Can Anyone Own A Profitable Business Without Buying Stock?
It is possible to own a business without buying stock or renting a retail outlet. Many people are operating their own businesses from home without having to buy stock in advance. They have been using a system called Dropshipping.
This system of business is not an American invention and nor is it a new concept. The practice or dropshipping has been around for longer than most would expect. The ancient traders conducted business using a dropshipping system, although they wouldn’t have used that word to describe it. They would travel long distances to sell the products of warehouses and manufacturers. They would take samples to the retailers and when they had an order they would send a runner back to the suppliers’ warehouse and the supplier would deliver the order.
Dropshipping is also known as ‘order fulfillment’. It is not a new business concept and has been used for many centuries and is being used by some of the biggest online operators. Amazon and eBay are just a couple of examples.
Utilising the services of a dropship supplier allows you to offer products to customers without having to purchase goods in advance.
Below we have provided a description of how dropshipping works:
- A reseller (retailer) connects with a wholesale supplier, importer or manufacturer who is willing to deliver orders directly to the resellers’ customers. This supplier is called a Dropshipper or Dropship Supplier.
- The reseller promotes and markets goods or services of that supplier through their own retail outlet. This could be an online eCommerce shop , eBay listing , Amazon or traditional retail outlet (yes, even bricks and mortar businesses use dropshipping).
- The reseller takes an order from their customer with payment in advance and provides a sale receipt to their customer.
- The reseller then forwards order to the dropship supplier with the previously agreed wholesale payment.
- The dropship supplier then delivers the goods directly to the reseller’s customer.
- The dropship supplier provides a sales receipt with the wholesale cost to the reseller.
- The reseller gross profit is the difference between the amount paid to the dropship supplier and the amount they received from their customer. Example: Item purchased by reseller’s customer = $120. Amount paid by reseller to supplier = $80. Profit = $40.00.
Dropshipping can be this simple with a legitimate dropship supplier and has become even easier over the years with some suppliers providing a product datafeed and integration into some eCommerce systems. When choosing a dropship supplier, resellers should gather as much information about the supplier as possible before proceeding to do business. It is also a good idea to test the supplier by placing an order and having it delivered to a friend or relative. This will confirm if the supplier can deliver to your customers.
As a member of Dropship Australia you will have access to suppliers, advice and support with questions.
At Dropship Australia we do not stock or supply any products.
For our members we provide:
- a directory of VERIFIED dropship suppliers, wholesalers, manufacturers and business service providers.
- training, support and mentoring for resellers and suppliers
- introduction to people who have already been successful with this business model
- a community website to share ideas and answer questions
- our knowledge from 19 YEARS of being involved with dropshipping, ecommerce, and online marketing
As a member you will avoid the mistakes and pitfalls made by so many before. You will have a headstart on those that try stumble their way through.
Becoming a Dropship Australia member gives you access suppliers, training resources, support and mentoring that are not available to non-members.
Resellers
To join as a reseller please register here to access the suppliers directory, communicate with suppliers and post in members forum.
Suppliers
If you are a supplier please register here so you can add you business listing and communicate with our members.
Important Aspects Of Dropshipping
When using the dropship business model it is important to have a good understanding of your suppliers’ needs and how they connect with your needs. Some suppliers require more time to deliver products to your customer. Others need you to be very specific about your needs so they can give good service. Some dropship suppliers will charge a fee to set up an account and most of them will be want to be paid before shipping the order.
How Do You Insure Yourself Against Fraud?
Legitimate suppliers will conduct honest business but there are the occasional ones who will try to defraud you by not delivering goods and claiming that they have. Be sure to check the details of the supplier and get as much information about their business as you can. Make sure you have a contact name and telephone number. If you are provided with Terms & Conditions by the supplier, make sure you read and understand them. If you have any questions about terms and conditions be sure to ask your supplier or your legal advisor. If your supplier has not given you terms and conditions ask them if they can provide them.
Be diligent of businesses that are located outside of your own country. If it comes to having problems with a supplier it is sometimes difficult to take any sort of legal action against foreign companies or individuals. It is a good idea to get them to supply you with some references and business history.
Become a Dropship Australia Member
We always look forward to working with our members to create business success by providing access to Dropship Suppliers, support and training and our many years of dropship experience.
It is in the interests of suppliers to give you access to and allow you to use their product images for you web site or other promotions. They will either provide these from their web site images or they will provide you with a media package to download.
There are also product datafeeds available from well established suppliers. These datafeeds can be integrated into certain eCommerce systems and will in many cases contain the images.
As a supplier there should be no watermarks (overlays) promoting their own business. Resellers will rarely use a supplier who insists on promoting their own business using this method.
To copy an image from a web site you can find an option by clicking your right mouse button over the image. Depending on your browser you will find an option which says ‘Save Image As’ or ‘Download Image’. Select this and then choose a location on your computer that you can find later.
Most problems can be avoided with good communication between resellers and suppliers. This may be through email, telephone, Skype, Messenger or some other form, but it is important for both supplier and reseller to have a good understanding of how they will partner with each other.
If you have problems with a dropship supplier the first action to take is to contact the supplier and try to rectify the situation. Sometimes small problems turn into large ones without good communication between parties.
Be sure before you start using the services of a dropship supplier that they have provided you with terms and conditions for you to follow and make sure you read them. Take notes when trying to rectify a problem with a supplier for later reference.
If you do not get satisfaction from your dropship supplier there are other avenues to take including government agencies who deal with these type of problems including the Department Of Fair Trading or other similar organisation in your State or country.
If you have a problem with a dropship supplier listed on Dropship Australia please let us know (after you have tried to rectify it with the supplier). We will do our best to help you but we cannot take any responsibility for business transactions between resellers and suppliers (see terms and conditions).
Membership
We have two membership levels.
The INNER CIRCLE membership allows full access to all areas of the community, access to support, training and mentoring from our team. You can see our membership plans here.
The Suppliers membership allows the ability to add a business listing to the directory. This is a free but restricted access membership.
Suppliers
Suppliers can create a free basic listing within the suppliers directory. The addition of a FEATURED listing involves a reasonable fee. Featured suppliers gain more attention in hte directory and we will promote them through our newsletter and social media channels.
Other Charges
At this time we do not charge any additional fees. We do not take any percentage or commissions of sales or get involved with your business transactions. These are between the reseller and the supplier.
To add your business to the suppliers directory you will need to do the following:
- Register as a member of the Dropship Australia Community and confirm your email address by clicking on the link that we will email to you.
- Once you have confirmed your email address you will be able to login.
- When you login go to the Suppliers Directory link on the member’s menu and click ‘Add Entry’. This will take you to the Directory registration page where you will provide the information about your business.
- Complete your business listing details and submit them. We will confirm your business details and contact you if we have any questions. If you choose to add additional paid features there is a small charge. We accept PayPal payments online and you can use your credit cards securely using this method. We will also send you direct deposit details (only Australian businesses can direct deposit) if you choose that method. A basic listing is FREE but must NOT contain any additional links to your website other than where provided.
- Once your submission has been received we will check the details for authenticity and approve if all details are verifiable.
If you are a paid subscriber of the Dropship Australia community we will also introduce you to our members through our newsletter and announce you to our Twitter followers, Facebook and LinkedIn group.
A drop-ship supplier is a wholesaler, importer or manufacturer who is willing and able to deliver goods directly to a resellers’ (retailers) customers. A drop-ship supplier is not a middleman working for a wholesaler or manufacturer.
To take advantage of this fast growing business model you will need to:
- be a genuine wholesaler, importer or manufacturer (no-middlemen).
Do not attempt to act as an agent for other wholesalers. You must have the stock in your control. Trying to act as an agent for other companies invariably leads to problems for the agent and the reseller and may result in legal action. A Genuine Wholesaler, Importer or Manufacturer is a business that stocks or manufactures products in bulk. A ‘dropship supplier’ is a wholesaler who is willing and able to send products in retail AND/OR wholesale quantities directly to a resellers customer. Dropshipping is not about promoting your wholesale business to the customers of resellers and where possible the goods should arrive at the customer’s location with only the documentation supplied to you by the reseller. A sales receipt should be provided to the reseller for the wholesale price charged.
- deliver products directly to the customers for resellers.Delivering directly to consumers is the core to dropshipping. If you do not have or are not willing to create the infrastructure to deliver products directly to the resellers’ customers you do have another option available to you. You can engage with a Fulfillment Service where they will stock your products and send individual items on your behalf. We will teach more about this option in the members area.
Most resellers sell products in retail quantities and are looking for wholesalers who are willing to deliver products in small quantities. With this in mind it would be fair to say that a wholesaler could charge a little more than their ‘bulk quantity’ prices due to the fact that they will need to break cartons. Most resellers understand this and factor it as a part of their business plans.
- provide a price list and shipping costs.The easier you make it for a reseller the more they will sell for you. Provide clear prices and shipping costs. Try not to leave it up to a reseller to calculate shipping costs.
- provide images and product information to resellers.For resellers to successfully promote your products you should provide them with the same sales and marketing materials that you would provide for an employed sales person.
If you are able provide your reseller with a product datafeed that is compatible with many of the eCommerce systems available. You may also be asked to provide preparation for delivery to Amazon, but that would be more in selling wholesale lots rather than smaller lots. We will teach more about this in the members area.
- be able to notify resellers of price changes and/or product shortages.Just like employed salespeople, your resellers are depending on you to keep them informed of possible supply problems or end of stock issues. Dropship suppliers who are having great success from this system are looking out for the interests of resellers as well as their own.
- provide support and advice to resellers for your products.You should always support your products. Give clear instructions to your resellers in advance on what to do if they have warranty enquiries or product quality issues with their customers. Make sure you notify resellers if you ever have a product recall for any reason. This will build your reputation as a genuine dropship business and attract more resellers to increase your sales.
- provide written terms and conditions to resellers. Provide clear, concise terms and conditions to your resellers. If you do not want your products sold on a particular web site or you have a set price for products that resellers must use, let them know in your terms and conditions. This will avoid potential problems and misunderstandings in the future.
If you would like to add your business to the drop-ship suppliers directory you must first register. You will than have access to the Dropship Suppliers Directory and you can create your business listing. Every submission to the directory is checked for authenticity and must be approved. If you provide all of the information required this can be completed within 24 hours.
Please contact us is you have any questions.
The Dropship Australia Community has been created to bring together resellers and suppliers.
Members of the Dropship Australia Community have access to dropship, wholesale and business service suppliers. We also provide a forum, business groups, connections, training, business mentoring and more.
We encourage all our members to participate in the community, connect with each other and to give us their thoughts on what we can do better for them.
The process of joining the community requires applicants to confirm their email address so it is important that anyone interested in joining makes sure that our web domain – dropshipaustralia.com.au – is added to their email ‘whitelist’. This is to ensure that our communications are received and not sent to junk mail. This will also allow our newsletters to reach you. These newsletters will be sent to you to advise you of new suppliers added and other useful dropship & business information. You can also follow us on social media to get quick updates. You will find links to our social media on bottom of the pages.
We do not provide a free trial. We do provide a 100% money back guarantee if claimed within the first 30 days of subscribing.
You can cancel your subscription and/or delete your account at any time.
We do provide first class support, training and mentoring and access to our 20+ years of Dropship experience.
So why not become a member today! You can join us by clicking on the button below.