BigBuy - how is their dropshipping process?

Hi Forum members,

Are there any SaleHoo members currently using the BigBuy company based in Spain, particularly with regards to their dropshipping service? Or has anybody ever used them in the past? I am thinking about opening an account with them (as a dropshipper), but I would firstly like to find out what sort of experiences other members may have had with them? Are there any expenses involved in dropshipping with this company, and if there are, can you please tell what they are? I am especially interested in anybody currently working for BigBuy based in the United Kingdom (as I am myself). Your advice and comments would be much appreciated.

Thank you
James

Hi James and welcome to the forum,

I can't speak personally, only to say that as an approved supplier with us, we have had no major issues raised by members in regards to their trading practices.

Cheers

Hi Mark

Thank you for letting me know. I also sent an e-mail to BestBuy to find out more about their dropshipping service and any potential costs involved. I am still awaiting a reply.

If I take out a subscription with Salehoo Stores, am I allowed to dropship items in my own store?

Thank you
James

Hi James,

If you don't get a reply from them, let us know and we'll follow up on your behalf for you.

In regards to SaleHoo Stores, you can sell whatever you like through there. It's a completely independent platform, so the products you sell are completely up to you.

Cheers

Hi Mark

There is something you can help me with regarding BigBuy. I've just opened an account with them and I'm a little puzzled. As you are aware my interest is in dropshipping. Firstly let me tell you what my definition of dropshipping is. I open an account with the supplier (in this case Bigbuy) and select what items I want to sell for them on e-bay or whatever. A customer places the order with me - I then buy it from the supplier, who in turn dispatches the goods to them (minus my profit of course). Sounds relatively simple, right?

However once I opened an account I noticed that next to my account name was the phrase "without pack". When I went into my account settings I was greeted with - "without pack - active" So I checked out what these "wholesale Packs" actually are. There are four as far as I can tell, the cheapest being the Basic Pack, with a one off Registration Fee of 45 Euros. The others also have a Registration Fee of 45 Euros BUT you have to pay monthly on top of that, anything from 15 to 45 Euros (depending on whether you choose the Pro, Business or Premium Pack). Something else I thought was strange - if you take out the Basic Pack, apparently you're only allowed 3 dropshipping shipments per month? What exactly does that mean?

Have I opened up the correct account with them? Can you please help me here? I would be grateful if you could find out all the details on my behalf, as I haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

Please note Mark, that I am based in the United Kingdom.

Thank you
James

Hi James,

From what I gathered with what you have stated you have a free account BigBuy. That's why your account is labeled as "without pack - active" It is active but you are not subscribed to any of their packs which are 1. Basic, 2. Pro, 3. Business, 4. Premium.

To start dropshipping with this supplier, you have to subscribe with any of the above packs. There is a fixed amount of 45 euros for all packs and additional monthly fees apply for the last 3 packs. With the Basic Pack, you can only purchase 3 products to be shipped directly to your customers.

I have contacted the supplier in question to clarify and give you a more in depth explanation on how their dropshipping program works. I'll get back to you once I hear from them.

Hello Shane

Yes, your e-mail pretty much sums up my issues with BigBuy. | also sent BigBuy an e-mail, but I doubt that my e-mail will have been as articulate as yours (since you're more familiar with Business practices), whereas my own e-mail may well be full of "clumsy phrasing". In other words you will no doubt get more information from them than I would (on my own anyway).

Surely there must be drop shippers out there based in Europe who don't charge any fees whatsoever? Perhaps you can recommend some? Anyway....

Thank you for intervening on my behalf.

Best regards
James

Hi James,

I received a reply from BigBuy and this is their brief explanation:

"With a Basic Pack, our customers get access to Wholesale Prices and 3 dropshipping a month (this way they can check and try our service before upgrading to a superior pack). Also keep in mind that 1 dropshipping order can include as many products as required however this operation can only be repeated 3 times a month. As soon as you upgrade to a superior pack (Pro, Business or Premium) you automatically get unlimited dropshipping."

Pardon my previous statement when I said that only 3 products can be purchased from them in a month. You can order multiple products to dropship to one single address (up to 3 times/month). If you still wish to work with this supplier, send them an email at Link hidden: Login to view and provide your phone number as well so they can give you a call. :)

We'd like to help you locate suitable suppliers. Kindly let us know what type of products you are looking for so we can run a search for you.

Talk soon!

Hi Shane

Thank you for getting in touch with BigBuy for further information on my behalf. What I don't understand here though is - why would you want to purchase any other type of pack apart from the very BASIC pack? If I can order as many products as I like in one shipment, or 3 shipments (with view to drop shipping items in my own Salehoo Store), why should I need an unlimited subscription anyway? In any event they want me to take out a subscription to dropship for them, which I was hoping to avoid. I would also like to know what other fees may be involved apart from the £45. Costs such as shipping, postage and packaging, import tax, VAT, etc

Shane, thank you for your offer to help me locate suitable suppliers. I would be grateful if you could find me a list of suppliers who offer a (blind) drop shipping service, preferably without any hidden fees and preferably located in the United Kingdom (or at least in Europe). I'm not sure exactly what I want to sell yet, so I would appreciate the details of any suppliers you can come up with. Once I see their catalogue I will be in a better position to make an informed choice.

Kindest regards
James

Hi James,

Shane will see what options she can find for you.

To clear up your other question, 3 shipments a month for the basic pack essentially limits you to just 3 orders a month. You can of course process as many items as you want in a single order, but the stock can only be sent to a single address. So when a customer makes a purchase, that's counted as a single transaction when you process it (no matter how many items are in that single order).

So you're limited to just 3 of those transactions per month. So you'll only be able to process the first 3 of your orders with them on the basic pack. It's really designed to just let you test out their service and decide if you are happy to then open a full account with them to proceed.

It is becoming very common for dropshippers to now charge some sort of accounting fees. Some charge a one off annual fee, others a monthly fee, they all have their own different structures, but you'll find most, certainly most of the larger suppliers, will have some sort of account fees in place now.

That in itself shouldn't automatically put you off, you should just weigh up all the pros and cons with any suppliers. For example, yes, and account fee would be a con, but then does that give you access to cheaper prices over another supplier you could use with no account fee, but who has more expensive items, which could then be considered a con.

It's never black and white, my advice is to always weigh everything up between potential suppliers and then make the decision that best suits you.

Cheers

Hi Mark

Many thanks to Shane for exploring all the various options on my behalf. Thank you also for giving me more insight into how dropshipping with BigBuy actually works.

I'm currently looking into another possibility. One of the companies listed in your Wholesale Directory (and fortunately based in the UK), offer both a dropship service and the opportunity to open your own website with them. They're ATS DISTRIBUTION LTD. I'm interested in their website idea, which costs £79 + £9.99 a month, with no extra fees (or so they claim). I'm not sure though about issues concerning postage & packaging etc. Mark, could you please take a look at the following link and tell me what you think? Link hidden: Login to view

I have sent ATS an e-mail for further information, but I would appreciate an independent opinion from somebody who already knows the business.

Thank you
James

Hi James,

Sorry, I did respond to this the other day, but just noticed that I must have made an error at the time and locked the post by mistake, rather than posting my reply.

So let me try again :)

This sort of platform is quite common now and many people like to use it for convenience, but you need to ask yourself two very important questions.

1. Are the products they stock the website with competitive in the open market?
2. Do you have the ability to market the site in an effective way to generate traffic?

Those are the two key points you need to cover when subscribing to a platform like this. Convenience is great, but at what cost?

If the products aren't priced competitive, then you're already in trouble. Combine that with poor or no traffic flow and that all equates to ZERO sales.

The thing to remember here is that the supplier is making their money from the website sale itself, they aren't relying on you making sales through your site for their income. No that's not saying there is anything wrong with that, that's just a good business model for them, but it also has to work as a good business model for you as well.

So if you can satisfy yourself on those two main points in the positive, then it is definitely a platform worth considering I would suggest.

Cheers

hi James

Im new here and also in the UK, did you have any luck in finding a good drop shipper?
Many thanks
Tracey

I was so foolish to buy a packet at BigBuy, and I can't recommend them. At all.

First of all, they claim they have more than 200.000 products however, when I look for womens clothes, shirts; all I find is 4 t-shirts, one more old fashion than the other. Same goes with the pants, shoes etc. - I have so far not found a single item, that did not look like it came from any other supermarket downtown. I have a feeling it would be really hard to find anyone in EU that would be interested in buying what they sell.

Another thing, I can not see how it is possible to dropship from them. Lets take an example: You wanna sell shampoo and other items like that. So you find "Shampoo Colour Reinforcement L'oreal Expert Professionnel" it cost 3.51 for one ( as dropshipper you most likely would only buy one, not that it matters in this case, since it still cost 3.51 euro for one if you buy a 8000 bulk from bigbuy!). BigBuy then recommend that you sell it for 3.82 euro. Still good, since it cost 7 euros here in Norway where I live. However, then you start ordering it, and lo and behold, they want 8,75 euro to ship it for you!

I dont know about any of you, but I dont think a single of my customer will pay 12,57 euro for a simple shampoo they can buy in the nearest supermarket for 7 euro.

So buying care products on BigBuy is impossible for a dropshipper. The shipment is too expensive.
And everytime you order anything the shipment is at least 8,75 euro. which means that if it should be possible to dropship, you would have to only buy things that you can sell for more than 15-20 euros. I have now ask to get my money back. Sad since it is a very good idea they had, however the goods are simply to boring, and there is simply not enough different goods, and the shipment is way too expensive.