One of the hottest online business models right now is dropshipping. In this unique setup, you can have an online store selling physical products but you don’t touch the items yourself like Amazon FBA. The manufacturer or distributor manufactures the product, maintains inventory, and ships the product to the customer. You are just a middleman, selling and collecting money. You don’t even place an order with a manufacturer or distributor, aka dropshipping company, until you make a sale.
Many entrepreneurs choose this route because it requires less initial investment and makes a great weekend side gig. You are not investing tens of thousands of dollars in product upfront. You place your order with the dropshipper as soon as they arrive.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t risks. You need to partner with a reliable company to ensure that those orders are fulfilled on time. And there are a lot of scammers in this industry. So how do you know who is legitimate? And how do you start?
Today we sit down with Simon Slade, CEO and co-founder SelhuA site dedicated to helping people make money dropshipping to eBay, Amazon and more
Tell us a little about yourself. What was your motivation for working from home?
While working full-time at Hewlett-Packard, I side-sold Trade Me, a local New Zealand online auction site. My success prompted others to ask where I got my suppliers. I received so many inquiries that I recognized the need for a directory of verified suppliers, which is now SaleHoo. I didn’t originally intend to be an entrepreneur but after the opportunity to be my own boss and gain professional independence, I jumped at the chance. Now I love working at SaleHoo to help others achieve this same goal by selling online.
Drop-shipping on eBay isn’t something we’ve covered before. Can you tell us a little about it?
When people think of selling on eBay, they often think of selling unused items in their basements and garages. This can be a great way to start selling on eBay and learn the different features of the site, but you have a limited source of items to sell. Drop-shipping is the way to take your eBay sales to the next level. Drop-shipping refers to selling items to consumers while the supplier ships the sold products directly to the customers. This method offers incredible income potential with very low costs. Plus, you never have to build an inventory or ship products, which can be both expensive and troublesome. If you’re interested in pursuing drop-shipping, you should check out our complete guide to drop-shipping.
What was your first step to getting started? Are there any initial costs involved?
If you’re not already familiar with selling on eBay, start by selling some unused items around your house to familiarize yourself with the site. You will need to register as a business with your state and obtain a sales tax ID Depending on what type of business you choose to create, the cost can be as little as $25 or as much as $800. The cheapest option, a sole proprietorship, should suit most sellers’ needs though.
If there’s one word of caution or something you think all new sellers should understand before getting started, what would it be?
Selling on eBay can be incredibly profitable, but don’t forget that it’s a business. To maximize your profits, you should advertise (social media, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, etc.), as you would with any business. Also, finding profitable drop-shipping suppliers can be a challenge, so I invite newbies to check out our guide to finding suppliers.
Where do you advise others to start in your industry to help?
I recommend new drop-shippers visit SaleHoo for advice. SaleHoo offers over 50 free video lessons on how to get started, a blog that provides the latest industry news and advice, and a community forum for sellers to ask and answer questions. Most questions receive a response from a staff member and ensure that at least one answer comes from an expert source.
What is an online business tool that you happily pay for month after month?
customer.io Analyzes our customers’ personal interactions with our websites and sends messages to them accordingly to maximize our products and services. Instead of waiting for them to run into a problem and contact customer support, Customer.io proactively helps us ensure our customers have a positive experience on our websites.
Check out SaleHoo Learn more about how to earn money Dropshipping. If you have experience in this industry, please share your favorite resources and words of wisdom in the comments.
No Comments
Leave a comment Cancel