5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

An Ecommerce Store question

by lsamarketer
4 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hi,
I have discovered a fairly good niche product accidentally while playing around with Market Samurai, and I found a dropshiper that provides a preloaded website. This sounds tempting in that they also provide an affiliate link to your store where you can profit from anyone else who starts a store through your website link. But I understand that there are drawbacks to having a site that is hosted with a wholesaler. Perhaps there are also negatives about having a cookie cutter site(?).

Can anyone give me the pros and cons of going this route?

Thanks,
LSM
#ecommerce #question #store
  • Profile picture of the author Richard Whyte
    LSM

    I think you are in a way already stating the Pros and Cons.... The biggest pro is that you have a pre built site that the Driopshipper maintains. Most of these are simple to use and you need very little customization work done. Some offer a tool panal that allows you to set colors and some minor layout changes....

    The CONS are you often need to have the name of the company in the title of the URL... Something like:

    dropshipper.com.

    This can cause use issues as some places don't allow you to list your link on them if it is an Affiliate link... WF is one of them. In your signature you can't use an Affiliate link...

    You can get around this a little by going out to NameCheap.com or Godaddy.com and getting your own domain name and then getting it to forward to your affiliate link.

    Although it can be a good thing, I don't like dropshippers. Your reputation is at the mercy of the dropshipper. If they are out of stock on an item and you sell it to a customer, you have to do refunds and explain what is going on.

    This is just me.... I am very, very careful with every single client I am lucky enough to have trust me with there business. If anything, I attempt to over deliver as this is one of the best ways I build my client list. Word of mouth is so very important and you want your clients to love the service you provide.... When you put such a large part of your business in the hands of someone else, your are trusting them to have the same standards as yourself.....

    Hope that helps you.

    Have a Great Day!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1485127].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BrentHodgson
      Richard (above) raises some good points.

      There's also some potential duplicate content issues with using cookie-cutter sites.

      Like always, dip your toe into the market - if you see results, do more and more, and make more and more money.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1485698].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author omrid1
        Personally I don't like preloaded websites of any kind mainly because of duplicate content and to customize such sites is a pain. I prefer to be more in control and use my own code. In addition building an ecommerce site is very easy using software such as Creloaded so there is really no reason to use the preloaded one. I like using drop shipping but you have to be very careful and find a good company. Usually I always like to use the manufacturer as the drop shipper if it is possible.

        Hope this helps
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1485745].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author lsamarketer
    Thanks for all the good advice.

    I'm a member of Worldwide Brands. The CEO Chris Malta is real big on Yahoo Stores and they offer special deals to WWB members, so I'm going to go with them. Chris M is a great guy, and he even takes personal calls. I had to leave a message, but was pleasantly surprised when he called me right back in a little while. He basically said the same things I'm hearing here from you all.

    As for the dropshiper, they are a reputable company selling a quality product, so I'm willing to trust them. But as a backup, I also have a couple others who sell similar items I can stock.

    LSM
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1489673].message }}

Trending Topics