Dropshipping Advice

[Mook25]

Not sure if this is the right section but couldn't see an appropriate section. (mods feel free to move)

I wanted to know if any of you had any suggestions for good droppshippers. free or paid i'm not worried.

How have you found them to deal with etc etc. I'm looking primarialy for dropshippers that will ship to UK and USA first of all and mainly for electrical, computor games and DVD's and other such items.

Thanks in advance guys!

[Bethers]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

Hi Mook,
I suggest you buy the dropship directory from Worldwide Brands. They recently changed their name - gonna go look and see what it is. Okies, they're called OneSource now - but I still get them with:
www.worldwidebrands.com

They are a good source of dropshippers - just take your time and contact the companies and find ones you can work with - they are not all equal. They will more US shippers than others - but do have international and UK.

It's the best source I've found for this. Unfortunately, you used to be able to purchase just the dropship directory. It looks now like you have to take the whole package.

[Vasili]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

The definitive leaders in world-wide shipping solutions (both standard and third-party label) are:
www.parcelpro.com
www.oneservice.com
www.g4si.com

With offces around the world, web-accessible accounting, and unified pricing offered at discount, you are sure to find the best solution for your needs with any of them.

As far as finding vendors that will fulfill your "segment" needs, you might try developing your own Affiliate Network......If you join Commission Junction (www.cj.com) for instance, you can offer whatever products you desire from those types of vendors in your own "catalog display" and when customers "buy" from you, you earn not only a commission but the vendor will process and ship the sale for you. (There are many vendors that actually provide a "virtual storefront" for you to implement, and you also have the opportunity to "feature" individual items rather than link to a generic affiliate vendor branded website).

Just some ideas to ponder.......

[Bethers]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

Vasili,
None of those are dropshippers, which is what he asked for and which is entirely different from affiliates. And most of the vendors that PROVIDE a storefront for you, provide the same one for many others - making it an expensive proposition if you aren't sure of the vendor you're working with - as search engines do NOT like duplicate content.

Not saying those aren't good sources, but aren't related to the question.

[Vasili]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

INCORRECT.

Virtual storefronts are created and maintained on an individually assigned basis for qualifying affiliates. As publisher, you can choose to offer the entire "store" or any number of departments, or even limit your offering to a specific range of individual products. Branded with your name and/or logo, this type of affiliate "partnership" has been one of the more successful arrangements since being offered, usually by only the biggest names.
Your comment about "duplicate" storefronts and SE functionality is ludicrous at best.

Secondly, were you do a little investigation, you would have discovered that the shipping solutions I mentioned offer dropshipping solutions as well (world-wide, in fact). For example, if Mooky had a customer that purchased a widget from his site from Vendor "A", Mooky need only logon to his shipping panel and authorize a 3rd party label be issued to that customer via Vendor "A"'s interface, which would then be printed out at the factory and slapped onto the box for immediate shipment (The label itself would have sale references on it as well, also signifying "validated" shipment). Vendor A would then invoice Mook for the product authorized by him to ship, payable on an account basis.
Apparently, there are a lot of business functionalities that are yet to be addressed in these forums......all of which are critcal to eCommerce.

[Bethers]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

Vasili, we are talking *****s and oranges. The shipping vendors will SHIP the dorpship product, they are not the dropshipper. Mook was asking for the actual dropshippers - where to find the vendors - not where to find the people to ship the products from.

Many of the vendors won't let you use other shipping methods, as they do that themselves.

I agree that there are lots of variables, but as someone who has been working in dropshipping for many years now, I also know much of what is out there.

And I didn't say ALL affiliate sites are bad, but many of the "prebuilts" that I've come across are. The other night, after looking at one company that sets up affiliate sites as you were just talking about, I went to one of them. Took a sentence of type from the page randomly - typed it into the Google search bar and immediately discovered the exact same home page for that affiliate - only difference was the branding logos.

So, it's very important today to know just who and what you're working with and do your homework.

All this said - there's good and bad out there in all of it - but Mook asked for dropshippers - not shipping companies to ship the product, not affiliates - all of which he may also want to know - but not what he asked. And you, so often, have kept me on track by telling me that I've gone away from the quesion. Just returning the favor. :)

[Karen Mac]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

There are some good affiliates out there. And you can make money with them. Thing is you have to decide if you are going to market affiliates, or your own ecommerce. They are two different concepts within the realm. They usually dont MIX and match on the same page! You either spend time promoting affiliates, or spend time promoting what you sell.

Karen

[Vasili]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

Your statement that vendors do not permit shipping options is erroneus, Beth (assuming that we are referring to reputable, tier vendors and not the low-life entry-level online "affiliate" vendors that seemingly 99% are familiar with). They want to sell (program or not) and if they can interface thus, they actually prefer it....why do you think FedEx came up with teh "ShipperTerminal" back in 1988??? It was so labels could be authorized at a central headquarters and be printed out at store levels to put on the "tasked" pending shipments!

Virtual storefronts, "privateering" partnerships, and even "branded catalogs" are not common to most affiliates or relationships: that is why I mentioned qualified. They are not even on a hosted site, or cloned site, but are specialty scripts built for you to use as construct within your own webpage (like the online "booking engine" seen here). This is one example of the "upper tiers" of affiliate marketing, and what virtual storefronts offer: imagine that Mooky could find a vastly capable electrical vendor/supplier that offered such a program.......he could opt to include his selected products to be so scripted onto his site to present and function as his own branded products, or his own branded "store". And, since it is Java, HTML, and php selected formatting, it contributes to a "virtual inventory" as far as page SEO goes, kids.....and Mooky would be contributing to his unique web marketing strategy, and would benefite singularly as well.
*This is the perfect kind of setup to advance BV beyond the "cart" questions as well....

And...."dropshippers" means conveyance (carriers) that accept non-scheduled delivery from designated points of collection as well as "vendors that ship FOB"......using the services mentioned in the fashion I presented would allow anyone the opportunity to apply the same principle to any vendor of choice rather than be "stuck" choosing mediocre quality vendors or their goods.

You can only expect the results permissable from the plan you design. Why settle for less?

[Karen Mac]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

PFFTTT... You must be feeling better! :) LOL You want to debate. Personally if I wanted what the affiliate had, Id steal it and put it on my own store, and then sign in the back door and buy it myself. :)

Karen

[Vasili]

Re: Dropshipping Advice

No...I am struggling to type this "information" without coughing my lungs inside out!
LOL

There is so much nonsense I can tolerate, sick or not! Truly, most of the time I am here in VT, I am biting my tongue.....so much more is out there, so many higher concepts already the norm, and much of the mantra in VT is so wrong.....it is just not worth demonstrating.
BUT...when so many glean so much worth from so little, then I stand in and "correct the teacher" whenever necessary....my peers deserve better. My experience backs me up, and I have the proof to back up my experience.

Debate, K??? No....it wouldn't make a difference....