What to Dropship?

[9ice]

hello all,

Just thought i should ask fellow experienced dropshippers, i have been looking and reading a lot on Dropshipping for the past months, but i still can not make up my mind as to what to dropship.

1) while i was thinking, one idea came up: with the world cup starting shortly, i could do with selling sports related gadgets (: hats, scarfs, t-shirts..etc but not limiting to one nation but to mainly targeting most or all those popular countries in this world cup.

the initial thoughts was using EBAY to start with but after reading lots of threads and comments on here, i think it will be a good idea to follow the own website path which once i find a dropshipping company for these products i will be able to do that myself with a ready made template.

2) the 2nd option is looking for dropshipping company that can supply quality pyjamas for WOMEN, MEN KIDS...etc

the plan is to have few estores in the coming month (b4 the end of the year) to provide me enough to live on as a Mum of 2 younger ones. And so i can give up my 22k 9to5 job and be able to be there for my daughter when she starts school in September.

working for myself has always been the dream.

your honest advice will be much appreciated

many thanks

[seamus]

the plan is to have few estores in the coming month (b4 the end of the year) to provide me enough to live on as a Mum of 2 younger ones. And so i can give up my 22k 9to5 job and be able to be there for my daughter when she starts school in September.

Hi,

to be honest, that line slightly worries me,
being able to give up a 22k job by september and using dropshipping to substitute your income will be a seriously tall order, and the amount of work involved to achieve that would make the 9 to 5 job seem quite easy.

Using a few online stores plus a part time job would probably be the way to start, but I dont think that dropshipping would be able to bring in enough cash flow to make enough of a difference, buying wholesale would boost profits and use dropshipping to boost your range.

Nevermind thinking about this as "dropshipping" think of this as starting a business, as that is what it is, a retail business, dropshipping is only a means of holding stock.
Sit down and write up a plan, detailing how much you would need to turn over, what your costs will be, how many sales would you need to break even, how many sales you would need on a weekly basis to give you enough profit to make the business worth while.
Then there is the question of how to get the sales you need.
replacing a 22k job is an extremely tall order, and will need some serious planning.

[Zola de Cwtchi]

Hello 9ice

I cant give advice on techy stuff...however i do feel i can give some feedback regarding your post on 'dropshipping'

Firstly, dont give up yer job...i would run your stores on a 'hobby' basis and see over a period of time whether it works finiancally for you...im not live yet, however 3-6 months research has shown me that its unlikely to make me a million...i cant even see it making me enough money to 'live on' without another income stream.

I think you need to do further research on 'dropshipping' and the way it works...im not saying its a scam, far from it...but you need to do some serious thinking on the costs, dropshoip prices on an item are much higher than 'wholesale' prices...i also feel that the 'dropship' pool is rather saturated with the same sellers selling the same items...even the dropshippers companies are selling the same items that they are selling to you.

Now...you mention the WorldCup...good idea that i agree...i thought of it during then last WorldCup! and so did a million others, all looking for a quid buck...you may get lucky, however i think the keyword that will make it fail is..........'dropshipping' !!

Over the period of my reserarch i am now finding that whilst 'dropshipping' will figure in my plans...its so not the centre point...i think you need to find a 'niche' in the market place and learn, grow and make mistakes whilst keeping yer fulltime job so that the pressure is off.

You say you arent sure of your idea yet...no problem, things will fall into place as you continue learning...and you will discover new ideas on your way...helps too if you can develop an idea from something that you enjoy doing and have a passion for.

Hope you dont mind me having a say...guys like seamus have been around alot longer than me :P their knowledge and their willingness to help at times has proved invaluable to me the last couple of months and im so grateful. Best thing is to read up on a particular area, ask a question...feel silly like i do when its a dumb one laugh, learn and understand what has been said...and on to the next one...it will all make sense sooner or later...and then you realise that it aint all about making a million from an ecommerce store, in fact as i go on learning the original idea of this niche shop of mine seems to be getting swallowed up by other bigger more intresting ideas...an online store will now only be part of my plan, i just cant see it making me heaps of cash...but then, luckily for me, that was never the catalyst for me being here...bonus if it did make me money though

[Rainee Bows]

I would be more incliined to approach it not as a hobby but as an income stream

dropshipping can make money but as the others have quite rightly pointed out it isnt a business in itself but an option to enhance a business.

I myself am building several stores right now and not one relies solely on dropshipping. I have however joined lots of dropshippers and am using them to 'fill the gaps'

Do as Seamus suggests and make a plan, look at what you want to sell and who to , make that your starting point and research it thoroughly , as Zola says look at what interests you , hobbies etc its much easier to sell something you have a passion for ..

for instance i personally couldnt sell tools they hold no interest, therefore i know that todo the necessary marketing and promotion of my online store would be half hearted and vague ... see what I mean ..

once you have an idea what you want to sell .. THEN look at suppliers, look at more than one and dont rule out wholesalers and local suppliers to you who may be willing to accomodate you when fulfilling orders.

Remember as with any business there are costs involved , as its retail you need to consider returns too , which alot of people forget about ,

there are many posts on this forum that relate to costs involved and Distance Selling Regulations as well as Marketing and Seo , ask questions if you need to we're a friendly bunch and there are no silly questions, as you can guarantee you wont be the

only one looking for that answer , just maybe the only one that is willing to ask

Rain
xxxx

[scotserve]

for instance i personally couldnt sell tools they hold no interest, therefore i know that todo the necessary marketing and promotion of my online store would be half hearted and vague ... see what I mean ..

While agreeing with that statement the converse can also be true - by picking a product that your very knowledgeable about can mean an emotional link to what you are selling and it ceases to be just a way of making money.

[Rainee Bows]

for instance i personally couldnt sell tools they hold no interest, therefore i know that todo the necessary marketing and promotion of my online store would be half hearted and vague ... see what I mean ..

While agreeing with that statement the converse can also be true - by picking a product that your very knowledgeable about can mean an emotional link to what you are selling and it ceases to be just a way of making money.

Is that a bad thing though ? In my opinion it isnt, if your heart isnt in it, it wont make money

[9ice]

hello all,

Thank you all for your honest advice and comments. i really appreciate each one of them,
Rain-bow i will definitely look into the drop shipping as an income stream: i am going to give it a go with one of 2 free estore for the time being and see how things go.

i have a background of accounting/bookkeeping and been working for a gaming/PC peripheral company for over 4yrs now and have been managing the companies online store so paypal(money in and out) has no secret for me. The rest should come with time.

i do have a plan, and know what i want to sell, maybe i can start by dropshipping to raise money and then  approach a Chinese manufacturer to produce my own brand  that i can sell/distribute to mail order companies. why not??

let's see where we get to with time.

thanks to you all
regards

[seamus]

sounds like you have a good bit of experience, e-commerce should be easy for you to get into

best of luck to ye 9ice 

[Rainee Bows]

hello all,

Thank you all for your honest advice and comments. i really appreciate each one of them,
Rain-bow i will definitely look into the drop shipping as an income stream: i am going to give it a go with one of 2 free estore for the time being and see how things go.

i have a background of accounting/bookkeeping and been working for a gaming/PC peripheral company for over 4yrs now and have been managing the companies online store so paypal(money in and out) has no secret for me. The rest should come with time.

i do have a plan, and know what i want to sell, maybe i can start by dropshipping to raise money and then  approach a Chinese manufacturer to produce my own brand  that i can sell/distribute to mail order companies. why not??

let's see where we get to with time.

thanks to you all
regards

Be wary of the free e-stores, if you are going to use them make sure you can access everything you will need to if you outgrow them, databases etc,  there are much better scalable solutions out there to be honest that will not involve loss of catalogue or increased charges as your range grows. the opensource software on hosting might be a better option. That way everything is under your control.


Rain
xxxx

[9ice]

hi all,

Seamus: i should think so or should i say hope i have a sound experience on e-commerce to get me started.
Rain: i am using webs.com at the moment, i looked into 1&1's estore package, wasn't simple for me.so i gave up on that

i have just started with webs.com, so far so alright, not too complicated. do you have any opensource software that you could advice?

i have also checked Mr Site. i may look into that one too. may once i am finish the one i have just started.

i am only doing this after i have put my 2 monsters to bed, and weekend , so it could take me a while to complete.

anyway

many thanks in advance
cheers

[seamus]

do you have any opensource software that you could advice?

the two favourites tend to be zen cart and prestashop,
both good cart software

[Rainee Bows]

I'd agree with seamus on the above recommendations, both are easy to use and require no html knowledge to start, and there are plenty of people here that would be willing to help you out with any questions you may have.

Many hosts will install free when you purchase the hosting which in my opinion is wort the small investment to give your business a decent place to start from and to not have issues as it expands.


Rain
xxxx

[9ice]

hello Rain & Seamus,

hope you're well, i have just has a look at prestashop, really quickly, and read couple of threads on their forum,
i will spend time on there this evening and see, hopefully it's not too Techi I like simple & easy stuffs...i am a bit old Fashion: but once i find my way round, i am okay.

i will keep both of you posted.

Back to the initial Post: i had a look at Alibaba.com, this afternoon for potential dropshipping. there are quite few of them.mainly from China,

Any advice on that? could this be another route? Has anybody used this route? or could anybody supply a list of good suppliers.(Clothing,Footware..etc) what are the draw backs using this route?...etc

many thanks for helping on this

[seamus]

I know a few people that buy wholesale from china, not many that use dropshippers from china though so I couldnt really comment on that,
theres a wee dropshipper list I posted on here that might be worth a look, most are uk based (if not all)

http://www.e-commerce-forum.co.uk/index.php/topic,370.msg2394.html

its a list of all sorts of dropshippers, supplying various different products, worth a look through though

[9ice]

oops!

need help, i am unable to download any of the above.

zen cart and prestashop

need help
thanks