Is Dropship a viable business?
439717
Depends. Are you looking to do it for EBay? That I wouldn't recommend. As if you use a drop shipper for items you sell and they take too long to ship, or the item is malfunctioning it will get back to you in the form of neg feedback which is not good
11018
A good drop-shipping company?\n\nI was under the impression that you first find a company whose product you want to sell, THEN you make arrangements with that company to drop-ship that product on your behalf.\n\nIt seems to me that you have the cart before the horse.  Are you looking for a company that drop-ships but don't really care what products they drop-ship?
722293
I'd say no. Initially it is easy to find contacts to sell products, but within a few months it becomes very difficult, and the marketers become so desperate that they start annoying everyone they know. I know of several people who have fallen into this trap.
1185805
it sounds like you want to dropship furniture from an overseas manufacturer without having to warehouse anything.  That is going to be difficult since most "reputable" overseas companies are going to have minimum orders (container sizes) since the cost involved in shipping one piece of furniture or even a bedroom set would be cost prohibited.\n\nMy question is why do you need an overseas operation to begin with? There are plenty of US companies that offer distributors discounts and will dropship product.  All of the major furniture makers (ethan allen, broyhill, etc.) have closed up their US plants and are making the furniture overseas as it is.  There are still some US companies that would welcome new distributers.  Check out the furniture market in Highpoint NC for a listing of manufacturers.  \n\nIf you insist on going oversees check out these websites:  www.alibaba.com;  www.fuzing.com or www.ttnet.net  They list  various companies with thousands of products for import.\n\nAs far as a secured online payment, if you are a startup I suggest using Paypal's shopping cart feature.  THat way you don't actually need a merchant account and can accept virtually any kind of payment.  It is a little involved to download to your website but doable.  \n\nIf you are dropshipping you will always run the risk of your supplier back ordering a product at which point you need to stay ontop of your customer service and either issue a refund or keep them informed.  It has definitely caused problems for some people selling on ebay!  You really need to be confident in your supplier and his supplies before listing a product for sale.
160221
www.dropship4free.com is great for buying and dropshipping. I have been using them for 2 years and all prices are either wholesale or below. I have compared them to hundreds of others and it really seems to be tops. Plus, it's free!!Let me know what you think.
391737
I do. It works but it seems like ebay gets their money too. You have to pay for the listing and then you have to pay for design. Then when your stuff sells you pay ebay for the sell. It wouldn't be worth it if you wanted to sell like one thing, but so many people are doing it so it must be good. I have things on list right now, but I haven't sold anything. I like it a lot. Its easy and convient!
616279
How effective this will be depends a great deal on the nature of the product or service. I've been in several "plans" and my dad was in Amway, always having meetings. I've still got a firm belief that there are GREAT benefits to this type of structure and that it is not necessarily a "scheme". For example, isn't it better to reward distributors instead of giving millions of dollars to advertising companies? I'd rather see the "underdog" rewarded for loyalty to a brand or product, than billions going to the next thing about to interrupt my favorite TV program.\n\nThe key, and the greatest potential flaw, is that the distributors/affiliates have proper training, especially in what sales techniques to avoid. For example, a potential downfall to an online business would be your website becoming a well-known source of SPAM as money-hungry affiates start promoting the product in all the most inappropriate, off-topic places.\n\nThis is true in the real world too. How many people have gone to Amway or Tupperware parties just to support their friend, and then avoid future contact because you know it will end in some sort of sales pitch? Word of mouth is great, but not if it turns distributors into some sort of social paria. I've actually seen Amway leaders telling new distributors that if their friend isn't interested in a better life through their business opportunity, then they shouldn't waste time with that friend anymore. Sounds more like a cult than a business to me.\n\nSo on to some actual TIPS...\n\nMake sure that, after all the commissions and multi-level rewards, you still have a product that, at the stated retail price, is something viable that a consumer would buy even if they were not interested in "joining the business". Because this is one area where many MLM plans have a bad reputation.\n\nThen there's the promise of income. People join because they see this neat structure where they tell 5 friends and THEY tell five friends and they tell THEIR five friends, then wow! That's 5 x 5 x 5 or 125 customers already! When THEY tell 5 friends that makes 625. Pretty soon if you go down deep enough in the structure you're getting commissions on millions of sales.\n\nThere is only one problem with that economic model... pretty soon you will run out of people, because (thankfully) we don't breed that fast.\n\nOne solution to this, which I plan on implementing in an affiliate system (I'm a web programmer) is a way to turn the structure on it's head. Have release dates for new products, and when a new product comes out, the LAST people to join are given the FIRST opportunity to sign on to the new product. In effect, each product has it's own unique MLM plan attached. I'm not sure how workable this will be, but the complexity should not be too much to handle when the whole thing is computer-automated.\n\nSo to sum up (for now), it seems that the ideal product for this would be one that had an extremely low production and distribution cost (downloadable online software or web access for example), something that could generate REPEAT as opposed to ONE-TIME sales, and that could still be sold at a competitive, even bargain, price, such that closing a sale would be almost a no-brainer.\n\nI'd love to expand on this already somewhat-lengthy answer with anyone who has an interest. See my Yahoo Group, MLM Strategies...
699197
Yep, there is lots of good information on dropshipping at these sites below. Just click your local site to learn more about it :-) \n\n\n\nUSA Wholesalers/Dropshippers: http://usatrade.url40.net\nCanada Wholesalers/Dropshippers: http://cndatrade.url40.net\nUK Wholesalers/Dropshippers: http://uktrade.url40.net\nFor all other countries: http://worldwide.url40.net
528000
Hi there, Go to http://www.ourcoolbiz.com here you will find an e-book with 400 wholesalers and 700dropshippers in it. Go to my site as well this will help you build a great online business.\nhttp://www.kiwisdoinit.com\n\nI hope this helps you with your quest!!
116825
Dumb question I guess...what is a fulfillment company? All you need in the way of "web based" is a website, a shopping cart, and a way to collect the money, generate invoices and receipts (like PayPal).\n\nNo tell me the answer to my question and I might be able to help...lol.
220344
Drop shippers dont work on Ebay.  But, if you want to know a true drop shipper, go for the ones that dont ask for money upfront.  They only ask for it when you make a sale.  Why ask for money up front and discourage you from ever trying to sell their product?  Each person they recruit could end up selling thousands for them.  It only takes one person.  Some drop shippers go and steal your customers by sending the product to your customers, but they dont put your name on the return label.  They put their name on there.  Drop shippers dont work unless you have a website or catalog.  But, I would suggest, after getting a steady order for your products, you should try to hold inventory to minimize these greedy dropshippers.  Just dont buy more then you can sell.  Some drop shippers help you create a website, and dont do much else.  They charge you for a website and then, dont help you at all.   They already got you.  And they might even try to get you to hold inventory even with no customer base.  Be careful.  If I were to try a drop shipper, I would spend the least as possible.  Like print out my own business card with a cheaply created website and see if people buy.  Then, I would slowly upgrade.  If it doesnt work, I throw away the free website and toss the cheap business cards and start all over.
392097
- Size of the market - are there enough people who would want this product/service?\n\n- Market demand - would people actually want to buy this product?\n\n- Your own skill set = do you have what it takes to be an effective entrepreneur? If not, is there someone who can help you oversee the business?\n\n- Your resources = do you have enough resources to start the business, cashflow for at least a year? Will your family have money if and when your business fails?\n\n- What are the growth prospects for your business? What will be required for you to grow the company?\n\n- Does your product/service provide for good revenue per sale? This is often missed by many. It is difficult to succeed if you are selling a one-dollar product. \n\n- Will you be able to maintain high profit margins? Low profit margins are dangerous to your company's survival\n\n- How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have? Patience is the successful entrepreneur’s best friend.  It will take time for the business to become known, gather paying customers, and reach a break-even point.
345006
legitimate business like any other
662992
You could try:\n\nhttp://www.dropshipheaven.com.au/\n\nhttp://www.dropshipaustralia.com.au/\n\nhttp://www.tradekey.com/ks-Dropship-Australia/\n\nfor starters.\n\nAs always with the Net, there will be a million and one options if you look around.\n\nCheers\nAlister\nhttp://www.marketscience.com.au
13858
In my opinion, and experience, the best small business to launch is an online business. Create websites about topics of internest to you, then put on PPC ads from servers like Yahoo Publishers Network or Adsense. You will be paid for each click, when visitors come to the site, see ads of interest to them, and click the ads. The best things about this business is the initial investment is very low. You have no inventory to stock,no orders to fill, no customers to contend with, no shoplifting, no breakage, no back breaking boxes to lift, no employees to hire, no rush hour traffic, and no credit card fraud. You are looking at monthly hosting fees of $20 or less, you design in, so there is no design fee. We are making over $4000 a month just in the PPC revenue, plus we sell ads to other business directly. We work from home, set our own hours, and just wait each month for the check from Adsense or YPN to arrive. It doesn't get any easier, or any more flexible.
102865
It is a great home-based business. The hardest part is finding products to sell. Many people are in this business and there is a lot of competition. If you have a product that is not available everywhere else, or if you can compete on price and still make a profit, an ebay store can make you a lot of money.\n\nI have done wery well there when I have been early with a product, have gotten a great low price lot, or picked up an estate of good quality rare items.
331606
Buying from garage sales and selling on eBay is fun, and good getting a few dollars here and there from ebay. Sometimes, you luck out on an item and hit big, but many times it will just be so-so (assuming you can even get the price you paid for it). In terms of fun factor, it is great. But from a business stand-point, it is not. Not sustainable.\n\nIf you want to earn serious money from eBay and get rich from ebay, you need to have a well-thought out business model. Selling on ebay is getting tougher -- just look at the number of auctions that closes without a bid. Go to the boards on ebay and you will hear even oldtimers complaining about how stiffer competition plus higher fees make it so much harder to sell on ebay.\n\nOne success model of ebay is the couple Jay and Marie Senese (username jayandmarie) of the 1-cent CD fame. They have the highest positive feedback number of all sellers on eBay. Their business model is to buy very low cost CDs in bulk (those that CD stores sell in their discount bins) and offer them on ebay at a starting price of 1 cent http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886080.htm Their success is based on the fact that they stumbled on a sustainable business model with products that people really want.