us your pet's name for a bonus personalized collar" ...etc.

Come up with the offers and test them until you find something that works.

Minimise the colour schemes so it looks professional.

Keep working on it and I'll take a look from time to time.

Best regards,

Ozi

Thanks

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violet0176

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

Hi Ozi,
Thanks again for your input, right now I am just focusing on the web site design. I am slowly but surely, starting to get it to look better.

https://critterscorners.com/

It will take me some time to get it just right!

Thanks again for checking up on me

Frank

https://critterscorners.com/product/casbah-bird-cage/

Prevue Pet Products Casbah Bird Cage 1620 - Bird Cages at Hayneedle

Reword your descriptions so that your content will be unique if you want organic traffic.

edit: Also, consider changing the product names to reduce the number of people googling for a better price.

Thanks
1 reply

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CrittersCorners 8 years ago

Hi Ozi,

I truly appreciate your imput. I added the sliders cause i saw them on your examples. It was a rush job and the slides I made look like crap. I threw them quickly. I am starting to wonder if the pet market is even the way to go. and thanks for looking out!
- Thanks
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smilealot

8 years ago

Sent you a PM.

Thanks
1 reply

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CrittersCorners 8 years ago

Originally Posted by smilealot

Sent you a PM.

Hi Smilealot,

Just answered it
- Thanks
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Mukul Singla

8 years ago

If you want to buy a spygear,i prefer using dropshipping for it. Thier are many advantages of drop shipping than buying from wholesalers. It is the best way to buy spygears. You can purchase spygears at low price with dropshipping. Dropshipping can reduce total inventory management and shipping costs. Spyhears from aanaka are good and you can now buy them by dropshipping easiely at low cost. It will save your money.

Thanks

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Mukul Singla

8 years ago

If you want to buy a spygear,i prefer using dropshipping for it. Thier are many advantages of drop shipping than buying from wholesalers. It is the best way to buy spygears. You can purchase spygears at low price with dropshipping. Dropshipping can reduce total inventory management and shipping costs. Spyhears from aanaka are good and you can now buy them by dropshipping easiely at low cost. It will save your money.

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Thanks Mukul,
it's something I will keep in mind

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

hi violet0176,

Yes what you see now is just a product of the excel files I uploaded. I purchased a SEO plugin and i am currently going over each page.

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

With my current fees I am spending, I am wondering, it would be cheaper for me to go with a site like wholesale2b?
Or also maybe dropping wordpress & woocommerce and just create a whole new site from scratch? I can do the programming. I used wordpress for a quick easy fix.

Thanks
1 reply

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violet0176

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

With my current fees I am spending, I am wondering, it would be cheaper for me to go with a site like wholesale2b?
Or also maybe dropping wordpress & woocommerce and just create a whole new site from scratch? I can do the programming. I used wordpress for a quick easy fix.

If you can program, perhaps consider marketing those skills and finding clients? More money to be made in programming than in pet supply drop shipping --unless you happen to find a unique pet product that isn't already all over the internet.

Thanks

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Yea I thought about that, but unfortunately I had to leave my job because of my disability. I can't commit much time for a client in front of a keyboard. As for myself, I can do a little here and there and break as often as I need.

I can help people here and there a bit, with little problems, but to sit and write full scripts in an acceptable amount of time, prohibits me. Since my site is going no where fast, I have all the time I need

Thanks

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chuff1026

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

Hi All,
I'm looking for some advice on Drop shipping vs Wholesale. I know the question has been beaten to death but I am still at a loss. I'll explain my situation. I am currently on disability looking for some way to supplement my income. Not looking to make tons of money just looking to make 400-600 a month.

I currently have a drop ship website setup for pet products; my pricing is setup up too high at the moment. But I decided to do some research before I waste any more time updating the site. I rent a VPS, I built the site myself with WordPress and WooCommerce. I have signed up with four drop ship companies, two of which I have setup online, the other two are still in the Excel stage ?. I have been checking via Ebay, Amazon & Google for pricing of my items. I can match or beat most of my items by a few dollars and still achieve my humble goal. I have been working on this for approximately 2 months, since I have started up again.

I have been promoting on Facebook the last month and I am up to 930 likes and a few subs. Unfortunately, there are no sales yet, due to my markups. I had chosen the drop ship route because my background is in web development and already had the VPS running my personal sites and email. As I mentioned above I am disabled and on a limited income, having no real knowledge in drop shipping and absolutely nothing about wholesale at all. I went for the "free drop ship option".

So my questions are; should I continue this route or is there a cheap way to get into wholesale. I don't have a clue where to even start. I was even looking into a site with dropshipdesign or wholesale2b, until I started reading the forums. My gut tells me to continue plugging along with my website, drop my margins down to the bare minimum and shoot for the 600 a month. I have the time to work on the site as much as my body will allow. But if there is a better solution I would love to hear it!

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post , any helpful info would be greatly appreciated!

Frank C

i dropship on ebay.
the margins may be smaller but you dont have to worry about driving traffic

Thanks

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chuff1026

8 years ago

with the money you wnat to make
thats two sales a day..
i can get you there in about a week

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

A little leary on Ebay holding my money for 21 days

Thanks
1 reply

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CrittersCorners

8 years ago

Well I updated the site, I'm getting up to 300 page views a day sometimes more on my blog site. Still not a sale or even a subscription to my newsletter. People have told me the pet market is over saturated I guess I need to start believing it. I am at a loss on what to do next, still considering wholesale2b for other products but I still am not to sure if that's a great idea.

Time to dig deep and do more research. maybe drop critters totally and start building downritedeals.com with multiple product lines. Thinking maybe the health market, some electronics and maybe some type of dollar store or some niche for kids.

I know I'm rambling but I just wanted to give an update on the site

P.S. Anyone have any experience using Tmart.com or dx.com?

Again thank you all for your imput,
Frank

Thanks
1 reply

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Oziboomer

8 years ago

Originally Posted by CrittersCorners

Well I updated the site, I'm getting up to 300 page views a day sometimes more on my blog site. Still not a sale or even a subscription to my newsletter. People have told me the pet market is over saturated I guess I need to start believing it. I am at a loss on what to do next, still considering wholesale2b for other products but I still am not to sure if that's a great idea.

Time to dig deep and do more research. maybe drop critters totally and start building downritedeals.com with multiple product lines. Thinking maybe the health market, some electronics and maybe some type of dollar store or some niche for kids.

I know I'm rambling but I just wanted to give an update on the site

P.S. Anyone have any experience using Tmart.com or dx.com?

Again thank you all for your imput,
Frank

The biggest consumable is pet food...right?

Multi-billion $$$ industry.

Maybe your traffic is looking for that?

Start generating more engagement...think about how to do that.

"Win your pet's weight in food"...share critters brand and win your pets weight in food...(gold)

Find what motivates the 300 a day to buy.

I have several online businesses and one gets less than half the traffic you are indicating. It sold just on $22400 in the last month,

If you have that genuine traffic then put an offer in front of them.

"Win a Years supply of pet food...etc.

Work out their need and make sure it is clear on the site,

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CrittersCorners 8 years ago

Thanks Ozi,

I'll keep plugging away!! Thank's for the inspiration!!

Frank
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- aspetg 8 years ago
  
  Take it from a Power Seller having a paypal hold for 21 days is a one time thing and not a big deal. This is a bit of a hurdle for newbies that they gotta overcome dropshipping since you have to front the money of the items your customers are buying until your are not in "Paypal Jail" anymore. Once that goes away then the sky is the limit. You can easly overcome this by having 20 transactions with Paypal. It just a layer of security that Paypal has implemented to determine if you are legit and do ship out the items that customers are purchasing with Ebay.
  
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