Hi,

I want to set up an online shop, but do not have room for stock. Is it possible to have a supplier for the goods who I can contact when someone wants to buy an item in my store??

Would I have to pay the supplier money for each item I sell individually?

Thank you

Hi Cath69,

Welcome to Wholesale Forum

What you have described is also known as a supply chain technique called drop shipping. A drop ship supplier allows you to display their products in your store or eBay listings without you holding that stock. When you make a sale, you simply forward that order to the drop shipper. Once you have paid for the item, your drop shipper will ship it to your customer with your details on the package.

One advantage of using a drop ship supplier is that you will decrease the likelihood of being left with overstocks, which could lead to an overall loss of your resale activity. Drop shipping also reduces the need for a warehouse or other storage facility, plus you won't have to handle packaging and shipping, and will be able to focus on customer service and marketing. The difference between the drop ship supplier's price + shipping costs and the retail price will be your profit.

Now, this on paper sounds simple, however in reality the Internet makes things much more complex. You aren't just trying to find buyers who want your product, you also need to compete against millions other sellers, many of whom are buying in bulk and therefore at prices much cheaper than you can source at this stage of your business. This in turn means that most of the drop shippers you find widely publicized online must be avoided, either because they are overused, middlemen, overpriced, or all of them combined...

To learn more about how drop shipping, and how drop ship suppliers can benefit your business, you should read the following threads:

• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...approach-1775/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...essfully-1725/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...ppliers-16670/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...profits-16592/

As discussed earlier, as with any business, there are risks involved when using drop ship suppliers. The main issue is the incredible number of drop shipping middlemen that flood search engine results. Middlemen know that start ups are often desperate to make a start, and that they can be easily impressed by marketing messages. A middleman will try to paint a distorted picture of reselling and aim to sell you services which you don't need. They will display very high demand products which, after you have paid to view prices, turn out to be priced higher than current online retail prices, leaving you no room for profit. To learn more about middlemen and how to avoid them, you should read the following threads:

• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...es-pitch-1436/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...shipping-3579/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...ng-china-9573/

If you are still researching which product(s) you want to sell we suggest reading the threads below about niche markets. They hold valuable information about identifying a product with an ideal high demand to low competition ratio. Focusing on a niche product helps maximizing your profits, increasing your repeat sales and getting an overall competitive advantage. Have a look at the following threads:

• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...ll-about-1651/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...markets-16543/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...at-sell-11574/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...products-1437/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...ld-avoid-3181/

To find reliable drop ship suppliers instantly, we recommend using the largest online trade directories of verified trade suppliers eSources (Over 80,000 verified global trade suppliers), Wholesale Deals (Over 50,000 verified global trade suppliers) and Worldwide Brands (Over 10,000 verified suppliers from the USA, Canada, UK, Hong Kong, China). All three list thousands of verified wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers and drop ship suppliers.

Have a look at the following threads to read member testimonials and learn more about finding and verifying suppliers:

• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...instantly-105/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...-seller-15048/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...-sources-1467/
• https://www.wholesaleforum.com/discu...-one-year-530/

Hope this helps