Think email lists can only be useful for information marketing? Think again. I have several highly successful ecommerce (product based) sites that do well every year and keep getting better based on the list I am building up.
Some of my websites are very targeted, and anytime you send out an email with a new product the conversion rate will be pretty good, but that is just it. Getting that targeted list. No matter how much money you pay, or how hard you try to find one, a very targeted list is hard to come by that is not full of spammy email addresses.
The best way to build up the most targeted list possible is to start doing something with your current customer base. Start offering things like “10% off for each family member you refer” or give the client “50% off next order” for sending us the information of 10 family or friends that would be interested in the site. If you have a list of 500 and each get 10 that is now 5000 targeted email address that you have that are not spammy.
I know this is not earth shattering information, but a lot of people I talk with forget that building up an email list with a dropshipping site is just as important as building up a list for an info site.
internet marketing, online business, website design / help dropshipping, dropshipping site, wholesale
As good practice many online business owners will offer deals such as, “30 day money back” or “try risk free for 30 days” etc. When doing this you will probably get some orders that will be returned for a various of reasons. The bottom line to you though is what to do with the product and not get stuck with the loss revenue.
What do you do? Can you return the product to your supplier?
Most suppliers will not allow you to return the product once you have ordered it from them so you need to think of alternatives ways of getting rid of the product. My first choice would be Ebay. You may not be able to get the profit you did with the “before Christmas” orders, but you can at least unload the product with out eating any money. No profit, but no loss. This is better then the alternative of losing money and having products that you will never use or be able to sell later on.
Another option would be to try selling the product with a local classified paper for easy “local” pickup etc. A lot of times there are people looking in classified ads for the wierdest of stuff so your products no matter what they are will probably sell. Again, just try to unload the product and not take a loss. Look at it this way – what if the product cost 400 dollars, and you could not sell it for that, but you can sell it for 350, losing 50 is better then all 400 – right?
I hope you see where I am going with this, but I just wanted to mostly remind you that you will not be able to return your products to the supplier, if they are returned to you etc. Think about it and make plans to sell the products if something like this were to happen anytime. Its just we have to start thinking about it during the holiday season!
selling products online christmas, eBay, wholesale
I just wanted to talk a bit about setting the profit margin for selling products online with dropshipping sites. Every product goes through 5 stages when first coming out:
- Intro
- Growth
- Maturity
- Saturation
- Decline
You need to make sure you understand where your product is at the time you are going to be selling it online, because you want to make sure you are getting the full potential out of the product price as possible. Most ecommerce sites mark up 40-60 percent, but depending on what stage your products are at you could get much higher profit margin, or the other side – lower!
We have put together a great tutorial video that walks you through the process of setting the profit margin for selling products online. Make sure you check it out!
pricing and profits, selling products online dropshipping, dropshipping site, wholesale
There are quite a few people out there who have not heard of Craigslist so before I start talking about drop shipping on Craigslist I want to first talk about what Craigslist is.
Craigslist is a huge online classified website. I believe they have most countires, but I have only used it so far in the United States and it has worked well. Craigslist is broken down into Countries, States and Cities. Anything (and more) you can find in a newspaper classified you will find on Craigslist, just much more wider then the local area. Online classifieds (especially Craigslist) can be a huge source for revenue when selling products online.
You can post specific products you have that may be geo-targeted to those specific areas. For example, lets say you are selling throw blankets and have all of the NFL teams. You can go to the Craigslist in New York and sell the giants throw blankets because there is a pretty good idea that being in New York you are going to find some Giant fans!
Putting a listing on Craigslist is FREE, simple and easy, so drop shipping on Craigslist should be a breeze for even the newest of ecommerce owners. Actually most categories are free, and it can get you huge exposure and sales. I make sure to work craigslist into my drop shipping strategy with every site I own.
dropshipping, home based business wholesale
Just wanted to give a quick reminder that there is still quite a few good days of online shopping left (if you take advantage of it) for the year. If you have a website that sells products online and want to get in on some of the “after Christmas shopping” going on then you need to make a few changes to your website.
Make sure you create a banner that is on your homepage promoting an “after Christmas sale” include words like “1/2 off” and “up to 75% off” or the usual “buy one get one free” Doing simple things like this on your website can help promote (and prompt) sells in a time when selling products online is usually slower.
The same tricks and hints still apply for those Ebay dropshippers as well. If you are looking to hit the after Christmas Ebay shoppers then including gift images with descriptions of 50% off need to be bold and red for buyers to see!
Just because its a normal slow down with online sales does not mean it has to come to a crashing stop when selling products online!
internet marketing, selling products online, website design / help christmas, eBay, wholesale
If you are looking to sell products on Ebay then you probably have done a little research and come across things as crazy sounding as the above title. I often get asked if these things are legit. The answer is simple – if it looks to good to be true it probably is. In this case it most certainly is!
Most of the time these kind of sellers trick you into thinking they have found the product deal of a lifetime and its yours if you just give them a buck. If they get enough people doing this looking to sell products on Ebay then they have made a killing ripping people off. These kind of lists are tricky and most of the time the people are not reported cause … “well I only lost a buck” is what the person that was ripped off is thinking.
These kind of sellers on Ebay give legitimate dropshipprs like The Shipper a bad name. Thus the reason for this blog to expose these pathetic scam artists and spammers. Nothing drives me more nuts, then when I hear stories about someone getting taken (even if its only a buck) The ones that really hurt are the stories I get of people getting scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars. That can ruin your day.
If you are wanting to sell products on Ebay then I would offer you this simple bit of advice. Stick to a legitimate drop shipping company that has good standings with the BBB like The Shipper. Contact us if you ever have any questions about another list that is out there, or if you are worried someone is trying to scam you and we will be happy to offer you a free consultation about selling products on Ebay.
dropshippers, eBay, product research eBay, wholesale
I had a great conversation with a client today talking about all our drop shipping packages. It was so good of a conversation that I wanted to share the information with everyone as I thought it would be informative to all readers.
Sometimes when new clients come to this site and they see all of our different directory packages they wonder which one is best for them. I want to use this post to help you understand what I think. Believe it or not, my answer is not “buy the big package” because it makes The Shipper more money. I want to make sure you know what you are getting into and you will be able to use the package to its full potential and not waste money.
As a business owner, I know the value of the almighty dollar and again want to make it clear that I want you to get the best drop ship package that is best for what you are doing with your business.
- If you plan on selling products online through dropshipping then you need our dropshipping directory package.
- If you are wanting to sell products on Ebay then our bulk wholesale directory list would be your best option.
- If you want to find suppliers that will make rings (or jewelry) for you then you probably want to work with our international manufacturer directory list.
- If you are looking to do all of the above then the premium directory package is for you.
The conversation I had with the client today was hitting on just this. He only wanted to sell products online on his website. He did not want to sell on Ebay, and he did not want to run UPS out of his house, so of course the dropshipping package was his best choice.
Just make sure you know what you want to get into before signing up. I personally think that every business owner should get into all areas of what I sell on this site, but everyone has to go at their own pace and you can always upgrade at any time!
dropshippers, dropshipping, finding suppliers dropshipping, eBay, wholesale
Doing a little reading last night on an SEO Blog talking about being passionate about making money no matter what you are into really got me thinking about the opportunity you have when it comes to dropshipping prouducts.
I often find myself talking to clients that do not have a clue what products they want to sell online. The first bit of advice I give them is to get access to our drop ship directory and start looking through the list of suppliers. When you start to get more familiar with what products are available to you, it could give you some ideas of what to sell. It should also prompt some research on places like Ebay. You can look at the products The Shipper has access to and then go look at the completed auctions on Ebay and see what you can actually make money on.
The main reason I bring it up here is that it could give you some great ideas as to what products you may be able to sell on your website. Another option would be if you already know, it can give you access to all kinds of products that you could use at auctions, shopping sites and classified sites.
Taking a little bit of time and researching out what products are selling online and which supplier you have access to could make all the difference in the world for you making money AND finding a niche.
dropshipping, make money online, selling products online dropshipping, eBay, making money, wholesale
I know that as a business owner that dropships and sells products online, right about now is crunch time for getting orders in time to get them shipped off by Christmas. One thing I would recommend any one trying to get the last minute shoppers is to talk to your suppliers and ask them what their absolute cut off shipping date is. Some, for a few extra bucks will even ship out as last minute as the 22nd or 23rd, and arrive in time, but you must verify this first with your drop shipping supplier company.
What I would recommend websites that dropship and sell products online to start preparing for right now is the “after Christmas sales”. I know that even a simple banner on the site that says something like; “After Christmas Sale, 45% off all orders!” or something to that wording could make all the difference in the world and help keep sales going when normally the ecommerce “sales” time to slow down is after Christmas.
I think with a few simple steps and sales that can’t be refuse you will keep January a good month when most of your competition will be lagging in sales. Most people are looking at their credit card statements in January and having big time Christmas buyers remorse and are very reluctant to purchase anything. If we can offer such a great deal (even if we are making less) we will still probably be making more in the long run because of lack of, or slower sales.
I can’t believe I am even saying this, but heck … it may not be to early to start preparing for Valentines Day shoppers!
online business, pricing and profits, selling products online christmas, dropshipping, wholesale
As I have been selling a ton of product this holiday season on Ebay I wanted to share with all who read this blog the top 10 things (tips) that I have been implementing that has contributed to my success with dropshipping products on Ebay!
- If you are new to dropshipping (and Ebay) make sure that your supplier allows you to sell their products on Ebay. (Believe it or not this tip could save you embarrasment and wasted time, and possibly wasted money.
- Research out the completed auctions and make note of final cost, shipping costs etc.
- Make sure the products are actually selling before listing them.
- Go online and see what the products are selling for in regular ecommerce stores.
- Use they buy it now feature. With dropshipping products on ebay it makes it much easier and you will get the people that don’t like wasting time on auctions.
- Use a gallery image
- Use “gift” or “holiday” images
- Use Bold Headlines
- Use researched keywords that are targeted
- Use multiple clear images and describe the item as if you did not have any images to show.
One other tip is to not give up if you find your first couple of auctions fail (especially if you are new to dropshipping products on ebay). Just take a look at completed auctions that are similar to yours and have sold and see what they are doing differently in their listings. See what keywords they use and how the titles and descriptions are written out. Taking even just a little bit of time for research could make all the difference in the world when dropshipping products on ebay.
dropshipping, eBay, selling products online dropshipping, eBay, wholesale
