Using Drop Shipping Services

© Illa Maden November 2006

 Using drop shipping services is a good way to market tangible products without having to purchase them yourself and warehouse them. This saves you money upfront, eliminates the possibility of getting left holding products that have lost their popularity, and relieves you of having to store and ship them yourself.

Using drop shipping services is beneficial to websites who want to sell tangible goods, or those who wish to sell through auction sites.

1. You will need a payment service and be able to accept credit cards.

2. You will need to find and test a drop shipping service. It is good to order yourself, and check out the quality of products and the service the drop shipper  provides before you make a final decision.

3. You will need to assure that the drop shipper offers products at a price point that allows you enough profit margin between your buying price and selling price and still leaves you the option of marking it up at a price that will sell.

4. You will need images and descriptions from the drop shipper of the products to post on your website.

Once you are set up with the drop shipper, and have the products and descriptions posted on your website along with having your payment system set up, you are ready for business.

When customers purchase with their credit cards you will need to email the customer information, and the information regarding their purchase to the drop shipper. Customers pay the retail price plus shipping, unless you feature a free shipping offer.

The drop shipper will charge you the wholesale price plus shipping. Then the drop shipping service will forward the merchandise to your customer with your company name, as if you had shipped it yourself.

Using a drop shipping service will not give you as large a margin of profit as you would make by first buying the products yourself, warehouse them yourself, and ship them yourself, but they are a valuable service.

Drop shipping services eliminate a lot of risk and a lot of work and can ,for many, be the right business choice. 

Profitable Home Based Internet businesses | Marketing to Your Target Niche
Ebay A Seller's Bliss