What Is Dropshipping? Dropshipping is a business model where the supplier ships the goods directly to the customer on your behalf.
How does it work?
You advertise the supplier’s products at the Recommended Retail Price (RRP). Then, when a customer places an order, you purchase the item from the supplier at wholesale prices and retain the difference as profit.
There’s no need to keep any stock, so it’s a great way to make money from home if you don’t have the upfront capital to pay out for stock in advance.
Dropshipping is also ideal for companies with limited storage space selling large items such as sofas. If you’ve ever bought a sofa, you’ll know there is often a wait for delivery from the supplier.
Where do I find a dropshipper?
The internet is an excellent platform to find companies that provide dropshipping services. To find these companies, simply input “dropshipping” followed by the products you’re interested in selling into any search engine. Additionally, using keywords like “wholesale”, “distributor”, and “reseller” may yield beneficial results.
If you stumble upon a company whose products appeal to you, but there’s no clear indication of their dropshipping policy, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. From personal experience, this approach can be quite successful. More often than not, you’ll find less competition with other resellers selling the same product, making it a potentially more profitable venture.
Another way to find dropship suppliers is to use a directory. This way is a lot faster, and SaleHoo has around 8,000+ suppliers and over 2.5 million products to choose from so you can start building your dropshipping business quicker and with confidence.
How do I choose?
I’ve been selling products this way for years, mainly personalised gifts. Here are my tips to help you choose:
- See how long the company has been around, it’s better to choose one that has been in business for a while and has a good reputation.
- Make sure the company provides you with stock updates to keep your site current or ensures that stock availability is always displayed on their website
- Lack of stock information can lead to issues with unfulfillable orders if a product is out of stock.
- Make sure all their charges, such as delivery costs, are clearly stated. Also, inquire if there are any additional fees.
- Dispatch information is essential as well, you need to know how long it takes for them to ship the products. Do they provide you with a dispatch notification so that you can inform your customer?
- Find out which delivery service(s) they use, find out what their return procedure is, and lastly, always read the terms and conditions.
How Do I Start a Dropshipping Business?
You can sell drop-shipped products on any e-commerce platform, Amazon, eBay or even Facebook groups.
Please note that some companies do not allow selling on Amazon and eBay and they will only allow you to sell their products on your own e-commerce store.
You can set up a WordPress blog and install Woocommerce which is free to use. This is the cheapest way to get started, however, it can be a bit more complicated for those who aren’t tech-savvy.
If you want an easier option, an e-commerce provider like EKM has everything you need to get started, including professional e-commerce templates for your store.
Here are some hosting companies and e-commerce providers that I recommend checking out:
I also have a special offer for you – Try EKM free for 28 days and set up your store straight away. EKM stores are very user-friendly.
You may also wish to read my post on how easy it is to add personalised products to your EKM shop.
Dropship Wholesale Suppliers
The following are dropship suppliers that I have trade accounts with and therefore know are reliable. Before applying to any supplier, it’s important to get your website set up because you may not be accepted if they cannot see how you are going to sell their products.
Some suppliers do not allow their products to be sold on eBay or Amazon as mentioned above, so check their terms and conditions first.
Personalised Memento – Personalised gifts.
Puckator – Giftware
Liberty House Toys – The leading supplier of fine children’s furniture, traditional toys, playroom furniture, and nursery products to retailers throughout the UK.
Personalised Trade Gifts – Personalised gifts.
SaleHoo – Find trustworthy dropship and wholesale suppliers.
For Shopify store owners looking for cheap and reliable Chinese suppliers. SaleHoo dropship allows Shopify store owners to import AliExpress products that are personally vetted by SaleHoo staff.
Dropship Integration
Ekm now has four dropshipping integrations. Syncee is for online shops that are looking to source goods like homewares, clothing, toys, and more.
Anyone looking to get started with dropshipping for the first time can take advantage of the integration at £0 for the first 25 items. Larger plans are available for businesses that would like to offer a wider range of dropshipped goods.
There are also three print-on-demand integrations available for online shops that would like to sell merchandise with their design or logo printed onto textiles. These are Two Fifteen, Snuggle, and Printify. Visit EKM to find out more.
I hope this information has been of help, and that you’re now raring to start your own dropship store! Check your website name/domain availability below.
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