Considering making my own website and performing drop shipping, I was looking at Worlwide Brands and it's niche Analytical Tool, plus it's database of drop shippers. I've read where dropshippers can sometimes run out of stock, taking a week to inform you, and that the seller, me, is legally liable for getting the client their request, thus creating conditions for "breach of contract." If I can be held in breach of contract for a dropshipper's negligence in a client transaction, then I figure I might be better off getting into Affiliate Marketing.Whatever I create will be my first website and experience with eCommerce, and I'm wondering now if I should start out as an Affiliate Marketer? Would Affiliate Marketing be a better place to start out in eCommerce before one gets into the sticky situations one might incur by selling from their own website, or if one plans to sell from their own website, should they start out that way?Also, does anyone know anything about Worlwide Brands and it's owner, Chris Malta?Thanks.Stickerweed
Hey Chris. I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective. You're looking at it from the perspective of whats easier for you, rather than the perspective of: What will work? In both Affiliate Marketing and dropshipping, if you just throw up a "me too" site that is the same as every other website, you're not going to be successful. Despite all the e-books and stuff you read on the internet, it's very hard to make a shitty site and make money. You've got to add value to make money. To add value, you have to ask yourself these questions: What is your edge? How are you different than everybody else? Why will people visit your website as opposed to every other website in your industry? An edge can be a pricing edge (you can buy cheaper than everyone else), it might be a quality edge (you products last longer than everywhere else), it might be a differentiation edge (you're the only one selling the product), it might be a marketing edge (you have a great website with awesome product descriptions and images, conversion optimised; or you might have a unique way of presenting the product). There are lots of ways to have an edge, but you need one. Here are some examples from ecommerce stores I own. I have an ecommerce business selling wall clocks. We stock 1 brand only. We are the only place that stocks the full range of that brand (differentiation edge). We position that brand as top quality (quality edge). As such, we're able to have great margins. I have another business selling inflatable spas. We have exclusive rights to import the spa to my country (differentiation edge). Our product is the same quality but cheaper than competing spas (pricing edge). It might sound like doing that is hard, but actually it makes everything easier. Once you have an edge, building links becomes easier, networking with other site owners becomes easier, conversion rates will be higher so advertising is more profitable, etc. So it doesn't really matter what method you use, as long as you have some reason for people to visit your site and buy from you. I've recently written a blog post that goes into more detail about this, which you can find here: http://www.ecommerce-economy.com/do...ss-dont-make-the-1-biggest-ecommerce-mistake/ Re your concern about getting into a sticky situation with eCommerce. Don't worry about it - in situations like that you just refund your customer, problem solved.
I actually started in this business with dropshipping and here's a few things I've learned. Dealing with physical products is a lot more stressful than working with digital products simply because of the shipping factor. Digital products are delivered instantly, so you don't have to worry about inventory or anything like that. The only good aspect I can see with dropshipping is that you get paid instantly, but that advantage is canceled by the fact that there are more and more affiliate programs out there that offer instant paypal commission to their affiliates. If you absolutely want to deal with tangible goods, why don't you become an Amazon affiliate instead? You could open an Amazon store and market it pretty much the same way you would market a regular store. This way, you'll get all the advantages of dropshipping minus the headaches.