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Email Marketing InformationAre Drop Ship Directories Actually Worth The Money? Here Is A Guide...
by:
Brad Beiermann
By Brad Beiermann Ph.D., Hienote Inc.
This question is often asked by many a folk hoping to start a new ecommerce site or just adding to an existing one. The answer to the question can be just answered with another question: How more is your time and online business worth to you? The more fully fledged ecommerce site owners wish often ask the question a little differently: How do I find a useful, and legitimate, drop ship directory? The answer to this question is not at once straight forward without doing a little homework. However, once
you find a great directory, it can be worth the cost of admission a thousand times over. So, in this article we are going to present a couple of important pieces of information that can help you answer several of these questions and manual you through the forest.
First, let's get on the same page together and define what a drop ship directory is supposed to do (or contain). These directories are supposed to contain the names and contact information for companies that drop ship their products to your customers for you. They offer you the lowest wholesale pricing. They are able to ship single quantity items to your customers. They do not require minimum orders and the drop shipper wish not ask you to pay any association fees. The drop shippers in the directory are commonly one of two types: 1) They are the manufacturer, or 2) They are an import distributor with a warehouse. So, these peoples are a key business ingredient once
it comes to activity and shipping product to your customers without you carrying the inventory.
How hard can it be to really find a drop shipper?
The better way to answer this question is to try and find one yourself. If you have really tried this in the past, then you cognize this can be a really time intense
task that requires several research. This is particularly true if you are trying to find a specific niche of products the general public has not seen often. These products typically do really well on the Web with a niche type of ecommerce business. So, finding the wholesale bourgeois to drop ship the items can be a really time intense
challenge, and sometimes you power not find anyone. One of the biggest values a drop ship directory brings is the ability to save you all the time searching for a drop shipper. The time saved can let you concentrate on different parts of your business. Another value a directory can bring is the possibility of finding new product ideas for your business.
What should I be evaluating?
Let's now turn our attention towards what you should be looking for in a drop ship directory. The drop ship directory business has been overrun in the past by many a scam artists. Today, there are still several directory scams out there, which is to be expected. Virtually any line of business has, or has had, it's share of scams. A little bit of education is key in spotting the real directory companies from the not so real directory companies. With a little bit of noesis and a trained eye, you can spot them fairly easily. For purposes of this article, we are going to focus on evaluating a directory and the institution offering it. Again, this should help manual you through the forest.
There are ten key parameters you should consider once
considering a drop ship directory:
1. Balance - You want to find a directory rich in many a several categories of products rather than the quantity of products available. Many a of the directories try to advertise how many a products are accessible in their directory (i.e. 500,000 products). Why is the number of categories important? A directory wish not serve you well if it has hundreds of thousands of products, and none of them are in your product interest category. A directory with a nice balance has focused on their categories of drop shipper products rather than the quantity. This gives you a better chance of finding thing
for your line of business.
2. Individualism - You wish want a directory with individualism amongst its drop shippers. The drop shippers should offer a wide array of unique products that are not necessarily mass marketed. Why? Web sites offering unique and unusual products often do well on the Web versus sites trying to sell big brand name products that you can find with a mega retailer. A directory offering a bunch of big brand name product drop shippers could land you in the extremely
competitive artefact market against the mega retailers.
3. Selection - A directory with a nice selection of drop ship categories is important. The number of drop shippers or the number of products a directory carries should not be the goal. The goal and question should be, "Do they have a drop shipper that would-be fit my line of business." A common mistake for many a peoples is deed fixated on the quantity of products a directory power offer with its drop shippers. The question they start to ask is, "A directory with over 700,000 products ought to have thing
for me to sell." Wrong! Be sure to remember the 1st parameter we mentioned. Balance.
4. Search Know-how
- The directory must explain the methods they use to find drop shippers. Be careful of directories that do not publish their search methods. If they do not explain their search methods, they may not have a solid search methodology. The directory could be full of a bunch of middlemen. At that point, the directory would-be be good-for-naught to you. Directories mistreatment search methods such as trade show searches and foreign government agency searches are preferred over directories only focused on Cyberspace searches. Why? Not all drop shippers and importers have a Web presence. A directory based on a bunch of Web searches could be missing several of the better hard-to-find drop shippers.
5. Sample - A sample of the directory should be ready-made accessible to give an idea of format and information provided. The actual names of the drop shippers wish not be given in a sample, but you wish get an understanding of the type of information provided.
6. Cost - This is a subjective parameter but there is thing
to consider. As an observation, most legitimate directories on the Web now are sold-out
between the $60 and $80 cost mark without any markdown. If you find one nice drop shipper in a directory and you sell their products on your site, you could find your directory investment paid off quickly with just a sale or two.
7. Education - The Institution commerce the directory should have a website fairly capable
with FAQ’s and articles written by its own research staff or owner. Topics should include drop shipping, ecommerce, commerce and general FAQ’s just about drop shipping. Watch out for directory sites only containing FAQ’s just about their directory and not drop shipping.
8. Custom Search - Find out if the institution offering the directory wish do a custom search for a drop shipped product. A custom search can sometimes be done under certain conditions with the directory's parent company. As of this writing, Hienote is the only directory institution advertising this type of service.
9. Toll Free Number - You should be able to talk to the folk's offering the directory without paying for the call. Contact by email only is not acceptable! Also, be distrustful of directory sites without toll free amount or only a cell phone number given as this could be a suspicious con artist.
10. Consumer
Service - Any online business that cares just about its customers should have a section dedicated to consumer
service. A institution that offers a drop ship directory is no exception. It should have a section of its site dedicated to consumer
service. At a minimum it should have a toll free number, mailing address (not just a P.O. Box number!), email address, hours of operation, money back guarantee, and a phone number for calls outside of the country.
With these ten parameters you should now have enough noesis to get started in the right direction for evaluating a drop ship directory. In addition, hopefully this has given several food for thought in terms of considering a drop ship directory for your online business.
Just just about the author:
Just just about The Author:
Brad Beiermann Ph.D., is President of Hienote Inc., Crystal Lake, IL 60039. 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 www.hienote.comor call 1-800-342-0386.
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