Is Drop Shipping Online right for you?

in #minnowsupport6 years ago (edited)

bench-accounting-49908-unsplash.jpg

Is Drop Shipping Online right for you?

51JIhKFPfBL._SL250_.jpg

Last time I checked this book was about $5 USD. I recommend making a small investment like this because you can lose money if you buy the wrong product, do not know how to list it etc.

Do you want to be counted among the most successful merchants without ever dealing with the hassle of maintaining an inventory? Drop shipping is the best option for you. It is as easy as purchasing the product demanded by the customer from a third party and shipping it directly at his footstep. This article will provide you with a step-by-step guide on drop shipping from popular platforms like Amazon and eBay with the minimum startup capital.

There is also the Amazon FBA program. Fulfillment by Amazon

chuttersnap-485281-unsplash.jpg

This is where you buy wholesale and ship the products to an Amazon warehouse and list the items on Amazon. When an item is sold Amazon ships it out. For a fee of course but many times, it is worth it.

You can do it yourself and ship items from your house when they are sold. This is what my wife does with eBay. It can get overwhelming if you sell a lot.

advertising-amazon-amazon-seo-907607.jpg

(1). Choose the Right Product

This is indeed the most important step as a bad product choice will always lead to failure even if best choices are made in terms of other factors like competitive pricing, high-quality images etc.

The characteristics of an ideal choice are-

• The sale price should be under $49 usd for impulse buys.
• The weight of the product should be preferably under 500 grams.
• Fragile items are not the best choice for this purpose.
• Avoid seasonal products. Always go for year-round products.
• Have a look at the products which are currently on sale on eBay and Amazon. Choose a similar product.
• The profit margin should be between 25-50%

brooke-winters-585288-unsplash.jpg

(2). Find a reliable supplier

Before starting your hunt, ensure that you are well armed with the Tin/VAT no. of your business and a copy of the Company Pan Card & registration. This is required as a proof of you being a serious retailer and not just another consumer.

Look on Alibaba.com and find the Chinese version I have another article on these sites and how to use them.

https://steemit.com/minnowsupport/@davidwardlow/what-is-amazon-fba-can-i-do-it-in-my-country

Now, what are the qualities you need to look for in the perfect drop shipper?

business-cargo-containers-crate-122164.jpg

• Are they the manufacturer or wholesaler?

Make sure that the drop shipper you opt for has inventory of his own because when will you sell the stock yourself, the time frame of delivery, profit margin earned and the discount offered will attract future customers and are thus of utmost importance.

action-asphalt-auto-193667.jpg

• Prices

Browse through Amazon and e-Bay and see the cost of similar products yourself. If you want to sell your product, you need to ensure that the supplier product cost is lower than the other products.

coins-1015125_1280.jpg

• Discount

Be it e-commerce or any retail business, margin can make or break dreams of higher profits. Aim for a profit margin of approximately 20% to run a successful business venture.

maarten-van-den-heuvel-246398-unsplash.jpg

(3). Choose the right platform
It is then entirely up you to utilize the product feed files offered by your drop shipper in the CSV/XML/XLS form and make huge profits. Platforms like eBay, Amazon and ShopClues offer the easiest way to proceed with the same.

The steps to sell your product on e-Bay are as follows-

• Firstly, log into your e-Bay account.
• List the items you want to sell.
• Carefully decide the prices as this will determine the sales. The choice of drop shipper plays an important role here.

There are many ways to start a drop shopping business which range right from utilizing sites like e-Bay which provide you with an inbuilt customer traffic or building your own like Shopify or Wordpress+WooCommerce.

Drop shipping online can in fact help you in saving thousands on inventory. Thanks to the lack of inventory required, the overhead expenses are also extremely low. Drop shipping business is so easy that it can be started by almost from anywhere across the globe. You don’t even need to incur additional charges for the wide variety of products offered by you and moreover greater sales simply do not mean greater workload.

shopping-3463052_1280.jpg

However, drop shipping online is not all rainbows and butterflies. To ensure a profitable drop shipping business, follow the steps listed in this article and steer clear from low margins, inventory issues and shipping complexities.

51JIhKFPfBL._SL250_.jpg

Please let me know what you think in the comments below. If you liked this be sure to follow me and let your friends know and feel free to share this post.

Thank you so much for your support and reading this.

Thanks again to the following

#steemcreators
#onelovedtube
#payitforward
#minnowsupport
#sharkschool
#motorpool
#veterans
#steemsugars

map-1251736_1280.jpg

Change+Mindset=Freedom

Helping others become entrepreneurs by finding their passion and changing their mindset from employee to entrepreneur!

Legal Information

Fueducation.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Fueducation.com also participates in affiliate programs with Bluehost, Clickbank, CJ, ShareASale, and other sites. Fueducation.com is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.

Sort:  

Just an add on to this. Drop shipping similar to FBA but there are differences.

To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:

Outlook good

Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by davidwardlow from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.

I have gone to seminars about this. But for me i like to sale items i handmade. Its not something i will ever get rich on or fast. But i like to sell special one of a kind items. Here is a link to my online store. 🧡
http://squareup.com/store/maui-seed-jewelry

@aloha-creations

Great site. Some cool stuff. I will show it to my wife.

She does handmade jewelry and bows for babies and toddlers. She also buys overstock and returns, jewelry then puts it up on ebay and marketplace on Facebook. Though the later they seem to always want it for next to free.

She tried setting up an Etsy account but that didn't work ended up taking a ton of time to list one item.

Are you using Pinterest to get the word out about your work?

Perfect demographic for what you do. My other post on affiliate marking talks about how to use it. More details are in the comments and replys.

No i just do small and slow advertising bc im limited on when i can ship out etc .

Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 16 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.

I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 33 SBD worth and should receive 136 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.

I am TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!

Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
trufflepig
TrufflePig

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.21
TRX 0.24
JST 0.038
BTC 94636.84
ETH 3278.73
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.16