EnRoute Global's dropshipping fee, and profit margins

Hi there,

I have been trying for a while to find dropshippers of tennis, squash, and badminton gear for the US-market, and finally thought I got lucky when I got a positive reply from a company called EnRoute Global Enterprises.

However, I have been setting up 2 appointments with one of their senior managing partner, Marc Williams - but haven't heard anything from him. I then decided to do a bit of Googling, and came across this review of EnRoute:

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According to this review, there is not much profit to be made by dropshipping through EnRoute.

Since they charge an annual fee of $497 to join their dropshipping-program, I just don't want to pay the money and hope for the best, even if I am having a hard time finding distributors for my chosen niche.

So I am wondering: should I just call him to get the information, or would that come across as too "desperate"?, or just send him another message and ask him for a product-list, and what profit margins I can expect? I am starting to get slightly cold feet.

Any others with experience with this company?

Cheers,

Stian

Hi Stian,

This supplier does charge a fee as you have identified, but it's impossible for me to comment on if that is worth paying in your case or not. That's something you really have to calculate for yourself. If you don't feel that you could sell enough product to get value from the investment, then the smart thing to do is to not sign up.

This is really more for higher volume sellers who have the capability to move larger stock volume.

By all means, I don't think it will hurt to speak to them, but I doubt they will be able to give you an accurate estimate on what the margin on the products will be because factors outside of their control will dictate things like sales performance and margins on products.

Cheers

Hi Marc,

I guess you're right - what it boils down to in the end is numbers. It's just that I get the feeling of something being a bit "wrong" when people break their appointments without any apologies, or message.

Nevertheless, I have sent another message asking for a product-list, and will give him a call the coming week - so we'll see how it works out.

On an positive note, I got a nice reply directly from a manufacturer who's very happy to drop-ship their products for me, so it's going in the right direction :)

Thanks again,

Stian

You're absolutely right Stian, being treated in the way that you have been is not a good sign at all. You need to be completely comfortable with your supplier/s, especially with drop-shipping. When you have issues with a customer you need to know that the supplier is going to be there backing you up 100%, if that doesn't happen then you can find yourself in a very tight spot with a very unhappy customer and that's the last thing you want as a seller on large platforms like eBay.

Situations like that can kill a new seller with bad feedback before you even get a chance to start building a good solid reputation, so never take that sort of treatment lightly. What you need to identify is if that is a normal level of treatment or if that was some oversight for some reason. I think that fact that you're giving them a second opportunity is a good thing, see how they respond this time around and then you will have more to base your decision on.

Good news on the other deal, it's all starting to move in the right direction for you :)

Hi Stian,

We truly apologize for breaking the appointment. The analyst that was booked for the appointment with you fell ill and was not able to communicate in advance. Again, our apologies; if you would like to forward your mobile or Skype information, I will personally follow up with you.

Best,

Marc R. Williams
Founder and Senior Managing Partner
EnRoute Global Exchange (EnRoute) Your One-Stop Shop Drop-Shipper!

Hi Marc,

Not to worry. These things happen. I have added you on Skype.

Cheers

Stian

Thanks very much for your urgent attention to this matter and your explanation to Stian, Marc. That's true quality support and I'm sure Stian appreciates that, but more so, it quite clearly displays your companies level of professionalism and commitment in servicing all SaleHoo members and that's something we really appreciate!.

Many thanks Mark for the continued support!

Stian - - To answer your original question around profit margin. In the product business, different product genres or categories (e.g. Health, Beauty, Sporting, Baby, etc.) all vary with different industry margins. To add, there are a few other items to always take into consideration:

1) Our 3,500 manufacturers often have special promotions, close-outs and other discounts; EnRoute Global passes these along to our Resellers. NOTE: Manufacturer promo's are usually on specific brands, individual SKU's/Model Numbers/UPC's, etc. (not across entire product categories).
2) EnRoute Global often has additional promotions on specific SKU's/Model Numbers/UPC's, etc., along with partnering with our Liquidation Division to provide close-out and liquidation type discounts to our Resellers.
3) Manufacturer have rebates for specific SKU's/Model Numbers/UPC's, etc. that you can pass along to your Customers - for deeper discounts and value add.

So what does all of this mean to a Reseller... Let's take a couple of scenarios and dig a little deeper:

A) Selling on a Niche Site: Let's say you have a niche Salehoo Store (maybe a baby site specifically for triplets) with 50 products; of those 50 products, five (5) of those products have extremely pleasant profit margin and possibly are your own private label. One strategy would be to highlight those five products and attempt to upsell at every chance. The other 45 products are possibly replenishable type products (i.e. diaper cream, diapers, bibs, etc.) - where the profit margin is low, but provides steady, consistent sales (with targeted traffic).
B) Selling on Amazon or eBay: You will only list or jump on listing for those products where you can compete... Possibly, there are five products where you can compete on pricing and the sales rank is leaning towards the type of daily/weekly/monthly sales... The real opportunity lies in your competitor are all selling the product merchant fulfilled. By you sending the product into Amazon FBA, you are able to steal the sales and make the sales.

Let me know if you would like me to clarify anything.

Lastly, please also send a Skype invite to "pro-ture" as well. I toggle Skype ID's depending on appointment load.

All the best and looking forward to our chat!

Marc R. Williams
Founder and Senior Managing Partner
EnRoute Global Exchange (EnRoute) Your One-Stop Shop Drop-Shipper!

Hello Everyone

On the subject enroute-global-dropshipping this is something you may want to read first.
Read at your own discretion.


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