DROPSHIPPING - Things I learned as a newbie - My advice : eBay Guides

Thank you for checking out my guide, I hope you will find it helpful.

I write this to share my recent experience with researching UK dropshipping 'opportunities', and the the reality of someone with no previous experience thinking of dropshipping as an easy way to 'make it' on ebay.

This is my story of what I did, what I won't do again, and my truth of 'dropshipping' on ebay.

Okay, the very first bit of advice is -

THERE IS NO NEED TO PAY FOR ANY LISTS FROM OTHER EBAY USERS!

I was very tempted to do this, however, after many, many hours googleing and researching I found all the information for free. If you stick with my guide, I will share ALL the information found in one of the better drop ship lists normally found for sale, for FREE!

Dropshipping, in principal, is a real way for a small-time seller to make some money from selling on a site like ebay.

Type 'dropshipping' into google and you will be promised the delights of making hundreds or thousands per week with no investment whatsoever!!!

You charge the buyer whatever you like, they pay, then all you have do to is pay the dropshipper the pre-arranged 'drop ship' price and they send the stock to the buyer. Money for nothing!

To good to be ture? Of course it is!!!

Firstly, the first few pages of your search results will be from sites full of 100's of items ready to be posted on ebay with big bucks sitting there waiting for you.

Of course to get to this treasure trove of easy money, all of have to do is pay a monthly/yearly fee!

Mmmmm..... £100 a year, of course it will pay for itself, it says so right on the site!

If this has not put you off paying money to join them, have a look at their maths -

They show an example of how you can make easy money. It usually goes like this -

Item A costs £50.00 RRP (Recommended Retail Price) plus £5 P&P.
We charge you £38.57 plus £5 P&P (total - 43.57) giving you a profit of £6.43 for each item sold!*

*(Don't forget to think about paypal/ebay fees!)

This example is very ture in the strictest sense. The RRP may well be £50.00, and if you sell it for such (or less on ebay if you feel you want to undercut other sellers) you will indeed make a few pounds profit (all the while the back of your mind is multiplying these figures in by the hundreds as you dream of being an ebay millionaire!). This is great, but if you do see an example, do one very simple thing -

Look it up on ebay (or even any online shop).

Guess what, 9 times out of 10, other ebayers or online sites are probably selling the same item at less than the price your drop ship supplier is selling them to you!

As soon as you do this and see this is ture, AVOID!!!

A few other things to note -

They are really a 'middle-man' to real dropshippers, and you selling at RRP is the only way to make the margins look better.

A real company will not charge to a substantial fee to allow you to sell their goods!

Dropshipping sites offering 100's of different items are coming and going all the time. One goes down, ten go up. Does this really sound like a company you want to work with?

Trying to use a dropshipping site like the example mentioned above to sell high-end items like ipod/ps3s/Wii's as bad news! The profit margins are generally low on these items, you will not make mney this way! (..and that is if the sites actually have these items to sell in the first place!)

These sites may claim to have the item in stock, but if they don't, or if they never had the intention to send the item to your buyer, you are the one that answers to (and refunds) the unhappy buyer!

The reason why other sellers/online sites sale the same item cheaper is usually because they have bought their items wholesale. Unless every seller is using a high mark-up, there is little chance you will ever be able to compete with them.

IT'S NOT ALL BAD NEWS - DROPSHIPPING CAN WORK!

By now I hope you understand dropshipping is not a get-rick-quick scheme, allowing you to sit back and watch the £££s roll into your bank account. However, despite the fly-by-night cowboys running sites like above and ripping you off, dropshipping can be a real way to make a little bit of money on the side.

The secret?

There is no secret!

All you have to do is -

Work hard!!!!

The only people making money for nothing are those running sites like above, or ebay sellers selling wholesale/drop ship/get rich quick schemes on ebay for £1-£20 a go (hint- they they their money by taking it off you!). At somepoint they will be found out and their accounts/sites go down, only for them to re-appear as a new user/site offering even easier ways for you to make money (once you pay them, of course!).

If you want to get into dropshipping, rather than blindly sign up to every site offering low prices (after a fee!), think about something that interests you. It could be health & beauty/video games/music/candles/knitwear, whatever you like yourself!

REAL DROPSHIPPERS

Research on the net companies offering wholesale and dropshipping options. If they charge a fee it may be best to walk away or phone them before you go any further.

If they are a real company, they may ask you to apply and they will review your details before accepting you as a dropshipper. This can only be a good thing. Apply, make it known you are interested in the subject outside of just selling them, this can only make it better for you.

Real companies want to make money from selling their goods. They will want a seller of their goods (at low volume) to do what they can to sell the item and to work hard at it! If you don't ou may find they will find a new seller that will put the effort in that those expecting easy money won't!

Don't be afraid to contact small companies offering something 'different' asking them terms & conditions on setting up a drop ship. Do you know any local local companies that you can offer this service to?

It may not be easy street, but it will result in extra, and real money for you!

Back to my story -
My main interest is video game/retro games. Sadly dropshipping is not the way for me to go for my interests. There are real drop ship opportunities such as health pills/candles/houseware, but these are not things I am interested in enough to make real money from. I don't know enough about normal ebay selling prices to know if it would be worth it for me or the dropshipper.

By avoiding the '1000's of items' drop ship sites, and found small UK companies by searching on google selling things like designer mirrors/homemade wooden toys/scented soaps. All of which would require hard work, but at least it is real!

My summary

The biggest thing I learned is that even if I found a real dropshipper, it is not me as the seller that makes the real money. You may get lucky and sell in big numbers earning a nice add on to your real income, but it is not a way to make a living.

No matter what, if you want to sell big on Ebay, the best way really is by wholesale (which is a minefield full of similar scammers on the net!). It can be very hard and very daunting starting out, but the best advice I can say is when starting up, stick to what interests you and what you know. You'll find it easier to judge prices and better motivated at selling something you like.

FINALLY!

To charge upwards of £10-£20 for information available for free is a scandal.

The following link is a zip file containing -

Dropshipping suppliers based in the UK
Far East suppliers of cheap mp3 players etc
and a newly added wholesale suppliers list to get you started if you want to do that instead

megaupload.com/?d=M13GZ9BW

(copy the address into your browser address bar - you need to add 'http://www.' before the 'megaupload' to get it working - this is because ebay does not allow live links in guides). Follow the instructions to download.

You will be taken to a page offering 'free' or 'premium'. Just choose free, wait the time, then download!

Some notes about these lists -

- The dropship and far east lists are actually sold on ebay!
- The lists are older lists (does not stop people from selling them!)
- You will find some of the links no longer work - that is good! It means the ones still on have been trading for years and still operate!
- Take your time to read what the companies are offering you. Most sites on these links require you to contact them asking to become a dropshipper. If so do it! If all they ask is money upfront - walk away.
- Although I have checked most of these sites, I cannot be held accountable for them. All I am doing is offering lists sold for free (as they should be!)

I guess that is it from me, I hope I helped you in someway. Good luck with whatever you do!

Remember -

If it is to good to be ture.... it probably is!

Irishandsoberish