The Down Side Of Using Dropshippers In The Ebay Auction Arena!

Ok, let me just say right up front that I am not against drop-shipping! I love the concept. If you are dealing with a particular wholesale drop-shipping distributor that is serving your Ebay ambitions well, then hold onto that company with bonds of steel, for truly good drop-shippers are hard to find!

Drop-Shipping sounds like the utopian business model. No up front investment in inventory. You don't have to carry packages to the Post Office, United Parcel, or Fedex. All you have to do is set up your own business, auction, or retail website and advertise the products that the company provides. Once the orders come in, you forward it to the drop-shipper and they send the product directly to your customer.

But, the devil is always in the details. Dropshipping is best suited for a stand alone E-Commerce website, mail order, or catalog advertising venue. If you are considering using a wholesale drop shipper for your Ebay auction, then you might want to take a step back and let me provide you with some "points to ponder."

Back ordered products..The reality is that drop-shipping companies run out of product and will be back ordered. Ebay bidders purchase product in "real time." They are under the impression that the item you auction, is the item they bought, not a product that is subject to shortages.

One or two customers might be understanding about the situation, but most will not. If you happen to run out of product on a regular basis then your negative feedback rating will go through the roof, and your reputation will suffer.

One way to combat shortages is to buy a pallet of product in advance, and have the drop-shipper store it in their warehouse so that you are assured of an ample supply. This method sort of goes against the idea of Drop-Shipping (buying the product in advance) but if you are selling on Ebay, you would be best served by employing this method.

Also, if possible, find a drop-shipper in your area, or within a comfortable traveling distance. If you run into any supply or shipping problems, then you could be on hand to visit the facility, should any shipping or logistic concerns arise.

Fees..Some dropshippers will charge you a sign up, or entry fee of about twenty five to fifty dollars just for the privilege of selling their product. You are also charged a "processing fee" for sending the product to your customer.

The "price for processing" can range anywhere from seven to twenty dollars per item, depending on the type of merchandise you are selling. These expenses, plus Ebay fees, can take a big chunk out of your bottom line. Finding a product that can bring you a profit, as well as offseting these types of expenses, can be a delicate balancing act.

Circumventing your customers..While I do not believe that this is a pervasive practice among drop-shipping companies, anecdotal evidence has suggested that some unscrupulous enterprises can cut you out of the sales loop. They could they easily substitute your return address for their company logo, selling directly to your customers.

Market saturation..One of the largest wholesale drop-shippers in the county is the B&F System, BNFusa.com. A lot of Ebayer's started selling their products, one in particular, called Giovanni Navarre leather jackets. At first, it was a profitable item. After a while, everyone started selling the same product. Too much of the same supply, creates market saturation, ultimately destroying profit potential for the seller.

The Giovanni Navarre leather jackets are still being sold on Ebay today, but I doubt that they still provide a very profitable return for the seller. Even though B&F carries over 500 products in 14 different categories, they are intimately familiar to the Ebay community. You could probably make a great profit from just about any B&F product if you were to sell them off line, and out of the auction arena.

When a company becomes too well known to the general public it becomes almost impossible to make money from products that have flooded the marketplace. In addition to finding a drop-shipper who is close to home, it might be a good idea to find a DS company that is not well known to the Ebay market, or who's products have not been scattered all over cyberspace.

These days however, it is hard to find drop-shippers that will cater to the smaller seller. Most will find it more profitable to sell in volume than by the piece. The larger wholesale dropshipping distributors are used by retail catalog operations. To get involved with the larger operations, you would have to be doing a tremendous sales volume.

If you still want to pursue drop-shipping as a source of supply for your Ebay auction, then I would suggest that you read other opinions, and become as educated as you can about the drop-shipping company you do business with.

A good and inexpensive start to finding drop-shipping companies is the Drop Shipping News: http://www.drop-shipping-news.com . Remember, when it comes to Ebay auction selling, "own what you sell." Never leave customer service, or your feedback rating in the hands of other people!!

Robert C. Potter is a wholesale and retail surplus products specialist. He is the author of "The Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale!" Over 300 Wholesale & Surplus Supply Sources For Ebay Auction Sellers, E-Commerce Websites, Flea Market Vendors, and Retail Store Owners! You can find his 160 page ebook at: http://www.productsforresale.com.

---

How To Sell On Ebay: Using Store Policies To Cement Your Credibility

In your quest to build credibility as an Ebay seller, few things are more important than creating and following consistent store policies. Doing so will provide your customers with an attractive buying atmosphere,... Read More

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

The Internet is the fastest-changing marketplace on earth. Million-dollar ideas from one year ago might not generate a single penny today. And the best search engine optimization strategies from months ago may be... Read More

Importing Products to Sell on eBay

The interesting thing about online buyers is they are extremely price sensitive. A survey done by Forrester Research shows that 73 percent of surveyed online buyers expect prices on the Internet to be... Read More

eBay Bargain Hunting - Spell Your Way To Success!

Have you ever wondered how identical items can fetch such widely differing prices on eBay? Or why some items fail to receive any bids at all?Sometimes it is a matter of luck, or... Read More

Six Steps Towards Successful Buying at eBay Auctions

Buying on eBay can be very rewarding, either in terms of being able to pick up items cheaply or for hunting for hard to find items. Although generally the experience is good, there... Read More

Dropship Your Way to Success

Many people know they would like to start an Internet business, but they don't have a product to sell. The solution is often drop shipping.Drop shipping is a business arrangement in which a... Read More

Free Auction Templates: How to Set Your Border Color With FOAM

If you have not heard of Foamtemplates.com yet, home of the "Free Online Auction Maker", now is a good time to get your feet wet. I am going to show you how to... Read More

Do You Sell Tires By Mail? Maybe You Should eBay

I just received an interesting email from eBay and it got me thinking... Do you sell tires by mail? Maybe you should 'eBay' (yes it's now a verb as well as a noun)I... Read More

Using Online Ebay Auctions to Promote Your Website - Confessions of a True Traffic Junkie

If you are looking for traffic to your e-commerce site, you should look no further than Ebay. The reason for this is Ebay is an online auction site that has a huge following... Read More

12 Tips To Make Your eBay Business More Profitable

Sometimes it's the simple things that can make your eBay business more profitable and run smoother. Here are twelve things you can do that will lead to more sales and increased profits on... Read More

Mail Order: The Original Internet Still Going Strong

While the world continues to go catatonic over the Internet and its endless possibilities, there's another industry quietly going about its business, piling up profitable year after profitable year after profitable year. What... Read More

An Emerging Market in eBay Consignments: The eBay Trading Post (Part II In A Series)

In 2002, the eBay consignments business was born, referred to by eBay as the Trading Assistant Program.It's possible that eBay didn't foresee just how much they would benefit form their eBay consignments program.... Read More

eBay Listing Service : Make Managing Your Auctions Easy

Do you want to have a lot of auctions going but don't have time to keep track of them all? Trust me, you're not alone. With more and more people making significant portions... Read More

Before You Sell On Ebay, Take The Most Important Step

If you want to earn a full-time income selling on Ebay, you must take the first and most important step in all successful business ventures: you must accept that it is possible.This probably... Read More

When It Comes To eBay, Don?t Follow The Herd

Q: I want to start an online business. Since I don't know anything about ecommerce and building websites and such, I'm thinking about starting out selling products on eBay, then pay someone to... Read More

What To Do After Your eBay Auction Closes

So your auction closes. Now what?Hopefully you made a sale or several sales. Now the important work begins. Here are some tips on what to do after your eBay auction closes.Buyer ContactOnce your... Read More

Maria?s New Lifestyle: Short Story About The Benefits Shopping On The Net Has Given

I've got this strange friend; her name is Maria. Maria's always been a little weird but now things have gotten unworldly altogether. You see, Maria's an artist; she's into sculpture in particular, of... Read More

Use Auction Templates For eBay Success!

Auction templates are simply a must for successful online auction selling. One day I spent approximately 45 minutes writing a listing for an item that would make me about $5 in profit! I... Read More

eBay - Tapping Into The Japanese Collector Market

If you owned a skateboard shop in your local mall would you put a big sign in the window saying "No Baggy Pants Allowed"? Of course not. If you did you would be... Read More

Drop Shipping Your Way to Increased Profits

Drop shipping, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is a system whereby you promote the products of a particular manufacturer, take orders directly, and the manufacturer/source handles all the inventory and fulfillment... Read More

Drop-ship or U-ship: That is the Question

For small Internet retailers, drop-shipping is one of the best innovations since sliced bread. How else can a start-up offer a wide variety of products and convince customers that they have a fully-stocked... Read More

eBay: What Should I Sell?

There is an art to picking profitable products. It's not just what you want to sell but rather what will sell. Unless you pick a product in demand in the marketplace, you will... Read More

Do You Pay Taxes On eBay Income?

Q: I read your last column about paying income tax on eBay sales if you are doing it as a business, but as someone who only sells on eBay occasionally I'm still confused... Read More

Tips on How to Profit from eBay Buy It Now Auction Listings

eBay is an online auction site so it stands to reason that most users will tend to auction off their items aiming to get a high price.The problem with auctioning items is that... Read More

eBay Auction Bidding Strategies--Overcoming the most Frustrating Situation on eBay

The Problem...It's happened to the best of us.You've been watching the auction all week, and finally you're about to claim your prize--a rare bronze statue from the Qing Dynasty. Or something just as... Read More

Attract eBay Buyers Like Crazy!

As an ebay(TM) seller it happens very often (too often) that listings close without any bids. Did this happen to you? Many sellers are frustrated and quit their eBay(TM) business. Have you realised... Read More

How To Increase eBay Profits

Some sell on eBay to clean out their garage or attic. Some sell to make a little extra money here and there. But for some, eBay represents a chance to create a second... Read More

Royal Memorabilia ? An eBay Prince or Pauper?

There has always been a fascination with royalty and as a niche area for collecting and auction trading, it is still a relatively accessible market. And it can also be extremely interesting.There is... Read More

Dropship Your Way To Ebusiness Success

Q: I would like to start my own eBay business, but I really don't want to invest in a ton of inventory until I can get a better handle on what might or... Read More