Dropshipping question

cowraiser · Sep 5, 2012

Hi guys, I have a question about drop shipping.

I have an idea in my mind on what I want to sell, but not exactly sure how to sell it. I've heard I can either sell them on ebay/amazon or on my own website. Which one is better? Using sites like ebay/amazon, I find that they already have the products that I want to sell on them, what do I do about that then?

emiko · Sep 5, 2012

You can do all the ways...

If you sell on ebay and amazon... You have to make sure you are
reputable. Period. You can get away by being slightly expensive
if you've got a good reputation there... otherwise you have to
compete on price and customer service. Be as transparent as
possible and give them details to contact you live, skype, msn, etc.

If you want to build it as a real business for 3+ years. You should
invest in a website and market it accordingly, using amazon and
ebay in this case is still good as it'll be another source of traffic
and it'll give you more trust.

it sounds simple. but it's not. a lot of hardwork is involved if you've
not done this before.

misscaprice · Sep 5, 2012

I think selling through your own site is better due to two main reasons:

1. you don't have to pay large commissions to the middleman (ebay/amazon)
2. you don't have to compete on (ridiculously) low prices

The recipe is to have enough targeted traffic to your site.

You can actually might to try both ways and see for yourself.

cowraiser · Sep 5, 2012

-Emiko: Thanks for the fast response!

I just started looking into all of this IM business a few days ago, and have not had any experiences with ebay/amazon. The listings of the product I'm targeting on amazon all have like 100+ reviews and 50%+ discounts. The sellers have five stars feedback as well. I guess this is what you mean by reputation? Would undercutting them allow me to compete with them?

I would like to build a real business (although, I don't know what exactly you mean by real business). I'm 18 and I'll be heading to college in 2 weeks, which path do you think is better for me? I'm ready to put in the work!

cowraiser · Sep 5, 2012

misscaprice said:
I think selling through your own site is better due to two main reasons:

1. you don't have to pay large commissions to the middleman (ebay/amazon)
2. you don't have to compete on (ridiculously) low prices

The recipe is to have enough targeted traffic to your site.

You can actually might to try both ways and see for yourself.

Interesting. The product i'm looking at has around 30k local exact searches on google keywords tool, and I THINK it would count as a high profit margin product.

emiko · Sep 5, 2012

cowraiser and anyone starting a business. stop. if you've not read the below book. You're going to have a hard time.

The millionaire fastlane by MJ.

pdf version:
mediafirecom/?0e4f449hpyacjsx

audio version:
mediafirecom/?dj9q7wy2fduzbmb
mediafirecom/?y5mdli9gmcz873r

spend the week with this. you'll have all your answers and you'll know for certain what you want to do and why.
you'll also get the mental stamina and determination to pursue whatever project you have.

Lazlo1967 · Sep 5, 2012

You should think about doing both. When you sell on Amazon you are shooting for volume (and you can get it). But you really need to watch your profits since Amazon takes a commission and only pays you a set rate for shipping. Also, if you are going to dropship you must be sure anything you are selling on Amazon is in stock. If you do not fulfill orders or don't fulfill them quickly enough Amazon will ban you selling account. Having said that, you can get a ton of orders from them. Start out with slightly lower prices and build your rep.

For the bigger margins and a business you can sell, build out your site.

emiko · Sep 5, 2012

cowraiser said:
-Emiko: Thanks for the fast response!
I just started looking into all of this IM business a few days ago, and have not had any experiences with ebay/amazon. The listings of the product I'm targeting on amazon all have like 100+ reviews and 50%+ discounts. The sellers have five stars feedback as well. I guess this is what you mean by reputation? Would undercutting them allow me to compete with them?
It'll be very hard. If the guy knows he's getting the same thing from you at a cheaper price and you can convince him on your sales page through your words, you'll definitely get the sale.

I buy things on the internet too and whenever I purchase, I spend a little bit more to be on the safe side. I rather buy something $10 more expensive cause the person has got a hell lot of comments and ratings (this to me means that he's been working in this business and knows what he is doing and definitely looks like he will continue doing it... on the other hand, new people you cannot always trust. they can close down tomorrow, run away with the money, send defective goods. too many problems. Build up slowly and you'll get there. Think of it as a 3-5 year project if you're damn serious! (That's a business for you right there)

I've seen people sell the same items on amazon and ebay for double the prices because they command authority through their great feedback and customer service. If you can pull this off. brilliant. A website will really contribute to your authority. Put up a decent website with wordpress and add ecommerce capability and you're good to roll out.

cowraiser said:
I would like to build a real business (although, I don't know what exactly you mean by real business). I'm 18 and I'll be heading to college in 2 weeks, which path do you think is better for me? I'm ready to put in the work!

Read the book in my previous post before doing ANYTHING! stop everything else and read the god damn book. buy it if you can or read at a library. you'll never forget it and it'll define for you what a real business is. you're 18... chill. read the book. i can't stress it enough. if you fail and fail again without reading the book, then you deserve it. business is not just about following a guide and doing steps 1 2 3... you need balls. and the book will help you grow a pair. it's not as easy as people say it is... otherwise no one would prefer to keep their jobs after failing in business.

emiko · Sep 5, 2012

if you're going to go with drop-shipping... check this link out

businessbolts[.][c][o][m]/interview-with-rob-mabry-of-mister-e-commerce.html

kvmcable · Sep 5, 2012

emiko said:
I buy things on the internet too and whenever I purchase, I spend a little bit more to be on the safe side. I rather buy something $10 more expensive cause the person has got a hell lot of comments and ratings (this to me means that he's been working in this business and knows what he is doing and definitely looks like he will continue doing it... on the other hand, new people you cannot always trust. they can close down tomorrow, run away with the money, send defective goods. too many problems. Build up slowly and you'll get there. Think of it as a 3-5 year project if you're damn serious! (That's a business for you right there)

I've seen people sell the same items on amazon and ebay for double the prices because they command authority through their great feedback and customer service. If you can pull this off. brilliant. A website will really contribute to your authority. Put up a decent website with wordpress and add ecommerce capability and you're good to roll out.

Read the book in my previous post before doing ANYTHING! stop everything else and read the god damn book. buy it if you can or read at a library. you'll never forget it and it'll define for you what a real business is. you're 18... chill. read the book. i can't stress it enough. if you fail and fail again without reading the book, then you deserve it. business is not just about following a guide and doing steps 1 2 3... you need balls. and the book will help you grow a pair. it's not as easy as people say it is... otherwise no one would prefer to keep their jobs after failing in business.

That book is typical guru fodder.

If you want to learn how to do drop-shipping correctly then find the Grabapple ebook by Dave Huckabay. Get right to the method and how to do it right and not listen to some guru BS about his fast cars, making a million before the tech bubble broke and all the other BS to go along with it.

When you want to do something right you find someone that knows wtf he's talking about and follow his advice. You don't learn how to build a successful (or dozens of) drop-shipping businesses from someone that built directory websites which are now a dime a dozen.

You can find Grabapple on a few torrents if you look hard enough but the eBook is worth every dime the guy is asking. Here is an interview with Dave if you want to listen to him a bit. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Last interview.

http://keywordresearcher.org/interviews/

emiko · Sep 5, 2012

MJ's ebook instills you the mindset to follow your project and not just skip and move. It's a very good read in my opinion. If you just saw fast cars, that's your problem, but it shouldn't limit the other person because you saw only a certain thing from the book.

Here's the book kvmcable mentioned:
youtube video (preview)
youtube.c[o]m/watch?v=bLPc0dIgIQo

ebook
depositfiles.c[o]m/files/hc0y6j8ym

cowraiser · Sep 6, 2012

Wow, thanks for the advice guys. I'll definitely check out both of those books out, I have plenty of time at home.

cowraiser · Sep 6, 2012

Just finished listening to the interview, interesting stuff. I think it has convinced me not to go down the adsense path, and I totally agree with Dave that you need to buy to sell stuff, I'm so afraid of investing money into something that might not work.

emiko · Sep 6, 2012

adsense is not a business. you have no control of it. you're a slave to it.
if you want to try stuff. adsense is ok. if you really want to build a business
and take it to heights start a "real business". in simple terms, you can say
a business is any organization which creates a commercial product for
which solves a problem in the market. all the products and services you
see have been created to fill a need or a want and these result from
problems.

if you're staying in a not so developed country, groupon project is a good
start. i'm currently doing it and it's giving me great rewards. it's the first
of its kind where i'm located.

emiko · Sep 6, 2012

cowraiser said:
Just finished listening to the interview, interesting stuff. I think it has convinced me not to go down the adsense path, and I totally agree with Dave that you need to buy to sell stuff, I'm so afraid of investing money into something that might not work.

also, you'll always get products, websites, etc which will not work, even people!

that's not a reason to stop you. that's why i tell you to read the book, because it instills
in you a mindset to do what you had started to do and finish it. if you do not have that
mental stamina to finish what you started. don't start business. you'll have many
tasks, small and large to accomplish every day. it took me two years to get out of the
habit of post-poning things for the next day... the next day. that day never comes.

if you're serious than start... otherwise forget everything and have the best life you
can possibly have in college.

cowraiser · Sep 6, 2012

emiko said:
also, you'll always get products, websites, etc which will not work, even people!

that's not a reason to stop you. that's why i tell you to read the book, because it instills
in you a mindset to do what you had started to do and finish it. if you do not have that
mental stamina to finish what you started. don't start business. you'll have many
tasks, small and large to accomplish every day. it took me two years to get out of the
habit of post-poning things for the next day... the next day. that day never comes.

if you're serious than start... otherwise forget everything and have the best life you
can possibly have in college.

Yeah, I know what it feels like. I'm in a serious procrastination state of mind right now, pushing everything off. Mentally, I'm kind of afraid of whether I'll be able to do this while in college. All the course work and activities suck up a lot of the hours. I realize I spend HOURS of my time on the internet, just browsing around, I want to change this and hopefully use them for more worthwhile profitable opportunities.

SortOfGoodGuy · Sep 6, 2012

What happens if the product that you want to dropship is already being sold on Amazon by someone else eg. the manufacturer?

emiko · Sep 6, 2012

cowraiser said:
Yeah, I know what it feels like. I'm in a serious procrastination state of mind right now, pushing everything off. Mentally, I'm kind of afraid of whether I'll be able to do this while in college. All the course work and activities suck up a lot of the hours. I realize I spend HOURS of my time on the internet, just browsing around, I want to change this and hopefully use them for more worthwhile profitable opportunities.

I read somewhere. It's better to improve an area of your life 1% a week rather than 20-50% in one week. In other words, try to achieve 1% betterment in something you would like to do or change, rather than dramatically trying to change it overnight. Results dont strick with dramatic changes. Very hard.If you change and improve 1% a week. By the end of the year you'd have been 50% better in whatever you wanted to improve and in 2 years time, 100% better. It's true. I've tried to improve so much in a sort time, it's not only hard but very stressful and depressing.

emiko · Sep 6, 2012

SortOfGoodGuy said:
What happens if the product that you want to dropship is already being sold on Amazon by someone else eg. the manufacturer?

You'll always get these situations. Customers don't give a damn about buying from the manufacture if the service is bad, which it usually is, especially if they are chinese. It's also easier and more convenient to buy the same product from a local supplier on amazon for a few bucks higher. Think about it. You can get a phone from china for $450 and in USA for $500+ you'll most certainly buy it from USA unless ofcourse you want to wholesale. But amazon's customers are not there to buy on wholesale. They're normal buying people. Treat them that way, they don't give a huge damn about discounts and cheap prices. They want superior customer support and quality. Deliver on that and you've beat 100s of sellers.

misscaprice · Sep 6, 2012

Hate to disagree, but Emiko, the MJ's book you suggested doesn't worth the time spent on reading it. It is compiled of some general (and yes, good) quotes and ideas, rehashed in far too many ebooks. But... simply put, there are no practical steps how to arrive to the final destination and reach your goals. It is general preaching and I got really tired of author's constant referring to his shiny cars.

If you would really achieve the right mindset and read some practical, step-by-step suggestions, Napoleon Hill's evergreen 'Think and Grow Rich' is a great source.

If you need a jump start to a successful career and forget postponing stuff forever, then 'Shup up, stop whining and get a life' by Larry Winget is what you need. This guy has the balls to tell you the truth and send you some tough love to get you out of mediocrity and help you set the right mindset.

Both are highly recommended.

SortOfGoodGuy, the US manufacturers do not compete on pricing with their drop-shippers if they want to have a good business. Do not be afraid of competitors. Lack of competitors in a field usually means that there are no money in it.

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