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What is drop shipping?

Drop shipping is what drop shippers do. Drop shippers stock vast amounts of inventory and ship to individual customers on behalf of someone else like an etailer or catalog company.

To fully understand and appreciate drop shipping you first need to know what an etailer must do without drop shipping.

Lets take a look at two fictitious businesses run by two fictitious people – John and Jane.

Buying in Bulk (A John Story)

John has decided to buy his products in bulk. That means he must find a supplier to buy from. The supplier will tell John how much he must buy (this is called an order minimum). Once John agrees and places the order the supplier ships the products to him at his place of business. Customers place orders on John’s website. John needs to pack and ship the products to the customer. This means John is responsible for fulfillment.

Here is the path of the products from John’s bulk order:
Supplier => Merchant (John) => Customer

Cons of buying in bulk:

With the bulk order method John needs to take the risk of buying the products in bulk without knowing if he will ever sell them. He probably wont buy many different products to start out because it is just too expensive. He also needs to buy all the packing materials to ship the products (packing materials are not cheap). He must also be available to ship the products when a customer places an order.

Pros of buying bulk:

With all the cons listed above you are probably sold on drop shipping before we have even gotten to our Jane story on drop shipping. The upside of buying in bulk is that John has a lot more control over his business. He has control of pricing because bulk orders usually allow you to get more products for less money. John can pass that savings on to his customers or pocket the difference. John also has more control over his shipments and presentation. He can ship all his orders the same day or he can ship out once a week. He can buy cheap no frills packaging or dress up his packaging and/or add promotional materials in the shipment (e.g. coupons, samples, etc.).

Using a Drop Shipper (A Jane Story)

Jane decides to go the drop shipping route. She does some research and finds a reputable drop shipping company to deliver the products she wants to sell. She even finds some products than she was not looking for but will fit perfectly in the niche market her store is focusing on. The drop shipper provides Jane a data-feed to import daily for an updated list of products and inventory. Luckily Jane has bought a shopping cart that can import such a list with ease. Jane has her store set up and customers start placing orders. Jane needs to contact her drop shipper to let them know what to ship and to where.

Here is the path of the products from Jane’s drop shipper:
Drop Shipper (Supplier) => Customer

Pros of Drop Shipping

No inventory makes it easier fro Jane to start selling online and less risky. Not having to store inventory can make it easier to change the direction of her store (i.e. if her niche becomes less popular she may want to refocus or if she notices that she is reaching a certain demographic unintentionally and figures why fight it). With drop shipping Jane is able to add a range of products that would normally not be in her budget and there is really no need for her to be in an office. She can find out what orders were placed from anywhere in the world (through any computer connection or blackberry, or even a cell phone) as long as she can get that information to her drop shipper everything will run as it should.

Cons of Drop Shipping

Jane has very little control over how her business is conducted once she places her orders with the drop shipper. She has very little control of price. She is at the mercy of the drop shipper for customer service. She also has no control of presentation, which is important for certain industries (e.g. special boutiques and gifts).

Drop shipping comes in many sizes and flavors. While I have painted a very specific picture with Jane’s story that doesn't apply to all drop shippers. Here are some things to consider when going with a drop shipper:

· You should not have to pay to be part of (or buy-in) a drop shipping program . It is rare that a good drop shipper will charge you to be a part of their program. Some charge a nominal fee up front but allow you to recover the cost over a short period as a way to “weed out” people that aren't serious about selling. Don’t get a “buy in” confused with other options a drop shipper may provide. Some of their services may be sold to you at cost in order to help you sell. One such service is store integration (see below). These types of pay services are great and are a huge benefit for a start-up etailer.
· What happens when things go wrong? For example: If a customer is not happy with a product does the drop shipper accept returns or exchanges? If a package is lost in route to the customer who handles it? Who is responsible?
· Does the drop shipper provide a data-feed to keep you in sync with their products and inventory. Or better yet, do they offer a store integration program that makes it completely hands free for you. Store integration is great for people that aren't very computer savvy or want to supplement their own income without having to work. Some drop shippers will set up a complete store for you that is tied in to their database. You own the domain and web-store but it doesn't require you to do anything. The drop shipper is instantly notified of each order and your store instantly reflects the change in inventory of your store and others that are tied into the database. You just handle the marketing and customer service. It does not get easier than this.
· How many products does your drop shipper sell? Is it enough for your needs. Try to keep the number of drop shippers you use to a minimum. Some etailers get carried away with drop shippers and have every product from every drop shipper they come in contact with. It can look like an impressive selection to the customer so they may buy a bunch of products from a store like that. But little does the customer know is that the products will be shipped at different times from different locations from different drop shippers. While an inconvenience it is not too horrible until they find out they were charged shipping and handling for each item shipped from a separate drop shipper. If you decide to use multiple drop shippers make sure that it is clear to the customer that the items in their shopping cart basket are going to ship from different locations and will have separate shipping and handling charges.

Product Sourcing Conclusion

Product sourcing can be tricky. There are a lot of frauds out there trying to get your money by promising you a private list of drop shippers that will make you rich. Keep in mind that your store is going to take time to make it profitable and will need work on your part to get there. In the drop shipping business you are responsible for promoting your store and its goods. If it were that easy to reach everyone the drop shippers would probably do it themselves and some do. If you find a drop shipper that has their own store and allows you to buy from them make sure they don’t try to underbid you.

Here are some drop shipping sites you should take a look at:

Worldwide Brands specializes in finding true wholesalers. Chris Malta and his crew at Worldwide Brands go around the country and physically check the inventories of these wholesalers to make sure they are legitimate. Once they have passed the legitimate wholesaler review process of Worldwide Brands the wholesaler is added to the Worldwide Brands catalog of wholesalers. Worldwide Brands guarantees your satisfaction or your money back. The fee is not very high for the wealth of knowledge you get from their site and the money and time you save by getting all you business from proven legitimate sources. You still need to do your homework but once you have found the market you want to sell to you can do it fast and relatively easy with Worldwide Brands Product sourcing list. Even if you don't buy the list you should read some of the great information that is available for free on their site.

doba.com

The Online Wholesale Drop Ship Leader

The top drop shipper that's an eBay® Certified Service Provider The #1 drop shipper two years in a row Access to over 250,000 wholesale products We ship directly to your customers The tools and support to make you successful

Who is Doba and how do they solve my drop ship problem?

Doba is the prime wholesale product source for those who sell on auction sites (eBay, Yahoo, Overstock, Amazon, etc.), from their web stores, or even those with brick and mortar stores. Doba is not a middle man, nor are we a warehouse full of products. We are your Value-Added Product Sourcing Partner. When you make us your partner we get you access to several different suppliers that sell products at wholesale prices and drop ship them direct to your customers. We not only get you access but we add value. When you partner with Doba you get instant access to the products. Because of our large volume we are also able to negotiate lower drop ship fees for our members than if they setup their own accounts with suppliers. Additionally, using Doba saves you approximately $750 in supplier account setup fees. Plus many of our suppliers drop ship exclusively through Doba! Doba does not make a profit off any product sales you make. We do not mark up product prices to make money. We only make money on the low membership fees. By doing this we are able to get you low prices on products. Because of our high volume we often are able to negotiate discounts on product prices for different suppliers. These discounts are another added value Doba brings to you as our partner. In return for your membership and partnership with Doba we not only give you access to 250,000 drop ship products, but also convenient ways to find the exact product you want and supply you with the information needed to sell that product on your auction or web store. Below is a chart showing some of the added value Doba gives you when we become your partner. But you don't have to wait.

Doba Added Value—Money Savings A Small Sample of Doba Suppliers Fees when setting up accounts on your own Savings When Setting Up Through Doba Supplier 1 $4.00 drop ship fee 50% lower drop ship fee Supplier 2 $4.00 - $7.00 drop ship fee (depending on value) Up to 50% lower drop ship fee Supplier 3 $100 account setup fee, $4.00 drop ship fee 30% lower drop ship fee, 6% average discount on standard wholesale prices Supplier 4 Very lengthy and involved setup process, $5.00 drop ship fee No setup fee, 50% lower drop ship fee Supplier 5 $100 account setup fee, $4.00 drop ship fee No setup fee, 15% average discount on standard wholesale prices Supplier 6 $500 account setup fee No setup fee, 15% average discount on standard wholesale prices Supplier 7 Account setup not allowed Access only through Doba Supplier 8 Account setup not allowed Access only through Doba, 20% discount on wholesale prices, flat $2.95 shipping

Why should I trust Doba to be my Dropshipper Solution?

Jeremy Hanks, the CEO of Doba, helped host the product sourcing seminar at eBay Live 2005 & eBay Live 2006. He also co-wrote Drop Shipping for Dummies® and eBay Inventory the Smart Way®. Plus Doba: is the top dropshipper that's an eBay Certified Service Provider. has been the #1 dropshipper for three years running. has over 40,000 active members. is one of the only dropshippers that's a BBB Member. is a member of the PayPal Merchant Advisory Board. is Paypal verified. is Verisign verified. has over 250,000 wholesale products. has exclusive drop shipping rights to several suppliers. has a team of over 100 people working to ensure your success. has been featured on eBay Radio. has been featured on Internet Common Sense Radio. It's obvious Doba is the company qualified and able to help you become the successful Internet entrepreneur you want to be. So go ahead and start your path to success. There is no risk we offer you an easy free trial to make sure you have found what you want.

Why Doba is the Ultimate Drop Shipping Solution What Doba Does For You What That Means To You Aggregated Drop Shipping Service You don't pay up front to stock products. You don't warehouse anything. You don't ship anything. You don't pay for packaging materials and boxes. You don't have to run to the post office or other shipping outlet. You don't have minimum quantity commitments. You don't have to set up accounts with several different companies and keep track of accounts with each. Thousands of Products You will not find a bigger selection of drop ship products all on one site anywhere else! Since we aggregate suppliers, we can offer more products than any single drop shipping company by itself. Customer Service and Support You don't deal with the hassles of returns, replacements, and backorders. Push to eBay Wizard You can list an auction with the title, description, and image host by Doba in a matter of minutes; save nearly twenty minutes each time you list an item on eBay. Elite Sellers Report You can learn advanced tips from this paid monthly report, also find out what the top 100 selling products from Doba's service were for the previous month. Order Manager You can easily check current and past orders. You can quickly get tracking numbers for shipped product. Seller Summary You can add products to a watch list, to monitor: price, inventory, etc. You can quickly reorder products without browsing for them. You can view a dashboard of your orders and their value to ease your business accounting. Advanced Search for Products You can easily find the products that you want to sell. You can search for products based on: price, supplier, brand name, inventory level, and MORE. You can sort the search results by: brand, wholesale price, MSRP, or title. You can search for products across all suppliers at once. Email Alerts You will know orders have been received. You will know when orders leave the warehouse en route to your customer. Inventory Quantities You can always keep track of product quantities in-stock--and when out-of-stock items are expected in again--so you can prevent backorders. Product Pictures You can copy and paste directly to your site or auction. You can hot-link to the images on our server by using the image url. Product Descriptions You can also copy and paste our product descriptions directly into your website or auction descriptions. Manufacturer Links You can quickly get additional information about products direct from the manufactures. Smart Shipping Fees You always know what your shipping charge will be; it's displayed on every product description page. You always pay the most accurate shipping price, because the system learns over time. Online Support and Live Chat You can easily and quickly get your questions answered when you need them answered. Member Resource Center You will find information about other payment fulfillment, online auctions, online marketing, business strategies, and more--all in one place. Secure Online Ordering of Products You don't have to worry, our site is safe. We use 128-bit SSL encryption technology. Use PayPal, Visa/MC, AmEx or Discover You can pay however you would like. The choice is yours.

A Value-Added Partner vs. A Drop Ship Directory

You may have come across several websites that are trying to sell you a drop ship or drop shipping directory claiming a list of several thousand wholesalers that drop ship. Since there are many drop ship directories available we have made up this comparison chart to show what the differences between a drop ship directory and your value-added product sourcing partner, Doba, are:

Drop Ship Directories Value-Added Partner—Doba Offers you a list of hundreds or thousands of wholesalers that drop ship products Gets you actual access to all major drop ship suppliers—not just a list of names to contact Lists often contain old and out of date information Our suppliers are never out of date Lists still require you to spend hours and hours of your time contacting and setting up individual accounts with each dropshipper One simple account gives you uniform access to all major drop ship suppliers—setup takes less than 2 minutes Wholesalers and dropshippers from lists usually require: Sales figures No sales figures required Wholesalers and dropshippers from lists usually require: Minimum monthly sales No minimum monthly sales required Wholesalers and dropshippers from lists each have their own: Setup requirements One easy account setup with minimal requirements Wholesalers and dropshippers from lists each have their own: Setup fees, first order minimums, other various fees Doba saves you over $700 in setup fees

What types of products and prices will I find at Doba?

Doba has 250,000 wholesale products that can each be drop shipped one-at-a-time. With access to so many products, finding ones that make you money is inevitable. Different suppliers carry different product categories. Doba carries products in over 300 different top level categories. Product prices are wholesale! All suppliers have wholesale prices and the discount off of MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) varies from 33%-75% depending on the supplier. We never make a profit on your product sales. Unlike middlemen we do not mark up product prices for a profit. We pay our bills only with the small monthly membership fee. If a drop shipper offers you a free membership you can be sure that they are marking up their products. Which in effect means that every time you make a product sale you have to pay them, the more you sell the more you end up paying. With Doba you only pay the nominal membership fee and then you can rest assured that you are only paying the costs of product on your sales.

What does it take to be successful?

When people start thinking they would like to start a home-based online business they almost certainly will come across some websites or advertisements that promise big money. Almost everyone has heard of the "get rich quick" schemes that are all over the internet. Doba is NOT a get rich quick scheme. Doba is for individuals who are serious about trying to make money. The bottom line is that to make money you have to put in some work. If you aren't willing to take some time to do some research on products you won't be successful. If you don't put effort into marketing your products, auctions, or web store they won't be successful. If you are willing to put in some effort, a membership with Doba will certainly be the way to help you achieve financial success. So do something to build your success. Sign up for a comprehensive drop ship solution account with Doba today—It is absolutely risk free! Satisfaction Guarantee Doba stands behind our services and our guarantee. If for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with your trial membership, simply notify us within the trial period and you won't pay a cent.