Finding Dropshippers

Drop Shipping 101

Finding a company to drop ship products to your customers is pretty easy these days, simply do a Google search and you will find a ton of companies advertising thousands of products that you can sell on your website. The only problem is that you will be competing with a lot of others that are doing the exact same thing. And if you really analyze the situation the party that is really making all the money is the drop shipper. And in reality you will probably not be getting the best deal on your products either.

So why is this the case? Well it is not very efficient for a company to drop ship 1 item at a time. Especially if they are only making a few bucks off of each product. It is certainly more profitable for a wholesaler to sell in bulk, hence the term wholesaler. Therefore when you find a drop shipper that is willing to ship one item at a time you will most likely not be getting the "best" deal for that particular product.

Now that I have just made this statement, let me take it back, somewhat. There are companies out there that will drop ship one item at a time and still offer a fair deal to their resellers. But they would usually require a lot more from their resellers before setting up an account. Some may even be reluctant to deal with companies that operate exclusively online. Additionally, you may be required to place an initial order or have a showroom for some products. If you can find wholesalers such as these then you can be assured that the stringent weeding out process has left you with less competition and you stand a better chance of succeeding with your online store.

The best places to find quality wholesalers and manufacturers would be at trade shows and business to business listings. You may be able to find decent listings online but you will have to weed through all of the scam lists and typical lists you find online where only a portion of the companies listed are actually legitimate. Also think about it, why would you have to pay for a list of companies that need to find resellers? If a company is real and legitimate then you should be able to find them without paying for a listing. That said you may find a list or two that is fairly legitimate and although you could research on your own and find these companies, it does save a lot of time if someone has already made a list.

The best way to find drop shippers, again, would be to carefully research various companies and speak with them. Also contact some of their resellers and see if they are willing to share information with you. The general rule is that if it's very easy to become a reseller then you probably aren't getting such a great deal.

If you are searching for products first then building a website based on what you find then you would certainly want to research the market first. You may find that it is completely saturated or that you cannot compete with others selling the same products.

You will certainly have to spend time researching the market place, but it is very worthwhile to do so. This is the only way to find your niche and enjoy success selling online.