Dropshipped products - Does the buyer pay for shipping?

Hello.. Im new to this..
Jut had a few questions..
Im gonna set up a netstore, wich there i will sell my products wich are from dropshippers...
When my customer, pays me, i send an order to my dropshipper...
When my dropshipper sends the goods to my customer, the customer has to pay the shipping?

If so is true.. How can my customer know how much to pay for shipping?

Hi dawg97,

Yes, the shipping cost should be shouldered by the customer. Some sellers will offer standard or fixed shipping rates (although not always beneficial on your part as the seller) which they may be included in the price mark-up or provided as the shipping rate itself.

You could also visit www.UPS.com where you can get a "shipping calculator", or a Freight Rate Guide offering shipping rates which may help you pre-determine the shipping costs of your product.

Or you may choose to add a shipping calculator to your listing so that your customer will know how much the shipping cost would be.

Hope this helps. Cheers!

Hi dawg97,

Each drop ship supplier has a different method of calculating shipping costs, and it would be best that you clarify this detail with them before you sell. Some set a fixed price no matter the amount or size of the package, and some ship by weight and so forth.

Some online stores use a built in shopping cart system called Zen Cart. Link hidden: Login to view
Zen Cart has a drop shipper purchase order module in its downloads. This will send emails to each vendor/supplier with products, customer details, shipping method, etc . It is not automatic but it’s a very simple admin interface that can be handy. The problem with Zen Cart is that its setting is across the board, so it becomes difficult when you are offering items from different vendors. For example, there are drop ship suppliers that may charge a $5 drop ship fee on top of handling and shipping. Zen Cart by default can allow you to add this charge to UPS (and whatever shipping you intend to use) but this charge gets carried across and is reflected in other items from other vendors. So with this, for small items there’s a tendency for shipping rate to become higher than the cart value, and a tendency to lose potential sales.

I've read of commercial modules that will allow you to configure shipping by product, category or manufacturer so you can set up different rules for your different vendors. You can even set the zip/postal code for every vendor to get really accurate rates. One of this is the Advanced Shipper by Ceon Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps. :)

Hi there,

I thought i mite throw you a suggestion as it may give you a better leading edge over other sellers out there.

This is how i conduct my business and it working really well and i know customers allways come to me over other listings.

1) If customers see your product for sale that they are looking to buy and they can see all they have to pay for is the product then you are ahead of other sellers that charge for shipping. Include the costs of shipping in your magins as you will be able to claim on costs as a business expense. also barter the price with your suppliers to keep low prices.

2) "EVERY ONE WANTS SOMETHING FOR FREE". Another recent huge success i have had to help exploded sales. As an example i have been throwing in a free soft pouch and strap for sales of my Nintendo ds-lite consoles . Have a look around the supplier you are using for cheap $1 or $2 items that you can throw in with a particular product you are selling to really sweeten the deal to your customers.

Hope this help to your success in dropshipping

Kind Regards

Cody
Cozziemomo NZ

I agree completely with your tips, Cody!

Many buyers do look for sellers that do not 'seem' to charge any shipping fees and offer a freebie as well. It's like human nature to seek a freebie for every purchase :)

Thanks for sharing this with our community, hopefully it will help other sellers here.

Cheers

Hello dawg97 and Cody, and 2 beatiful ladies,

I think it's more easier for the dropship buyer to understand if the product is "free-shipping" from dropshipper website. On my site ( Link hidden: Login to view), there is a catetory "Free Shipping Items", you may have a look from here: Link hidden: Login to view.

Hope this will be helpful for you.

Thanks!

Hi Erclee and fellow traders,

Please keep in mind with free shipping your suppliers are still paying a cost to have the item sent (this is important if your countries customs have price imitations for GST and TAX in place and they will include those costs) . I personally would never use this option due to the delivery time frame my customers would have to wait for there products, Most free delivery time frames are 25 -55 days, what you must ask yourself is, Would you be prepared to wait that long? I know my customers will not want to.

Kind Regards

Cody
Cozziemomo NZ

hi Cody,

All orders for items from our free-shipping category, we use EMS and Airmail as shipping courier, the delivery takes around 10 to 20 days only, it include the order process and shipping delivery.

I do agree you that no body will wait 25 to 50 days for his / her orders..

thanks!

Best Regards!

Ericlee

Hi Ericlee,

Can you please reveal the cost's that Chinazrh are covering for free shipping. As your customers, we will have to include in our margins to make sure that we clear customs even if we are making our customers pay this.

In New Zealand we have a G.S.T Threshold on electronic goods. New Zealand customs look at the total cost on inward goods to the country and decide if tax and gst is payable based on the total cost (product + Shipping)

Thanks Ericlee

Kind Regards

Cody
Cozziemomo NZ

Hello Coly,

All free-shipping items we ship by Airmail, if the gross weight of the order over 2KGS, we will ship it by EMS instead of Airmail.

Please let me know if you want to know the exact shipping charges for every product? by Airmail? Or by EMS?

You may find me by MSN or skype or Email, too.

Thanks!

ericlee

Hi Ericlee,

Can you add to the post the cost you cover for both Ems over 2KG and airmail under 2KG for people who read these posts as it will help them work these figures into checking if they clear their countries custom importing laws.

just a estimate example on a couple of products will be excellent.

Many thanks for your time time helping.

Kind regards

Cody
Cozziemomo NZ

Hello Coly,

I am sorry the late reply.. I just come back after the CNY holidays.

For the exact shipping cost of EMS and Airmail:

Airmail: all parcels the gorss weight less than 2KGS, the shipping cost is around $20/kgs ship to any city in the world.

EMS: ship to New Zealand and Australia, the shipping cost is around $32.00 for the first 500g, and around $9.00 for each next 500g.

I hope you can understand what I am saying here.

For your reference.

Ericlee from Chinazrh.com