Although selling online has been around for years, many aspiring internet entrepreneurs are now getting into the wholesaling business using dropshipping as their preferred method. In short, dropshipping wholesale merchandise involves making contact with suppliers and finding wholesale goods that will do well within a chosen market niche. Once a seller is able to figure this out, they will be able to markup these wholesale products on their ecommerce store and make a tidy profit, without even having to stock the products themselves. Read on to find out how to best go about finding the correct wholesale merchandise for your dropshipping store.
Connect with the Right Suppliers
When you know the type of market you are trying to enter, you will already have drastically whittled down which suppliers you will want to contact. Before you start contacting them, you should decide whether you are willing to use a supplier that is located overseas, or if you will only work with a domestic supplier. Obviously, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. One big advantage of working with a supplier for wholesale merchandise within your home country is that you’ll be able to meet with them face-to-face and assess whether you will be able to work together well. You can also see samples of the wholesale products you’ll be marketing on their behalf via dropshipping methods in person. However, the price point will likely be higher, which may make you want to go with an overseas supplier. However, keep in mind that the language barrier and the shipping time with an overseas supplier may mean that you won’t be able to dictate the terms of your relationship with this type of supplier quite as well.
Try Before you Buy
Once you connect with the right supplier, you need to make sure that you try out samples of their products. No matter how much you like them via email, via the phone, or even from an in-person meeting, you need to make sure you have a handle on the quality of the wholesale merchandise you will be marketing for them. As such, you need to make sure that you order samples from them – both to check on the packaging quality, the quality of actual items, and the shipping time. If, for example, you’re given a five business days shipping window and the product does not come for two weeks, it won’t matter how good the quality is. Your customers will be dissatisfied with the wait time and will likely try to get a refund or discount on the product. Because of this, you need to make sure that the shipping time is just as good as the quality. Also try ordering samples from some of your competitors and see how long those take to get to you and what the quality of the products are. If they’re better than the supplier that you intend on working with, then you should do some competitive research and see if you can find out what supplier your competitor is using, and see if they’d be willing to sign a non-exclusive deal with you.