Question: Who does "dropshipping" here?

[LimitLessJG]

To all people who drop ship I had a few questions if you guys don't mind, just looking to get some feedback/advice from a few people here who do it now.

So I've been looking more and more into dropshipping recently. I like the whole idea that you can take it with you wherever you go and there is no overhead, that you never sit on any product. Your business is your laptop/your phone, and I love that about it. My questions to you guys out there that dropship now are;

What ROI's can I expect over time?
What products have you found that are more easier/faster to move then others?
Are e-commerce pages the best route to move product?
Exactly what is required to get the ball rolling with the whole operation?

Just trying to get a feel for everything I am a complete noob when it comes to this, I've done some research already on it but just wanted to get some feedback/advice from some of the people who do it here on the forums. If I left out any important questions that I should have asked, please do not hesitate to answer them in advance, I am a sponge when it comes to knowledge. Thanks in advance guys, it is greatly appreciated!

- JG

 

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[eqttrdr]

Was doing dropshipping adult sex toys for about a year. After all expenses was net profit margin 27%. Wasnt worth it because being an affiliate for an adult toy company paid me 25%. The extra 2% wasnt worth dealing with the extra paperwork, emails and screwball customers. Was way too much of a headache. If I do an ecommerce store again I am only going to sell and ship direct or get into the wholesale side.

just my .02

 

[Mrs. BRKb]

JG, I don't know what your research has included so far. There are great threads here if you search for ecommerce in the search box.

Andrew at EcommerceFuel has a free ebook on his site listed under Resources.

Have you been to EcomLab.com?

 

[rkmalo1]

IMHO I would not go into dropshipping in 2013. Margins are likely too low, you do not have control and the barriers of entry are too low.

Much like eqttrdr noted, sell, brand and ship directly. There are two amazing threads on the "inside" of this forum that will help you with the process...Well worth the $$ for the INSIDERS subscription. Also, Biophase has a thread about ecommerce, I believe that one you can access without the subscription. There are many ways to import/brand products and still make this statement below possible.

I like the whole idea that you can take it with you wherever you go and there is no overhead, that you never sit on any product. Your business is your laptop/your phone, and I love that about it.

Andrew @ Ecommercefuel also has a podcast (he is in the dropshipping business BUT he wants to get into branding a product), buildmyonlinestore.com (he already started importing/branding). Ecomlab is also becoming a good source of information (owner is member on this forum, listened to a few of his recent interviews and he also says his next project will most likely be importing/branding).

 

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[LimitLessJG]

IMHO I would not go into dropshipping in 2013. Margins are likely too low, you do not have control and the barriers of entry are too low.

Much like eqttrdr noted, sell, brand and ship directly. There are two amazing threads on the "inside" of this forum that will help you with the process...Well worth the $$ for the INSIDERS subscription. Also, Biophase has a thread about ecommerce, I believe that one you can access without the subscription. There are many ways to import/brand products and still make this statement below possible.

I like the whole idea that you can take it with you wherever you go and there is no overhead, that you never sit on any product. Your business is your laptop/your phone, and I love that about it.

Andrew @ Ecommercefuel also has a podcast (he is in the dropshipping business BUT he wants to get into branding a product), buildmyonlinestore.com (he already started importing/branding). Ecomlab is also becoming a good source of information (owner is member on this forum, listened to a few of his recent interviews and he also says his next project will most likely be importing/branding).

Thank you! I will definitely check out the threads and people given in the above, thank you as well for the heads up on what to expect now in this industry. It seems like from what you and everyone else in the above has stated, I missed the "gold rush" so to speak? Question: what do you mean when you are referring to branding a product? Do you mean creating something of value to the public? I googled it but still not rendering in my mind, maybe cause I'm exhausted from the brain damage at my day job, haha. Apologies.

 

[LimitLessJG]

eqttrdr - I appreciate your two cents, thank you sir.

mrs. brkb - I'll be looking into ecommercefuel, thank you for the suggestion.

 

[XOthermic]

I manufacture a product.

The only reason I would ever drop ship it for you. Is if you have access to hundreds of customers that I cannot reach.

For example.

I sell xyz patented 10 meal-storage sports bag. If you approached me and said I have website or social media platform or client list with 10,000 visitors a month and can move 20 - 30 units per month. I would let you "dropship" my product.

If you run a mediocre "wordpress site" and have 2,000 followers on twitter. I wouldn't open your email.

Yes drop shipping is great but as a manufacture why would I do work for you or talk to you? Your just starting out? it's not worth my time? I'd rather spend 2-3 hours talking to a distributor that can sell hundreds of units a month.

 

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[rkmalo1]

Warby Parker has done one of the best jobs creating a brand around prescription eyewear: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/b...-build-premium-brand.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


Also ..listen to this podcast if you have a chance. These guys have set up their company in an incredible way.

Episode #5 – Mike Tecku and Mike Hansen (Part 1) | themoneypillow.com

 

[Brentnal]

The only reason I would ever drop ship it for you. Is if you have access to hundreds of customers that I cannot reach.

Oh thats bad news i thought i can get a dropshipper to sell products online on ebay, even if i don't have a customer base yet.

 

[brycer9]

Oh thats bad news i thought i can get a dropshipper to sell products online on ebay, even if i don't have a customer base yet.

You can do that, that's exactly what I did.. but I bet you won't because you never F*cking take action. Stop looking for excuses to sit on your a$$

 

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[Lombardo]

The topic of drop shipping has definitely become more popular. What I see is a lot of guys in the affiliate marketing space wanting to get involved. Nothing against these guys, some of them are making some serious bread in their industry. However, the thing I don't like about a lot of affiliate marketers, or a good portion of those looking at getting into e-commerce by drop shipping, they don't have the correct mindset to succeed in e-commerce or drop shipping.

Again, nothing against you affiliate guys, I respect anyone making money on their own. But, the majority of affiliate marketers are nothing more than self-employed. They may make a great income, but they are like a doctor running his own practice. Without the doctor, the business fails. There is a great thread about an affiliate guy who actually confesses to what I just talked about: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/in...ive-made-millions-online-ask-me-anything.html

So, this idea of drop shipping is intriguing to anyone in the internet marketing game. They think "This sounds so easy, just put up a website, drive some traffic, make some sales, bada-bing bada-boom money in the bank".

This "easy" mindset is what kills these guys. They end up signing up for those bull-shit drop ship directories and sell the same products every other "easy" minded guy does. Guess what? They don't make any money, and if they do, their margins are VERY SMALL.

Getting into e-commerce is about building a real business. This takes work. Hard work. The guys willing to grind it hard and have the mindset of creating a real business, can succeed.

So, a lot of people will tell you "Don't go into drop shipping, no one can succeed in it today, margins are too low, competition is too high etc".

Don't listen to them.

There are many people that have created real businesses, making real money, with drop shipping.

The beauty about drop shipping is it allows you to test the market before throwing down major capital. Some of the guys that I've talked with will start off with drop shipping then after they have started generating enough revenue, they start purchasing their top selling products at wholesale and carrying inventory of them. This gives them more control of their business as well as higher margins on their top selling products.

If you are serious about creating a real business in the e-commerce game and willing to put in the time and hard work, then I suggest you invest in training courses by guys already killing it. Having these courses available today is a HUGE advantage to someone new.

Some of the courses to check out:

The Insider's Guide |

http://storecoach.com/

Home - Ecomlab

https://www.brownboxformula.com/info/indexb.php

How To Create A Profitable Online Store And Sell Online | A Course On Ecommerce

Any of these courses will allow you to succeed. The guys who complain about the prices, are the guys who have the "easy mindset" and will fail. If you are not willing to invest $500 into your business, you are not ready to be in business.

The basics come down to this:

1. Find your store's niche
This is the most important step. If you go into the wrong niche, your chances of seeing success are slim, even if you do everything else right. Any of the above training courses will help you pick a good niche.

2. Find suppliers
The "easy mindset" guys are too lazy to pick up a phone. They end up getting into a drop-ship directory and losing. Once you pick your niche you have to find the top manufactures and CALL THEM. Again, the training courses will dig into doing this properly.

The above steps are the most important, the rest will be about:

3. Build Store

4. Launch Store

5. Get traffic

Again, all this will be covered in a training course. Or you can learn through your own research.

What I am trying to drill into people's heads who are reading this....the game of drop shipping and e-commerce isn't easy money. This is about building real businesses. But, if you are serious and willing to put in the effort and time, you can succeed at drop shipping. Don't listen to anyone saying you can't.

 

[brycer9]

The topic of drop shipping has definitely become more popular. What I see is a lot of guys in the affiliate marketing space wanting to get involved. Nothing against these guys, some of them are making some serious bread in their industry. However, the thing I don't like about a lot of affiliate marketers, or a good portion of those looking at getting into e-commerce by drop shipping, they don't have the correct mindset to succeed in e-commerce or drop shipping.

Again, nothing against you affiliate guys, I respect anyone making money on their own. But, the majority of affiliate marketers are nothing more than self-employed. They may make a great income, but they are like a doctor running his own practice. Without the doctor, the business fails. There is a great thread about an affiliate guy who actually confesses to what I just talked about: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/in...ive-made-millions-online-ask-me-anything.html

So, this idea of drop shipping is intriguing to anyone in the internet marketing game. They think "This sounds so easy, just put up a website, drive some traffic, make some sales, bada-bing bada-boom money in the bank".

This "easy" mindset is what kills these guys. They end up signing up for those bull-shit drop ship directories and sell the same products every other "easy" minded guy does. Guess what? They don't make any money, and if they do, their margins are VERY SMALL.

Getting into e-commerce is about building a real business. This takes work. Hard work. The guys willing to grind it hard and have the mindset of creating a real business, can succeed.

So, a lot of people will tell you "Don't go into drop shipping, no one can succeed in it today, margins are too low, competition is too high etc".

Don't listen to them.

There are many people that have created real businesses, making real money, with drop shipping.

The beauty about drop shipping is it allows you to test the market before throwing down major capital. Some of the guys that I've talked with will start off with drop shipping then after they have started generating enough revenue, they start purchasing their top selling products at wholesale and carrying inventory of them. This gives them more control of their business as well as higher margins on their top selling products.

If you are serious about creating a real business in the e-commerce game and willing to put in the time and hard work, then I suggest you invest in training courses by guys already killing it. Having these courses available today is a HUGE advantage to someone new.

Some of the courses to check out:

The Insider's Guide |

http://storecoach.com/

Home - Ecomlab

https://www.brownboxformula.com/info/indexb.php

How To Create A Profitable Online Store And Sell Online | A Course On Ecommerce

Any of these courses will allow you to succeed. The guys who complain about the prices, are the guys who have the "easy mindset" and will fail. If you are not willing to invest $500 into your business, you are not ready to be in business.

The basics come down to this:

1. Find your store's niche
This is the most important step. If you go into the wrong niche, your chances of seeing success are slim, even if you do everything else right. Any of the above training courses will help you pick a good niche.

2. Find suppliers
The "easy mindset" guys are too lazy to pick up a phone. They end up getting into a drop-ship directory and losing. Once you pick your niche you have to find the top manufactures and CALL THEM. Again, the training courses will dig into doing this properly.

The above steps are the most important, the rest will be about:

3. Build Store

4. Launch Store

5. Get traffic

Again, all this will be covered in a training course. Or you can learn through your own research.

What I am trying to drill into people's heads who are reading this....the game of drop shipping and e-commerce isn't easy money. This is about building real businesses. But, if you are serious and willing to put in the effort and time, you can succeed at drop shipping. Don't listen to anyone saying you can't.

Speed+ very helpful guide

 

[TedM]

Exactly what is required to get the ball rolling with the whole operation?

i have little to add to what has been said here.

I'll mention two points -

1. find what you want to sell and go to the manufacturer directly. don't waste any time with directories, etc.
2. capture email addresses and names. one of my big mistakes was not doing this and letting so many people who visiited my site just walk away. i was selling gun cabinets, and had i captured a chunk of the thousands who visited every month, i could have sold that list or done a jv w/another company in a related area...

the ecommerce can be a carrot but the real money can be made from the list you can create.

 

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