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Whats Your Take on Dropshipping

jpanarra

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Hey all,

I usually browse over at r/entrepreneur and other business subreddits, there is a lot of posts about the drop shipping approach for e-commerce, and I am considering about taking that path for my first step to the fast lane.
However, I have seen several negative comments and experiences when it comes to drop shipping and trying to grow a variety of businesses using this approach. I was wondering if there is anybody here that has deemed themselves successful and what to be wary about before jumping on Shopify and try to open an e-commerce business.

-JP
 
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Envision

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With drop shipping you have no control and slim margins.

If you are going to jump into ecommerce I would look into filling a need, providing a great product, releasing on a large sales channel (Amazon) and going from there.
 

jpanarra

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If you are going to jump into ecommerce I would look into filling a need, providing a great product, releasing on a large sales channel (Amazon) and going from there.


OK, but that would mean I have to go into product creation and development which can be a fiscal blackhole if you don't know what you're doing at the beginning stages. What i see on here since I started yesterday is a lot of praise about copywriting to build up your reputation and skill to enter the blogging space. I am currently writing lists of needs and potential solutions and will do my analysis if i should go for it or not.

Its my stupid mental mindset that's making me hesitate and over analyze things because I have failed a few times in the past and I don't intend to do so this time. So I hope to build my income exponentially, my plan at the moment is to start a e-commerce dropship site to bring in some income and possibly sell to have the funding to build the next project. Which i have a few in mind but not enough funding at this point to tackle it.
 

JDx

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With drop shipping you have no control and slim margins.

If you are going to jump into ecommerce I would look into filling a need, providing a great product, releasing on a large sales channel (Amazon) and going from there.

Having tried dropshipping (unsuccessfully) for the sake of just trying it, I'll confirm the above is necessary.
Another downside is the long shipping times - shipping could take anywhere from 7 up to sometimes 40(!) days.

Nice for testing the waters, but if you don't really fulfill a clear need, you might have a hard time selling stuff.

(If you DO want to give it a shot, I really liked shopify + the oberlo app, 1 click to add products to your store from aliexpress)
 
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jpanarra

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OK, now I'm looking at this.. maybe I'm thinking a little too much like a slow laner.. I need to pivot towards the fastlane, how about I pivot this concept to making drop ship sites for people.. i could gather a team that is able to bang out a site for people based on their requests and what niche they want to sell to.
 
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Guest34764

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OK, now I'm looking at this.. maybe I'm thinking a little too much like a slow laner.. I need to pivot towards the fastlane, how about I pivot this concept to making drop ship sites for people.. i could gather a team that is able to bang out a site for people based on their requests and what niche they want to sell to.

The people who want to drop ship are the same people who will spend 100$ on a website.

They are going to look to save as much money as possible, and that's why they thought dropshipping was better( or they just wanted an easy thousand) than importing.

If you did hire a team you more than likely wouldn't have any big clients, and profit would be low assuming you had enough commissions because you'd have to pay the team.

Why don't you get into importing?
 

Envision

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OK, but that would mean I have to go into product creation and development which can be a fiscal blackhole if you don't know what you're doing at the beginning stages. What i see on here since I started yesterday is a lot of praise about copywriting to build up your reputation and skill to enter the blogging space. I am currently writing lists of needs and potential solutions and will do my analysis if i should go for it or not.

Its my stupid mental mindset that's making me hesitate and over analyze things because I have failed a few times in the past and I don't intend to do so this time. So I hope to build my income exponentially, my plan at the moment is to start a e-commerce dropship site to bring in some income and possibly sell to have the funding to build the next project. Which i have a few in mind but not enough funding at this point to tackle it.

It would cost 2-10k to get started with an ecommerce business. Thats what it cost me and as I proved a concept I put more money in because the results were in linewith my costs.

Copywriting and blogging are going to take alot of time to develop and unless your taking a good amount of action you wont see results for a long time and you will most likely stop doing both.

No one is going to want to buy a dropshipping businesses. People sell problems they dont buy them.

Instead of waste your time why not do it right and go the harder way?
 
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jpanarra

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Instead of waste your time why not do it right and go the harder way?

This is the reason why I'm here, im willing to go the harder way, but I'm not exactly sure about the direction. WHich is why I posted this thread... to try and find some direction myself.
 
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Guest34764

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This is the reason why I'm here, im willing to go the harder way, but I'm not exactly sure about the direction. WHich is why I posted this thread... to try and find some direction myself.

This forum is rife with information on Ecommerce and importing.

Check out @Walter Hay he has great threads and even has a book on importing.

@biophase was doing personal lessons but they are booked at the moment, but watch out for him when he's not booked.

Other than that there are tons of resources available on this forum, but no one should link you to this or that.It's important you do your own research, use the search function located at the top of the forum and search for anything relating to E-commerce or importing.

Good luck.
 
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jpanarra

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This forum is rife with information on Ecommerce and importing.

Check out @Walter Hay he has great threads and even has a book on importing.

@biophase was doing personal lessons but they are booked at the moment, but watch out for him when he's not booked.

Other than that there are tons of resources available on this forum, but no one should link you to this or that.It's important you do your own research, use the search function located at the top of the forum and search for anything relating to E-commerce or importing.

Good luck.
Thanks man, I just started this forum yesterday and am still digging through all of the information which this site is crazy ripe of and I'm bookmarking certain threads and comments that i find inspirational or useful. I'm still digging through it all and am reading the "7 days start-up" now since I just finished the Fast-Lane Millionaire yesterday as well. I understand that I'm still new to the entrepreneur scene and i will make mistakes, but i am trying to minimalize my mistakes by learning from others first.
 

Walter Hay

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It would cost 2-10k to get started with an ecommerce business. Thats what it cost me and as I proved a concept I put more money in because the results were in linewith my costs.

Copywriting and blogging are going to take alot of time to develop and unless your taking a good amount of action you wont see results for a long time and you will most likely stop doing both.

No one is going to want to buy a dropshipping businesses. People sell problems they dont buy them.

Instead of waste your time why not do it right and go the harder way?
It is possible to get started for less than you invested, but it can certainly be a slower process if you can't afford to put a reasonable amount into buying inventory.

Of the success stories I have received from users of my book, some that I like the best are from those who started very small, mainly because of limited funds. One of them emailed me:
"Ok. From extremely skeptical to successful completion. Credit given where credit is due. I followed the book instructions you laid out. Took my time to double check everything and was able to successfully import an order from China. Not only that but it was also a “sample order” for less than 300.00. A 300% mark up has allowed to get initial investment back and I have 70% of my inventory left. Stop promoting your book. Your encouraging competition for me Many thanks." Email on file for FTC inspection if required.

I have already published in my AMA the report by one who was a small time flea market stall operator, and began importing on a very small scale for his own stall. The outcome was that he is now a wholesaler, importing and selling to stall holders across the country.

Even if you do have funds available, I recommend that you crawl before you walk, so that you can learn how to run.

Walter
 

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Take any and all advice with a grain of salt. The best lessons come from your best failures.

Go ahead and do your best for 2 weeks with the dropshipping model, but no jumping around (select a niche, and serve it no matter how hard it gets, do not stop). You will get out of this:
  • Knowledge of Shopify or the likes
  • Copywriting skills
  • Niche (product) selection skills
  • PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
The key part is to commit and not stop for 2 weeks.

Once that is done, you can come back and share your findings, lessons, and achievements. You will be ready to take more responsibility from then on and will feel much more confident in your abilities.

My greatest advice: don't waste time, start small, and start right away.
 
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jpanarra

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It is possible to get started for less than you invested, but it can certainly be a slower process if you can't afford to put a reasonable amount into buying inventory.


Even if you do have funds available, I recommend that you crawl before you walk, so that you can learn how to run.

Walter

Hey,

Thanks for the insight! I've been digging around on this forum, and I'm currently on like page 30 of this thread. I think I'm going to leave dropshipping behind and try to build an inventory of something from Alibaba or another wholesaler and try and build up funds on a monthly basis and selling them on eBay.

That way I'll build up experience shipping and deal with a supplier. The way I see it, If I have many successful products, ill move onto Amazon to drive up sales, and if there's a category that I might be onto, then maybe expand into an e-commerce store with inventory on hand as opposed to dropshipping.

Still digging and learning here!

Once again Thanks!
 

jpanarra

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Take any and all advice with a grain of salt. The best lessons come from your best failures.



My greatest advice: don't waste time, start small, and start right away.


I intend to start now, shifting my mindset from dropshipping to building inventory. Am looking for products on Alibaba and talking to suppliers While researching the said product on eBay and amazon to determine the potential ROI.
 

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jpanarra

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These are the articles I read to start importing and selling -

http://startupbros.com/how-you-can-...ng-from-china-the-rise-and-fall-of-my-empire/
http://startupbros.com/step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-find-a-profitable-product-to-sell/

Check it out. Its not very hard to start. The bitch is distribution.
Yep, saw those two posts from you on another thread.. read it and downloaded the product discovery e-book too. I am still overwhelmed with trying to find a product... it seems like that is the norm for a beginner tho.
 

ZeroTo100

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Want to add my 2 cents - there is a major advantage to dropshipping that most people aren't going to mention.

First, it's a starting point. You'll build your site (min SKUs), find out what works, and then eventually when your sales pick up you can store inventory of your top selling products.

Also, people DO but dropshipping sites. If you don't believe me, go on empire flippers and look at their sold dropshipping sites. It's very simple, they buy the site and improve margins by carrying the higher selling items or sometimes they're already in the business an they want the site.

Just another way to look at it.

Good luck, I'm focusing on importing though because I prefer to build my own brand and do product launches.

Steve
 

jpanarra

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Want to add my 2 cents - there is a major advantage to dropshipping that most people aren't going to mention.

First, it's a starting point. You'll build your site (min SKUs), find out what works, and then eventually when your sales pick up you can store inventory of your top selling products.

Also, people DO but dropshipping sites. If you don't believe me, go on empire flippers and look at their sold dropshipping sites. It's very simple, they buy the site and improve margins by carrying the higher selling items or sometimes they're already in the business an they want the site.

Just another way to look at it.

Good luck, I'm focusing on importing though because I prefer to build my own brand and do product launches.

Steve


Thanks man,

From what I've been reading it seems like dropshipping is a strategy if you have little to no capital to start with. Like you said, it's a starting point. That's why I'm thrilled that I found this forum to steer me to the best course of action for the capital i have access to.
 
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jpanarra

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Ok, It seems like to me for right now to build up some capital i'm going to do the import and sell on eBay route. I know this is slow lane but it allows me to get some action instead of mind masturbation and inactionable action. I'm thinking about starting a progress thread that I'll update on a weekly basis so I can keep myself accountable.
 

Walter Hay

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These are the articles I read to start importing and selling -

http://startupbros.com/how-you-can-...ng-from-china-the-rise-and-fall-of-my-empire/
http://startupbros.com/step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-find-a-profitable-product-to-sell/

Check it out. Its not very hard to start. The bitch is distribution.
Both of the blog posts you link to contain obsolete information on sourcing from China. They haven't been updated since 2012, and none of the huge number of questions on the step by step one have been answered.

If anyone wants products sourcing or importing questions answered they can ask them on my AMA.

Walter
 

jpanarra

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Both of the blog posts you link to contain obsolete information on sourcing from China. They haven't been updated since 2012, and none of the huge number of questions on the step by step one have been answered.

If anyone wants products sourcing or importing questions answered they can ask them on my AMA.

Walter


Ok, it looks like I have some reading to do... If I have any more questions, i'll go ahead and ask them on your AMA. Right now I'm still finishing up on the one from Ecom Man too...
 
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