Dropshipping, Opinions please, hear me out...

[josh]

hi guys,

im thinking of dropshipping from China to Spain, the reason is that i will be selling via Buy it Now format, and you cannot tell when one is going to sell...hence when one sells i order it from supplier and they DHL it to my customer, taking approx 3-5days max....

I would do a few test runs to make sure that everything is good before giving it over to the real thing...

The items i will/want to be selling are quite high priced (200quid ish), and therefore to get a wholesale price i would need to buy at least 10 for example...

There are a few variations of the product which im also interested in, so if i was to keep in stock, would be thousands of pounds at risk, when i dont even know if im going to sell them....

I got a deal where i got free shipping whether i buy 1 or 100 units...

BUT

I know i will be putting my rep into the hands of my supplier

and

If eBay ask me for proof of delivery, there becomes a problem, as im going to put Item location: Spain (as the post here takes a similar amount of time anyway), and thus wont be able to provide anything solid....

I would like your opinions on this please, thanks a lot again!

[GTB]

you are putting yourself at risk of big losses!!!

someone please tell him...i already tried

all a buyer has to do is complain about it been a f a k e and they keep the item...your shipper keeps the money and you have to refund the buyer out of your own pocket

a true recipe for disaster

listen to what am telling you.....its not a good idea,your gonna lose out

coz i can pretty much guarantee your selling electronics and the quality is poor compared

loads of potential scammers & unhappy customers too

[josh]

hehe, ye i understand what your saying, but the product are not c o p i e s or phakes, so what difference would it make?

[Callidus]

Dont even bother dropshipping its just refund after refund and in the end defeats the idea of business as you are making 10x loss than you are profit... I learnt about dropshipping time ago.. Outcome? DONT DO IT

[beneysz]

as GTB mentioned this is a risky strategy...

Im based in china and ship good out with DHL/EMS/UPS to different countries daily. Spainish customs are notoriously difficult to deal with and generally ask for a lot of information before releasing goods to clients DNI, NIE etc..

Also if the goods are high value, regardless as to whether the value is marked down, your customers will definatley be asked to pay duties on delivery of the package, which will reflect badly on your business as they will complain about this especially if your claiming the goods are in spain.

Not to mention that if the goods arrive damaged you will have a paypal claim raised against you and to get a refund from your supplier (if they agree) you will have to ship the goods back to china/hk which will cost you more from spain to china, than china to spain..

Also if your supplier doesnt have the goods in stock or decides to delay shipping etc. and your customer asks for tracking its just another host of issues for you to deal with...

Overall be very careful when choosing this route..

[slapped]

Dropshipping, Never, EVER works,,,all that it is going to take is some Obscure holiday in China that you will not be aware of, or your supplier being himself out of stock, some flood or other natural disaster, some crazy buyer being mad that the Parcel came from China and NOT Spain Remember you CANNOT Hide the Foreign Postal "markings" and a MILLION Other things that can and will delay shipment of the Product, any of which can tip Ebay off that you are droppshipping and get you suspended.

NOT a good Idea

[josh]

ok thanks a lot "benesyz" im going to PM you

[rsot]

Pay attention to what Slapped says - all it takes is one kink to cause problems - another good q is are you sure ALL 100 units will be top quality?

I won't give more recommendations because 1) I don't dropship regularly and 2) since we are talking about business model, the forum knows I expect out of it for more advice....Cut.

Edit: I will add that you MAY have customers who will actively complain about WHY their item is COMING from China when the listing says Spain...

[GTB]

josh.....have you got it yet?

its not gonna work mate

buy the goods,get them and then list them,if you cant afford,go a cheaper route and always make sure you sell quality

end of the day you can either listen and take advantage of what your been told

or ignore and regret it big-time

even if you was dropshipping usb sticks it still would not work

[Axcend]

dropshipping only works from inside the country.

If you don't believe what people here have said, what until you sell your first order and you supply a chinese tracking number. People LOVE ordering usa goods from china, thats why no one uses ebay

[teedon]

Dropshipping might be work a few years ago,since there are not too much comparators and also the products are latest products.So there are still a little profit can be made if you sell a lot .

But now there is another story for dropshipping.

I would like to give some points as below:

1. buying price: you need to get a higher price for the single item what you buy,it is a big difference for single item and in bulk.
2. shipping cost: single item is more than in bulk a lot
3. comparator:There are lots of people buying the goods in bulk and ship the goods by sea,so you can know the cost is so small and then they can resell the goods at very cheaper price.
4. Even you can ignore the factors above,but you still need to consider the paypal rule which have been mentioned by other memebers.

But you can try a few deals,and then you can feel it by yourself.It is better than any words from experts.If the cost is not too big.

[josh]

thanks a loteveryone, i appreciate all your opinions, thats why i made the thread to get your advice..., my only question is "why does dropshipping exist then?", why is there such a things if it never works? must work for some people, or am i wrong?, thanks again

[slapped]

The ONLY Reason they Exist is Because there is an ENDLESS Supply of People who want to start their own Business and Do NOT have ANY or enough Money,,,Droppshipping is the Solution,,,a Small Percentage of people simply want to earn a Few extra Bucks from home and do not have the Space to store things,,,why are you so interested,,one of these 2 reasons I bet

[jamblix]

I feel like if you don't even have a few hundred bucks you shouldn't even be going for this kind of business yet. I mean go get a job, get a few hundred saved and buy small bulks of 10 that's how I started.

I could sit here and list a bunch of reasons why you shouldn't dropship but, I'm pretty sure the posters above got that handled. UNLESS you know for sure the dropshipper is reliable and there is enough profit in it to be worth it. Even still I wouldn't do it, too much is just out of your control in dropshipping. Plus with enough research you can find deals the dropshippers themselves are getting and you can cut them out completely.

[josh]

why does everyone think i dont have any money, i have plenty of money saved, more than a few hundred $ to spend/invest, its called a calculated risk, i was simply asking why every single person is against it, but i think i got the answeer,

p.s: has anyone been successful at this?

cheerz guys

[GTB]

you will lose your accounts...lose your money and lose your faith

josh.......you have some great input and these ppl know what they are talkin about

it may of worked in the past but not now mate,if it did there would be loads of us doing it

pp know the chinese companys....so you selling on ebay,,,,then sending payment to china is gonna highlight you straight away

they KNOW...and they dont like it

you cant afford to risk it

[rsot]

/quote

p.s: has anyone been successful at this?

I am sure there are.

[josh]

ok thanks.., @GTB, i wouldnt be sending payment to China anyway, i would pay via credit card, and receive thorugh paypal so wouldnt flag anything up..

looks like dropshipping is out the question lol, thanks everyone for your opinions, i appreicate them

[GTB]

see if you can find a spanish dropshipper

that would work if you avoided issues

china+dropshipping=problems

sorry bro i know it's not the answers you were looking for but i would much prefer to be honest with you now than let you do it and tell you why when it goes pear shaped

buy the goods....then sell.....start small and build up like jamblix mentioned

you can do it....but theres no quick fixes man

[josh]

ok thanks bro ,

[Hercules]

Why would drop shipping work when the seller sells on his own website or Ebay anyway?
His prices will beat yours for sure. You will be competing with your dropshipper if the goods are of any quality.
If you look around EB you see successful Chinese sellers all the time. Then try to find what they are selling for a good price elsewhere. Doesn't happen

[rexxito]

do not worry about dropship, if you find a good supplier doing it, it would work perfectly. I have used dropship in the past without any issue.
The thing you need to worry about is the product you are going to sale, and more if you are using ebay to make your sales.