Drop Shipping ...

Since it appears there is an interest in the subject of drop shpping, let me explain what drop shipping is.

Under a drop ship arrangement, the company that produces & sells a product allows its dealers to use the same sales flyers, brochures, etc., to sell their products .. they are the "drop shippers."

The "drop ship dealer" is the person (individual or company) that sells the product for the "drop shipper." -- The "drop ship dealer" either uses the same materials as the drop shipper, or creates their own materials, and receives the orders directly from, and gets paid by, their customers. -- In some cases; involving large tangible goods, the "drop ship dealer" may display a sample of the product and take orders from his customers ... getting paid when the order is made; or receiving a deposit equal to the drop ship dealer's profit (with the balance being paid C.O.D. directly to the drop shipper).

When the "drop ship dealer" receives an order, it is relayed to the "drop shipper" with the wholesale price of the product plus shipping & handling charges. -- Or, in the case of the C.O.D. shipments, the "drop ship dealer" simply sends the customer's order to the "drop shipper." The "drop shipper," in turn, ships the product to the customers and collects the payment C.O.D..

There are "directories" of companies that offer "drop ship" programs - BUT - a sad, but true, fact of life ... MOST companies that do drop ship DON'T advertise their drop ship programs. Basically, it is just something they do while selling & shipping their products themselves.

Suggest you look for ads offering the kinds of products you want to sell. Then, contact those advertisers and ASK if they will drop ship their products. -- Or, you might order the product from them and see where it comes from when you get it.

MOST companies that produce, sell & ship their own products will drop ship if ASKed.

Don't confuse being a drop ship dealer with being an "affiliate." -- A drop ship dealer actually "sells" the products; takes the orders; collects the money; and pays for the product to be shipped by the drop shipper. -- An "affiliate" only introduces a potential customer to the product.

By the way, if I had it to do all over again, I would NEVER create, produce, sell & ship my own products ... I would be a drop ship dealer only. -- It would be a lot less time & labor intensive - AND - I would make as much money or more; since I wouldn't have the overhead.

Jim




Mailorder is still king ...

Does anyone have any experience with this directory? Thank you.

Don


Drop Ship Source Directory

I've used it and I believe it's a quality product.

That being said, I started a yahoo store (http://www.juicerjuicer.com) using a drop shipper that wasn't listed in the directory. It took about 5 phone calls to find my drop shipper. First, I called the manufacturers of a a couple of well known juicers. One of the mfgrs referred me to a distributor who didn't drop ship but referred me to someone who knew someone who did... So after about an hours work I had my drop shipper.

I'm planning on doing another store featuring a different item (pet related). I found a drop shipper for this item by making a contact who knew someone at a local Petsmart. The Petsmart employee was kind enough to part with a couple of distributor names.

The bottom line is, if you know what product you want to sell then you can find a drop shipper fairly easily. If you don't know what you want to sell yet, the drop ship source directory is a great source for ideas.

Jack Lunn

> Does anyone have any experience with this
> directory? Thank you.

> Don




My store that uses the drop ship model