What Is Dropshipping? Dropshipping is a process where the supplier ships the goods directly to the customer for you.
How does it work?
You advertise the supplier’s products at the RRP price (recommended retail price), and then when a customer places an order, you purchase it from the supplier at wholesale prices and pocket the difference.
There’s no need to keep stock, so it’s a great way to make money from home if you don’t have the cash 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 a great place to search for companies that dropship for you.
Simply enter the keywords “dropshipping” followed by the products that you are interested in selling into a search engine.
It’s also worth searching for terms such as “wholesale”, “distributor” and “reseller”.
If you find a company and like their products but it doesn’t state whether they drop ship, simply contact them and ask if they would do it for you.
I’ve done this with great success. Doing it this way often works out better because you won’t have lots of competition with other resellers selling the same product.
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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 a stock update so that you can keep your site updated, or the stock availability is always shown on their website.
- If you don’t have stock information, it can cause problems with receiving orders that you can’t fulfil should a product be out of stock.
- Make sure all their charges are clearly stated, such as delivery costs. Are there any additional fees?
- Dispatch information is important 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 totally 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.
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. There are also larger plans 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 own 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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