Sunday, April 8, 2012

What Is Drop-shipping And What Does It Mean For You?

By Gina Parks


When a manufacturer handles the shipping on behalf of a business, selling items that the retailer can't stock, this is what is called drop-shipping. This would allow any business owner to showcase his or her items for sale but not have to pay for overhead costs, not the least the steep costs of shipping.

Unlike with affiliate marketing where you act on behalf of a certain company, drop-shipping does not take note of the company who makes the product, and creates the perception that the retailer is taking care of all shipping and stocking concerns.

This has been done quite successfully for years by such big names like Sears and Wal-Mart. But these days, drop-shipping is now gaining popularity among ordinary people who run their own Internet-based business.

For instance, Jane Doe is in the custom wedding gown business. When you look at his catalog or website, you see a very nice selection of both ready-made and custom printed Ts. And since your sister is getting married soon, you decide to place an order. It would be the drop-shipper who would process the order and ship the product to you, and not Joe, who had forwarded the order to the drop-shipper.

John never sees the actual T-shirt, never has it in inventory, doesn't have to stock supplies, manufacture it, pack it or ship it. She simply took the order and acted as a storefront. Of course, if there is any problem with the order, he is the one who needs to deal with it in some cases, depending on the drop-shipping company.

For example, let's say you want to sell a specialty muscle building supplement, but don't have the facilities or financial means to build a business from scratch. Fortunately for you, there are manufacturers whose sole purpose is to custom blend and fill orders like this. In that case, it would be called private label drop-shipping in that the manufacturer would take your custom request and then label it with your label and ship it in your name.

It is quite plain to see now that drop-shipping has many advantages. As a retailer, you only need to be looking to display the items attractively and be able to take orders efficiently. You can now divert your attention towards the marketing side of things as you lure more potential customers towards your product. And you don't need to worry about hiring a lot of employees to take care of manufacturing.

And while you focus on the sales side of things, the manufacturer will do what they are trained to do, which is making the products for you to sell. And once you think of the whole process, drop-shipping is simply common sense by letting you and the manufacturer do what you do best. And these are just a few of the advantages.

The days of entrepreneurs spending so much on overhead and watching these costs eat into their profits is over - they can now save through drop-shipping while taking care of what they should be taking care of - marketing their product to the public.




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