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Resources (Index):
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Where To Look For Trustworthy Suppliers
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Since most people begin their searches looking up wholesalers and manufacturers online, it may come as no surprise that this is actually not the best way to find companies to begin a dropshipping relationship with. In fact, very few companies that do wholesaling or manufacturing maintain websites, since that sort of thing is more suited to retailers. Many of these companies prefer to conduct business by phone or mail, with some not wanting to sign a deal unless they meet you in person.
You'll want to choose a company that lies somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, since you're looking to start your business up for as close to nothing as possible. Expect to get some leads of the Internet, but be resigned to do much of your following up on the phone.
One useful place to generate some leads on where to find dropshippers in the list of companies that eBay maintains on approved, legitimate resellers. You may, find the returns on items from these companies to be somewhat lower, due to the increased competition from other eBay dropshippers. You'll do far better to blaze your own trail.
While some websites offer lists for sale that purport to be full of hundreds or thousands of dropshipping companies, most such lists are, if not downright fraudulent, of poor quality. They usually contain inaccurate or out of date information that won't help you at all or will send you calling around on your own dime, only to be rejected, time and time again. Like finding contacts in mid-level marketing, if someone is offering you a list to make things "easy" for you, it is almost without fail far less useful than they claim it to be.
If you have an idea of what sort of product you want to list, you can look directly for manufacturers of such an item by checking out the Yellow Pages or finding a listing on the Thomas Guides. From these listings you can get a number to call where you can simply ask if there's a local distributor for the product in question.
Though somewhat disingenuous, call back later without identifying yourself and the earlier caller and ask if they do (or would consider doing) dropshipping. This question will undoubtedly lead to several dead-ends, but the fruitful calls are golden, since they often don't show up on any existing "lists" that people sell you the chance to look at. This type of "lead-generation" is invaluable. You'll certainly get the hang of it after the first few calls.
Once you get a list of companies that will dropship, take a look around on eBay and check to see if any of them are already selling there. It will be all but impossible to compete with them if they are. You may wind up crossing several suppliers off your list, but this will save you a great deal of time and effort, as well as money in dubious fees.
Next you'll want to see how each of the dropshippers you've generated a lead on compare as far as pricing is concerned. It's best to do this for a very similar or identical item, if possible. You'll be surprised at how much the price can differ from one to another. Be careful to consider any hidden shipping costs or initiation fees that may apply from one manufacturer to another. If there is a large fee to join a company's lineup of dropshippers, you might as well look elsewhere - there are plenty of manufacturers and wholesalers who won't charge - you just have to keep looking.
Some dropshippers maintain that companies that charge an initiation or subscription fee have a larger selection of goods to choose from, decreasing the amount of time you'll have to spend looking for such companies - it's up to you, but to really get the most for your dropshipping dollar, legwork on your part is money you don't have to part with.
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