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Any advice would be incredibly helpful

by lihdeeuh
6 replies
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I am a freelance writer by trade. I've worked for a major entertianment company writing bio's for over a year now and did short SEO articles before that. I've recently started dabbling in reselling and I have a few dropshippers but I feel like there has to be better options out there. I sell products in the beauty niche with a focus on professional hair care, supplies, disposable cosmetics and styling tools. Basically, what I want to know is if it's absolutely necessary for me to join some sort of dropshipping membership site in order to find the best suppliers to work with. Being as though I don't simply sell one thing in the beauty industry it's hard to find a supplier that has multiple products so I've stuck mainly to beauty supply wholesale stores.

Any advice or resources you may have would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot-
#advice #helpful #incredibly
  • Profile picture of the author dburk
    Hi lihdeeuh,

    I suggest that you attend tradeshows:

    Beauty Expo USA Trade Show (ethnic)
    Cosmetic Trade Show, Beauty Products Exhibitions North America

    And, join membership trade groups and associations:
    Home - ICMAD - Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors
    Beauty Associations

    You find nearly all the biggest sppliers there and have an opportunity to build relationships with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel J
    Hi Lihdeeuh,
    If you're just starting out, you may consider arbitrage. This is basically buying low and selling high. Cosmetics are IDEAL for this since they are regularly closed out, clearanced, sold out and discontinued. If you can get your hands on several discontinued products that people are loyal to, you can charge a LOT for them. Your profit margin will be significantly higher than buying wholesale. I do this as a regular part of my business and though I don't focus on the cosmetics niche, I do dabble in it from time to time. I am constantly ASTOUNDED at the profits that are there. I know several people making a full time living focusing on cosmetics using the arbitrage method. You can find lots of helpful information about this on the internet including the section I wrote about it in my ebook (check my signature- I also cover finding and working with wholesale suppliers.) I would not recommend starting by buying a membership. I did use worldwide brands starting out, but I consumed all of their free information FIRST. You can find inventory, sources and suppliers without ever subscribing to a membership. It may help in the future, but start with the free route. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Ecommerce Advice
    You could always approach current online independent sellers and explain what you want to do and a bit about your background.

    Ask if they will ship for you, and even better if they will include your sales details or at least leave theirs out! You should be able to work out some good discounts. They might just give you a voucher code that gives 25% off for example on everything you sell.

    Since you know your stuff in that area, make yourself different from simple ecommerce beauty sites. Try and add content and value for the customer. If you review a product point out the good and bad, and other products they might like.
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Originally Posted by lihdeeuh View Post

    Basically, what I want to know is if it's absolutely necessary for me to join some sort of dropshipping membership site in order to find the best suppliers to work with. Being as though I don't simply sell one thing in the beauty industry it's hard to find a supplier that has multiple products so I've stuck mainly to beauty supply wholesale stores.
    No, membership into a "suppliers database" is certainly not necessary. In fact, you will rarely find many great suppliers for any given product type within that type of directory. What we teach and recommend to our students it to "start at the source!" Identify the top brands for the targeted product type, and contact the manufacturers that make those brands directly. If the manufacturers won't dropship or sell to you in small bulk, they can typically give you contact details for distributors that buy their products in bulk.

    SIDE NOTE: a typical distributor will generally carry numerous brands and types of any given product, so this can end up being a better solution for you. Ideally you will find a distributor that is willing to dropship a WIDE RANGE of products, and not just the one you were going after.

    Obviously, I am not recommending that you avoid education and training here. Anything you learn is going to help you sharpen your skills and improve your business. I am talking specifically about supplier directories or membership groups.

    Best of luck!!
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  • Profile picture of the author justray
    All great advice already stated above.
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    • Profile picture of the author OnlineStoreHelp
      Lots of great advice but given what you initially said about your background, I am gonna ask a couple questions and give you another possible route. If I am off base, just ignore.

      It sounds like you are not only a good writer but enjoy it. While I do not know if you are a licensed esthetician (credibility is all in the makeup side of things) you are in a great position to write about the beauty field, and then sell private labeled products (your own brand).

      It is not uncommon for a lot of makeup manufacturers to private label for you. Items such as brushes, liners and others can be had for quite a bit less or through these same companies.

      Of course this does mean taking inventory instead of drop shipping but this is an area where inventory can work real well.

      Items are small which means they store easily in a closet and can fit into USPS flat rate boxes and envelopes, or even first class (less than 13 ounces) meaning you take away the biggest issue, which is shipping costs.

      No need to compete on price since unless they know exactly who your actual manufacturer is, hard for them to just find the cheapest prices.

      Writing for me is the hardest part of this business and since you have that down pat, the other things are a piece of cake.

      Remember, you can always work with a hair stylists (if you are not licensed) to go into the the salon supply stores and get the wholesale pricing. A lot of the high end hair and makeup are only supposed to be sold via licensed professionals.
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