Dropshipping Companies

Dropshipping companies what services do they provide?

Dropshipping companies provide an invaluable service for Internet marketers and auction sellers. Dropshipping companies give individuals and small companies the opportunity to offer an expanded range of products without the need for additional finance or storage space. In simple terms the dropshipping companies allow you to advertise any items that they stock on your web site or in online auctions without you having to purchase it first.

The basic idea is that you set up a relationship with a wholesaler or wholesalers to offer their goods online. Your business can be operated from anywhere in the world and all you need is a computer and an Internet connection. You advertise the items for sale, usually using descriptions and images provided buy the wholesaler or dropship company that you are using. When you receive the order and payment from a customer you pass the details on to your supplier who fulfils the request. You bank the customer’s payment and then forward your payment to the supplier. The difference between the two amounts is your profit.

The advantages of running such a business is that you can never be left with stock on your hands, suffer fraud or late payment.. These are all issues that effect the more traditional types of business.

There is nothing new in the concept of dropshipping companies, back in the late fifties and early sixties many individuals set up home based mail order companies and used dropshipping companies to provide their stock. With the growth of the Internet and online auctions more and more dropshipping companies have appeared and whilst some are very good others leave something to be desired.

Dropshipping – Should I use online auctions or have my own web site?

You have a choice of either building your own web site or using an online auction site such as eBay or CQout to launch your new business. Initially using the online auction sites may appear to be the easier option as you need no special technical or computing skills. However, these days it is very simple to set up a simple web site using WordPress which is not only easy but also free. There are many WordPress videos and courses that will show you exactly how to set up a web site. One big advantage of using online auctions is that the traffic is already there. eBay for instance gets hundreds of thousands of hits every day. If you build your own web site you have the job of attracting visitors to you web site.

If you opt for using dropshipping companies to help you launch your Internet marketing business the best option may be to use both methods. Whilst listing your products on the on line auction sites you can direct potential customers to your own web site. Jim Cockrum’s very low priced ebook The Silent Sales Machine- Revised Edition gives full details of how you can do this.

How to get started with dropshipping companies

Having registered with an auction site and or built your web site the next stage is to contact at least one of the wholesale dropshipping companies. You will find details of some of these companies below but it is by no means a comprehensive list and you will be able to find other dropshipping companies using the search engines.

Pros and cons of dropshipping

The Pros

There is no need to buy inventory which reduces your start up costs
You do not need a warehouse or storage space. Again reducing your costs.
It is not a difficult or long drawn out process to launch your new business.
You will not be left with unsold stock.
Once you have started it is possible that you could develop your business using some stock fro dropshipping companies and some that you purchase directly from wholesalers.

The Cons

Not all dropshipping companies are as good and reliable as others. Some are little more than “middle men” who get in the supply chain between the genuine wholesalers and the retailer thus adding their share to your costs. Shop around very carefully and compare options before selecting suitable dropshipping companies to deal with.
Check the fees and practices of the dropshipping companies that you are considering. Ask yourself are their shipping charges fair or are they likely to put customers off.
Most dropshipping companies charge some form of registration fee. This is reasonable if you consider that if they did not anyone could just go to their site and buy the item at their price rather than yours. Make sure that the registration charge is not excessive.
You will not be their only customer, there will be plenty of other Internet marketers offering the same products.
You will have no control over the products you are offering. If a customer places an order and it is out of stock or wrong in some other way it will be your responsibility not the dropshipping companies.

At first glance dropshipping may appear to be an easy way to set up an online or auction selling business. There is no doubt that some entrepreneurs have done very well using this as a basic stock building method. However there are pitfalls to using some dropshipping companies. Below are further articles and on the right of this web page there are links to some of the UK dropshipping companies.