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Advice for new dropshipper on ebay

by Ness You
8 replies
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I am a dropshipper on ebay my store performance has been down any advices how I can find winning and trending product ?
#advice #dropshipper #ebay
  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    One good place to start is reading the thread below:


    https://www.warriorforum.com/warrior...days-ebay.html
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  • Profile picture of the author Jamell
    Trends come and go .Remember innovation drives growth .I think it would help if you started a blog to drive traffic and build more awareness about your services .

    Do you have an email list yet ?
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Frankly, I always advocate promoting an evergreen product vs. a trending one. When you follow trends, you are often far behind the curve and by the time you catch up, the trend has switched to something else. It's a ton of wasted time far too often (and whether you spend money or not, time is money)

    The only way to cash in on a "trend" is to catch it super early and with paid advertising. When you are continually following trends, by the time your SEO efforts pay off in most cases, people have moved onto something else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by Ness You View Post

    I am a dropshipper on ebay my store performance has been down any advices how I can find winning and trending product ?


    Back in the day we used to find stuff to sell at DMOZ.

    The site has been resurrected and you should be able
    to find some interesting products there.

    The search feature doesn't seem to be functioning so
    you will need to look through the categories until you
    find things that you want.

    You could also look through the Archives.

    Then there is the Thomas Register.

    I don't understand how you can be in sales when you
    don't know how to source products. That's the main
    thing you need to know about.

    Another thing newbies, you can't just contact one or
    two suppliers and get dejected when they won't do
    business with you. You might need to contact 25-50
    companies until you find somebody that wants to do
    business with a small seller. Most major distributors
    don't want to be bothered.

    I'm not referring to Alibaba, I'm talking about actual
    suppliers of things that you can make money with,
    not novelty items that dozens of other people are
    selling too.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      Back in the day we used to find stuff to sell at DMOZ.

      The site has been resurrected and you should be able
      to find some interesting products there.

      The search feature doesn't seem to be functioning so
      you will need to look through the categories until you
      find things that you want.

      You could also look through the Archives.

      Then there is the Thomas Register.

      I don't understand how you can be in sales when you
      don't know how to source products. That's the main
      thing you need to know about.

      Another thing newbies, you can't just contact one or
      two suppliers and get dejected when they won't do
      business with you. You might need to contact 25-50
      companies until you find somebody that wants to do
      business with a small seller. Most major distributors
      don't want to be bothered.

      I'm not referring to Alibaba, I'm talking about actual
      suppliers of things that you can make money with,
      not novelty items that dozens of other people are
      selling too.
      Great points! The only thing I would add to it is that it is a little bit easier to get supplier #2 after you have supplier #1; easier still, to get supplier #3 after you have two suppliers and so on ...

      What's even better, is once you have a handful of suppliers, suddenly the ones that turned you down in the earlier stages often want to do business with you, now that they see their competition on your website. Some of those earlier turndowns often contact YOU down the riad, if you have a decent search engine presence.

      INSIDER CHEAT TIP: Sometimes, the only way to break into a market is to build a website in advance with suppliers and products you cannot really sell. Then, contact those suppliers' competitors, making it seem as if you already are selling products from the ones listed on your website. Obviously, once you land a real supplier or two, you'll need to hide the products from suppliers you don't really have so that you can market your website for the products you DO actually carry. After you have a couple of real suppliers, it's easier to contact the suppliers of your hidden "dummy" products, now that they can see their competitors on your site.
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      • Profile picture of the author Monetize
        Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

        Great points! The only thing I would add to it is that it is a little bit easier to get supplier #2 after you have supplier #1; easier still, to get supplier #3 after you have two suppliers and so on ...


        It's always easier to make new business contacts
        when you already have them, but there is nothing
        wrong with being honest and telling the suppliers
        that you are just starting out.

        I sympathize with the newbies today because the
        various platforms are all so saturated - eBay, Etsy,
        Fiverr, YouTube, etc. have millions of people doing
        the same exact thing and pushing the same types
        of products.

        Experienced IMers have developed methods and
        access to products, so it's a cinch for us to start a
        business and set up new income streams.

        When newbies start a business, and conditions
        are not ideal, it is not that easy, so I understand
        why the majority of newbies never get anything
        going or give up after getting started and nothing
        materializes.

        Those of us that got an early start doing business
        online are very lucky. We tried different things
        until we found something that fit, we did not seek
        instant gratification, and we were willing to put in
        the work until we got paid. We were very different
        from the current generation.
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        • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
          Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

          It's always easier to make new business contacts
          when you already have them, but there is nothing
          wrong with being honest and telling the suppliers
          that you are just starting out.
          Although that is the way it should be, it is seldom the case these days in the real world. Most suppliers, I've found, do not want to waste their time setting up a startup. They have learned over the years that 90% of the accounts they set up never send them a single order, so it is a waste of their time, they think.

          That's why I suggested the "slight of hand", building a "dummy" site, with products you don't really carry, in order to appear as if you are already selling stuff from the competitors of brands you contact.

          Also, another thing that has worked for us in the past is telling a potential supplier, "I get it ... most of the people who contact you, hoping to sell your product, are just a waste of your time because they never send you an single order. Tell you what ... let's not waste either of our time with the account setup process. How about just sending me your wholesale prices and terms and I'll put your products on the website. When the first order comes in for your products, we'll set up the account then."
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          • Profile picture of the author Monetize
            Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

            Although that is the way it should be, it is seldom the case these days in the real world. Most suppliers, I've found, do not want to waste their time setting up a startup. They have learned over the years that 90% of the accounts they set up never send them a single order, so it is a waste of their time, they think.

            That's why I suggested the "slight of hand", building a "dummy" site, with products you don't really carry, in order to appear as if you are already selling stuff from the competitors of brands you contact.

            Also, another thing that has worked for us in the past is telling a potential supplier, "I get it ... most of the people who contact you, hoping to sell your product, are just a waste of your time because they never send you an single order. Tell you what ... let's not waste either of our time with the account setup process. How about just sending me your wholesale prices and terms and I'll put your products on the website. When the first order comes in for your products, we'll set up the account then."


            I post about my own experiences in business and I
            operated an actual dropship business for several
            years, until I got tired of dealing with customers,
            payment processors, and shipping companies.

            I got married around that same time, and I decided
            that I wanted to go in another direction, which was
            developing my own websites to promote affiliate
            products, as I preferred the passive income aspect
            of this business model rather than dealing with the
            headaches of dropshipping.

            Things have changed in the dropship industry, there
            is integration and automation available now, none of
            this was available fifteen years ago. And now there
            are hundreds of companies that will dropship their
            products. IMO, the whole thing's become saturated
            with inferior merchandise as well as everybody and
            their brother wanting to get into dropshipping.

            When I started out with dropshipping, that wasn't
            even a word we used. I asked my suppliers if they
            would ship their products directly to my customers.

            I let the suppliers know that I was a beginner and
            if I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing
            because I would rather be honest than to devise
            a scheme to deceive people that I was trying to
            establish a business relationship with.

            Your INSIDER CHEAT TIP is unethical, and even
            if it wasn't it probably wouldn't work anyway since
            people need permission to use suppliers images.

            You can't just set up a website, or sell things on
            eBay, by snagging images and descriptions that
            you don't have permission to use.

            Doing that would cause a new venture to risk
            receiving a DMCA removal/takedown order.

            You can do whatever you want, but if I were you
            I would stop suggesting that people do this as it
            is bad advice.
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            • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
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              • Profile picture of the author Monetize
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                • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
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