Reviews & Recommendations
Links to Better Business Bureau reports are provided in many cases below. We recommend that you search for and
review BBB Company Reliability Reports as part of your due diligence in evaluating any solution or service provider. |
Directories |
Worldwide Brands
eBay Certified Solutions Provider
Better Business Bureau — Accredited Business
In our opinion, this is the premier product sourcing solution. Worldwide Brands is in the Wholesale Research and Verification business.
Product Sourcing is what they do, full time. They have researched tens of thousands of companies that claim to be wholesalers — some are
real wholesalers, and some are not. Their full-time research team talks personally with each and every one of them. You can learn more about their approach
in How REAL Wholesale Product Sourcing Research Is Done.
This company provides outstanding tools (including instant import buy and built-in market research), how-to videos and tutorials. They list verified Dropship Wholesalers who have already
agreed to work with home-based business, Light Bulk Wholesalers who are willing to sell for minimum orders under $500, Liquidation
Wholesalers who sell brand name products at below-wholesale prices, and Large Volume Wholesalers who sell in larger volume orders
at deep-discount prices.
You get all of this for a one-time fee that gives you lifetime membership. |
Salehoo
Better Business Bureau — Accredited Business
When we became a member and wrote our first review of SaleHoo in late 2006, we identified significant problems with the site
and available offerings. Since then, site navigation has been streamlined, databases expanded, load-time is extremely fast, and more in-depth
support services are available to SaleHoo members, now numbering 56,000+ worldwide. At this writing, there are 13,253 Category Listings,
837 Supplier Reviews, and 33,631 Member Comments. SaleHoo maximizes member exchange regarding suppliers, enabling users to share
and compare experiences - a boon to newbie and experienced resellers alike. What you get here is not only solid data and
functionality, but a vibrant community as well. There's a Research and Analysis Lab, currently in Beta, which enables you to search for
specific products or brand names, eBay demand, competing ads and keywords used, current option data (allowing you to monitor the market), and more.
One-time fee: $67.00 USD. |
Wholesale Canada
Wholesale Canada, based in Montreal, Québec, provides wholesale and drop ship directories initially developed as business
information resources. In many instances, sources listed in the database do not have any specific minimum order limits, so
the wholesale directory can be used to source single-item bargains or low-volume stock. Some of the suppliers deal directly
with the trade customers only, however, and certain restrictions apply. In these cases, minimum order levels for trade supplies
are often very low, ranging from 3-4 items at $50 to $200. The site has recently been revamped, and new listings have been added.
Wholesalers and drop shippers who can open their own accounts and submit offers.
Subscription: 6mo. ($15 USD) or full year ($20 USD).
Wholesale Canada is an offshoot of Wholesale Pages, a U.K. company with many such offshoots, including Aid & Trade,
USA Wholesalers, Hong Kong Wholesalers Directory, France Wholesale Directory, and
UK Wholesalers Directory. In general, access is inexpensive, and the information may require verification. |
 |  |  |  | | Brad Beiermann PhD, Hienote Inc. |
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Hienote
Better Business Bureau Reliability Report
Well-researched directory features many niche and innovative products found by trade show research teams who meet the manufacturers
directly. Brad Beiermann PhD (at right) heads Hienote Inc., a full service research firm that helps Joint Venture partners, consultants, and
small businesses find credible tier-one drop shippers who feature distinctive niche products. The Drop Ship Product Directory™ is the
result of a meticulous research and screening methodology that enables Hienote to identify true drop shippers in three ways:
(1) Internet Searches — specific products are located and traced back to the manufacturer for distribution details; (2) Trade
Show Searches — Hienote researches and interviews potential drop shippers at Trade Shows; and (3) Government Agency Search — foreign manufacturers and
their U.S. wholesale distribution counterparts are identified and contacted through embassy and government agency lists.
Hienote's pricing structure has changed several times since I became a member.
The current offering is by subscription, but you may only need a month to find the supplier(s) you require.
Exclusive Hienote Drop Ship Directory — One-time fee of $29.95 USD. |
Service Solutions |
Doba®
Better Business Bureau — Accredited Business
eBay Certified Provider
 Take the 3-minute interactive tour
Doba® is the largest drop shipping services provider
in the industry. Founded by Jeremy Hanks, Brandon Williams, and Dave Gray, this company aggregates a vast number of wholesale
products from many different sources with whom they deal directly, so you don't have to. That means you can select product from
multiple distributors with one account. You can select any number of products and order them wholesale, from multiple sources.
We've been associated with this company from early on, and we very much like their business model. We think Doba® is one of
the best full-service wholesale drop ship solutions for American and Canadian entrepreneurs who market
to the United States.
Free trial, two monthly plans.
For more on Doba's drop shipping cycle, see here. |
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Doba has many Certified Integrated Shopping Cart Partners, all of which are included in our selected list of shopping cart providers.
This makes it quick and easy to populate your store with the products you choose. | |
DropShipAccess
Better Business Bureau — Accredited Business
Located in Monroe, Michigan, this organization has been in business since January 2005, and was accredited by the BBB in October 2006. There are many positive reviews of this company, and almost all
of them emphasize the high caliber of customer service. They serve as "middlemen" in the same sense as Doba®, enabling you to buy product from multiple suppliers without taking a cut of your profits — the service is paid for through the monthly fee. Depending on the product, wholesale prices are generally 30-70% below MSRP. Shipping cost is listed with each product, and varies per product(s) being shipped. Most items can be shipped internationally, to Canada, the UK, and Australia; international shipping cost is also listed with each product. There are three plans — Basic ($39.95/month), Advanced ($59.95/month), and Enterprise ($79.95/month). There's also a 7-day free trial. DropShipAccess is a member of the eBay Developer's
Program, and their Advanced package includes an eBay listing service that enables instant product loading to your eBay store. They have partnerships with 3DCart Shopping Cart Software,
eBay Research by Terapeak ,
eBay (their site and catalog are integrated with eBay, so you can load products using their eBay listing service), PayPal, LegalZoom, and LogoYes. DropShipAccess has partnered with eBay and Prostores. Currently more than 1 million high quality products in stock for our subscribers to sell. |
Shopster
eBay Certified Provider
Founded in April 2004, Shopster E-Commerce Inc. provides a one-stop alternative solution for both entrepreneurs and affiliates alike.
The company is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and, while there are some Canadian suppliers in the system, most members market
to the United States. More than 1,000 retailers worked with Shopster in beta-testing of their storefront system, ensuring that
the platform and processing procedures were rock solid by the official launch on 2 May 2006. Shopster enables you to start a fully
stocked storefront, with the products (and pricing margins) of your choice, selected from among their stable of suppliers. You don't
have to source products to sell, stock products, deliver products, provide customer service, apply for a payment system, apply for
a secure gateway, or pay for e-commerce software. You can start unlimited, targeted storefronts, selling products you select,
without having to worry about the backend. They're recently expanded their plans, now offering product sourcing and storefront solutions.
The storefront is configurable, but advanced knowledge of design and marketing is helpful.
There are four plans, including a free option that allows you to list 15 items in your store or on eBay.
Shopster Overview
Shopster Quick Start Guide - eBay |
DropshipDesign USA/Canada
DropshipDesign UK
Better Business Bureau Reliability Report
Offers sourcing, eBay, storefront, export, and combo packages for a setup and annual renewal fee, no monthly fees. Support via chat, ticket system, and phone (fee).
Available in the U.S., Canada and, more recently, the U.K. I am not a member of this service, so cannot offer a behind-the-scenes review, but there's a lengthy (affiliate-linked) report provided by DropShip Review (24.06.08), countering some of the negative feedback you can find through online search
or read about in the BBB Reliability Report. eBay guru Tim Knox promoted this site in one of his newsletters a few years ago, but I learned through costly experience that
such recommendations mean very little. Dropship Design has been in business since 2004, and while I've received one complaint regarding lack of support (at that time, only
email support was offered), I note that the site retains a fairly good Alexa rank and package sales continue. If you're considering this solution, it might be best to start
small, test it out. |
China Sourcing |
Chinavasion
Popular China solution, with all business transacted in English. Wide range of products, with good blog and information resources. Chinavasion enables anyone, anywhere, to register free of charge and start
ordering right away — no waiting for approval. There is no minimum order
quantity (MOQ), so you can order single items to compare products, if you wish.
Chinavasion recommends small sample orders to begin, under a total value of
$350.
Wholesale pricing varies with the amount purchased. [See video]
Special discounts are available for regular Chinavasion customers. When you order in larger quantities, OEM services are available — products can be branded with your own logo and
packaging.
Drop shipping is available for registered customers at no
additional charge. There is no limit to the number of addresses you can add to
your account. Chinavasion does not include an invoice in the shipment, and the
source of the drop shipped goods is not revealed. The reseller is responsible
for any and all taxes or tariffs that may apply, and you are encouraged to
consult your local tax office. Chinavasion cannot offer tax advice and accepts
no responsibility for tax costs incurred to customers importing their goods from
China. See Knowledgebase Categories, for more info. |
Global Sources
Better Business Bureau Reliability Report
Global Sources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSOL) enables you to contact and negotiate with suppliers on your own. They also provide China Sourcing Reports and email alerts of new products. |
DHgate
DHgate provides an escrow service for your protection. Escrow is a deposit of funds
by one party for delivery to another party upon completion of a particular condition or event. In the case of online purchase,
a buyer makes payment to a third party (DHgate, in this instance) while the seller ships the item(s) to the buyer. When the buyer
confirms receipt of and satisfaction with the item(s), DHgate releases the payment to the seller.
This process reduces the risk of fraud because DHgate collects, holds and disburses funds on the buyer's behalf. Shipped
merchandise is tracked and its delivery is verified. The seller isn't paid until the buyer accepts the merchandise. In the
event of a dispute, DHgate has a Dispute Process in place to help both the buyer and seller find a settlement.
Wide range of products from more than 120K suppliers. Free account, multiple payment options. |
Surplus / Wholesale |
Liquidation.com
Commercial surplus inventory and government surplus assets can be purchased in bulk lots of new, returned or used products: apparel,
computers, electronics, houseware, etc. |
Selected Turnkey, Shopping Cart & Builder Solutions |
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So, once you've sourced your products, how do you set up your store? Consider the providers list below; each is highly rated and offers a great range of services to meet your needs. The
provider you choose, the best fit for you, will obviously depend on what you're selling. If you want a storefront that sells digital information products, for instance, you might want to
look at what WAHMCart has to offer. Check out 3XP Web Solutions
if you're Doba-specific, though most of these providers enable integration or easy connection with Doba. DotComBuilder
is a good choice if you want a wide range of turnkey options. |
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Groundfloor Opportunity |
Vitabase is testing a New Drop Ship Program15 June 2009
Over the past several months, Vitabase has been diligently developing an e-commerce website solution to improve their drop shipper's online experience. Due to the currently overwhelming cost
and complexity of building an online business, Vitabase is taking a new approach by offering a complete, low cost, and simple online solution. All you need is a merchant account
to process credit cards and a domain name — Vitabase will handle the rest, in every detail.
At the present, Vitabase's e-commerce development team is looking for several drop shippers who would be interested in participating in our
trial program. If the trial experience
proves to be useful to these select drop shippers, Vitabase will roll out a complete program offering a low cost e-commerce solution for any program participants who qualify.
The Vitabase trial program includes a(n):
- Opportunity to earn approximately 30% on all Vitabase product sales.
- Complete e-commerce website including the hosting service at a low monthly cost of $20.00 to cover hosting expenses, ssl (secure shopping), and maintenance fees.
- Preloaded store of all Vitabase brand supplements ready to be sold. All products would have up-to-date information.
- Choice of 3 templates with several color variations. There will be no need to design your own store up front. Vitabase will handle everything.
- Opportunity to upload your logo directly to the web site or pay a small fee for custom logo integration.
- Ability to upgrade you site to a custom template in the future for a more personalize look and feel.
- $50 free advertising coupon from Nutritional Tree, a large independent supplement review site, who has partnered with Vitabase.
- A built in 3rd party review system that allows you to display product ratings and reviews on each product page.
- Personalized drop shipper support or training as needed to ensure you understand the entire business solution.
- Simple customer, order, and inventory management system that eliminates the complexity of most online stores down to simple logical processes. And if
you still have questions, you will have the ability to talk directly with the development team.
- Complete access and ownership of your customer list and information even if you decide to quit.
- Ability to add an unlimited number of products to your site, not limited to the Vitabase brand or even health supplements.
Who is eligible?
- Preferably drop shippers with prior experience in the field or with some knowledge in internet marketing and sales.
- A person willing to develop a website's content and information, build an online presence, and grow a new business.
How does this solution differ from the competition?
- No promises of instant success are used as sales gimmicks.
- Our tech support and sales teams are educated in the software and will be up-front and honest in every aspect.
- No contracts tying you down for any amount of time or money.
- No time spent on your end for needless designing and developing of the store. You are instantly ready to go once your domain name is set up. More customization is available at a later date.
What should I be aware of?
- You will need your own method of processing credit cards.
- You will need to purchase and set up your own domain name.
- You will be able to customize all information on your website, but you will not be able to change the template style through the backend system.
For additional charges, you can request modifications, upgrades, and design improvements.
- This is a trial program, so the software is still in development.
- $50 setup fee is required upon starting the trial program.
The total cost of the program is $70 ($50 + $20) up front for the setup fee and the first month. After that, $20 will be due each month if you wish to continue. If you
are interested in this opportunity and believe you can drive business, please call for more information and details including a walkthrough of the online solution.
Call: 1.888.337.8646
Email: kenneth@vitabase.com
Canadians are free to join this program, and Vitabase does ship to Canadian customers. | |
How To Use Drop Shipping
To Secure Your Niche Business
Have you ever used the words "drop ship" or "drop shipper" in a sentence
before? These words have both become extremely popular in terms of the online
business worlds. Why? There are now thousands of small e-commerce retail
websites starting up each day that follow the stockless retail business model.
In addition, there have been many auction sellers who have embraced the
stockless model by using drop shippers. These types of businesses sell product
online but do not carry any actual inventory. When a customer places an order on
their site, the site company then places an order to a drop shipper. In turn,
the drop shipper sends the product to the site's end customer.
The Situation You Should Avoid
With so many of these small businesses coming online, the competition for
customers has grown intense. Often the customer can find various e-commerce
sites offering the same exact products as each other. The various sites might
even be using the same drop shipping company. So, this can commonly set the
stage of a price war between sites. If they are all using the same drop shipper,
they are all bound to the same product costs. Inherently, many customers go for
the less expensive price if they feel they can get the exact same product from a
different site at a lesser price. The site that wins the customer with the low
price might have made nothing in terms of profit margin. The site, as well as
other sites, might also be bound to the same stocking issues. For example, the
drop shipper might be out of stock for a particular item. This is why a customer
can find multiple sites with identical product, and yet, they are all out of
stock for a particular item. Again, this stems back to everyone using the same
drop shipping company.
A Remedy You Should Consider
As a stockless retailer, you will want to avoid the situations as
described above. How can the risk of these situations be avoided? The solution
can sometimes be found in how well you leverage drop shippers for your niche
business. There are several ways to leverage your drop shippers to give you an
edge in the marketplace. Let's explore how a drop shipping company could help
you.
Three Powerful Techniques You Should Know
By using a little bit of research and creativity, your drop shippers can become a significant advantage for you in
the market place. Consider these three tips:
Diversify & Use Obscure Drop Shippers.
This is like getting a product from an
unlikely source. For example, let's assume we sell brass and copper nautical
gifts for our site. Should we seek drop shippers with nautical related gifts?
Not necessarily. You might want to check out a drop shipper that primarily
stocks books. They might have metal book ends with a nautical theme. This might
be an obscure product for them to carry typically. They may only offer just the
one kind of set. However, this is a good hidden product source as it would be a
source other competing sites would easily.
Place A Product Request To The Drop Shipper.
Drop shippers are always looking for ideas on
what they should be stocking. If there is something they do not have, ask them
for it. Often they may seek, or stumble onto an item you requested during their
next trip to a manufacturer. If they start carrying the item, you have the early
word and head start on the market. You might even consider having them source
this product exclusively for your business if it does extremely well. Most of
the time, you have to have a minimum number of sales on a product to get an
exclusive right.
Limit Your Selection From A Drop Shipper.
A good practice can be to select only one or two items from a drop shipper that fits your niche. By limiting your selection
from each drop shipper you can have a product portfolio that is the needle in a
haystack for other business to find and offer. Drop shippers sometimes have
hundreds of products. They may have many items that fit your niche, but avoid
sourcing more than two items at a time from this particular drop shipper. This
helps you minimize your risk of having a duplicate product portfolio another
site might be offering. This is particularly true if the majority of their
product come from only one or two drop shippers.
About the Author:
Brad Beiermann Ph.D., is President of Hienote Inc. Dr. Beiermann is one of the leading experts in business technology and e-commerce.
Hienote Inc. specializes in assisting businesses locate unique wholesale drop shipping companies. You can visit their site at
http://www.hienotedirectory.com/ |
What is Drop Shipping?
Understanding Product Distribution
People have been distributing products since before the first mastodon skinner traded a fur coat for a flint axe.
Here's how it works.
Let's say ABC Manufacturers makes a product called Mom's Ankle Wax. We'll say that Mom's Ankle Wax has been around for years.
It's a very well known brand name product. It will without a doubt give you the shiniest ankles on your block, and everybody
wants some.
ABC Manufacturers makes Mom's Ankle Wax, but they don't sell it directly to the public. They're a manufacturing operation.
They're far too busy melting paraffin and waxing test ankles to go around building stores all over the place. They need
distributors; companies who will take their product and distribute it to the places that will sell it.
For years, ABC Manufacturers has sold Mom's Ankle Wax to a company called DEF Distributors. The founder of DEF Distributors
knew Mom herself, back in the old days when she made her Ankle Wax by hand, out in the turkey barn.
Today, DEF Distributors buys Mom's Ankle Wax by the truckload. They pay $5.00 a case for it, which is a very good price.
It's such a good price, it has it's own name: the Manufacturer's Wholesale Price.
However, DEF Distributors does not sell it to the general public either. They are a distributor. They distribute Mom's Ankle Wax.
DEF Distributors works with a chain of retail stores called Wax R Us. This place was founded by a retail business visionary
who saw the incredible potential of Mom's Ankle Wax a long time ago. Today there are Wax R Us retail stores on every street
corner in every major city in the country. Wax R Us buys truckloads of Mom's Ankle Wax from DEF Distributors for $10.00 a case.
So, DEF Distributors makes $5.00 on every case of Mom's Ankle Wax they sell to Wax R Us retail stores. This makes DEF
Distributors very happy.
Cases and cases of Mom's Ankle Wax arrive in the stockrooms of Wax R Us stores everywhere. The Wax R Us employees open those
cases, and pull 12 cans of Mom's Ankle Wax out of each case. With their pricing guns, they stick a price of $4.50 on each and
every can.
Wax R Us stores make a total of $44.00 on each case of Mom's Ankle Wax. (12 cans x 4.50 per can = 54.00, minus the 10.00
they paid for the case = 44.00).
Wax R Us is even happier than DEF Distributors.
However, the happiest people of all are the people who can stroll into Wax R Us and purchase a can of Mom's Ankle Wax for
only $4.50. They think this is a great price, and they're walking around with the shiniest ankles in town.
Well, that's it…basic product distribution. The manufacturer sells to the distributor, the distributor sells to the retailer,
and the retailer sells to the end user (the customer). The manufacturer, the distributor and the retailer all make money
because the customer is willing to spend money for the product.
Drop Shipping has been around for a long time, too. Probably as long as mail order catalogs; maybe longer. If you want
to use a buzzword to impress a corporate type, call it "second party addressing".
Above, we talked about the manufacturer-distributor-retailer relationship. When you use drop shipping to sell products on
the Internet, (or anywhere else), YOU become the RETAILER in that relationship.
It should be noted here, if only to keep the Punctuation Police happy, that if you use the method of drop shipping in your
business, YOU are not the "drop shipper". The company(s) who supply the products to your customers for you is the drop shipper.
YOU become a "Stockless Retailer".
How Drop Shipping Works
- You open an Internet Store, with a shopping cart and the ability to accept credit cards.
- You find a distributor who is willing to DROP SHIP the products you want to sell. The best place on
the Internet for this is www.WorldwideBrands.com. This is our website, the home of OneSource, recognized as the
best source for legitimate Wholesale Suppliers on the Internet.
- You establish an account as a retailer with the Drop Ship Wholesale Supplier.
- You receive images and descriptions of the products you want to sell from the Drop Shipper and post them
on your Internet Store.
- A customer surfs into your Internet Store, and falls in love with a product that you have priced at, say, $80.
They purchase the item with their credit card. Your Store charges their credit card $80 plus your shipping fee.
- You turn around and email the order to your Drop Shipper, along with the customer's name and address.
- The Drop Shipper sends the product directly to your customer, with YOUR Store's name on the package.
- The Drop Shipper charges you the wholesale price of, say, $45.00, plus shipping.
- Your customer gets a cool product from your store shipped to their door, and they tell all their friends about
you, and you make even more money.
- There you have it. You just made a $35.00 profit on one item. You didn't have to buy a whole bunch of the
product and keep it in your warehouse, hoping you would sell it. You didn't have to pay to have it shipped to you,
and then pay to ship it to your customer. All you did was send an email to your Drop Ship Wholesale Supplier.
That's the drop shipping process in a nutshell!
BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home
of the Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz &
Product Sourcing info. | |
