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dkdubb
Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2008 10:35
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Anyone have any information on a good, legit, and free drop shipping company? I don't want to start my own online power mall, I would just like to sell on ebay and amazon. I have spent the last 6 months trying to find something online that is legit to do part time at home in the evenings for some extra income, and all I have found is that everything seems to be a scam and all this mess will give you a major headache. Any ideas?
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mountainmom5
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Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 514
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2008 12:54
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I know what you mean - I actually tried the dropshipping thru Ebay and the problem was that it seemed like no matter what I found, someone else was already selling it for cheaper than I could...
I do sell log furniture now on Ebay and a local furniture company dropships it - that seems to be the best way - if you can find a good product that will sell well thru a local company that would let you use their pictures etc. to sell on Ebay..
pm if you have more questions and I'll try to help what I can - ok?
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opendomain
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Joined: 19 Aug 2007
Posts: 365
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2008 14:26
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Yeah drop shipping is actually pretty hard to get into. Most "wholesalers" are actually middle men pretending to be wholesalers. I tried dropshipping many moons ago and found the problem to be the exact same. If you are serious about it you're going to need to contact manufacturers. You'll run into two problems.
1. Most manufacturer don't drop ship.
2. Those that do tend to want to do business with middle men, rather than having 1000's of smaller accounts they sell to middle men at a discounted rate.
All in all I think mountainmom might be on to something with talking directly to local small manufacturers.
I would take the approach of being able to boost their sales without them really having to do anything. Negotiate a price that is fair for both of you and later you can always revisit the contract/agreement if they don't have a standard one.
Let me/us know how things work out for you, I'd be interested to see how it goes.
Good Luck,
Gilbert
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mountainmom5
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Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 514
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2008 14:51 � Edited by: mountainmom5
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The way we have it set up is that they give me a sheet with their wholesale prices and shipping prices. They are the manufacturer so there is no middle man and I usually have some over 100 items listed in my Ebay store and only run a few as auction listings. If you list a lot of items on auction every week, you will go down the tube fast - because of Ebay listing fees....
So when I sell a piece of furniture I get paid and then I fax the order to the shop, they ship and send me the bill - I pay them - and whatever I had marked on top is my profit. My user name is viola6699 if you want to take a look see.
My main focus now is on my home business as once the Ebay stuff was up and running it pretty much runs itself - but I spent HOURS about 2 years ago to get it where it is today. NOTHING happens overnight....sorry!
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gchildren
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Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 41
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2008 19:51
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When I began working from home on the internet several years ago I found a reputable company that offers a directory of drop shippers for a one time fee that gives you a lifetime membership to the directory.
They are called World Wide Brands and they offer drop ship directories to companies that they have researched and verified to be "true" drop shippers.
I think this wolul be a good starting point.
John
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happywife
Preferred Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 548
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2008 00:19
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mountainmom5: They are the manufacturer so there is no middle man and I usually have some over 100 items listed in my Ebay store and only run a few as auction listings. If you list a lot of items on auction every week, you will go down the tube fast - because of Ebay listing fees...
Hi Viola,
I checked out your ebay listings; very well done. I know I could probably find this out through ebay, but I thought I'd just ask you since you do it personally. What are the ebay store fees like versus auction listings? You mentioned that the auction fees can bring you down, but I always assumed the store fees would be just as bad (I've never sold on ebay, obviously).
Is it worth building an ebay store and just leaving things sit there until someone buys?
Thanks for the info.
Angie
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mountainmom5
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Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 514
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2008 01:10 � Edited by: mountainmom5
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happywife: Is it worth building an ebay store and just leaving things sit there until someone buys?
When you have items that are available at all times then it is much cheaper to have an online store as it only costs a fraction for the listing fees. There is a monthly fee for having a store and the final value fees are a bit higher, too , but when you have over a 100 items running and you may only sell a few items a week - it is better, I think.
Store items don't get the exposure as auction items - which is why I try to keep a couple items running to draw traffic to the store.
My items are high dollar items so to list one ad on auction costs between $4 - $5 a week - you do the math if I were to have even 50 items running a week!
My advice to anyone starting out selling is to start with small inexpensive items and list as auction listings to get your feedback built up and to get the experience...
Hope this makes sense! It's late and am gonna go get some shut eye - catch you all tomorrow
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happywife
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Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 548
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2008 03:16
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Thanks for that! I've learned another new thing today. I see what you are saying. I've been thinking about putting some of my clutter online here in Australia, but didn't know if it would be worth the effort.
There is another Aussie auction site called Oztion. I think I read that they have no listing fees, so I was thinking of starting out with them first, although they don't get nearly the traffic as ebay yet. We'll see.
I've got to get myself motivated to branch off onto something else!
Thanks again.
Angie
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NTC
Member
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 108
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2008 15:48
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I tried drop-shipping on eBay and always ran into the problem of back orders. This could really hurt your eBay seller feedback, so I stopped.
In the future if I ever drop-ship again the only company I would use is DOBA.
I believe their inventory control is live, and they are professionals.
Victoria
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Homeboy
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Joined: 4 Feb 2008
Posts: 103
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2008 14:19
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Honestly, if I were to ever get into dropshipping, I wouldn't bother searching online for a company I've never heard of. For all I know, they're just a middleman waiting to screw me over.
I would physically look in my own home town for a small company that badly needs the business and would be willing to ship their products worldwide for very reasonable prices. Basically, you are helping THEM by putting their product in front of a wider audience (i.e. millions of people on Ebay or elsewhere online), so they would be stupid to say no. Work out a decent commission with them, put up a product page, and do your usual advertising. Everybody wins.
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GunHoChris
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Joined: 2 Apr 2008
Posts: 24
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2008 05:05
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dkdubb: everything seems to be a scam
It's really really hard or near impossible to find a reliable drop shipping service.
They all seem to be scams. I in the past almost spent a lot of time researching drop shipping services that could actually deliver a reliable service and products but at the end of the day, most of them turned out to be scams.
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alasycia
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Joined: 4 May 2008
Posts: 53
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# Posted: 3 Jun 2008 04:10
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As a producer (I run a studio workshop selling hand painted angel and cherub figurines and nativities) drop shipping is a form of having a sales agent. It is not an option online for a small business unless you have an excellent relationship with the person who does the selling .
The idea of drop shipping with a local company makes excellent sense to me. that way there will a real time comunication between seller and manufacturer .Problems of selling out of stock items will be reduced for the seller and problems of badly organized sales by the seller which cause shipping price issues etc for manufacturers should also be reduced.
Honest manufacturers are not ripping anyone off - they pay a hefty comission on sales made this way - and not all people working on line are interested in the products they sell. It seems like a reasonable option for big manufacturers - although the logic says that it is easier for them to deal with a distributor than lots of small uncontrolled salesmen! LOL
The big world of drop shipping is not one I know though. Just some thoughts - because selling through a drop shipping company means that you are becoming their saleman.
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