Heres How Dropshipping Businesses Work
Ive spent years selling other peoples products most of the time without ever touching those products. Now days I spend more time taking unique content, video and images of the suppliers products just to get the edge over other dropshippers because thats the minimum required now. I love this job 🙂
Lets break this wide open.
How does dropshipping work?
If you’re a retailer, supplier or wholesaler and want to take advantage of dropship selling opportunities, there are two ways that you can get started. First by signing up with a dropshipping marketplace like Amazon and Ebay via their affiliate programs. Or secondly joining the Australia-based drop shipping site FactoryFast which is free to join & has even better offerings than marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay’s.
How can I use Dropship to sell my products?
Dropship means that you will have an onboarding page where your audience can learn about the product and place a pre-order. You then work with a Suppliers to fulfill these orders, often shipping it directly from your warehouse or even using DHL for international deliveries.
Why is Dropshipping a good idea?
I think dropshipping as a business is a great idea because you can start with little capital, need no product and really only need to have a handle on marketing and customer service. Compare this to traditional ecommerce stores who will be required to manage the A to Z of the entire process.
What the heck does dropshipping mean?
It could be best described as a middleman tactic where a store owner holds no product but uses customers purchase money to buy the product from a manufacturer to then be shipped to the paying customer.
Which are the best ecommerce platforms for dropshipping?
Personally I like to use Shopify and WordPress with WooCommerce. Shopify makes the process really easy to connect the dropshipping integrations and has a streamlined backend for managing your dropship business. WooCommerce is a little more cumbersome to setup and configure but its is far more customisable. The most popular platform in my community of dropshipping friends is Shopify, the choice however is completely yours.
How do I start a dropshipping business?
You need to have a niche that you will be focused on promoting products within. The product niche will be what guides your marketing and advertising.
Dropshipping Australia: Pros & Cons
The positives
1. Less capital is required
2. Easy to get started
3. Low overhead
4. Flexible location
5. Wide selection of products to sell
6. Easier to test
7. Easier to scale
The negatives
1. Low margins
2. Inventory issues
3. Shipping complexitiesO
4. Supplier errors
5. Limited customization and branding
How does the dropshipping business model work in Australia?
Really its not much different to any other country dropshipping setup. The differences I would say are using an ABN once you are trading officially, and the sales tax like GST. Apart from that not a lot else is different from setting up a dropship store in United States or United Kingdom.
Ways to find dropshipping suppliers in Australia
I usually start with a Google search for what Im looking for. This means going to google.com.au and using searches like [home security cameras dropshipping agreements] and some variations of that search phrase.
Once Ive got a handful of supplier potentials from there Ill go to competitor pages and hunt down their suppliers.
Thats the simplicity of how I search for suppliers. If they are based in AUS thats better for shipping but they do not need to be based in AUS at all to make this work for you.
Best Dropshipping Suppliers & Wholesalers in Australia
I really dont want to say xyz company is the best because it really depends on the way that they will be used. There are amazing home decor suppliers and some really crappy beauty cosmetics dropship suppliers out there. I say this with the context of straight forward dropship you have a store you sell products the end.
If you have a store, you do research, you have customer service in place and you give a rats arse about the success of your store then I would say that you would have better success with developing relationships with the not so mainstream dropship suppliers. The mainstream names have been hammered by whales, noobies and dreamers who dont do them justice but want everything on a platter. Is this comment a little salty? yes it is.
Im actively trying to move away from the herd of dropshippers who were spawned from the COVID impact as it seems theres been a new training course giving people incorrect information on how to behave and act in the dropship space.
I keep it simple.
Look around at your market, observe your competitors, retain a market competitive price point but do not cause price wars and do not participate in them. Be very respectful to your customers and suppliers. Maintain the technique that this is a middle man business and not ruin the market.
There has been a noticeable shift in the backend of dropshipping businesses and supplier connections because some dropshippers have been operating like rogue mavericks. be smart know your numbers and your customer.
What Kind of Australian Dropshipping Suppliers Are Good for You?
Most suppliers will have an interest in working with you as long as you have a business plan for making your store a success.
How can we know if a drop shipping provider is trustworthy?
Do your homework. Read the reviews, test them out. Also I suggest asking questions, this is a business and if you have concerns ask questions hat help get you answers to what it is that is a concern.
Which payment gateway should I use and why?
I am pretty happy with the following processors
- PayPal
- Stripe
- Fast
- GroovePay
I think each of the above has ist strengths and weaknesses. PayPal is the most popular processor by far but does have its imperfections for merchants as they side heavily with the consumer. That is one element that is a worry if you depend on PayPal as your primary processor.
Is it possible to get paid through Dropship without actually selling anything on the platform?
How you can maximise your new dropship business
1. Find Products with High Margins
2. Familiarise Yourself With Your Finances
3. Build Better Supplier Relationships
4. Put SEO to work on Day 1
5. Perfect Your Customer Service
6. Invest in Your Business Growth Plan
