The Myths And Magic Of Ebay Drop-Shipping Vendors.
If you’ve never heard of drop shipping, then prepare to be
impressed – it sounds like every eBay seller’s dream. With drop
shipping, you don’t have to keep any stock at all. You simply
list auctions for what your drop shipper sells, without
actually seeing it yourself.
Each time something sells, you let them know, and they deliver
it for you – directly to the customer. They’ll charge you a
near-wholesale price for the item they delivered, you charge
the customer whatever price you agreed, and then you pocket the
difference as profit.
The Magic.
Just think of the sheer amount of trouble this takes out of
eBay selling. You don’t have to find space in your house to
keep your stock in, or money to buy it with. You don’t have to
take any risk by buying things that might not sell. You don’t
have to deal with suppliers. You don’t even have to pack or
post the auctions yourself. Wow! Can you imagine how good this
would be if you could pull it off?
But, as with all things in life, if it sounds too good to be
true…
The Myths.
Drop-shippers don’t do deals with just anyone – any drop
shipper who says they’ll take orders from unregistered
businesses is likely to be a scammer. They might not send out
anything at all to your customers, or you might send out very
poor quality merchandise that they will then return to you for
a refund.
Also, beware of companies that claim they will put you in
contact with drop shippers for a fee – they are inevitably
rip-offs. At the end of the day, the best way to find drop
shipping companies is to contact them in the ‘real world’, not
by typing ‘drop shipping’ into a search engine.
Doing it for Real.
If you want to make a profit with drop-shippers, be prepared
for it to be quite a small one: you’re not going to make sales
on eBay at a big mark-up from drop shipping prices. You will
also have to accept that you can’t inspect stock before it gets
sent out, and some of your descriptions might not be as good as
they could be.
You should also be prepared for a few frustrating experiences
with your drop shipper, as they might not share the same
customer service values as you. The first time you’ll realise
that they never sent something to one of your buyers is when
you hear about it from the buyer a week later.
If you can accept all these things, though, and find a
reputable drop shipper, then there’s money to be made. Good
luck!
If you’d like to give up a little more profit and control over
your eBay business to save the trouble of doing everything
yourself, then you might be interested in eBay consignment
centers. You can sell your items at an eBay consignment center
by just leaving them there. Stay tuned to these emails for
more.
About The Author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet
auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit
www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to
make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
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