Before you use a Drop Shipper     by awelldressedbullet

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 10 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Before You Use a Drop Shipper

We often get new sellers asking about using dropshippers to sell on eBay. The following is my personal opinion and I hope to give you a few things to think about before you even consider this.

Benefits of Dropshipping? 

The only benefit I can see as to why anyone would want to actually use a drop shipper is a person thinks it's easier......
  • you don't have to outlay a lot of cash, time or effort; and
  • you don't need to physically stock the product.
.....and there lies the problem.

Easier? Sure, but remember these companies usually sell overpriced product which usually saturate the market. Just do a completed listings search on eBay to see if that product is actually selling and what prices they are getting.

Don't forget, you will only get out of your business venture what you put into it.

Who's Making the Money? 

Since you are not investing anything in your business venture, using and relying on another company and their investment, who do you think is going to make the money here? Absolutely the drop shipper, not you.

Most importantly, you are now at the mercy of this company. Since you have absolutely no control over when or how they send the product to your buyer, if they screw up delivery (i.e. product not in stock or slow shipping), or the product sent is damaged to due poor care, handling or shipping, it becomes your headache and it's your reputation that is ruined, not theirs.

Bottom line, you are doing all the work, you are taking all the risk, and they are collecting the benefits.

Research, Research, Research 

I'm sure there are a (very) few eBay sellers who use reputable drop shippers, but many of these 'so called' dropshippers out there will be scam artists making you believe you can make thousands with little or no effort (ya, right! LOL).

And no don't ask, I rather doubt a seller is going to tell you who they use, think about it, why would they? Trying to find a reputable drop shipper will take a lot of effort and hard work on your part and can only say "good luck".

And why anyone would pay (sometimes big money) to get a look at a price or product list just doesn't make sense. I would absolutely stay clear of these ones.

My own personal opinion, as well as many experienced eBay sellers, is to stay away from drop shipping, especially if you are a new seller.

If you are determined to use a drop shipper, at least go into it with your eyes wide open and armed with a little background information.

There are many drop shipping companies out there, may I suggest doing a google search on their business name (i.e. ABC company complaints, ABC company scams, etc) to see what kind of complaints are out there.

Search and Browse the Discussion Boards for "drop shipping" or "drop shipper" etc., you will get your eyes opened. You can start here.

Tip: If you ask around, you will find that many educated buyers will not purchase from a seller who uses a drop shipper.

Guestbook Feedback 

Please do not leave comments that include a link to a drop shipper. To reduce spamming by drop shipping companies, I do not approve these comments.

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  • Reply
    Czarque Czarque Feb 3, 2009 @ 6:12 am
    Good information.
  • Reply
    TheGreenerMe TheGreenerMe Jan 27, 2009 @ 7:45 am
    I agree, drop shipping isn't a good idea. Most dropshippers offer the same product as everyone else. They're those sellers that have 20 auctions ending at the same time of the same item. What sense does that make?

    Plus, there's a lot of competition with these items. You're not the only one selling these drop shipped items!

    Great points.
  • Reply
    poddys poddys Jan 25, 2009 @ 5:57 am
    Great advice, 5***** I looked into this a few years back, and what I found was that they advertise "buy for $5 and sell for $20" however on eBay there are not only hundreds of people selling the same thing, so you have a ton of competition, many are selling it for $6 not $20, so where's the profit! It's not worth the effort of trying to compete for $1 a sale.

    Like anything else, you have to find your niche and sell something more unique.
  • Reply
    Lakota429 Lakota429 Jan 9, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
    Very cool lens! 5 stars! Hope to see you at one of my lenses! Would love a note and a vote. ;) Annie~
  • Reply
    singlesupermom singlesupermom Jan 2, 2009 @ 10:02 am
    This really is a serious issue. The biggest thing I have studied and heard is that you come second when using someone with a drop shipper. You have to think that these "drop shippers" (a large majority) warehouse products and already have "brick and mortar" stores set up. That is how they stay in business. Serving as a warehouse for online "retailers" those order comes second. There name is not attach normally nor are they really jeopardizing their business..only the one who the customer placed the order with. Great lens. - wish more people looked into this before trusting others with the funds
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awelldressedbullet has been a member since June 14 2007, has rated 1,863 lenses, favorited 841, and has created 157 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Shotgun Shell Bar and Party Lights". See all my lenses

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