Drop Shipping Sources

So, how do beginning entrepreneurs go about finding good drop shipping sources? Some turn to wholesale directories. These are found quite easily over the Internet, whether it's through an online database, an e-book or even a printed book. And in each case, there is usually a healthy supply of drop shipping sources. All you have to do is call or email the contacts contain with each lead.

Now, for many, this would seem like the perfect solution. They pay $5 to $50 and in return they get dozens of drop shipping sources. No additional research is required, other than calling the company to find out how they can get started wholesaling. But this is assuming that all of the drop shipping sources contained within the directory are legitimate. If they are made up or out-of-date, (as many of them are), you would've ended up wasting money. Plus, you still end up without any decent drop shipping sources. So, you must be on the prowl again, whether it's buying another directory or trying to look for the sources on your own.

This is not to say that all wholesale directories are bad, as there are those created by more ethical authors who are interested in disseminating genuine information. A few might have worked with some of the drop shipping sources featured in their directory, allowing them to give more personal insight as to whether or not a particular drop shipper is worth someone's time.

The only difficulty is determining which directories fall into this category, where your money will buy you genuine drop shipping sources and not phony leads. Following referrals can help a little bit, assuming you can also find ones that are genuine. The Better Business Bureau along with many social bookmarking sites can assist in this process. If a directory is known to be a scam, these resources will let you know about some of the complaints.

Yet, say that a directory has legitimate drop shipping sources and it has good referrals. Is it still going to be helpful for your situation? It really depends on your situation, along with the directory's focus. Many directories only focus on drop shipping sources who require a business license from their customers. If you haven't gotten your business license, these drop shipping sources will be useless to you.

That leaves you with two options: getting your business license, (which will take time and money), or finding directories that will reveal another type of drop shipping company: those that don't require clients to hold business licenses.

Now, of these two options, the second one is more difficult because there are very few drop shipping companies that will do business with unlicensed clients. And this is not necessarily for legal reasons, (since some jurisdictions do not require business licenses to sell general merchandise). Instead, for many drop shipping companies it's a matter of principle. If they start offering their services to average people, it destroys the whole point of retail. And the purpose of retail is to buy merchandise in bulk, charge the consumer extra and pocket the difference. Without them acting as the middleman, the economy becomes stagnant... a consequence that would eventually affect drop shippers themselves.

Anyway, don't expect to find these drop shipping sources the next time you look into a wholesale directory, as most of these companies are not as well-known. Some entrepreneurs even look down on these drop shipping sources, because they feel that drop shipping shouldn't cost any money.

However, with other drop shipping sources you have to get a business license before you can do anything. In some jurisdictions, this can cost hundreds of dollars. Granted, if your jurisdiction requires a business license, that's one thing. But if it doesn't why go through this if you don't have to? Paid drop shipping sources will allow you start your business without the wait or expense. And with so many of them being online, it's possible you can have your e-commerce up the very same day you gain membership.

Still, how can a person find out about paid drop shipping sources if most wholesale directories don't contain info about them? Their best bet is to just do a search on "drop shipping sources." If they filter through the information enough, they should be able to find what they need.