11 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
11 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Dropshipping - Help needed!

by jamesie
8 replies
  • ECOMMERCE
    • |
Folks, I need some help, I am looking to start dropshipping, I have come accorss a dropshipper who carries a wide range of products, I set up a free account with them and they are sending me a file with the product listing, but i am unsure as to where i go from here, i do not yet have a website but they advised that i was best to sell on amazon ebay etc initially as there is low costs involved and i can start making money asap, however i would be very grateful if someone could let me know what exactly i need to do from here, do i set up ebay and amazon accounts and upload the products there and watch for sales? many many thanks:confused:
#dropshipping #needed
  • Profile picture of the author GTC1187
    I've been doing ecommerce since 2011, and I'll tell you that listening to your dropshipping rep on how to market your products is the fastest way to fail. You will spend lots of money and fail. you may get 5 sales if you're lucky, but you will fail.
    You will need your own site, preferably with a hosted shopping cart like bigcommerce, which is what I use like.
    You may not need programming or design skills, as you can hire someone to redesign a stock template for $500 if you source locally from craigslist. Don't hire one of the big designers that supports your software, it will be overpriced and overhyped.
    Next, you WILL fail if you don't spend probably 500+ hours SERIOUSLY learning everything you can about SEO, PPC, Social Media, and how you can use all these together. I would recommend focusing on SEO. It will be hard, but I've been learning SEO for 2.5 years and I'm still learning. One thing, never take the easy way or trust someone else to manage your marketing campaigns. You can do better work for free with experience.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8892710].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author webitemsllc
      Originally Posted by GTC1187 View Post

      I've been doing ecommerce since 2011, and I'll tell you that listening to your dropshipping rep on how to market your products is the fastest way to fail. You will spend lots of money and fail. you may get 5 sales if you're lucky, but you will fail.
      You will need your own site, preferably with a hosted shopping cart like bigcommerce, which is what I use like.
      You may not need programming or design skills, as you can hire someone to redesign a stock template for $500 if you source locally from craigslist. Don't hire one of the big designers that supports your software, it will be overpriced and overhyped.
      Next, you WILL fail if you don't spend probably 500+ hours SERIOUSLY learning everything you can about SEO, PPC, Social Media, and how you can use all these together. I would recommend focusing on SEO. It will be hard, but I've been learning SEO for 2.5 years and I'm still learning. One thing, never take the easy way or trust someone else to manage your marketing campaigns. You can do better work for free with experience.
      freelancer.com and odesk.com is the better way to find programmers.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8894221].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GTC1187
    Also, lose the company you're working with. Companies like Doba, etc. are NOT the way to dropship. You will need much larger profit margins to work with to be successful.
    I know that many will act like it takes little effort to build a site and optimize it and make a profit like its a simple or straightforward task, it is NOT.
    I almost starved to death trying to make it in internet marketing, suffered from severe depression, and it took many, many months to develop enough REAL skills to be able to make money online.
    If you don't learn REAL skills like SEO, programming, Design, PPC, etc. you WILL fail, even if you have thousands of dollars to invest.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8892720].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author forestcall
    I would first want to know more about this drop shipper.

    I am not exactly clear what you are asking.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8892853].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Anton Louis
    It sounds like they are a middleman supplier... if you really want to make money with drop shipping you should get their csv and then open accounts directly with every brand included on their list.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8893719].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author webitemsllc
    The true way to drop ship successfully is to go directly to the manufacture or distributor. Sales is a three step process. Manufacturer, Distributor/Wholesaler, Retailer. Drop shipping has gained a bad rep because most people are selling at the retail side of business rather than the distributor. Therefore the profit is beyond low. And you end up trying to charge more than retail and fail. You are not going to find distributor online saying "Hey drop ship with us." You need to do some leg work, calling and get working. You cant just google, and make tons of money. If it was easy everyone would do it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8894210].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by webitemsllc View Post

      The true way to drop ship successfully is to go directly to the manufacture or distributor. Sales is a three step process. Manufacturer, Distributor/Wholesaler, Retailer. Drop shipping has gained a bad rep because most people are selling at the retail side of business rather than the distributor. Therefore the profit is beyond low. And you end up trying to charge more than retail and fail. You are not going to find distributor online saying "Hey drop ship with us." You need to do some leg work, calling and get working. You cant just google, and make tons of money. If it was easy everyone would do it.
      What you say is exactly right. I really like your description of profit margins resulting from the fact that suppliers are selling retail: "Therefore the profit is beyond low."

      To be fair, they usually give discounts to resellers, but the trouble is whenever I check on what dropship suppliers are offering I find those discounts are so low that resellers would be better off getting a job selling burgers.

      It is possible to eliminate Step 2 in that 3 step process. Forget about the Distributor/wholesaler (Step 2 ) and buy direct from the manufacturer. I am talking about overseas manufacturers not local ones who don't want to be bothered with small customers.

      The usual protest when I write such a thing in a post is that manufacturers require huge MOQs.Well, let me just say that I have taught hundreds of people how to ignore those MOQs and get the manufacturers to supply small quantities. It can be done if you take the right approach and the rewards are huge, because it allows you to bypass Step 2.
      Signature
      Use emotions and perceptions to build a great brand. Ask me about my book LabelsThatExploit. For safe sourcing and easy importing from 41 countries globally, see https://provenglobalsourcing.com
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8894568].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BrianDavid
    The first thing to do is research items. The profit margins on Ebay and Amazon can be thin. You don't want to spent a lot of time listing items that don't have any profit to be made. Take your time now and pick the right items. Ebay gets 10% plus your overhead costs, etc. Amazon takes a cut , too. What I do is get a shopping cart that charges no fees, and use Ebay and Amazon as sort of an advertising vehicle by placing low cost items to attract traffic to my main store where I don't get charged any fees. This of course makes your profit bigger.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8896380].message }}

Trending Topics