I used 1 of the dropshipper in china and you know what? they are middleman. when I search the main supplier..they are davismicro.com.
Just to highlight this point made by camunsif.
When you're dealing in Drop Shipping products, research is the absolute key and not just to find the products you want to sell, but to ensure you're getting those products at the best possible price.
The term middleman can be used in various ways, but it essentially means that when dealing with a middleman you are not dealing with the original source, and that will most likely be costing you money in most situations.
The biggest issue with Drop Shipping is that you may not just be dealing with one middleman business, you could be dealing with someone who is way down the food chain, and then you will be paying an extreme price for your products.
Because of the Drop Shipping structure, allowing people to list products for sale without owning the stock, its become quite popular for people to start their own brokerage where by they simply list Drop Ship products on their own site from other Drop Shipping providers, and of course put their margin on top.
Two big issues come into play here, number 1: Once you place an order with them, they in turn place the order with their source, and you aren't even aware of it. This highlights the problem of reliability, because no matter what they are promising you, if they are relying on another source to supply your orders, they are then relying on them to ensure your customers get the products as you have listed, and we all know who gets it in the neck if they stuff up!
Number 2: How many suppliers are in the actual chain that you have tapped into. Of course not every middleman Drop Shipping business buys direct from the main Drop Shipping source. You can very well find a situation where someone is promoting themselves as a Drop Shipper, then supplying their customer's orders from another supplier, who is then using another supplier to complete orders, who is then using another................you get the point!
The fact is that you may well be using a supplier that has joined in selling these products from a supplier who was already 4 stages removed from the original supplier.
Now we are talking about a nightmare waiting to happen. Not only have the prices been inflated to the point where no one can make anything at all on any platform, but the reliability of having the order processed through so many different structures gives you very little hope of providing a quality service to your unsuspecting customers.
All business requires that you do research to have even a remote chance of success, but Drop Shipping is an area that you really do have to dig down deep to make sure you are getting the best possible deal for both you, and your customers.
