Sign up for our free Small Business Marketing E-Course, and receive in week five, free of charge, a special report on eBay dropshipping. EBay dropshipping represents a tremendous opportunity for a home business with very low startup costs, but there are a few things you should keep in mind before you get started.
In the book, you'll find out exactly how to set up and run a business on eBay with almost no upfront costs, since you don't buy or keep any inventory. You rely on other companies to "dropship" their products to your buyers. You advertise the product, and when it sells, the dropship company takes care of fulfilling the order. You are responsible, however, for customer service, refunds and returns.
The big drawback here that I see is that you have no control over the fulfillment process. Therefore, if the dropship company doesn't have quality products, doesn't fill orders in a timely manner, or just goes belly-up, you're in deep trouble. The book lists several dropship companies that the author recommends, one of which, One Stop Dropship, is no longer operational, at least not at the link he provides. Another one he lists, Luxury Brands, which claims to be mentioned in a "Dummies" eBay book, says on its Web site that it is experiencing delays in responding to orders and inquiries. Freedom Imports is also an apparently dead link in the book. Crazy Discounts mentions a "catastrophic" server failure in May that undoubtedly interrupted their ability to fill orders.
I recommend thoroughly researching any company you consider doing business with in this fashion. Google the company through Web search and Google Groups search. Also, search eBay for the items you're thinking of selling to see how much competition you'd have. You don't want to get into price wars with existing sellers who have a lot more dropship experience under their belts than you have.
Another caveat - you would have to mark up the products enough to make a profit for yourself, while the dropship middleman already has his profit built-in. The eBay marketplace is competitive to the nth degree with extremely price-sensitive customers. There are probably already dozens, if not hundreds, of sellers already hawking anything you can think of to sell, so breaking in and making a profit is going to be tough, no matter what anyone tells you. But, it can be done, and sharp people are doing it every day. The secret of success on eBay is the same as it is everywhere else - the right product(s), at the right time, marketed to the right audience. If you have unique, quality products, your battle is partially won.
In the book, you'll find out exactly how to set up and run a business on eBay with almost no upfront costs, since you don't buy or keep any inventory. You rely on other companies to "dropship" their products to your buyers. You advertise the product, and when it sells, the dropship company takes care of fulfilling the order. You are responsible, however, for customer service, refunds and returns.
The big drawback here that I see is that you have no control over the fulfillment process. Therefore, if the dropship company doesn't have quality products, doesn't fill orders in a timely manner, or just goes belly-up, you're in deep trouble. The book lists several dropship companies that the author recommends, one of which, One Stop Dropship, is no longer operational, at least not at the link he provides. Another one he lists, Luxury Brands, which claims to be mentioned in a "Dummies" eBay book, says on its Web site that it is experiencing delays in responding to orders and inquiries. Freedom Imports is also an apparently dead link in the book. Crazy Discounts mentions a "catastrophic" server failure in May that undoubtedly interrupted their ability to fill orders.
I recommend thoroughly researching any company you consider doing business with in this fashion. Google the company through Web search and Google Groups search. Also, search eBay for the items you're thinking of selling to see how much competition you'd have. You don't want to get into price wars with existing sellers who have a lot more dropship experience under their belts than you have.
Another caveat - you would have to mark up the products enough to make a profit for yourself, while the dropship middleman already has his profit built-in. The eBay marketplace is competitive to the nth degree with extremely price-sensitive customers. There are probably already dozens, if not hundreds, of sellers already hawking anything you can think of to sell, so breaking in and making a profit is going to be tough, no matter what anyone tells you. But, it can be done, and sharp people are doing it every day. The secret of success on eBay is the same as it is everywhere else - the right product(s), at the right time, marketed to the right audience. If you have unique, quality products, your battle is partially won.
