[READ THIS] Is THIS even allowed???

So basically this happend to me: For 2 days now I knew that my current supplier uses an API.
What does the API do?
It makes a connection between my site and the suppliers DB, so when something is bought it's shipped automatically. Of course this is not worth the 299$, but even if it was it is absolutely terrible to sell a friggin API to your partners, since it discourages them to stay Instead of attracting them..

But since the website is not finished yet I didn't ask for it.
Today I asked if my assistant could send me the API, and guess what she said.. Okay, the engineer will do it blabla and you will have to pay 299$. So I rage, cuz it's bullsheeeit. I'm not supposed to invest any money into a freggin supplier. I should be focussing on marketing and stuff like that instead.. There wasn't even a documentation available to read, nor a sales page for a freeeeekin API costs 300$
If there are any dropshippers who don't lack in humanity feel free to pm me(conserning almost al products)

I'm no expert on dropshipping but i find it hard to believe that this is the Industry standard... I've never heard of a company charging fees for it's very own API, like you said this is very counter-intuitive in the first place

oozyluce said:

I'm no expert on dropshipping but i find it hard to believe that this is the Industry standard... I've never heard of a company charging fees for it's very own API, like you said this is very counter-intuitive in the first place

Click to expand...

that's the first approval of me being right.

If they have really good/unique products with absolutely amazing price, $299 is totally worth it as their developer will do the implementation for you. But if they are unable to provide samples and API documents as well as unique products, it is a waste of money.

on the other hand, it may look like they try to rip money off you but there are some legit dropshiping sites charge similar amount of money as a Quality Control and the Commitment. They don't want bad reputation for themselves, you know...

It's revolting, but you can take it as an entrance fee. It's up to you if it's worth paying.

Yea sounds fishy and you have a right to be upset but if you think they're products can make you some money then it may be worth it.

Some things Id suggest is maybe talk to the supplier and see if you can pay back the API fee through the sales of the product, so they get a bigger cut of the % of what you sell until the fee is paid back

For a good dropshipper it'll be a combination of recouping investment and also a legitimate barrier to entry to stop every man and his dog signing up with rubbish sites. They may be just filtering out the serious players from the dross.

For a dodgy dropshipper it's just a revenue making method. Only you can tell.

I'll try to make a deal for 100$ and that's the lowest I go, I did DS before and those fuken beats made me go bankrupt since customs held them in and I didn't want to f* up my 100% delivery guarantee :/ These bi****s know this btw..
They will have to meet me halfway(1/3) and I am going to pay it using money made out of the shop, If they don't agree then I simply don't use the API for now and leave

Which service are you using?

Save yourself the headache and go straight to worldwidebrands. They filter out dirtbag drop shipper suppliers and they give you access to their directory for a lifetime membership one-time fee. I bought this membership years ago and tried selling water fountains on ebay even, but I'm about to rekindle the whole dropshipper thing. I've found a niche I think is good for me to jump into even though it's super-saturated as hell, BUT I can go above the fold by actually buying light bulk on pallets and reselling on amazon. Zero traffic generation needed. just throw thousands of products on amazon using their FBA program and I think it'd sell like hotcakes.

I might as well start a journey thread on this. I think I'm on to something!