What is Drop Shipping?

Drop shipping is a great way to get started in ecommerce. It’s a simple process of setting up a merchant account and listing your products without taking any of the burden of shipping and handling yourself. You simply pay the merchant account provider a commission for every sale you make, and they take care of shipping and handling for you.

There are a few things to keep in mind when drop shipping:

1. Choose a product that’s easy to ship. Products that are heavy or bulky, or that require special shipping methods (like express shipping) are more difficult to drop ship.

2. Choose a product that’s in high demand. If your product isn’t popular, you won’t be able to generate enough sales to cover the commission costs.

3. Choose a product that you’re passionate about. If you don’t have any interest in the product you’re selling, your customers won't buy.

dropshipping vs third party seller This is a live chat with an experienced DropShip expert. Join the team to learn about the different segments and their key considerations to keep in mind when it comes to choosing between dropshipping and third party sellers. The topic of drop shipping has been a hot topic for a few months now. We decided to get an experienced dropshipping expert to respond to our questions. We interviewed Leen Nijboer, who is a Author, speaker and Founder of Dropship Made Easy, an award-winning platform for dropshipping and channel building. 1. What is drop shipping? Leen Nijboer: Drop shipping is the process of selling products directly to consumers via a third party ecommerce platform. It allows businesses to sell a new item, store, service or something that a consumer would need in a very personal way, by allowing a small commission, for example, 10%. Once the item is sold, the business takes control over the order and shipping, through a drop shipper company. The drop shipper company will then handle the order, taking care of all the logistics, packaging, and shipping, and will take care of the customer, in which the business can still collect the payment and give the business credit. Different elements for drop shipping companies differ depending on the particular drop shipper company and on the different dropshipping industry. From my experience, each of these companies offers specific bonuses and benefits, which makes choosing the right drop shipper company for you hard. 2. Is it risky? Leen Nijboer: Probably, yes. It has been my experience that both the companies and the products are actually safer than with traditional retail stores. But you need to know how to make the investment, as the hourly commission you can charge to your customers is much lower than that of traditional retail store. The better solution would be to make it a personal relationship with the customer and send the product in person or as part of a special deal, so you can charge more. 3. What can your customers expect from your products? Leen Nijboer: Customers should expect a personalized experience from their purchase. It should be a true product experience, including the packaging and shipping process. They should know from the beginning what exactly their product is and how they will receive it. Also, it is a little bit different for the products. With fashion product, it is about their features and price. With electronics products, it is about what’s special about them, the battery life, the audio quality, etc. The final feedback from the consumer is really important to the businesses. If it is a fashion product, there should be many positive feedbacks from their customers to add to the case study or to list. So it is critical to show and get all positive feedback in their product book. 4. Are you actually getting this attention from dropshippers? Leen Nijboer: I am trying to put together a group of select dropshippers, who use our platform to sell to their customers. I would like to provide them with some benefits as they have been very supportive for us and have been a great source for our product ideas. The benefits for the dropshippers are very similar to those for the clients. An example is more transparent fees, combined with very high quality products, and flexible shipping options. For example, one dropshippers service, ShipSim, has fast, accurate tracking for their drop shippers. 4. How can a business start their dropship business? Leen Nijboer: To start your dropshipping business, you just need to get a product ready to sell and for the first sale, sign up with your dropshippers. Once you get your first sale, you can become a dropship consultant and get paid for your feedback and expertise. You can also get some product samples and have a training on how to get feedback from customers and how to work with them to build your business. You just have to make sure your product is ready, and that you have sold your first product. 5. What are the minimum qualifications for a dropshipper? Leen Nijboer: You need to have experience in either fashion, electronics or home decor, and ideally have some experience in other industries as well. You also need to be ready to put your reputation at stake and have a good reputation to sell your product. 6. Can a company and/or an individual work with a dropshippers? Leen Nijboer: Yes, you can work together with a dropshippers and maybe even sell your products as a part of their dropshipping service. But it is a little bit tricky and I would always encourage my clients to work together with dropshippers, so you can have a better control on the business. You can also hire a consultant or a full-time buyer. 7. What are your primary duties as a dropshipper? Leen Nijboer: Depending on what you are offering as a dropshipper, you can decide on a small to large number of clientele and different geographical areas you want to work. As a dropshipper, you need to offer competitive pricing, provide a fast shipping option, create sales and product reports, and many more. 8. How can a client contact you if they would like to buy your products? Leen Nijboer: All you need to do is send an email to my dropshipping team. If you work with a dropshipper, they can reach out to you as well. You can also contact us via dropme.com. 9. How are your reviews and testimonials on your product page? Leen Nijboer: When you sign up with your dropshippers, they have the option to work with you to promote their products on your dropshipping page. The most important part is to create a personal relationship with your clients. If you sell to a very large number of people, a lot of dropshippers will use spam and personal email campaigns. This can work for the first one or two clients, but over time it gets in your client's way. In order to get more clients, you have to create trust and tell your clients that they can rely on you. Once a customer can trust you and believe in your work, they are likely to become a loyal customer. You can get a review or testimonial on your product page by registering as a customer. 10. Is there any products you find helpful for having a successful dropshipping business? Leen Nijboer: I think one of the most important things to have a successful dropshipping business is patience. With every product, there will be a learning curve and mistakes will be made. It takes a little while to get the hang of it. There are a lot of drop ship companies that promise you success and do not have good track records. With other companies, you can have a lot of problems when you order your first product or when you want to make a change to the product. As long as you have a good reputation, this is going to work out. Leen Nijboer is the owner of http://dropshippers.marketing.rocks. He has experience working with product lines that sell over $50,000 in monthly revenue. Please share this interview with your friends, colleagues, students, and followers. This article was originally published here on Entrepreneur.

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