How can you find dropshippers

Any free membership site available?

I find it hard to understand why anyone would pay $299 to become a customer.

I agree with a lot of this. Face to face i.e meeting with suppliers, is still the best way to do business IMHO. Obviously if they're on the other side of the world, you have to travel.

Alternatively, email and video conferencing would be my second option.

Never pay for a dropship or wholesale site you can find them in google by typing the product name or niche + dropshipper (example: xbox 360 console + dropshipper)

I am pleased that you have found some success with Salehoo, but until you find out the massive profits that you can get by buying direct from the real manufacturers, even in small quantities, you will be working harder for less money.

Hi Sandra,

Thank you for your comments. I would not be thinking of orders large enough to cause a warehousing problem. During the 22 years that I ran my importing business, I and my franchisees only needed space about the size of 2 wardrobe closets. We were importing small size, high value items.

Most orders we placed were around $500 but it was common to receive shipments as little as $100 value.

The time taken to pack and ship a parcel on which you make $500 profit is a lot less than the time to handle all the order processing of 50 items at $10 profit each even if you dropship. The profit % difference between direct importing from factories and dropshipping can often be that great.

This is not theory on my part. I did it for 22 years, and since I sold my franchise business operating in 4 countries, the franchisees are still doing it. Many posts I have seen on WF support what is my experience in relation to profit margins.

There are other things to take into account, such as the good feeling of knowing that you won't be left in the lurch by dropshippers running out of stock or discontinuing a product line without bothering to tell you. That is a very common complaint made by warriors who have become unhappy with dropshipping.

Also, don't forget that when you buy from a dropship supplier, that is a B2B transaction and you have no consumer protection. Your customers do, and if they return a lot of product, you have to find the money to finance those refunds, and still carry them in stock until you sell them - if ever. Demand may have gone off the boil due to sudden release of an updated version, or merely a fashion fad has changed, or you may have chosen purple but the color most people prefer is red. You will make the refunds but may not sell the returned items, without taking a heavy loss.

If such returns happen when you have imported direct from real manufacturers, you will be able to discount by 50% and still make a profit. That way you would not only liquidate your inventory, but also make a much bigger margin than the average dropshipper.