Q: I'm starting an online specialty shop that sells gifts and home accessories.
I want to be able to have items drop-shipped to customers through my site. I already
have a Web site and a domain reserved, but I don't have a lot of money to get this
going. Can you offer any insight?
A: Setting up relationships
with companies who will ship merchandise directly to your customers for you--drop-shippers,
as they're called--is an excellent way to start your e-business and, if done properly,
doesn't have to be a costly endeavor. There are literally hundreds of companies
out there that will drop-ship products for you, everything from gifts and house
wares to power tools and furniture.
In a nutshell, here's how drop-shipping works. You set up
an account with a drop-shipper (or multiple drop-shippers who offer different kinds
of products) who provides merchandise that you can sell on your Web site. The drop-shipper
typically supplies you with images and product descriptions that you can use to
build your online store or feature on static HTML Web pages. (You can locate drop-shippers
with our e-book The 2006 Guide to the Top Dropship & Wholesale Companies.
When a customer places an order for the product on your
site, he or she pays you for the product. You, in turn, place the order with the
drop-shipper and pay them for the product. The drop-shipper then ships the item
directly to your customer under your company name. To your customer's knowledge,
the product was shipped by you.
Drop-shipping offers many advantages to the shoestring online
startup. You don't have to pay for an item until it sells, and your customer pays
you, so your personal cash outlay for the product is zero. You never have to handle
or warehouse the merchandise, as order fulfillment is handled by the drop-shipper.
You can also offer a wide variety of items from multiple drop-shippers, and your
end customer is none the wiser.
