Dropshippng bad luck

[iwiw60]

I use 2 dropshippers for some things in my stores, have had great luck with them both, never got backordered on anything, and all customers are pleased with the transactions...so for me, it's been a good thing...hopefully will remain that way...just my 2 cents...

[victorfrank]

I have bought 'drop shipped' goods on eBid and everything about the experience was positive.

[moonwitch]

I have bought 'drop shipped' goods on eBid and everything about the experience was positive.

Are you following me?

[FUTERVEST]

The bigest problem with dropshippers are they are also selling at wholesale and you cant under price your supplier. also they are wholsalers and sell in volume thats why they run out of mercandice. If you get a reputatyion of not having what you promise you will soner or later go out of buisness. usualy sooner. good luck to you all and remember , dont pay tose membership fees because ther is always somone else seling the same product cheeper than a dropshipper. and there are many droppers that dont charge for there services.
Thanks FUTERVEST

[Idealproductsales]

Really rather depends on the drop shipper.. there *ARE* legitimate wholesale suppliers that aldo happen to drop-ship.

Best way to spot a company that pretends to be a drop shipper:

1) they charge a membership fee for access to their products
2) products are not stocked and shipped by them (they instead contact the real drop ship companies to drop ship your order)
3) they do not require that you have a business license, sales tax license, and Federal EIN (That is, you must be a legitimate, registered business)
4) they try to sell you a website on their hosting servers (usually for exorbitant, inflated fees!)

Very often those same companies will be selling on the same websites that you do..

Another point: - you will almost NEVER find a legitimate distributor or wholesaler and definitely not a drop-shipper via a google search.

Finding legitimate suppliers requires a lot of hard work and research, and phone calls, emails, faxes, etc. with manufacturers and manufacturer's representatives.

Legit wholesale suppliers (including those that will drop-ship) do not advertise or even go for websites (although some do have basic websites in place for ordering convenience of their customers) - The best way to find them is make a list of product that you want to sell, and then contact the manufacturer of that product (or brand name) directly, in a business like , professional manner. with a little research you'll be able to get to the sales department for the company and most often the sales department will either give you a referral to a regional sales manager, or to the distribution center(s) where they ship product to - that gives you the lead on where to get a hold of a legit supplier. 9 times out of 10, you'll need to be prepared to place a stocking order (although, very often, you may be surprised at the minimum order - in some cases as little as $100 worth of product) - Once in a great while there will be such distributors that also will drop-ship product to your customer as a value-added service.. Often for a nominal drop-ship fee, and sometimes they even let you pay just their cost of shipping, which is often at a discount rate - cheaper than you'd get if you shipped yourself. (but they don't do blind drop-shipping, where you get your own labeling.. in my case, I just refer to them as my "fulfillment center" - which they are, in a manner of speaking.. )

These distributors' focus is on turning the inventory in their warehouses and getting product out to dealers - They don't worry about page ranking or google advertising or any such stuff.. Their only concern is turning their inventory at the projected rate - they dont do marketing, they dont advertise (except to industry publications and trade directories)

It'll take a lot of homework but it is entirely possible to find good, valid distributors for products you want to sell, that actually drop-ship.. It isnt easy (if it was, everyone and their grandmother would be doing the same thing) , but with some good old-fashioned hard work, and a little determination, and some degree of professionalism and a business like attitude, It's very much do-able.

Ive done this for years - back when I had my small engines repair business, I wrote directly to the engine and equipment manufacturers, got names, phone numbers, addresses of distributors , and got set up with a good 2 dozen sources for all my parts and equipment needs (and I was only 14 years old at the time!) - and a couple of them even would do drop-shipping (I did not even know what drop-shipping was back then.. ) and got emergency ordered parts shipped overnight to a couple of my biggest commercial customers whenever I needed them, and didnt have inventory on hand.

All it takes is the right mind-set and a professional, business-like attitude (and be prepared to fax out documentation such as your business license, sales & use tax permits, etc, etc) and you can set up business relationships with almost any company to get the product you want to sell. (forget aliababa, petra, Doba, etc.. )

[Teddyrose54]

Now that is good sound advice.

Well worth knowing~ especially if you're new to selling.