Need thoughts/suggestions on an offline dropshipping idea...

[CardinalPPC]

Hey Everyone,

I've been reading this subforum for a while and I got to searching around Alibaba and the myriad of mp3 replicas they sell. I go to college in California, and everyone knows the average college kid loves music and would love to pick up a cheap mp3 player. Consequently, I was thinking of picking up 100 or so of the iPod shuffle replicas at ~$8 each, and selling at ~$20 each. I'd set up a blog with a sale page, promote the blog around campus, and have kids essentially "place orders" on the blog, but I would deliver the mp3 players.

Here are my questions:

-If I don't advertise the mp3 player as an iPod, are there legal obligations? Also, Apple headquarters is about 15 minutes from my campus....

-How reliable are the replicas? I was thinking of buying one or two just to see if they were worth the investment and then buying more if they were good. I was also thinking of buying 50 and seeing if they were profitable, and then buying 100 or 200 if they sold well.

-Any tips on reputable vendors on alibaba? How much does shipping usually cost?


Thanks for any help,
Cardinal

 

[element94]

Alibaba is a pain in the ass. Hard to find good sellers that won't screw you at the end of the day.
I PMed you some info. Get back to me if interested.

 

[CardinalPPC]

Thanks. Talking to you.

 

[keropikero]

Shipping per unit is really high all the way from China. I use a source off Alibaba and they use DHL. Shipping price is high, but at least it seems to be quite reliable so far.

 

[CardinalPPC]

Shipping per unit is really high all the way from China. I use a source off Alibaba and they use DHL. Shipping price is high, but at least it seems to be quite reliable so far.

Yeah that's what I seem to have noticed. I don't know how good of an idea this is given that most of the mp3 players seem to not work with iTunes.

 

[crashed]

Only spend money you can afford to lose, if you have to send the goods back for whatever reason the shipping can cost more then the goods are worth.

My advice would be to try and find a US based wholesale/dropshipper that offers decent pricing, they are out there, they just tend not to need to advertise

 

[CardinalPPC]

That would be nice. Then shipping wouldn't be so damn expensive!

 

[sonone]

My advice would be to try and find a US based wholesale/dropshipper that offers decent pricing, they are out there, they just tend not to need to advertise

Mind sharing a couple of legit U.S. drop shipping co's ? Please ?