It is straightforward to get your dropshipping business up and to run. The main pieces of equipment that you will need are:
- good computer
- internet connection.
But not only is it reasonably easy to get your business up and running, but you will also find that there are very few barriers that will prevent you from getting started. The cost for starting is meager, so you should not need to invest much money upfront initially.
However, below are the steps you will need to take to get your dropshipping business up and running.
Set yourself up an online shop,
You can do this by either using one of the many online shop builder programs available or by building your site or setting up an account with an auction site such as eBay (if you choose to use eBay as your primary selling place, I recommend getting a good auction template that you can plug your information into to save time).
Some good platforms are:
- Spocket
- Alidropship
- SaleHoo
- Shopify
Find your wholesale supplier.
Find a supplier who has the product they are looking to sell and who offers a dropshipping service.
Once you have found the company you want to deal with, you can open an account.
Build your site
The next thing you need to do is start building your site, using both content and images that the dropshipping supplier has provided or that you have produced yourself (I recommend the latter, as it will distinguish you from other sellers who may be utilizing the same drop shipper).
Set up a system on your site to know when an order has been placed for a particular item so payment can be taken.
Pass on the details of the order directly to your dropshipping supplier. Once they receive the order, they will bill you at the price you have both agreed upon, and then they will arrange for the item to be dispatched. In most cases, the dropshipping supplier will provide labels referring to the business or website where the order has come from, rather than their own business.
Find a Reputable Dropshipping Supplier
One of the best ways to find a reputable dropshipping supplier is by contacting the wholesalers directly and asking if they operate a dropshipping service. However, the other way you can find reputable dropshipping suppliers is through the internet, and this is probably much
easier than having to ring hundreds of different wholesalers. First, the best thing you can do is search the internet using the terms “drop shipping,” “dropshipping,” “drop ship,” or “dropship,” and
include with this the product that you are interested in.
Generally, by doing this, you will find the results that you get are pretty good. Also, look at some of the sponsored links you see in the results search pages offered up by such sites as Google and Yahoo. These will often give you a good idea of some of the more up-to-date dropshippers.
- Join a dropshipping forum
You will be able to chat with many like-minded people who can provide you with details and information on the best dropshippers for a product you are particularly interested in. Then there are dropshipping directories, which are probably the easiest way of finding dropshippers. However, it is essential that you only use the more reputable ones such as WorldWideBrands or Drop Ship Source Directory.
Barriers and challenges
Some challenge you may find is the cost. Some companies will charge you a monthly membership fee costing hundreds of dollars, and others require you to have a business license before applying for membership. Also, many people think that dropshipping is a scam, which is not true. Again, a few companies are willing to exploit us, but these are in the minority rather than the majority. If you were to look closely at this subject, you would find that more than 1.1 million people worldwide have been able to utilize dropshipping effectively to earn an income.
Also, you may be one of the lucky ones who finds a company that does not want any upfront fees in
order for you to get started.
Selling through an eBay Store.
You will soon be surprised at just how many sellers there are on auction sites, such as eBay, which use
dropshipping to earn an income.
Indeed, if you are looking for a good way of gaining experience when selling online, set up an eBay account.
The great thing is that you will have millions of potential customers who may well be interested in your products.
You need to find yourself a reputable and reliable wholesale company that also provides a dropshipping service. Also, choose products from the wholesale company that is not already
abundantly available online.
Once you have found your wholesale company, you then need to find out about their dropshipping program, the fees they charge for this service, how they handle both the payments you make to them, and how the products are shipped. Then, once you are satisfied with what they provide and have your account set up with them, you can move on to the next stage, which is signing up to the auction site of your choice and getting ready to start selling.
- Signing up with an action site
When you sign up to an auction site, you can now start selling the products you have
available through their auctions. When setting up an auction item, you should ask your drop shipper to
provide you with stock images that you can use, along with descriptions of the items in question.
It is essential, though, that any items you are selling are placed into the correct category and that you carry out as much research concerning their price compared to what your competitors
may be offering them. It is also essential that your description helps it stand out from
your competitors.
A great way of doing this is by looking at a few of the power sellers on these auction sites, what they have and how they have set them up. Also, never price your products too low at the start of the auction, as you will need to factor in fees for posting the items and ensure that you make some profit on it
yourself. Indeed, if you find that the winning bid is much lower than expected, you can soon
lose money rather than making it.
So carrying out research concerning the product you are selling is very important before you start
posting any items. But if you want, rather than just selling the items through an auction, you can set yourself up with a store, such as an eBay store. This can undoubtedly be more cost-effective because the fee for listing items in this way is much more affordable. However, one disadvantage to this method is that
your store may not get the same exposure as an item you have put up for auction. But if
you are clever, you can utilize both of these methods to bring more customers to
you.
But what is essential if you decide to use this route for selling products from a dropshipping business is that you provide an excellent customer service facility and quick shipping. Soon you will find that by providing a quality service, these customers will return time and again to purchase from you.
Also, eBay has a great email marketing feature, which means that you can email all your
repeat customers who have decided to opt into your email list with just one click on the mouse.
So as you can see from above, setting up a dropshipping business using an auction site such as
eBay can be very painless indeed. However, you must research your product thoroughly and find a reliable and reputable drop ship supplier.
In conclusion
As you can see from above, setting up a dropshipping business is an excellent way to get started with an online business and, if done correctly, should not be an expensive project.
As you will soon discover, hundreds of companies are willing to provide drop ship products to you. Whether it is gifts or items for the home to power tools and furniture, the choices are immense.
Certainly, dropshipping will offer you many advantages if you only start up an online business with little or no capital. One of the main ones is that the product you are selling does not need to be paid for until it is sold, and as you are paid for it by the customer, then the outlay you make to the dropshipper supplier is nothing. Along with not having to make any outlay to the supplier for the product to be sold on your site, you also do not have to worry about storage and handling costs, as this is all covered for you by the dropship supplier you are using. Plus, by setting up a site where your goods are supplied by a dropship supplier, you can offer a much wider variety of items from several different suppliers, and your customers will never know any different.
If you are still interested in setting up a dropshipping business to earn an extra income online, carry out as much research as possible. The best thing of all is that when setting up such
a company, it does not need to be expensive or time-consuming.