There's one little secret to looking like you run a large eBay auction business… And the best thing about this secret is that it takes away one of the biggest risk of doing business online.
If you visit the eBay discussion forums, you'll notice that many people ask about this secret, but no one wants to leave a reply. I'm going to tell you in a moment what this guarded secret is and then I'll list the three things about this secret you must be aware of to make sure things run smoothly when you use it.
Big companies, such as Amazon.com know and use this secret "way" of doing business. But smaller lesser known companies also use these methods of getting products purchased by their customers delivered to them without having to stock or invest their money on inventory.
If you don't use this service, you may delay the growth and profit potential of your eBay auction business. Your competition on eBay is probably using it right now, and that means you're starting out at a disadvantage.
These other eBay auction sellers are using what's known as drop shippers. These drop shippers have warehouses full of merchandise ready to be packed and shipped directly to their dealer's customers. To the customer, it looks like the package came directly from the eBay seller because it will have only the sellers return address on it.
Now back to the question that most people on the eBay forums ask about this secret way of doing business online, which is where do you find these drop ship suppliers? How do you get a genuine list of drop ship suppliers who have the product you want to sell and you pay wholesale prices only when the customer first gives you the order?
You can go online and do a search for drop ship suppliers, but once you go through each result, how do you know you can trust any of these companies? You don't want to collect money from your customers and then pay a drop shipper who keeps the money but never sends out the merchandise.
There are three ways you can find a company you can trust to protect yourself and your customers: You can check them with the BBB or Better Business Bureau, you can "test" them yourself, or you can use the services of a dropping directory.
Check with the Better Business Bureau…
When someone has a complaint about a business, they can file it with the BBB. The BBB then lets anyone do a search on any business to see if it has received any complaints. You should run the drop shippers you're interested in doing business with through the BBB search to see if there is anything negative people are saying about the company.
Do your own test…
Order an item from the drop shipper yourself as a customer and have it delivered to an address that isn't the same as your business. When you receive the package, you'll know you can trust them. You can also check for things such as how long it took to get delivered, if it was what you had ordered and if it arrived in good undamaged condition.
Rely on a third party service…
If you want added security in finding an honest and reliable drop ship supplier, you may want to use the services of a third party. These third parties are membership sites that lists drop shippers who are pre-screened before they are included as one the suppliers that buyers or eBay sellers can trust. You can take the services of membership sites one step further by ordering from the drop shipper as your own customer to test them.
Now that you know that the secret to looking like a big eBay auction seller is having a reliable drop shipper, there is only one thing left that stands in your way of earning a living online… And that's to take the information you've learned here and apply it now to your own eBay auction business.
Copyright © 2008 by Lee Chan |
