How do you get started in Dropshipping???

Hello Newbie here. I am looking to getting started in dropshipping but unfortunately after searching through the forums, all I see is a list of dropshipping retailers, but it seems that those threads are catered to those that are already in the dropshipping business. I am looking to dropshipping electronics via Amazon and possibly Ebay (despite their fees), and I have no idea where to start. Can someone please outline how I start dropshipping on these sites? Thanks.

Hi crustybacon.

Very slim chance that anyone will answer you - you my friend will be told to search. I'm sure you have because I have also and while there is lots of "stuff" on dropshipping there's really no helpful guideline so I hear ya. Plus I'm guessing you can't PM yet. I'm in the same boat. I did think the big dropshipping database was helpful...just not to me. What product line are you looking at? Once you establish what you want to sell you can contact a dropshipper if one in the big database suits your needs and sometimes they have an electronic catalog with images and descriptions fully able to be downloaded to your site or to your ebay or amazon listing.

One thing that i will say is since you seem to be interested in dropshipping high ticket items (electronics) make sure you have the funds available to cover the first few sales because paypal and such will not release your money right away creating an unacceptable lag time between purchase and shipping/receipt. Could also result in cancelled orders. So that's something to think about.

NotInKansas said:

Hi crustybacon.

Very slim chance that anyone will answer you - you my friend will be told to search. I'm sure you have because I have also and while there is lots of "stuff" on dropshipping there's really no helpful guideline so I hear ya. Plus I'm guessing you can't PM yet. I'm in the same boat. I did think the big dropshipping database was helpful...just not to me. What product line are you looking at? Once you establish what you want to sell you can contact a dropshipper if one in the big database suits your needs and sometimes they have an electronic catalog with images and descriptions fully able to be downloaded to your site or to your ebay or amazon listing.

One thing that i will say is since you seem to be interested in dropshipping high ticket items (electronics) make sure you have the funds available to cover the first few sales because paypal and such will not release your money right away creating an unacceptable lag time between purchase and shipping/receipt. Could also result in cancelled orders. So that's something to think about.

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Hello and thanks for the reply. Like I said I know there are large dropshipping databases here but no thread on how to get started. It isn't helpful to be told to go search when clearly no one wrote a thread on how to actually get started dropshipping from scratch. *sigh* Anyway, I hope someone does come along this thread and help explain how to setup a dropshipping business on ebay and amazon, because the only thing I know about dropshipping is how it works and those suppliers, but not actually how to use the supplier lists, getting their products, and selling them online at ebay and amazon. I am sure many other newbies like me also would like to know how to get started in dropshipping, because like I said all of the threads in this forum on dropshipping are catered to those who are already in the business, so I really am hoping someone will come along and explain how to setup dropshipping. Miscellaneous Question: How many minimum number of posts do you need to be able to PM members?

I think you need 15 posts before you can send pm however others can pm you. I hope someone comes along and answers your questions as well because I am also curious about certain aspects of dropshipping. But as I said chances are very slim that that will happen. From what I observed the posts that get many responses are posts that give info or posts from members with higher post numbers but that isn't always the case.

As for how you list your items on ebay/amazon...I would think you would take the images and description that the manufacturer supplies to you and just use those to list the item. The customer will pay you the price you specify for the item into your paypal or whatever method you use. At that point in theory, you should be able to subtract your markup and send the payment and order info to the manufacturer/dropshipper who will then ship directly to the customer. What are you exactly confused about maybe I can help. LOL Noobs helping Noobs...well I do know a bit about dropshipping so its not a case of the blind helping the blind....

Here's a good starting point:

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...azon-dropshipping-without-any-investment.html

Dropshipping is very simple so there probably are not a lot of in depth guides to it. It is essentially buying low and selling high. Listing on Amazon is also very simple, so probably not a lot of step by step tutorials for that either. I'll do my best:

1) Find a provider that you trust. There are a ton in the dropshipping section but if you don't trust any of those, start with Walmart or Target or any big box store that work in your niche.

2) List products on Amazon. The more products you list the more you will sell.

3) When an item sells, buy it from the dropshipping supplier and ship to the customer.

If you want to learn about the basics of dropshipping it would be better to read a book about it and get the basics down.

In terms of getting started, electronics is very competitive field to get into. Do you have a niche you are focused on? This might help you in getting started. But anyway certain sites are very easy to drop ship. All you do is go to a site like Chinavasion, find a product you want to sell, and make an ad for it on ebay. Once you get a sale on ebay, you then go to Chinavasion, fill out the Ebay customer's shipping info and Chinavasion sends the product to your customer. Other sites might want you to have a tax ID and sign up with them before you can dropship their products, but the process would essentially be the same.

I would suggest looking at the posted dropshipping lists again and figure out are there any sites which you would want to do dropshipping with. I used Chinavasion before but didn't have much success, but then again, I wasn't choosing electronics products.

Quick question: Can you post adult toys on Amazon and do you have to use paypal if you are an amazon seller?

Nevermind. Got my answer. For anyone who needs to know Amazon policy says that you cannot sell adult toys.

being from Connecticut, I doubt I will be able to sell on amazon correct?

bhayx said:

being from Connecticut, I doubt I will be able to sell on amazon correct?

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I'm not sure why Connecticut would be excluded...I've never heard of Connecticut not being able to sell things on Amazon.

I read in a book that you shouldn't buy anything from Google through searching the terms Drop-shipping, most of them are middle men only looking out for themselves. You should find a whole-seller and ask if they offer drop-shipping service.

I can send you the book if you want it taught me some great things.

Wait, so let me get this straight: The process is essentially like this: 1) Go to Ebay or Amazon 2) Signup 3) Go to Target or Bestbuy 4) Look at their price 5) Go back to Ebay or Amazon 6) List the product from Target or Bestbuy at a higher price 7) When a customer places an order, place on order using the customer's info on Target or Bestbuy 8) Ship and profit. However, I see several problems with this method. 1) Customer will see an order from Target or Bestbuy, not you from Ebay or Amazon 2) You have to manually import Target's or Best Buy's inventory lists into Ebay or Amazon. 4) How would this work with the supplier lists on BHW, when most of those supplier lists are not retail stores and don't sell products on their websites? Lastly, I am also wondering if dropshipping requires setting up an inventory from a supplier one by one which is absolutly tedious. Isn't it possible to import the entire inventory list from a supplier by downloading it or somehow with a click? I mean, how is one supposed to import HUNDREDS of products from a supplier into Ebay or Amazon without doing it one by one and how is someone supposed to spoof the sent from address to prevent customers from being confused on why it is shipped from elsewhere? PS: I still don't understand how someone is supposed to use the suppleir lists on BHW. Do you contact the suppliers yourself or what?

I get started scammed by nigerians, paypal account limited and $500 in Flying start, huh

FireTheWild said:

I get started scammed by nigerians, paypal account limited and $500 in Flying start, huh

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Moral of the story: Don't "dropship" money to Nigerian scammers

Anyway, no one has still answered my questions above. Can someone please answer this, because my questions regard not only how to get started in dropshipping, but how to use the supplier lists on BHW on the logistical aspect of using their supplier lists to build an Ebay or Amazon store. Please see the questions above that I asked.

The moral is that all these dropshipping sites are full of nigerian scammers.

CrustyBacon said:

Anyway, no one has still answered my questions above. Can someone please answer this, because my questions regard not only how to get started in dropshipping, but how to use the supplier lists on BHW on the logistical aspect of using their supplier lists to build an Ebay or Amazon store. Please see the questions above that I asked.

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Many of the whole sellers / drop shipping sites supply their products list in .xml format . I dont know about ebay , but it is some kind of a industry standart nowadays this .xml product files are compatible with many system (I am sure ebay has also some options to upload it).. Or some old sites supply it with .csv / (tab separated) .txt files...

etrader said:

Many of the whole sellers / drop shipping sites supply their products list in .xml format . I dont know about ebay , but it is some kind of a industry standart nowadays this .xml product files are compatible with many system (I am sure ebay has also some options to upload it).. Or some old sites supply it with .csv / (tab separated) .txt files...

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So basically if I download thier .xml product files, it contains product information pictures and other things and allow me to customize the price right? So where do I get these .xml product files from the suppliers, and what about Amazon, can I use .xml product files there too?

CrustyBacon said:

So basically if I download thier .xml product files, it contains product information pictures and other things and allow me to customize the price right? So where do I get these .xml product files from the suppliers, and what about Amazon, can I use .xml product files there too?

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I have made a small search for you and , learned already ebay has this option (.xml uploading) as I said.

This files are generally named products.xml in under some sub directories..Like http www suppliersdomain com / directory / maybeonemoredirectory / products.xml

Look at here some one already asks exactly the same thing with you and this guy explains quite good :

http://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...w-create-xml-file-my-suppliers-products-3385/

Ok that's great. Now that I know about using .xml for product lists in Ebay, can anyone tell me how to automate the process? I mean, if you have hundreds of ebay products and many dropship suppliers, how are you supposed to keep track of where to send the customer information to which supplier? More importantly, what if you have say 50 cuustomers a day who order a product, are you supposed to manually find the supplier for the product and manually email them the customer details for each product? Surely that can't be right. I mean, how the hell do ebay powersellers manage such invventory then if the entire process is manual? Surely there has to be a way to automate it?