The Wholesale Forums

[SmartSaleUK]

Okay, this may seem like a really basic question for all you people experianced in this field but its only recently came to my attention (As im still very young).

Im 18 years old and have been buying bulk stock on eBay since i was 16. Mainly Lacoste T-shirts and selling them either back on eBay, or from the back of my car.

And i recently bought a batch which was 'dropshipped' to me. And i did a small amount of research and it seems that 'dropshipping' is the way to go when buying/selling on eBay.

I tend to buy/sell a variety of items (Nokia N95/Polo shirts and iPods ect) and was wondering just a few things. I'll make a list and you can state the number and answer respectively.

1. Does the "dropshipper" have a set stock (E.g catering/hardware/electronics) or do they get stock to order? Basically, do i ask them for something specific, or do i ask if they stock it?

2. How does this work in correlation to eBay? If anybody does this themselves your advice would be priceless. Do i use an eBay Shop ect?

3. Do dropshippers do set amounts of goods, like minimum orders. E.g Lots of 100/1000 or can you order specific amount to what you can afford? Or are they all different?

Thats about all i can think of, but if there is any vital information you think i may find useful please dont hesitate to post a reply.

Kind regards for your time.

/Dave

[BrandDirect]

You are on the right tracks however i think you maybe getting confused between wholesale and wholesalers who dropship. Generally the best price will always be direct from the manufacturer obviously. But for those like me who simply dont have the capital or a brick and mortar store then dealing direct with the manufacturers is going to be next to impossible making wholesale and dropshipping the best alternatives available.

Buying wholesale will give you a far better profit because you are buying in bulk and therefore the more you buy the less it is per item but they tend to have a minimum order quantity(MOQ).
Dropshipping on the other hand is sometimes the best place to start if capital is next to nothing. Dropshippers will let you order your item and they will then deliver that item to the address you specify.
Sounds good?.
Unfortunately while the service is good it does really eat into any profit that can be made. The reason is dropshippers are of course like wholesalers in the sense that they are brokers and the more of these people involved before you get your product the more cost it is to you leaving you the dropshipper very small margins and even more so if your trading on Ebay with the cheaper counterfeit items doing their rounds.

As for Ebay i cant really answer your question except to say it is advisable as listing an item in your shop is far cheaper than listing it in an auction.
I wish you all the best in your ventures and wish i had got into this in my teens instead of my thirties but at least you are doing your research which should help you avoid the many perils that unfortunately plague ebay.

Chris

[SmartSaleUK]

Thanks for the info Chris.

[godden69]

About ebay i did dropshipping for a little while and i had a shop.i would generally advise buying a website as ebay really ate into my profits and the compation is quite high as there is alot of people doing dropshipping on ebay.websites are far cheaper in the long run.