The drop-shipping definition:
You can skip this paragraph if you know what drop-shipping is but for those of you who don't, it can be defined as the action of selling a product without having it actually under your ownership, this means that the drop-shipper creates a website or joins a selling platform like eBay and amazon where he sells a product that belongs to a supplier who can be found in the internet or in the real life (Examples of suppliers : a website, a store near your house whoever sells something can become your future supplier)
And what would I gain you might be asking, well if someone orders from you a product, you will then keep the difference between the price of the supplier and your own price.(it doesn't work like that in reality because there are some commissions but i hope the idea is clear).
2 ways of drop-shipping:
Now that the definition is clear at least i hope it is let's jump to practical stuff, there are generally 2 ways of doing drop-shipping: selling in a platform or creating your own website.
Selling in a platform:
There are many of them in the internet eBay being the most popular one, and here are 2 other marketplaces that support drop-shipping :
You should go to those platforms and create your seller account, this task done you are now ready to start your business.
Pros of selling in a platform:
-You don't have to waste your time and effort creating a website neither maintaining it
-You don't have to spend money on advertising
-You can start with only 1 product as opposed to an online store where you need plenty of them
-You can start with only 1 product as opposed to an online store where you need plenty of them
Cons of selling in a platform:
-You will have to deal with competition
-Low profit margins
-You will have to pay an amount of money to the platform on each item sold
Creating your own website:
Another way of starting is creating your own online store which is a website in which you will sell products, here is an example: https://sunsetpetsupply.com/
And how am i going to create this online store you might be asking, you can build it as any other website.
But the two easiest and most common ways of doing it is by using shopify or WORDPRESS and WOOCOMMERCE
Shopify: is a paid user-friendly platform that allows you to create an online store web hosting included.(you can have a 14 day free trial).
WORDPRESS and WOOCOMMERCE: WORDRESS is a free content management system that can be used with WOOCOMMERCE(a free WORDRESS plugin) to create online stores, but this second method requires more time and a web hosting service.
for a domain name(the address of your website) you will have to pay one in both cases which costs around 1$ a month.
After creating you online store nobody is going to find it in the world wide web unless you advertise the products you sell using a lot of techniques which can cost money.
The different strategies of advertising:
If you think you already have an audience whether it is in a YouTube channel, Facebook page, Blog, Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter account(Social media networks in general). The task will be much easier and you won't have to spend money to see your first sales.
But if that's not the case, you can pay someone who has an audience interested in your products or run Facebook ads in order to drive traffic to your online store.
Remember without traffic there will be no sales.
Pros of creating your own website:
-You are free to sell whatever you want
-There will be no competition(at least not as huge as with a selling platform)
-You can have good profit margins
-You are in control of things(as opposed with selling platforms who control everything)
-You can scale up your business much faster
Cons of creating your own website:
-You will have to spend money for advertising
-You cannot start with 1 product at least i recommend 25
-You should maintain your website
I think that the major barrier to creating your online store would be spending money on advertising, because if it's not done effectively it won't bring sales.
The sourcing part of your business:
Now that we covered the topic on how to sell, let's move to the sourcing part (how and where you are going to find products to sell), well there is two major ways of doing it, finding suppliers in the real life, or finding them online
Real life suppliers:
You can go out in the street and look for items you think would do great online, speak with the seller try to explain why you came to him, discuss the price, take some pictures and have an idea about the shipping possibilities and fees in your country, then if you see any potential in the product you can list it in your website or any selling platform.
Pros of the real life suppliers:
-The profit margins can be huge-You will have an original product that cannot be found online
-You will build a direct relation ship with the supplier which allows you to discuss the prices and you can do other businesses with him later.
Cons of the real life suppliers:
-You will have to do the shipping yourself which consumes both time and money especially if you start getting a good amount of sales
-It's much more difficult to deal with customer returns (the customers that return the product because of many reasons: item broken, not as description shows, doesn't fit them...)
Online suppliers:
You can surf the net looking for companies that sell their products online either by using their own website(here is an example: https://www.shein.com/) or a selling platform, the most popular ones for companies are amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, AliExpress, Alibaba(especially wholesale), Etsy and so on.
You will have to do your own research to find good deals.
Once you find an interesting product you can contact the supplier for additional information if you want, then list it in your website or any selling platform.
Pros of the online suppliers:
-You won't have to deal with the shipping neither the returns which saves you extra time and money.
-It's easier to find products sitting on a chair than walking or driving in the street
Cons of the online suppliers:
-You often don't get to discuss the price
-There will be a greater competition
-The profit margins tend to be smaller
-You don't build a direct relationship with the supplier
Conclusion:
Now that you have a good grasp over this business, I think you are ready to make your choice and start making money, but remember things don't happen overnight and you need to be persistent to see good results. If something is not yet clear or you have any questions leave a comment and i will be more than pleased to give an answer or even write an article.
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