Using Drop Ship Companies To Start Your Business
Using drop ship companies has probably come up in your research to start your online Web store. If you’re pondering whether to use drop shipping, here are some things to consider.
Simply, drop shipping means you are utilizing another company’s inventory. You can choose products from their inventory list and put them for sale on your site at your own price. When you make a sale, you inform your drop ship company so they can fulfill your order. Then they drop the product to your customer.
No, there’s no big catch to this process. The decision you have to make is whether you want to invest in housing and shipping products yourself, or using a drop ship company to house and ship products for you.
On one hand, you will have to pay to for the drop shipping services. And using a drop shipper will mean they have control over what inventory is in stock. If your customer buys a set of shoelaces, but your drop ship company doesn’t have them in stock, then your customer will have to wait for the item to come in.
Your drop ship company will also control the shipping methods and delivery times. However, some companies offer delivery options so you have some control. And usually, you’ll have to pay handling fees for each product they ship for you.
Comparing drop shipping costs and inventory unknowns to the time and money you will save is the big consideration. You don’t have to take pictures and write product descriptions, you can use your drop shippers. You don’t have to store or manage your own inventory and packaging materials. You don’t have to sink your investments into product acquisition. And you don’t have to arrange all the delivery details.
Every detail you don’t have to attend to is going to save your money and time. You can remain a profitable business without having to hire loads of people to write, photograph, package, ship, and manage your inventory. You won’t need a warehouse, or even an office. You won’t have products languishing in your warehouse that you’ve spent your money on, or boxes and Styrofoam pellets gathering dust.
You can settle the debate just by calculating the costs of doing it all yourself and hiring people to help you against the costs of using a drop shipping company. Then all you have to do is make it happen.
Stuart Lisonbee is a Marketing Manager at Doba where we have your wholesale dropshipping needs covered. Our proprietary software brings together hundreds of wholesale suppliers to one location for easy access by online retailers.
