Among the many issues that may confront each eBay seller is finding reliable, inexpensive, drop shipper merchandise supplier options. A lot of product categories can be difficult to make money in once you add up all of your eBay seller fees. If the goal is to make money selling on eBay, you need to be sure that you have found the lowest price available for the items that you have chosen to sell. Fortunately, in today’s economy, you can find low cost drop shipper options for nearly every product you can possibly imagine. Today we will discuss five options, besides just using a drop shipper, for eBay sellers to consider when looking for the lowest cost products to sell within their niche.
Using a Drop Shipper is my Preferred Method to Make Money Selling on eBay
Drop Shippers – A lot of you may have heard of drop shippers before and you may think that this is your best choice when looking for a supplier of products that you want to sell on eBay. It makes the most sense since the drop shipper company will warehouse, pick, package and ship your products for you. This gives you the time you need to focus on your new business. It appears to be the perfect setup, and for someone new to the business, it takes away a lot of the fears of the up front monetary investment needed to inventory some product for your initial sales. But it using a drop shipper may not be that simple. It is hard enough to find low cost items that let you sell at higher prices and make good profits on eBay. The drop shipper services do not operate for free. There is a cost for them to provide this service and you know they are in this to make money. So, you are the middle man, buying from a supplier, who in turn is your middle man for fulfilling your orders. You definitely are not getting the best deal and you are paying for the convenience. On top of that, you could sell something and the drop shipper company could run out of it without you knowing. Now you have sold something that your drop shipper cannot ship. Not to say that this happens a lot, but you need to find a reliable company to drop ship for you. Checkout my drop shipper link to the right for the most trusted source in finding drop shipping wholesalers.
Manufacturers – If drop shipping is not for you, maybe you want to go right to the source and buy from the manufacturer. Let it be known, that some manufacturers WILL drop ship for you. This is sometimes a match made in heaven. After you have picked your niche, you need to find a supplier for those products. You should know, not all manufacturers will sell to someone that does not have a physical retail outlet. Some of them have minimum orders also. If you are not using your manufacturer to drop ship for you, you usually need a place to unload a truck for deliveries and you need somewhere to store the product. Before I got real big on eBay, I had eighteen wheelers delivering product to my house. I got lucky though and grew my business fast enough to open a retail store and a warehouse within six months before the manufacturers caught on to my living room operation! I will say that buying direct was an opportunity for me to maximize my profits. My wholesale and drop ship links to the right will give you the number one source for finding manufacturers that will sell to eBay AND Amazon sellers alike.
Wholesale Distributors – A lot of manufacturers do not sell to anyone other than a wholesale distributor. This is a lot like dealing with the manufacturer and a lot of these distributors will drop ship for you. But, like manufacturers, a lot of these guys require you to have a retail store or an established, mature e-commerce business. Again, checkout my links to the right to find some of the most trusted distributors that are willing to deal with new eBay business owners. I should also note, do NOT buy from other retailers that sell product “wholesale”. You usually compete with these guys in the market and they are obviously paying less than you for the products. I have tried this and never made a penny. Do the right thing and buy from as close to the manufacturing source as possible and NOT from another retailer.
Refurbishers - I envy people selling refurbished items. I never got into it myself but these guys appear to be making a killing. Manufacturers and retailers will sell their returned items, in major sized lots, to other people that then sell these items on eBay. Refurbished means that the items are in working condition but used. They may have been fixed or may just be a return and not in new condition. Again, my resources to the right will give you some of the best options to find refurbished goods that you will find anywhere on the web.
Closeout Businesses and Liquidations – Liquidators and closeout deals are incredible ways to get large amounts of products that you can resell on eBay. Sometimes a store has gone out of business or a manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor. The banks want to get as much money as they can as fast as they can and they will liquidate all inventories for pennies on the dollar. Some manufacturers will end the year with too much inventory or have goods that they cannot sell to one retailer because they were intended for another retailer that discontinued the item. These guys can either right off the products for a complete loss or they can salvage a few pennies and sell them cheaper than you could imagine. Keep your eyes peeled and subscribe to liquidation specialist newspapers and newsletters if you want to find these guys.
If you can’t find products to sell on eBay, you are definitely doing something wrong. My drop shipper and wholesale links to the right can get you thousands of companies like those outlined above selling almost any item that you would want to sell on eBay.
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