Does anyone make money through dropshiping

I have always had interest in drop shipping, though I have never tried it.
Last week I came across a not very new site that is focusing on china electronics and drop shipping companies generally.

Products from china are very cheap and I think they would compete well with other companies especially in developing nations.... Am thinking of trying drop shipping in Africa since the mobile market is growing rapidly there. Demand for cheap quality is relatively high thus making it a suitable place to invest.

Kindly help me further understand the concept of drop shipping

 

Hi, I've been running a drop shipping business for years using ebay...

I source the products on ebay and find a good reputable seller with good feedback and low prices, I then email them asking if they would mind not sending any paperwork or invoices when i order through them (i don't want my buyer to see this).
I then set up the website (usually wordpress eCommerce), list the products and increase their price by 30 to 50% - Promote the website and then as soon as i make a sale, just order the item through ebay. Most sellers post within 24 hours. Easy to do and very little work involved. Just copying and pasting...

 

Speaking from personal experience selling electronics you will not make money with drop shipping. The margins are too low to do this with drop shippers. You need to deal directly with the China manufacturers if possible and buy in bulk to increase your margins.

 

It really depends on the person , the methods, and the niche that you are in. I hear a lot of people talk about how they make money from dropshiping but the truth is they likely make only a few sales a month. To solely rely on a dropshiper is not the best thing to do in my and many other peoples eyes. To make money with a 30- 50% markup is really not likely and i am not calling any one a liar but I really doubt you are successful on ebay dropshiping. as bulk ping said if you buy it in bulk yes you have a much better chance as you have the room for some profit otherwise you will be competing with the other hundreds of people using dropshipers charging just pennies over there cost.
I find in my world it is best to use a dropshipper as filler and not to be the sole source of your product.

 

I've made money from a dropshipping business model before selling Womens boots. My dropshippers were based in the UK however one thing about the Chinese market, be sure to get real life pictures of the products beforehand and it would be even better if you could go out there, or hire someone to test the product quality. With regards to the boots my profit margin varied between £5-10.

With regards to electronics, you might have a very hard time getting decent profit, especially if you haven't already tested the market for them.You may also find that prices are cheap but you have to buy an X amount i.e. 1000 units etc so be careful of that.

From personal experience it can be exhausting especially if you plan on doing this alone, but there are eCommerce training platforms you can learn from like Store Coach. I wish you all the best

 

Check out this website http://dropshipformula.com/ , you will find everything from A to Z about dropshiping on ebay, and you don't need to buy 100s of items to start selling on ebay, everything is much easier

 

I've been doing it for a couple of clothing and beauty product companies. 2 things that really helped me are having a real legit looking website. If you aren't a strong designer, there are a lot of high quality premade themes out there. Many of them free. The 2nd thing is don't be afraid to put yourself out there. I work with a few companies that weren't advertising a drop shipping program but because I sent them an email and some Google Analytics and back up my words, they decided to drop ship for me on a per order basis.

 

That's pretty good idea, thanks for sharing this.

 

dcristo is absolutely correct. You have to cut the middle man out in order to make profits. You have to contact the manufacturers directly to get any good deals. But these guys probably wont sell to you unless you make a huge order. But there are some manufacturers that deal with small business owners, so contact them. Honestly, if you want to make money i suggest you go to whole sale trade shows. You will find some great products for cheap. The best thing is that you are able to buy these products before any of your competitors buy them. SO you can sell them first to the public and make money. good luck!

 

From my understanding electronics is really cut throat business with super tight margins. Other markets like clothing as mentioned above seem to have more generous margin and appeal to a large market.

 

Drop-shipping is really a mass business, you'd be able to make the step only once you really ramped yourself up.
Whatever you're marketing today, find the best paying affiliate program, develop your site accordingly, carve out a place at the top and grow. Just become the best you can become at the niche.
Unless you're talking about just being the middle man, for the few customers you can "steal" off the top, you'd make way more money off of being a strong affiliate, than a small drop-shipper.
No need to contact manufacturers either. Affiliate programs will accommodate your drop-shipping if you're big enough. After all, the point of drop shipping isn't the increased commission (at least it CAN'T be, at first).
It's to build your brand, instead of promoting someone's program.

eBay wouldn't be as approachable, or as easy to use, if it contacted manufacturers on its own, right?

Utilizing an existing network, agreeing to a lower commission than a direct relationship, for a massive branding improvement - that's how I see it.

Hope you see my point.

 

I've heard drop shipping's a great way to make money but I've never tried it myself.

 

Dropshipping is good but you have to make sure your supplier is legit and offer quality products. Once your customers received garbage products they will send you a million complaints. Look around for suppliers, communicate and decide on your decisions. Good Luck mate

 

Find a good and reliable drop shipper and make sure he has reputation in the market !

 

There is a new forum and site based on ecommerce that you might be interested in, people on there share tips and advice aimed at ecommerce sites and businesses.
I joined after one of the DP members invited me, you can take a look on ecomlab.com

 

I had an ecommerce site that sold vegetarian food and I used a dropshipping company that was pretty close to me. I found, while I did profit, I spent too much time with the orders (processing, refunds, etc) and I did not find it worth my time. The margins were pretty slim since I sold food items.
I can't speak for other products, good luck.

 

We have sold a lot of online businesses that are dropshippers. The problem most people run into is that they jump into a dropshipping business because it looks easy. The problem with this is that if you take this approach you are not going to make money. Making a drop ship website into a business requires that you work to find unique vendors, the right product mix, and some solid marketing.

Successful dropshippers heavily research their niche and their marketing opportunities, then they take the time to build a solid infrastructure behind their sites.

Some tips to be successful in dropshipping:

• Approach vendors who may not have a dropshipping program setup. You never know what unique products you may be able to offer.
• Don't rely on vendor descriptions. Write your own and make them better than anyone else (content is king, remember?)
• If possible, take your own pictures of the product. You'll set yourself out from the competition.
• Don't get in a dropship business with razor thin margins (anything less than 20% GPM is getting far too thin - you should aim for 30% or above)
• MAP pricing is helpful, but make sure it is enforced
• Work your website to be more useful. Make your upsell items really match well (and test it). User test your site to see where people run into problems. Install a product finder (and make sure it helps people find products). Just be more useful than anyone else.

Finally, if you think dropshipping is a quick and easy way to get into business, think again. It takes work and attention to detail. Once you are established they are fantastic businesses to own.

 

Dropshipping is goooooD!

 

Electronics are always tough to sell, there's just so much competition. You might want to try the novelties route. You know...those dumb little knick-knacks that we all have too many of? Look up some on alibaba and then search for the same object on eBay. Can you say "profit margin"?

 

In a nutshell:

• Don't sign up for subscription-based dropship catalogs
• Find a niche you are comfortable in
• Find wholesale suppliers in your area and straight up as them if they support dropshipping
• If not, ask if you can come talk business when *they* have time

Most important thing to remember: CUT THE MIDDLE MAN and go straight to the source or the importer.

And don't fixate on China.