Do I have to buy more than one product?
With dropshipping, you are not buying the products upfront. So it doesn't matter the number of products that you list for sale. With the light bulk suppliers in our database, they have minimum orders of $500 or less, so you can keep your own inventory for better profit margins.
Do I have to pay for the product before I sell it?
With dropshipping no. The supplier will be sending the product on your behalf to the end customer. You will pay for the product once a customer orders from you.
Do I have to pay the supplier a membership fee too?
We do not list wholesale suppliers with membership or account setup fees.
What is a drop ship fee?
A drop ship fee is also called a “handling” fee. This is the fee to pay the wholesale supplier to split apart cases and pack one product to send to your customer.
How much is the drop ship fee?
If there is a drop ship fee, they typically range from $1.00 to $5.00. Sometimes you will see a higher drop ship fee, which is understandable once you see the type of product that will be sent. Delicate products take more to pack and ship them, so the extra cost has to be charged in the drop ship fee.
What kind of profit margins are there with dropshipping?
This all depends on the products that you source and the supplier that you work with. All wholesale suppliers have their own wholesale pricing structures, so you will have to contact the wholesale supplier that you want to work with to get those wholesale prices to see what type of profit you can make.
Sports Pulse, LLC would profit up to 20% or as low as 5%. The average being 10%.
What are middlemen?
A middleman is a company that was created to simply pass on orders. A middleman will not hold inventory and will send your order to the actual manufacturer or wholesale supplier to send the product. They charge extra fees to do this, and that is typically found in the increased "wholesale" cost.
How do I get images and descriptions of the dropshipped products for my website?
The wholesale suppliers that dropship, will provide you with all the images & product descriptions that you will need to sell the product once you have setup an account with the wholesale supplier.
Can you use a drop ship supplier and sell on eBay?
You can use dropshipping to sell on eBay. eBay is a good place to test the product market to get more instant results. It is difficult to compete on eBay, so it’s best to purchase in light bulk quantities to sell on the eBay platform. You will get even better pricing by purchasing wholesale products in this manner, and you will have the control over your shipping so there will not be an issue with feedback.
How do I know the product will still be in stock by the time I sell it?
Many wholesale suppliers have real time inventory. That means that at any given moment, you can go to the wholesale suppliers website, and they will tell you the number of items left.
Why does Dropshipping cost more?
Dropshipping wholesale prices are higher, because you are buying one product at a time. Bulk discounts occur when you can purchase the required minimum from a wholesale supplier. The more you buy, the higher the discount. This is how large chain stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and etc are able to keep prices so low. They are buying in HUGE quantities to stock their stores Worldwide.
Why don't all suppliers offer Dropshipping?
Dropshipping takes extra time and manpower. Many wholesale suppliers are not willing to do business this way and it will increase their overhead.
Do I need a Tax ID to work with a dropshipper?
Yes of course! Legitimate wholesale suppliers will require a business tax ID in order to sell wholesale to you. This makes the products non-taxable to you, but you can tax your customers.
Do I need a Tax ID to work with dropshippers if I'm outside the US?
60%-70% of wholesale suppliers will work with international retailers. If you are interested in a specific country, and only want to work with wholesale suppliers in that country, you are welcome to do so. Keep in mind, that since International rules differ from the US, there is no tax ID involved like you would need for the USA. So you will typically not need a tax ID in order to work with US wholesale suppliers. However, you will still need to obtain a registered business name and any other documentation required to prove you are a legitimate retailer. So you will need to check with your country or region to see what you need to show you are a genuine retailer. Quick tip! In a search engine, type Starting a business in XXXX and replace the X’s with your country name. There are a lot of great free resources out there that will provide you with what you need to know.
Do I need a Tax ID to work with dropshippers if I am only planning to sell on eBay?
Yes of course! The same rule applies as above. Legitimate wholesale suppliers will require a business tax ID in order to sell wholesale to you. This makes the products non-taxable to you, but you can tax your customers.
Can I use my website as my registered business name?
Your website or online store is your store name. Business names can differ from your store name. But the important thing is to register with your state.
I have an EIN. Is this the Tax ID the suppliers want in order to work with them?
An EIN is a federal ID number. This allows you to have employees and submit taxes on those employees. Many wholesale suppliers will accept an EIN, but you also need to get a Tax ID number from your state to charge sales tax to any customer that is also located in your state.
Will the dropship supplier use my company information on the shipment to my customer?
Many of the listed wholesale suppliers will send the product in your name, or they will blind drop ship, so the customer doesn’t know exactly where it came from.
If I give my customer's information to the dropshipper, couldn't they steal my customer from me and cut me out of the sale for any future purchases?
A wholesale supplier's business is selling to retailers, not the end consumer. Some wholesale suppliers have contracts you can sign that will state they will not market to your customers.
How are returns handled? Do my customers ship the products to me or the supplier?
This will vary from wholesale supplier to supplier. Each has their own rules on returns. You will have to adhere to the wholesale suppliers policies.
What is Blind Dropshipping?
Blind dropshipping is when the wholesale supplier will use a return label that reads something like "Fulfillment Center" or "Shipper" as the business name.
How do I figure out how much to charge for shipping when using multiple dropshippers?
This can be complicated, since a customer could potentially order 2 different items from 2 different suppliers. You wouldn't want to charge your customer too much for shipping, so you can do a few things; 1. You can make sure that your suppliers use one service like UPS to ship. Then you can use the UPS calculator to get shipping costs for the 2 products from one location. Or 2. You can calculate shipping charges on each product and charge a flat fee for shipping. You will lose money on some shipping charges, but you will gain on others.
What are the benefits of using a Dropshipper for my business?
No overhead is the first benefit. You are not storing and stocking the inventory, so there are no extra costs involved there. There are no extra costs for you to take the time to pack and ship the product. Dropshipping is also great for testing the product.
Can I use several Dropshippers?
Yes you can, but it makes shipping more complicated.
Are the products from the drop ship suppliers junk and cheaply made?
These are all brand new, straight from the factory products. Some are products that can be placed in a dollar type store, but other products are more for boutique high end stores.
Do you have a hot list of products so we can start selling right away?
Hot lists are not to be trusted. If you are looking at a hot list, then thousands if not millions of other sellers are looking at that hot list too. That increases the competition on those products, and you can easily be driven out of that product marketplace.
