Ever Heard of Drop Shipping??

Updated on May 12, 2009
B.H. asks from Wylie, TX
17 answers

I've had a lot of requests from other Mom owned websites if I offer drop shipping. I don't want to sound like I don't know what that is but I don't know what that is and was wondering if anyone not only knows what this is but has some feedback on the pros and cons of doing drop shipping.

Thank you!

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So What Happened?

Thanks to all of you with your wonderful and helpful responses to my inquiry! I am definitely going to pursue the drop shipping option with other online companies with my company as it sounds like a good deal for all involved and I definitely want to get my products out there!

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H.V.

answers from Dallas on

I offer dropshipping on my items. I wrote an agreement with wholesale/dropshipping terms and pricing and send it to anyone who wants to offer my products on their site. They place my products on their site and then when a customer orders from them, they send me the request, and I send them an invoice for the product at wholesale price plus shipping. Then I send the product directly to the customer. It saves the reseller the hassle of inventory and shipping is only paid once. It is a great way to do business with other companies.

H.
H.'s Sweet Scents
www.havenssweetscents.webs.com

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J.J.

answers from Dallas on

Sounds like you are wanting to sell on their websites right? To drop ship, they are probably wanting you to ship directly to their customers rather than through them.

More Answers

E.C.

answers from Dallas on

B.,

You must have some great products if other women are wanting you to offer drop shipping! :)

Basically, this is what it is:
These other women will advertise your stuff on their site or in person - whatever they want to do in order to sell it.

When they sell something, they will contact you and be able to purchase the product for cheaper than what you sell it for (this is how they are able to make a profit).

You then ship the product out to their customers, and normally make it to where the person receiving your box does not know that it is coming from you. This allows the person who sold it to be the buyers "go to" person from there on out.

If you have any questions on it, email me.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

*website sells your item

*website pays for item +shipping and any handling fees and website gets the PRICE ticket

*you send order to address of thier customer with an order summary, no prices

you could chose to make it non-identifiable to your company or not....that is, generic ticket
say you have your name printed on paper and boxes, if you go plain ones, it's double your expense and storage

you could ship numerous single orders this way, and the website stores nothing, handles nothing, packages nothing, and ships nothing....you do all labor work and have to make 2 sales receipts.

this is what they will do....
sell your item for more or
get it on sale and sell it for normal price,
save/make money from not having to pay double shipping fees, or
they get it at a discount/wholesale and mark it up to make profit

figure all these things into your decision and price

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E.S.

answers from Dallas on

Drop shipping is a great way to increase products on your website without keeping the inventory. The other website would list your products and when an order is placed they contact you to ship your product directly to their customer. This is quite a common practice as it enables a smaller retailer to list many items on a website without having to take possession of the inventory. It cuts down on overhead and shipping expenses for all involved.
Good luck!

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S.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi B..
Drop shipping just means that they are asking you to send your product directly to their customer. They have a person that is ordering from them, then they are ordering from you and want you to send it directly to their customer. This cuts down on transportation costs and the end customer gets the product more quickly. I hope this helps explain what they mean by drop-shipping.

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W.D.

answers from Dallas on

Hi B.,

I have a website www.JudaicaForKids.com. Every vendor on my site (with the exception of a few) drop ships directly to my customers. The one thing I would add to the other comments that you received is this: many of my vendors charge a drop ship fee ($3-$5) per transaction. It's the cost of doing business. It costs you the same amount of labor to create and package an order that contains one item as it does to package an order that has many items in it. But with the latter, you're making a whole bunch more money.

My vendors will not generally drop ship one item. I offer items either in bulk (like Oriental Trading Company does -- buy a dozen), or a mixture of items either by the half or whole dozen. The way my vendors have determined the quantities I am able to sell, is how they are boxed up in their warehouse. If a package of craft kits comes in a box of 12, they won't break the case for me. I have to sell a dozen. You would be surprised at how many dozens I sell! To cover my drop ship fee, I just add it in to the cost of the price, or I just take a little less profit for that item.

So, I would say definitely offer drop shipping, but add a service charge (and if people bristle at it, tell them that that drop ship fees are really quite common!) and limit what you will ship/quantities. If the items you sell are something that you would not want a dozen of one style, you might put together a grouping of items that would make a nice order. One company I deal with (rubber stamps) does this for me. We put together several rubber stamps and made "holiday sets" so that they would feel more comfortable with the order minimum.

Please feel free to contact me if you have other questions. Best wishes!
W.

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B.J.

answers from Dallas on

Drop shipping is when you are doing business with a third party, and the third party ships directly to your customer, with the item not passing through your hands. For instance, if you are a photographer selling prints of your images, someone would buy an image from you, and then you would have a printer print the image and send it directly to them.

The con is that you don't see what is being sent to your customer, but you are responsible for it.

The pro is that you aren't paying double shipping--from the third party to you, and then from you to the buyer.

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A.H.

answers from Dallas on

Yes, it just means shipping to more than 1 location. Like if I wanted to order 2 items and ship one to me and one to a friend.

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S.A.

answers from Dallas on

Drop shipping is where retailer or merchadiser do not keep products in stock but instead transfer orders and shippig details to either the manufacturer or wholesaler. It is really a convenience for you because you do not have to keep inventory. It's a convenience for your clinets; they simply go online; place their order and it is shipped directly to them. I use this in my business. Hope this helps.

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G.A.

answers from Dallas on

The product goes from the warehouse to the customer. You do not handle it. So you pay the shipping or the customer does and the manufacture or shipper cost is included in the sale. That way you do not have to hold a lot of supplies or store products.

Chain of production with a jobber in the middle. They go to companies and order so many things of something call the warehouse and it is drop shipped to the stores. This is basically what Amway does. Independent business owners turn in orders and the warehouse ships products to the customer. Good luck in finding the manufacture that or warehouse to send them. G. W

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E.W.

answers from Dallas on

It can also mean to have it shipped to a different address other than the billing address. For instance I use a printing company for my business and everything is sent directly to my house. If I want to have it dropped shipped they to another location (other than my house) they charge me a fee.

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M.H.

answers from Dallas on

Drop shipping in a manufacturing environment means the third party delivers directly to the customer. So say Lisa orders from B. and B. gets the product from Sarah. Instead of Sarah sending the product to B. and B. sending it to Lisa, Sarah sends it directly to Lisa. This is typically done when many distribution centers are used and it is more economical to use the dc closest to the client. Hope this helps and Good Luck in your business!

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D.G.

answers from Dallas on

What is your website...I'd like to take a look at it!!

D. G. ____@____.com

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N.Y.

answers from Dallas on

B., in a nutshell, if a retailer is asking you to drop ship, they are asking if they can advertise your product and when it sells, you ship it to the customer direct. The retailer will not keep inventory of your product. Of course you sell to the retailer at a discount so you both make money when an item sells.

The customer will pay the retailer, then the retailer will pay you your portion of the sales before or after you ship - you can work out the details.

Look at it as free marketing!

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A.P.

answers from Dallas on

Hey B.,

Drop shipping means having the order shipped directly to the customer instead of you. This is usually done when there is a time crunch and to avoid having to rush ship. Most vendors charge a DROP SHIP FEE so you should check with your vendors before you offer it.

If you are manufacturer they want you to ship directly. Don't do this....you will end up having to do all this work and paying other people for just listing it on a site. Offer small packages to get them started.

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E.C.

answers from Dallas on

Drop Shipping is when you sell an item that someone else stocks and they ship it directly to your customer upon payment from you (which your customer will pay you first).What is your online website? I'd like to see your items you sell.

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