Doubt about point #2 on "How To Avoid Being Scammed" article

Hi awesome community!

I am new around here and am trying to create a new online business. However, I have one doubt:

In the article about "How to Avoid Common Drop Shipping Scams", the 2nd point talks about Membership Fees and says

Never agree to pay any annual, monthly, or account setup fees just for the chance of purchasing in bulk. All such fees are egregious, and many times the suppliers are slinging sub-par merchandise to begin with.

That being said, and although I have read here (in the forum) that BigBuy is a fully verified member of SaleHoo's directory, they do charge to register in the website and an extra monthly carge for the wholesale/dropshipping service.

Should I still trust BigBuy or should I avoid their services?

Thank you so much in advance!

Best wishes,
Sara

Hi Sara and welcome to the forum,

Can you post a link to that for me so I can review that please.

Cheers

Hi Mark,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post!

Here is the link with Bigbuy Packs and Prices: Link hidden: Login to view

Sorry Sara, I meant the link to the SaleHoo info just so I'm sure where you've found that.

Cheers

Link hidden: Login to view

I believe this is the article to which he was referring.

Hi Mark,

I'm not sure which link you are asking for so here are both :smile:

The link with the information on how to avoid scams: Link hidden: Login to view

The forum post where you mention BigBuy is a fully verified member of Salehoo's directoy: Link hidden: Login to view

Thank you so much again!
Sara.

OK, thanks Deanna and Sara,

I'll bring this to admin's attention as soon as the office opens on Monday. Just on the broader question on trading with BigBuy, I'm not aware of any issues currently, but just let me clarify this with admin as well, just to be 100%

Hi Sara,

OK, admin is looking into the advice provided in that article that you have highlighted. Regarding any issues with Big Buy, the only complaints we have ever received regarding this supplier are about the paid membership structure, no trading violation concerns reported to us by members who have or do trade with them whatsoever.

Cheers

Hi Sara, I've had a follow up from Richelle with the below clarification for you.

"The article says that we should not pay membership fees to buy in bulk. Now bigbuys charges additional fees to buy individual units at distributor price, without a requiring MOQ, so the fees in effect are there to shoulder the NO MOQ requirement.

So they are not what the warning in #2 is written for.

For further clarification, check out this link Link hidden: Login to view Click on the second question on that page: Why does BigBuy charge a registration or monthy fee in certain packs?

Richelle has actually now added a note to that article for a more defined clarification as well, as per below;

Note: Some suppliers may require you to pay one-time off fees to purchase one item at a time at wholesale prices. These fees help the suppliers provide their members/customers (you) avail of better services and wholesale prices even without buying in bulk — therefore still giving you a competitive edge over other online sellers.

Cheers

Hi Mark,

All clear now! Thank you so much for taking the time to clarify this :-)

All the best,
Sara.

Hello,
Has anyone here used a dropshipping company, that offered to build a website for a fee? I found one and I paid them and I haven't received the website, and I can no longer get in contact with them.They have stopped all communication with me. So I guess it was a scam!!! Are there any legit companies on here that actually truly offer a website, or is it best to avoid those companies that offer that.

Hey guys,

I've gathered and put together the various tips and ways to help you avoid being scammed in this post - Link hidden: Login to view so do check it out. Cheers!

Hi Meshea,

Your situation doesn't sound promising by what you say, but if you give us their name we will see what we can find out about them for you. Also, how did you pay them and how long ago did you pay?

In regards to other companies that offer this type of service, yest there are quite a few, but. I think it's important to really understand what you are going to be getting for your money. I'm not saying they are all bad, but you have to bare in mind that these companies make money from you for selling you a stocked store, so they are relying on you to sell their products to make them money, as per a traditional dropshipper platform.

So you have to be very careful about their prices and marketing strategy, are their prices competitive and what sort of marketing do they offer to drive traffic to the store you are paying for?

If you are going to choose this type of platform, then you need to be sure you are getting decent value. If they are stocking your store with un-competitive products/prices and/or not offering any sort of marketing, then you have to ask your self what sort of value you are getting for your outlay?

Well, they were offering to build me a website that I would own, and they would integrate it so that I would have access to all the products they sell, and what ever else I wanted to add to the site. It's been 16 days and it was supposed to take 72 hours.

Fudjj,
Can we further communicate about this in private so I can give you further details? I can't PM you because your profile is private.

Sorry about that, I didn't realize I had set that to private. That's reset now, so PM me further details and we'll see what we can find out for you.

Cheers

Hi Meshea,

I am really sorry to hear about your situation.

Would you care to share the name of the company here in this topic? People (like me) who read this topic are probably trying to start a new business and all the information we can get about scams and how to avoid them is going to be helpful.

Thank you so much in advance,
Sara.

Hi Sara,

We are in the process of trying to work out what the issue is with the supplier directly currently. We have however removed them from the directory until we are confident that this is resolved fully and both the member and ourselves receive a detailed explanation as to why this issue arose in the first place and how they can guarantee it won't arise in the future with other members.

So no other members are currently able to do business with this supplier nor will be able to do so from our directory until and if they are cleared and have their profile re-activated.

If it comes to where we are not satisfied with their response, then they will not have their profile re-activated and we will post a general warning to members about them, at that time informing members of their trading name and informing members to avoid them as they will NOT be recommended by SaleHoo as a trusted supplier to do business with.

Cheers