Dropshipping or Wholesale?

Which is better for someone just starting with not much money? I have been doing lots of research and have not decided exactly what products to start with. I have been looking into console games but haven't been able to find any suppliers that offer good deals with no minimum purchase. I am also interested in gemstones but have had no luck on this as well.

Thanks for the help
Merrie

Hi Merrie,

For someone just starting out without that much capital to spare, I would say that dropshipping would be a more popular choice over wholesale. With dropshipping you only pay your supplier once the product sells on your end and there is no risk of stocking products at all. Dropshipping will also give you the chance to save up money to be able to afford better wholesale deals.

But if this is like you very first time to sell, you might want to start out with a few things from around your home just so you can get the feel of how it is to sell online. Plus you get to practice your online selling skills without too much risk of loss since you have not really invested on the products.

Once you are ready and have honed your skills, then wholesale would be a good option.

I think you have to take note that the video games industry is one of the highly competitive categories to get involved with, so if you haven't established yourself as a professional seller on eBay with good feedback scores then might be best to sell video games at a more later date.

What type of gem stones are you interested in? If you could be more specific maybe we can help you locate suitable dropshippers :)

Hope this helps!

Hi Richelle,

Thanks for all the advice, I am looking for Sapphire, Amethyst, Tanzanite, Peridot, Alexandrite, Morganite and Diopside.

When I do research for drop shipping I am coming across the problem with pricing, the prices are just about the same as what other sellers are selling for or well below. Should I be trying to sell anything and everything to get going with drop shipping? I am hoping to make enough profit to pay all fees and still put some away to put back into my business.

Would jewelry be a good place to start for drop shipping?

Alpha Imports is probably the best no-fee gemstone dropshipper. That said, that market on eBay is heavily saturated with Vietnamese and Thai companies that sell most of their stock at or even below cost, with the few auctions that go into black carrying the day for them. If you're not dealing in higher quality stones, you're going to get slaughtered on eBay. There are just too many sellers, with too low overhead and genuine direct-from-cutter pricing to compete with in the low end segment of the market.


Frank

If you want to get into specialty jewelry, Link hidden: Login to view has very good stuff. They are a manufacturer and distributor, and do not sell to the public, so their prices are excellent; bear in mind before you go clicking that they sell a lot of body and piercing jewelry, so some of their catalogue pages are a little PG-13 or higher.


Frank

@Frank: Thanks for your tips and for sharing your expertise on the market for gemstones :)

@Merrie: Knowing Frank's experience, I can confidently say that his advice/tips are often one of the best here on the forum :)

But in case you want to pursue selling gemstones, here are a few more dropshippers that might have what you are looking for -

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps, all the best! :)

Second that, Frank has history in the stone market, plenty of experience there so he's definitely the go to guy on this one!

Do all online sites as: E-bay, Amazon, Etc. welcome drop-shippers?

Which are more favorable to begin with?

I'm not aware of any sites actually banning Drop Shipping, well not yet anyway lol, but welcoming it may be a stretch lol

A site like eBay is more customer focused than they are seller focused, and the term Drop Shipping has been known to strike fear into their tiny little hearts at times. Understanding why isn't that difficult really, for example you (the seller) aren't actually in charge of what you are selling. So here is a recipe for disaster, buyer gets an order they aren't happy with, complains to seller, who then isn't able to assist directly with the problem, rather they have to then chase it up with their supplier.

So when you consider that eBay is customer focused, that's not a recipe for good customer service, which then reflects back onto eBay themselves.

Just list within the regulations on any site, and keep the term Drop Shipping under wraps lol