Dropshippers

[Nebo]

Hi,

Does anyone use a Dropshipper? Where you sign up to their service, when your customer orders a product you send the wholesale price to the dropshipper, they deliver and provide the product and you make a profit from the difference between the price you sold the product and the wholesale price.

It sounds good to me, anyone know any good Dropshippers?

Thanks.

 

[Rob Holmes]

Hi Nebo,

Thare are literally tens of thousands of drop shippers around.

It may help your search if you decided what product(s) you would like to dropship.

Rob

 

[chris1317]

What sort of goods do you neeed dropshipped?

I may know someone

 

[Toon]

I offer a clothing dropshipping service and provide this service to other businesses, Ebayers, and website owners etc.

 

[Pete Williams]

Three of my wholesalers drop ship for me if I want them to, I am happy with that deal!

Don't tend to use it though as when the goods come through customs the customer becomes liable for the VAT, they have already paid it once so I don't like to pass this on again.

 

[Nebo]

Hey,

Thanks for your replies. Don't want to seem arrogant but I am hoping to sell a wide range of products If I am going to use a dropshipper, electronics (like iPods, TV's etc), games, CD's/DVD's, so a dropshipper which as a massive range of products which are updated. What would you recommend?

Thanks.

 

[bitsnstuff]

Sounds like you need something like this - http://www.theselect.co.uk/about_us/

Kate

 

[Nebo]

http://www.netdropshipper.com seem to have a much wider range.

 

[bitsnstuff]

It was just a suggestion. I did a quick search for you and that one came up on top.

I think, maybe, you need to do a search and make your own decision, as noone has come up with any specific recommendations based on experience.

Kate.

 

[Nebo]

Thanks Kate, I appreciate your help.

 

[jimbojones]

Hi All,

I am new here and have joined purely for this reason !

We are a direct marketing company and are currently developing a massive portfolio of domains. The company to be launched is Just4.net Group Ltd. - so Just4chocolates, Just4dvds, Just4weddings etc etc.

We are currently on the hunt for Dropshippers that cover literally thousands of products and so have a real job on our hands !

Some good resources we found were the www.wholesalepages.co.uk and www.thewholesaler.co.uk websites, from which we have had some success.

However it seems that Drop shipping or Fulfillment (as some companies prefer to call it) isn't a topic that is widely discussed on this forum. Which is a shame as I was hoping to make some good connections with potential Dropship/Wholesale companies.

However if there are any Wholesale/Dropship companies that are active here, I would be very keen to get in touch as our deadline is looming and we still need to source suppliers for all sorts of products. We are aiming to sell virtually anything and everything and so cannot really list the products we need (as there are too many!!)

Nebo - Sgolds are a company that deal with virtually all DVD/CD/Games consoles and are one of the 5 main importers to this country; one advantage is that part of their business is in Jersey and so Vat benefits also arise.

We will however use affiliates where we cannot find a supplier (to plug the gap) in time, however the returns are nowhere near as good as that through a dropshipper !

All the best,

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Azam.net]

We were looking for a reliable DVD drop-shipping company, one that has all the latest Hollywood/British film releases. Does anybody know of any apart from the ones mentioned above?

We sell hundreds of DVDs a month on our websites, but they are all through affiliate programs and so the commission amounts are not exciting. I wonder how much we could make if the DVDs were drop-shipped?

 

[jimbojones]

Drop shipping is definately the way to go ! Why earn 10% off an affiliate when you can be earning twice that or more on every sale !

I have had a few more success since the last post - try www.postercash-ukdropshipping.com as we have found them to be very keen to work with us, they have a huge range and are relatively quite new.

Please quote Just4 Group when contacting them !

If you have any more queries on the whole dropship thing just drop me a line.

Jamie

 

[camelot]

We have also been looking at the dropshipping market and are looking for reliable cost effective dropshippers of computer equipment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[jimbojones]

There are various dropshippers out there that deal with computer equipment, peripherals and software packages - your best bet is to visit www.wholesalepages.co.uk and www.thewholesaler.co.uk - here you will find free directories (although you may need to sign up) which list dropshippers in various categories.

Hope this is of help - if you have any more queries, just drop me a line......

Cheers

Jamie

 

[camelot]

Thanks for that Jamie, will have a look at it now

 

[jimbojones]

Let me know your thoughts if your still unsure - they are out there somewhere you'll just have to look around to find the best price and service - ** steer clear of companies that charge a fee for the service !!*

 

[jpb1958]

Hope I can butt in here. I was looking at dropshipping a few months ago as a means of earning on line. Some of the info I read stated that dropshipping is not the way to go here in the UK. Also, apparently,if you dont know what your doing you could end up selling goods for the middle man and not the 'source', thereby losing a large chunk of the profit margin.

I have recently had an accident in work and am looking at dropshipping again as a means of income. Any advice would be most appreciated, especially from anyone doing this here in the UK.

Finally.....Could anyone recommend a good read on the subject.

John

 

[jimbojones]

Hi John,

Hope I can be of assistance.

As dropshipping is a relatively new concept over here, compared with America, there is no defined method to making it work. You have to assess your capabilities and use them to your advantage.

John, if you decided not to do dropshipping would you be looking at an affiliate type scheme ? If so, the average commission (dependent on program) would stand at 10%. In dropship terms, it isn't always possible to get to the "source" for various reasons and so yes you may be using a middle man for some products, but the margins compared with other site-earning schemes is still much higher.

I for example will not take anything less than a 30% mark-up, but in most instances push for a 50% mark-up. Therefore you may lose out on a large proportion, but the profits are still really good! You have to strive to get the best deal out of the supplier, if they wont give you the price you want, simply go elsewhere. There are plenty of companies who will dropship, you just have to find them!

Try www.thewholesaler.co.uk and www.thewholeslaepages.co.uk for a list of dropshippers.

Try wholesalers themselves, some are prepared to offer the service if they think its worth it.

I would be interested to read the info that stated dropshipping was not a good venture in the UK, and as of yet I don't know of any books on the subject....sorry

I hope this is of some help, if you still have any queries don't hesitate to reply,

All the best,

Jamie

 

[PowerBasket]

Problem is with most dropshippers is that they charge quite high prices making it difficult to make a profit. More so on eBay.

 

[jpb1958]

Hi Jamie
Many thanks for your reply, very interesting. Could you please explain to me what an affiliate scheme is and how they work. I have never had a business of my own although like a lot of people I would like to do so.
I will have a look at the web sites you mention.
If there is no book on the subject, perhaps a topic could be created here. It could be worthwhile.
John

 

[jimbojones]

Hi John,

Glad to be of assistance.

Ok, quite simply an affiliate scheme is a basis to allow your site or someone elses site to promote/target/sell to particular customers. For example I ran the affiliate scheme for my last company (newreg.com) who dealt in private registrations online. I would target sites that a) would be relevent to the type of customer who visited our site and b) who would be interested in purchasing a registration.

We would provide a car website (eg BMW) with a link/banner which advertised our product, so if a user was looking for alloy wheels - he may click the link to newreg.com - if the user made a purchase through the BMW car site - they would recieve a 10& commission on the sale price.

It is a simple and effect way of driving traffic to your site and ultimately to generate money.

Some programs offer 2 tier structures for referals or leads. Please check out www.a4uforum.co.uk - this is where all the top affiliate/merchants congregate. They will be able to help you in far more depth than my experience - bear in mind I am only 19, nearly 20 .

If you have anymore questions on the subject, I would be more than happy to help

I would also like to see some similar topic on the forum ! (hint hint admin!)

Look forward to your reply

Jamie

 

[clickprofits]

Could you please explain to me what an affiliate scheme is and how they work.

Hi John - an affiliate scheme is where a company will pay you a commission on any sales resulting from clicks on links from your site (or in your email newsletters) to theirs. For example one of the first affiliate programs was started by amazon.com whereby you could recommend or review a book on your site and then include a link to amazon with your affiliate id and if the visitor purchased that book (or any other one) you get a commission. The purchase or other action (it could be a sales lead, brochure/catalogue request or insurance quote request, for example) usually has to take place within a specific time period (usually set by a 'cookie') - this could be anything from 1 day to a week, a month, a year (or longer).

Companies either run their affiliate program 'in house' or through a third party network (who takes care of paying affiliate checks as well as doing all the tracking through their software) or a combination of the two (in house and third party). Either way, your sales are tracked by having your unique affiliate id in your links.

There is some more information on affiliate programs here -
http://www.affiliatemax.com/top-ten.html including a list and description of most of the UK and international networks.

Hope that helps,

Mark.

 

[jpb1958]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the replies. I am considering creating a website for the area where I live. I recently took the wife on a driving lesson around the industrial estate and I was amazed at the diverse types of businesses. I am looking at promoting the area using a 'tongue in cheek' angle. There is already a website of sorts but all rather formal. Anyway at least this will give me something to aim for. Reading your replies, affiliating may be best for me.
John

 

[Magsite]

The affiliate Schemes I've used to sell goods on ebay in the past which I would recommend are

http://www.tradedoubler.com
http://www.affiliatewindow.co.uk

 

[bitsnstuff]

You need to be sure that the merchants are happy to have their goods sold on Ebay. I do nto allow it, as a Merchant, because it is not somewhere that the designers of my products wish to have the items sold.

Kate :lol:

 

[Fusionhost Group]

I am also intrested in drop shipping but mainly in mobile phones, so if anyone knows of a company who does this please let me know..

By this i mean actual phones i have found a few drop shippers but they only do the addons

 

[jimbojones]

Hi XS,

Try www.fone-logistics.com or check out the wholesaler sites:

www.thewholesaler.co.uk
www.wholesalepages.co.uk

for more information.

Your best bet is to re-sell the contracts rather than the sim-free mobiles - this is where all the profits are.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[JoyDivision]

I have been looking at this for music, but even with the discounts by the time the customer pays shipping I still can't compete with HMV

 

[jimbojones]

Hi JoyDivision,

There are only a couple of ways that CD/DVD can be made profitable.

1. Find a supplier who can ship items to Jersey Island. (negotiate the prices to get the best possible price)

2. Find a fulfillment house on Jersey that will collect the shipment from the supplier and send directly to your customers. (P+P is roughly £1.15 - £1.20 per item)

3. this allows you to not pay VAT on the items (so saving 17.5% on the price)

This is the way HMV, Tesco, Play.com, CDWOW etc operate. The only problem being that HMV et al. run some CD's at a loss and make the profits on back catalogues.

The only other option is to use a supplier of back catalogue only eg. OTD Trade who can supply a CD for about £1.60 + (P+P).

Other than that, there is no way anyone can compete with the big boys.

I hope this info was helpful - if you have any queries, do not hesitate to post back.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[JoyDivision]

I have been researching this a lot and it seems to make any real money you need to go direct to the manufacturer. A lot of the sites you see that charge you a fee are scams.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,306132-3,00.html

For example I have noticed that a lot of stuff at Postercash is not in stock, for example they have a huge list of New Order albums but hardly any seem to the in Stock, the same can be said about the Smiths, Joy Division, Stone Roses etc.

They charge you £40 for the basic service, people could easily sign up thinking they have a huge range but when it comes to actual stuff in stock it appears they don't.

I still want to some kind of online store but I am not sure what. I am not sure if have any clout to contact manufactures at the moment.

I should probably just concentrate my business idea on web development rather than bother with silly online shop spin off business.

 

[jimbojones]

Hi,

I must say we have not yet paid a supplier any money to be an account holder - I say to them that if you wish to take the partnership seriously, we see the relationship being more than simply a £40 connection.

They always waiver the fee. But I must admit only a couple of the 60 or so suppliers we have on board suggested a joining fee. The majority of the serious suppliers are keen to take on new business in a mutually beneficial relationship.

I would say that music is not the best market to start dropshipping and would suggest you start by looking at products that have a good mark-up to make it worth your while eg. Cd/DVD players, Health and beauty products, gadgets etc.

Once these are up and running you can look at adding in the CD/DVD/VHS services.

That's my opinion anyway !

If you still fancy having a look at CD's etc - contact S.Golds or OTD Trade who are actual stockists unlike postercash.

Cheers

 

[JoyDivision]

I wonder if there is any money in t-shirts and stuff, that would tie in nicely with what I had intended to do.

With regards to electrical stuff I think the market is too crowded at the moment.

I will probably contact S.Golds to see if they can do any sort of drop shipping, if they can supply some rarer records then I have the edge over Tesco and even HMV

 

[Stephen]

As you mentioned you're an audiophile, why don't you concentrate on that as a niche? I've bought a few bits from https://www.shop.vivante.co.uk/home.asp which you may be aware of. Perhaps that's the sort of area you'd be interested in and could be reasonably profitable?

 

[Lowey81]

As a gadget site we use www.dropshipper.co.uk who provide better discounts than many of the other drop shipping companies although it is limited to gadget / gifts products. If you want a wide range of products I would suggest signing up to multiple drop shippers.

 

[adeljane]

Hi, there are many ways that you can find dropshippers. First of all you need to determin which products you want to sell. Then you can find them through worldwidebrand.com or check B2B website. If you know some suppliers, you also can connect them directly. As supplier of fingerpint lock, we do dropshipping. For more deail, pls check our website adelshop.com . More advanced and newest products will come soon

 

[TechFox]

I am looking for a gothic clothing dropshipper. Can anyone help?

 

[JesicaMartin]

Hi:

I really appreciate the contributions and discussions being done here. I read few replies and visited websites wholesalepages.co.uk and the thewholesaler.co.uk as mentioned above.

Really admiring services and genuine listings of suppliers and wholesalers. I would also recommend it for visiting for other members.

 

[Rosco1112]

Do people really pay these introductory fees these sites are charging?

Worldwidebrands looks good but don't really want to pay out until I have had a look and think I can work with it

Regards

Ross

 

[Archil]

I'm a dropshipper of USA.

Interested persons can PM me.