![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Ecommerce Information |
|
![]() |
Drop-Shipping - A Great Way of Making Money Online
Using the Internet to sell products and services to ever increasing number of net users is a good way to start your own business. If you are not taking advantage of this great opportunity you are just missing the boat! Consider this: e-commerce, contrary to popular believe, is thriving and increasing at a double digit growth rate. According to Jupiter Research, Online sales during this holiday season in United States are expected to reach $21.6 billion, a 19 percent increase over the same period last year. Jupiter also predicts in the report that 86 million U.S. residents will make holiday purchases online this year compared to 73 million last year, which is an 18 percent increase. No doubt that this is the right time to get into online business. Building a website for selling products or services is no longer that difficult. You can make your own website by using available sophisticated but easy-to-learn-and-use programs like Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage, Adobe Go live, etc. There also exist various online web store builders similar to Rusbiz.com, which allow you to create powerful web stores using simple editors and numerous templates. You can also setup a store with E-bay and sell products through it. Finally, you can hire professional web designers to develop your website. So, the important question isnot how to get online, but what to sell on the Internet? In one of my articles - What to sell on the Internet? (http://ezine.rusbiz.com/archivenews.html?nl_oid=19) - I wrote about selling information products. Although this is an interesting concept, you might think that this is not your cup of tea; and you still prefer to work with some tangible products. In ideal scenario, probably, you want to sell a product of your choice but don't want to carry your own stock and don't want to handle the shipping. Is there a way of doing this? Yes,there is! It's called "Drop-shipping". What is drop-shipping? When a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or importer, after receiving an order from their retailers, individually pack and deliver the product to the customer of the retailer with retailers address as shipper, this selling technique is called drop-shipping. The advantages of drop-shipping include: - You do not have any inventory. So, there is no stock carrying expense involved. - You pay for the item only when it is sold and you got paid from your customer. You don't need to invest money in buying the product. - You can sell just one item at a time. No minimum quantity required. - Your drop-shipper will supply you with necessary product image and specification. You don't have to spend money on creating your own. - You fix your own selling price of the product. Convenient, when you know your niche market well. - You can offer various products on your web store from multiple suppliers. Select a product to sell Once you decided to go with drop-shipping you need to find products to sell and find drop-shipping suppliers for those products. According to the same report from Jupiter following are the most favorite categories for online shoppers: Books - by far the most popular category, after that comes clothing and shoes, music, toys, video tapes and DVDs, gift certificates, consumer electronics, accessories, videogames, bed and related items, and bath items. You should also consider that this year, total Internet sales of consumer electronics are expected to rise 32 percent to $7.5 billion, making it the fastest growing group among all retail sales categories online. The market research wizard developed by Worldwide Brand Inc. is a great tool, which shows in a probability scale whether it is worthy trying to sell your selected product online or not. You can find it over here.(http://www.worldwidebrands.com/?8188) Locate drop-shipping companies After selecting the product the next step is to find a reliable drop-shipper for it. This might not be an easy task! The things that you should look into a drop-shipper are the followings: 1. A reputable supplier with drop-shipping experience 2. Ready to ship one item at a time 3. Do not ask for any membership payment 4. Will use your name as shipper 5. Will enclose blank invoice or invoice from you 6. On the packaging there will be no indication that they are the supplier. You might think that the easiest way of finding a drop-shipper is just to buy one of the numerous lists on the Internet for sale. I won't recommend you to use them for number of reasons. Often, these lists are outdated or carry wrong information. Even if you find the companies through the lists, since many people use these lists, you get into fierce competition for market share not even starting to sell. Use the following approach instead: Online search The first step is, naturally, to use the search engines. Using various combinations of the keywords of your product with words: manufacturer, wholesaler, drop-shipper, dealer, see if you can find the original source of the product. If several online retailers are already selling this product, do some detective works! Check out the sites thoroughly. May be, you can find a clue, which will help you track down the supplier. If it is an imported product go to the sites like Alibaba, ecplaza, Rusbiz, trade-india. Locate the manufacturer and get in touch with them to find who you should contact in your country to retail sell their products. If the product is manufactured in North America, the best source to find them is Thomas register. Trade exhibitions You should definitely attend the trade shows related to your category of products. This is an easy way to find a number of suppliers, who might be willing to work with you. Trade magazines Trade journals and publications are also a good resource for finding suppliers of your products. Although, you might have to go through a sizable quantity of them before you stumble on the right supplier. Conclusion Drop-shipping has some inherent drawbacks too. The biggest of them is you have to totally rely onthe drop-shipper to fulfill your order and get the product to your customer on time. The others are: you don't have any control over the price or availability of the product. However, a good drop-shipper cares for his reputation since hisbusiness depends on retailers like you. That's why you have to be very careful in choosing the right drop-shipper. Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business.You can contact him at mailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz.com,http://ezine.rusbiz.com/archivenews.html?nl_oid=47
MORE RESOURCES: White House Says It’s Again Closing E-commerce Tariff ‘Loophole’ The Information Better ‘Welcome’ Emails for Ecommerce Practical Ecommerce Rezolve AI Taps $5.5 Trillion Ecommerce Market With In-Store Style Shopping Experience, Analyst Says Benzinga Lifetime Brands makes a strong push for more ecommerce Digital Commerce 360 Marcin Kuśmierz steps in as CEO to drive Allegro’s e-commerce growth Retail Insight Network A global dress distributor gave AI a chance. Now it makes creative content faster, and overstock is down 40%. Business Insider Ecommerce earnings recap: What you missed from Chewy, GameStop and more Digital Commerce 360 Asia-Pacific Ecommerce 2025 eMarketer Retail Strategy 101: Why eCommerce Needs a Brick & Mortar Store Home Furnishings Association E-commerce alcohol sales to hit US$36bn by 2028 The Drinks Business How China’s State-Backed E-Commerce Platforms Threaten American Consumers and U.S. Technology Leadership Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Courier Baggage and ecommerce are a perfect match Airport Technology Latest B2B Ecommerce news, research and case studies Digital Commerce 360 Revolutionary AI Creates Virtual Human Models for Amazon Sellers, Slashing Photo Costs - Stock Titan Perplexity adds an agentic commerce partner for its push into ecommerce Digital Commerce 360 Amazon’s surprise bid for TikTok is far from a sure deal, because TikTok is far from just a social media app Sherwood News Retail, E-Commerce Merchants Lose $4 for Every $1 in Fraud: Report E-Commerce Times H-E-B opens eCommerce fulfillment center in Houston H-E-B Newsroom Kroger creates new ecommerce business unit, names CIO as its leader Digital Commerce 360 Kroger goes all in on ecommerce Supermarket News TikTok insiders say Chinese leadership is cracking down on its US e-commerce team after missing goals Business Insider Best Influencer Marketing Strategies for Retail & E-Commerce Brands Influencer Marketing Hub Jorge Zuñiga Blanco Breaks Down Key Innovations Driving eCommerce Profitability and Market Expansion WebWire Jorge Zuñiga Blanco Unveils Cutting-Edge Strategies to Accelerate eCommerce Growth in 2025 - WebWire How tariffs impact the ecommerce industry Digital Commerce 360 US ecommerce penetration nearly a quarter of all Q4 retail sales Digital Commerce 360 eBay: Poised To Dominate Its e-Commerce Niche Seeking Alpha The 8 best ecommerce platforms of 2025 TechRadar US ecommerce sales in 2024 more than double those of 2019 Digital Commerce 360 79+ Brand New E-Commerce Statistics for 2025 Exploding Topics Topic: E-commerce worldwide Statista Shop Circle raises $60 million to accelerate U.S. AI B2B expansion Digital Commerce 360 On the ground in Ho Chi Minh City: retail, ecommerce and what’s next - The Low Down - Momentum Works On the ground in Ho Chi Minh City: retail, ecommerce and what’s next The Low Down - Momentum Works Global e-commerce logistics and e-fulfillment market to soar in 2025 Parcel and Postal Technology International Top 13 Ecommerce Trends (2024 & 2025) Exploding Topics Charts: Global Consumer Views on Tariffs Practical Ecommerce How retailers are navigating U.S. tariffs through eCommerce strategies Home of Direct Commerce Ex-Uber execs’ marketplace firm nets $5m series A Tech in Asia Ecommerce Stocks To Watch Now - March 31st MarketBeat Nextech’s Advances Its AI First Initiative With Launch of Ecommerce AI Studio Showcasing “Humans” in Lifestyle AI Product Photography ACCESS Newswire doola Launches a Business-in-a-Box(TM) for E-Commerce, Unifying the Fragmented Back-End of Online Selling Into One Seamless Solution ACCESS Newswire Hudson’s Bay pitches plan to save six stores and e-commerce business The Globe and Mail European eCommerce set for 45 per cent growth Home of Direct Commerce Black Friday ecommerce sales reach $10.8 billion Digital Commerce 360 New Metapack® Survey: How Consumer Expectations are Reshaping Ecommerce After a Quarter Century of Retail Transformation Business Wire How to Do Market Research For Ecommerce in 2024 Exploding Topics Insights into the Mexican E-Commerce Competition Landscape CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies Metaverse in eCommerce: Everything You Need to Know appinventiv.com 5 Trends Influencing the Future of Ecommerce Entrepreneur How this AI-powered startup is disrupting e-commerce - From a city you least expected! - The Tribune Chewy Stock: A Strong E-Commerce Play (NYSE:CHWY) Seeking Alpha The New E-Commerce Innovation Imperative for Retailers Boston Consulting Group Nextech3D.ai enhances Ecommerce AI Studio with lifelike product photography Proactive financial news How are airports embracing ecommerce? Airport Technology Nextech3D.ai disrupts industry with launch of AI-powered Ecommerce content studio Proactive financial news DHL eCommerce enters Saudi Arabian market by acquiring equity stake in parcel logistics company AJEX DHL Group Ecommerce App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2025) Business of Apps |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
Say Something Worth Talking About I recently published a short e-book called 'One Thing I Know About Doing Business Online'. Seventeen people contributed - including Seth Godin, Jeffrey Zelman, Danny Sullivan, Jared Spool, Gerry McGovern and Ann Handley. Is Your Website Credit Card Friendly? In my last column I discussed the process of credit card enabling your brick-and-mortar business. I pointed out that research has shown that accepting credit cards can help increase revenue and enhance cash flow. How to Start a Business on the Internet So you want to start a business? Good for you. Really, I mean that sincerely. Outsourcing Your Ecommerce Order Fulfillment When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you can no longer package and ship the orders yourself, it's time to begin outsourcing your order fulfillment. Although all order fulfillment centers offer the same basic services, their individual methods and costs will help you choose one over the other. How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part Two Why time spent on your site is importantAll websites regardless of type should measure this KPI, simply because all websites can use it as a gauge to see how compelling their offers are as well as check web site performance. It doesn't matter whether you're running a content portal or an e-commerce sales operation, time spent on your pages is an important metric to measure. Complementary-Relational Linking and How It Could Save Your Internet Business The concept of linking is that sites with common interestsshould link to drive more traffic to each other's businessesand to increase their "popularity." Search engines, such as Google, give much higher ranking to sites with highpopularity. Turn Your Rusty Junk Into eBay Gold Often times people to stop to realize the income potential of their "junk". And, when they DO decide it might be worth selling, they never give eBay a second thought. Starting An E-Commerce Business The development and expansion of the Internet has made business opportunities, once only available to the wealthy, available to nearly everyone. In the past, opening a business was a huge commitment in terms of finances and risk. Simple Steps to Start a Profitable Member Only, Subscription Web Site Having a successful member only, paid membership site is one of the best ways to make money online. A successful membership site can give you the steady income of a CEO ?. 7 Must Have Scripts to Look for When Shopping for E-commerce Hosting When shopping for e-commerce hosting there are a lot of things you need to keep and mind. When you know what to look for it is a lot easier to ensure you get exactly what you need and not leave any important information out. How To Eliminate Credit Card Refunds From Digital Thieves Can you encounter the number of times where a Credit Card Sale was generated, only to receive a "Refund Notification" from your contracted e-commerce processor on behalf the "customer"?Welcome to the electronic world of "cyber-shoplifting".Unscrupulous surfers, disguised as potential "customers", systematically opt to ordering goods (using credit cards) in electronic form of delivery, only to request a refund minutes or days later after receiving the product. Electronic Commerce and WTO The Internet may not be useful for all businesses, nor do all have to develop an Internet information strategy. Some businesses are concerned with the start-up costs of connecting such as purchasing hardware and software, subscribing to an Internet connection or service provider, and training staff. Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management What is a Stakeholder?Try "define: Stakeholder" in Google and you will be surprised by the huge differences in the way this simple word is defined. It perhaps proves - in a way - just how confused people get about Stakeholder Management and how inconsistent the different approaches to it can be!My simple definition is "anyone affected by a decision and interested in its outcome". The Essential Christmas Web-store Makeover Ten great tips to turn online holiday shoppers into eagerbuyers - and satisfied customers.When meeting potential clients, you wouldn't dream ofshowing up late in a mismatched outfit, hair disheveled,with food on your tie and no business card, would you? Andif they asked for testimonials or explanations about yourcompany policies you'd hardly say, "Sorry, I don't give outthat information. Is Your Business Afraid of the Internet? My Business is Afraid of the InternetBill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, once said that there would soon be two types of businesses, those online, and those out of business. Those words still ring true today, and many small businesses are missing a huge boat by not getting online. Managing Project Risks and Issues Inherent (or Business) RiskInherent Risk is the risk that exists in the environment around your portal project. It will tend to be unique to your organisation; it's culture and politics. Government Buying and Selling on the Internet Global Insight, a leading economic and financial forecasting company, (formerly DRI-WEFA), states that all levels of government (federal, state, and local) should see steady increases in the purchases of goods and services through the year 2009.Vendors willing to make the commitment to sell to government can reap the benefits of this projected government spending. Working With Drop Shippers Drop Shippers, the manufacturers or distributors who are willing to ship their products to your customers, bring a powerful benefit to ecommerce. Online businesses that engage in the wholesale-retail trade can cut down on all the hassles of shipping their products by simply establishing business relationships with drop shippers, and using them as part of their business model. How To Prevent Your 3rd Party Merchant Account From Suspension What would you do if you were sent an email from your online credit card processor telling you that your account has been suspended or frozen?How are you going to pay the bills in the meantime?It is extremely important for you to familiarize yourself with the terms of your contract with your credit card processor.As long as you comply with their set regulation and guidelines to maintain your account in good standing you should have no problems. Online Shopping: Legal Challenges for Taxing Authorities E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in the sales/distribution chain. The mark-ups that occur between manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and consumers can add the cost of goods purchased by consumers. ![]() |
home | site map |
© 2006 |