Since the last drop shipping article I wrote got so much attention, I decided to write a more descriptive sequel that will give you a definitive guide to drop shipping.
You probably already know (I’m assuming you have spent some time at the blog already) the Internet is pretty simple, so is drop shipping, although most articles I’ve seen online were written as if it was rocket science.
No, it’s nothing like that… drop shipping is possibly the easiest way to make a few bucks online, maybe more than a few bucks, definitely not millions though, however, it needs a LOT of work to be scaled.
As I already said in the previous article (you should go read it), drop shipping is a straight forward process:
1 You find the right supplier, and by right I mean the one that will give you the best price.
2 You list that product wherever you can get traffic to sell it (Ebay, Amazon and the like are a pretty nice option since they are already authoritative and have tons of traffic). You can also use your own store, yet you will need a loooot of marketing to make decent money.
How to find the right supplier?
You have several options depending on what you want to sell:
– Search Google
– Search huge box stores
– buy Wholesale directories
I’m assuming you don’t care that much about the product as long as it sells, right?
If so, Google will do the job… just type in some product and then the keyword “distributor”, “reseller”, “bulk”, “warehouse, “manufacturer” or “supplier” (If I’m missing anything, let me know… appreciate your help)
After you find the right supplier, try to get the cheapest price possible (that’s the one thing you should care about the most).
Here are a few questions you have to ask them:
-Do you have X product available?
-How long will it take to have it ready to ship?
-What is the minimum order quantity? (*Note: See below on this one.)
-What are your pricing tiers and quantity discounts? (For example, how much does the cost per unit go down when you purchase more units.)
-Can you send me the label or package design template?
You have probably already read syncing inventory will be a problem, yet I’m telling you not to care that much about such problems.
The one thing that matters the most is to find the product you want to sell very cheap.
Once you start making money you will overcome the little things pretty easy… for example, if someone buys something you don’t have, you can send them something else for free to make them happy, or just find a quick substitute.
I can write about 5 pages about the little things such as competition, low margins, logistical problems and things like that, but this will only make you think drop shipping is impossible…
…so I advise you to only care about the things that matter – cheap prices and traffic to your listings.
Once you start listing and making cash you will see the rest is a piece of cake.
I like things neat and simple which is why I will give you a step by step guide exactly how to start drop shipping today.
I’ll say it again: do not try to complicate things by reading 500 articles on the topic, or thinking about any possible thing that can go wrong, just follow the action plan you are about to see (a lot of people have made decent cash with it).
1 Go register an Ebay seller account
It’s free and you pay after you make a sale.
You will need some cash to get things going though, don’t think you will just copy and paste and you’ll be good to go… no, you will need money out of your pocket to buy your first several products from wherever you will buy them.
You might be thinking of using the buyer’s money, but Paypal have a holding period, so once someone buys your thing, you will have to wait for a few weeks before you can withdraw that cash, meaning you need to buy that product to be able to ship it.
Maybe some payment processors release the money faster, but most are not huge fans of dropshipping, I hear Paypal even shuts accounts.
2 Find a product using Ebay’s search engine (you can use Amazon, Wallmart, or any other store you think of) and copy its description. After that paste the description in Google to see where it comes from. Or just find a product using Google (whatever works best for you).
3 List that product on Ebay with some cool marketing title, an awesome picture and a description meant to sell that product.
Most drop shippers are horrible at marketing and don’t know shit about sales copy.
If you don’t know anything about it either, search the blog.
Your marketing skills will be your advantage since there will probably be a lot of competition… you know how it is with businesses that cost almost nothing – everybody is after them. 🙂
4 list some more products and the sales will kick in
5 Find help and start scaling.
It takes a lot of work to scale this business, but at the end you can make money with little to no investment… and once you get things rolling you will invest in your store and kill it.
To not complicate things I’ll leave this article as is, and tell you one more time the Internet is pretty simple, so is drop shipping, those who complicate it don’t know shit.
let me know if you liked this article and stay awesome.
Vladi
