Dropshipping and Supplier Scams to be careful of

[Fletch]

I'm looking for warnings of things to be careful of and bad experiences people have had in using suppliers.

I've got some experience selling but mainly simple domestic business. I've now got some contacts in some major manufacturing areas overseas and smelling out an opportunity to get some good business going.

But I really need to hear from people and their bad experiences of suppliers and what to watch out for. All I know is some suppliers on Alibaba accepting Western Union payments and then disappearing without shipping anything.

Can people please talk about their experiences of suppliers overseas especially the negative ones? I think this would be useful to all people looking at finding suppliers.

[phaz0rz]

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE TONS OF MONEY, DON'T DROPSHIP.

I can tell you for a fact that many Chinese suppliers use dropshippers to offload their messed up stock. They wouldn't dare sell it to a wholesale buyer spending thousands of dollars per month. But when they realize someone is sending them dropship orders, the see it as an opportunity to offload crappy product since the buyer (the dropshipper) will never actually see the product.

I transfer tons of money to China and I've never been scammed. I've already reached the annual maximum for both W/U and Moneygram. But I've also never drop shipped anything.

Just my $.02. If you're serious about building a business, get your own products. There are just too many factors you have no control over when you drop ship.

[Fletch]

Thank you for sharing yours.

I kind of figured dropshipping was a bad game to play.

Has anybody been defrauded or know anyone who has and what to watch out for?

I have actually been approached in the past by some overseas sellers who claim to have access to a lot of products but couldn't create accounts in the US. They were proposing that I create the eBay and bank accounts for them to use and then they operate the selling through Team Viewer on my computer then I forward their share of the sales proceeds and keep a percentage myself. Seemed like a sweet deal but I just thought it was too much of a risk for someone outside the country I don't know. What if they never shipped anything and all the money was seen to be flowing through my accounts? What do you think?

[phaz0rz]

I think that is likely what would end up happening

[newjerseymax]

I do not trust anyone, even my long time suppliers... Stick with this precautionary motto and you wont get scammed.