Dropship???

I've gone with Urbanload.com, they are ok, take a little while to ship though, never tried dropship design, though.

Have you gone to worldwidebrands.com ? (I think thats the URL) They give you access to the actual manufacturers that dropship in loads of niches.

Ah! I used DD before and I had a bad experience with it.
Although I made money from them but not with their dropship
products but with the retail site that they are selling.

Here's the list:
Profit margin is very slim, sell it on ebay and you'll be broke just for auction fees.
The checkout process is not users friendly
server is very slow due to overloading
you don't have access with the ftp.
expect a higher product returns/refunds specially on eletronics most of them are refurbished but on the description they're new.

I can go on in on in on with these... coz I went through it.

If your friend planning to go on dropshipping route then I will not hesitate to say DON'T. I rather promote Amazon products through affiliates than dropship stuff.

Just my 2 and a half cents...

Gama

Glad to help out!

For DD just google with the company name+scam and you'll find few ripoffs.

After trying many others, I stick with worldwidebrands and its the best. You can google for discount codes on it.

I would never recommend Alibaba. It's a huge pool of scammers you can't do anything about.

I use a website thats only available in Chinese, everything is priced at their economic prices, and more direct. I've purchased computers for $40 USD and then resold them for $800 USD before on eBay, purchased in bulk amounts. However, its impossible to purchase from this site without knowing someone in China who can send you the items, and if you know what you are doing, you can get huge discounts on shipping through EMS Airmail. With this, you could dropship each item you sell, but its better to just buy a bulk amount of something.

This is Really the best way, no middle men, and your purchases are based on the manufacturers economic prices. When I say economic prices, I don't just mean the conversion rate. Many items are sold in China for just a little bit more than they cost to produce, not the price jacked up by middle men who all need a cut.

Wow lots of good information here ... thanks for posting the question SuccessfulMom ... I learned a lot from the group replies.

Gama , can you actually purchase brand name items from leading manufactors ie Sony, Nike , Boss , Alpine , Polo , Name brand titles of DVD , Video Games etc

Thanks,
Jason

Hi Tina , So these items are no less than if you bought from a retailer ?

What do you mean about cracked system ?

Thanks,
Jason

FYI: DVDs, and Video Games. Most of them are high copies. I found most of the suppliers are upfront about it.

Video Games for Wii, and Xbox will usually only work on cracked systems.

The only legitimate dropshipping directory type of service I know of is World Wide Brands. I've done some business with them in the past. Though it is a bit on the pricey side $300 one time fee I think, but that should not be an issue for anyone trying to set up a serious business.

One I've come across more recently is SaleHoo, they are on clickbank. I don't have any personal experience with them, but they seem to be #2 on the market after World Wide Brands.

Hello FaJeeb , just wanted to let you know I have sent you a PM. I look forward to your reply when you have a free minute.

Thanks ,
Jason

here is a few places you or your friend could try

alibaba com
goofbay com
worldwidebrands com
agros-clearance co uk
drogba com

i would personally ask your friend to keep there eyes out for police auctions of siezed items rather then dropship,

in some cases if your friend does a lot research. you can find some niches which are high in demand(for example nintendo wii you could dropship some of the controllers or games for example and make profit!!!i did)

another thing is be carefull of international dropship such as china, worldwide brands are the best for screen out fraud and fake dropshippers but the company you mentioned i would tend to aviod, when i started in ebay a few years ago i was banned on a temp.basis because i tried the company and it took me 6 months and a lot of patience to get resloved back in 2003

on a whole i would aviod them ,

hope that helps
andy

What about other name brand electronics , kitchen appliances , cookware, DVD's, clothing, sports gear , car audio, automotive, home audio, pet products, baby products, toys, adult products, tools , home security, art , home decor ,

and others..

Thanks,
Jason

Those inquiring about electronics, ESPECIALLY gaming systems, take it from someone who has been in the electronics retail business:

There is NO margin on computers, gaming systems, and VERY slim-to-none margin or anything that is an actual electronics component.

If you're talking ACCESSORIES, that is a different ballgame, with profit margins STARTING at 100%.

If giant retailers like Best Buy and Walmart can't make more than $1 (I joke you not) on a PS3, then what makes anybody think that we can? The electronics business is more about "solution selling" with accessories/service plans etc and that is where the money is made.

Audio equipment can have decent profits. High end Televisions carry huge profit. Appliances are not bad either... but as far as computers, gaming systems, and that sort of stuff, forget about it!

Shoaib is correct on the electronics.

I've been using drop shippers for years (but not electronics). It serves me well

However selling on ebay using the drop ship companies most people know about has not worked well for me. The profit margins are just not there.

Worldwide brands is a great company but nothing stellar. Still if you want to sell drop-shipped items you really should have them on your side. I like them to find companies that I can find the little things most people pass up like accessories and buying close-out inventory.

The most profitable items to sell I have found are from small companies that ship their own products. These you have to find yourself and create a relationship with.

Finally ebay just plain sucks for selling most consumer goods. Have a niche website and sell from there. Use ebay to get customers and funnel them to your niche store. Post in related forums/blogs to get people to your store. Use PPC, but watch your expenses carefully.

There are a ton of other things you can do to utilize drop shippers to make a profit. It's not the best way to make a buck, but it's a cheap way to get started.

Hi guys, this is an area that I am very experienced in. I have been dropshipping for quite a few years now I can tell you that research is absolutely key in making a decision which suppliers you sign up with.

To make sure your supllier is reliable I would always check the following.

1) Make sure they don't ask for payment by western union (very heavily used by scammers). Try and find one that uses Paypal.

2) Make sure they have physical contact details (address and telephone number) published on their website.

3) Do a whois search on their domain name and compare the address of the registrant to that published on the site. Make sure these matchup, if the address has been hidden then I would avoid them.

4) Try to phone them and email them to test out their customer services (you need to know you can rely on them on times where there is an issue with an order), if they takes ages to answer or don't answer at all then avoid them. If they are located in China then I would try and avoid branded electrical goods or items of clothing from them. China is very good for unbranded items, but the risk of being sold fakes is very high.

5) Once they have satisfied the other points, place a couple of test orders with them via paypal. You need to do this a few times as they may sent out your first order quickly in order to gain your trust, then not send out your second or third order.

6) If they are based outside your country, make sure you're aware of any customs charges that may be payable by your customer when their order enters the country, as the onus to pay customs charges would be on them. Having said that items from abroad can still be significantly cheaper than that available in the UK or US.

There is a very useful forum specialising in dropshipping that I would always recommend and that I use very frequently (not an affiliate link):
www.dropshipforum.co.uk

you can find dropshippers and advice for free on there.

Hope this helps

Jacob

Have to be careful with dropshipping companies.

Back in 2001 that was one of the first things i got involved in before moving to affiliate marketing.

World wide brands is reputable, yet they have raised their entrance fee higher since back in 2001 when it was like $50 and even then you have to dig through the crap

There are a lot of middle parties involved out there. i.e

I join up to a site like worldwidebrands, then create my own membership site, acting like world wide brands and yet im taking a piece of each sale being made.

You want to get the direct company information, no in between men

Anyway Most top selling ebay sellers are not using drop shipping companies they are purchasing wholesale from usa and china based companies

World Wide Brands is a good choice. The site has a online directory of wholesalers, liquidators, and dropshippers. It also has a nice marketing tool/utility as well.