Questions to ask a Dropshipper
You should never put all your eggs in one basket. Have a number of dropshippers that you can contact as option. This is a very big reason why you want a directory so you can have many option.
When you have your list to contact, there a few things that you will want to remember. Those items to remember are the reason for this tutorial. Once you have found a supplier with whom you can make a profit, there are some other questions that you will want to ask before deciding to go with them. You want to approach this as you would any long term relationship, and make sure the situation is right for you before making a commitment.
Remember that you have to be competitive in three areas so your beginning questions should revolve around those three areas. Shipping, product cost, and return policies are the big three. There are others of importance but this is where you should start.
Shipping questions:
- In addition to finding out whether or not they dropship, find out if they offer blind dropshipping.
- Who is the courier they use?
- Is there shipping insurance available for expensive item
- Do they have some sort of order tracking system in place?
- What is the average cost of shipping?
- Do they have a written return policy?
- Do they charge a restocking fee?
- Who handles a complaint; them, you or joint?
- Is there a contact in house at the drop shipping company that can help you if needed.
- Do they offer a 3 day right of recession.
- Find out what your wholesale price will be.
- Find out if there is a fee for drop shipping each item (this will need to figure into your profitability calculations)
- Find out what the MSRP is.
- Find out if there is a price break after a specific number of units are sold.
- Also find out how much control you have over pricing.
Return policies:
Pricing:
You don't need a particular answer to any of these questions; you just need to know what the answers to them are, so that you can decide whether or not you want to work with this supplier. You need to be competitive not only in price, but also in return policies and shipping, so look for a supplier whose policies will allow you to do this.
Some of the common mistakes people make at this stage of their business are the following.
It is possible to be so "hung up" on a particular product idea, that you will not look for another product; even if the idea that you've chosen isn't working right now. Great product ideas should never be abandoned, but some have to be put on a back burner for a while until the right supplier can be found or the market changes. Be flexible in what you sell, not all products are available for dropshipping.
Not contacting enough potential suppliers. This is essentially a numbers game. The more you contact, the quicker you find a supplier.
Not doing the necessary research. Don't rush ahead with a product just so you can get your site online. The research is vital so don't try to research away all the risk. The opposite of rushing ahead with a product is using research as a way to procrastinate a decision. Business is not without risk, there will always be a degree of uncertainty; you cannot research away 0all the risk. Do the research as best as you can and then move forward.
