Choosing Shipper Address & Answering Hard Customer Questions

I'm new to drop shipping and am unsure about how to handle a couple of seemingly conflicting issues.

First, I'll explain my thinking. Then, I'll ask you guys to address my thinking.

All of this is premised by the fact that I've heard it's best to keep the fact that I'm drop shipping to myself.

Choosing How to Display Address when Drop Shipping

My Thinking: If you put YOUR address, the customer is going to be able to see where the product is shipped from. And, that makes drop shipping obvious. Plus, marketplaces like eBay require you to disclose where your product is located, which makes putting your own address on the packing list seem unwise for that reason.

If you put your business logo on the packing slip with your supplier's warehouse address, then when the same customer buys other products from you through eBay or Amazon, they see different business addresses for one business.

So, it seems that either you have to be ok with revealing that you are drop shipping or put no address at all.

Question for the Forum: What address do you display (your personal address vs. your supplier's warehouse address) on the customer's packing slip AND WHY?

Answering Customers' Product/Policy Questions when You Don't Have the Answer

My Thinking: Customers are obviously going to call with questions that you are not equipped to answer but must answer. In the beginning, you are not going to have the answers to a large number of these questions.

Question for the Forum: So, if it's best practice to neither reveal to your customer that you are drop shipping nor to reveal that you are new and don't know much about the products you sell, then how do you handle on-the-spot-questions when you don't have the answer? Whether by e-mail or phone, I can see how an uninformed retailer would need help, especially in the beginning. So, is their a common way that retailers get the customer in contact or on the phone with someone from their drop shipping company, or is there another way to smoothly get customers the answer without both revealing that you are drop shipping and seeming like you don't know much about what you are selling?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Brandon,

Typically dropshippers won't label, certainly not smaller ones at least. That's something more done by wholesalers or manufacturers themselves where by the product isn't already labeled. If a dropshipper is to remove packaging and then repackage with your branding, then I can only imagine what sort of cost that would add to an already tight margin.

However, if you did find one who would do that at the right price, then I think your idea of just leaving your email is fine for a retail aspect. What you can of course do is use the old, "in the event of this product being out of stock at the time of order processing, item may be sent factory direct to ensure a speedy delivery"

That takes what is a negative and gives it a positive spin by making the customer feel that you are looking after them by not putting the item on back order. This can also be a resolution to the item location problem you mention or at least a version of the same.

Cheers

Thanks Mark!

Helpful advice! I'll probably go with no label if the cost is too high or putting just my business logo and e-mail address if the price is right.

I did edit my post before I realized you had responded. I apologize for that. But, your response does answer the first question in the edited post.

Do you (or anyone else) have any thoughts on the second question?

Thanks!

Responded in your other post Brandon