Drop Shipping Business: How to Do It Right and Avoid Getting
Scammed
Picture this. You sell a product that you don't ever have to
store. You set your retail price and every time you sell, your
wholesaler ships the product for you to your customer's door in
your name and you keep the profit. How is that possible?
It's called drop shipping. Simply put, a drop shipper is a
distributor that will ship products in single units directly to
your customer in your name. The purpose of this article is not
to convince you to start a drop shipping business but to give
you pointers on how to start right and avoid common pitfalls.
The Beauty of Drop Shipping
One of the greatest challenges for people interested in starting
a home business is where to find products to sell. If you don't
have thousands of dollars to invest in products and storage and
want to avoid the hyper-competitive business of information
products, or the dreaded multi-level business, drop shipping
might be the answer.
The most obvious advantages of drop shipping include: you never
have to deal with the headaches of warehousing, packaging and
shipping, and you don't tie down your limited financial
resources in inventory.
Other advantages are: no leftovers, you can change or add
products easily and instantly, and no limitations as to what you
can sell. Plus, you get to use your customers' money to run your
business and "carry" brand-name products and look big. Is this
cool or what?
The Dark Side of Drop Shipping
Beware. While drop shipping business may be simple, finding a
true, reliable drop shipper is not. Scam companies lurk, ready
to relieve you of your hard-earned money, or profit from your
hard work.
For starters, some "drop shippers" are just middle-men who
contact the real drop shipper when you place an order. They use
you as their salesperson, so you use your money and time to find
customers, and cut into your profit.
Others are fly-by-night operations. They will take your money
and disappear. In short, scam.
Once I responded to an impressive full-page ad in a business
magazine. The advertiser claimed to be drop shippers, and even
promising help through support and business advice. To cut a
long story short, the "drop shipper" rarely delivered my orders
as promised and in many instances I had to re-order elsewhere
and absorb the losses to avoid disappointing my customers.
Later I found out that the company was not the real drop
shipper, when I discovered their source.
A few years ago, an eBay