What questions should we ask dropshippers?

Thanks for your help Richelle. These sites look great!

Hi Everyone, I read though this thread but did not see one of the things that I think is important. When looking for a drop shipper make sure you ask if they actually stock the product they sell. We have shipped product before (to end customers) on behalf of companies that were advertising themselves as drop shippers. I thought this was kind of odd to have to pay another level of markup but it happens.

Hi CG,

That's a really interesting point you make. There are many instances where people find a drop ship suppler and then simply set themselves up as a drop shipper, using the other drop shipper as the real supplier. So of course what happens there is that you get that extra level of expense with the added profit margin of the broker being built in.

That's only with one extra middle man in play, I'm sure there are set-ups out there that have more than one, each working of the other.

How do you tell?

Next to impossible if they are not honest enough to tell you, but price will always give it away. It all comes back to research, make sure you are getting the best price on your products and you will be sure you are dealing with the source directly!

Very impressive!

To be honest, just submitting a list of questions like that will tell you quite a lot about the company themselves in regards to their response, and the time it takes to respond.

If you are inexperienced in the field, then that type of forward planning throughout all aspects of your business can only help to serve you extremely well.

I think we'll make that a sticky, great little learning tool for what other members considering Drop Shipping should be asking themselves.

Hi loudgob,

Welcome to SaleHoo! :) Your questions are quite comprehensive, it covers major information crucial in a drop shipping arrangement and you do not sound like a newbie at all! :)

Answers to some basic questions about their drop shipping program are usually provided by the suppliers through their websites. Information about the return policy and the minimum order requirement, and the fee structure for dropshipping, these can be found in their dropshipping link, and you can just send those that need clarification or those which weren't addressed.

In your list I'd like to add these questions -

Do you send automated/electronic notification upon receipt of order and release of shipment?

Can you please provide some examples of problems that arise with your drop shipping arrangement and how have you dealt with them?

Do you provide tracking numbers for your delivery/shipment?

It would also be best if you can possibly place a small order with your chosen dropshipper, for you to be able to determine product quality and be able to assess their service. :)

Hope this helps. We wish you the best! :)

Hi CG,

That's a really interesting point you make. There are many instances where people find a drop ship suppler and then simply set themselves up as a drop shipper, using the other drop shipper as the real supplier. So of course what happens there is that you get that extra level of expense with the added profit margin of the broker being built in.

That's only with one extra middle man in play, I'm sure there are set-ups out there that have more than one, each working of the other.

How do you tell?

Next to impossible if they are not honest enough to tell you, but price will always give it away. It all comes back to research, make sure you are getting the best price on your products and you will be sure you are dealing with the source directly!

Hello ukseller,

Welcome to SaleHoo! I noticed that you have been quote posts by other members and staff without any post from yourself.

Is there anything we can help you with?

Cheers :)

Hello Everybody, I am iHappy from ihappystore.com, a new eCommerce website just set up by me (and still under construction), with the intention to link to similar name Pro Store on eBay. I am new to all of these and actually stumbled on SaleHoo through a referral from InventorySource.com. I am happy that I took up the bait :), because so far i quite like SaleHoo, in particular the user-friendly Forum.

I have a similar concern with the lady that asked about product location as opposed to seller location. I live in sunny Jamaica, a walking distance from the beach and wouldn't trade living elsewhere for it, but doing brick and mortar business from my country becomes a pain with the incessant devaluation of our currency. This is why I decide to go the route of drop shipping of products from USA suppliers to be onsold to USA buyers in the mainland USA initially. When my learning curve becomes smooth, I can try the UK market, where I originally came to Jamaica from and possibly the global market eventually.

I wish newbies like myself the best in their business endeavors and warn our senior members that iHappy is here to stay. I'll be needing your shoulders to fall on on quality advice.

Thanks in advance :)

iHappy

Hello iHappy :)

Glad to know that you're happy being with us!

In the case of middle men there is really no way of telling unless you do your due diligence. It all boils down to research. Exactly why at SaleHoo we pre-screen our suppliers to help make the work for our members a little less :)

Cheers!

Hi does anyone in here know how to get in touch with ezdropship, i`ve sent them like 5 emails and it`s been a week now and still no answer?

Thnx Goran

I can't help with a phone number, they don't seem to provide one unfortunately. Now I have heard some people say they are quite happy using EZ, but, and this is only my personal opinion and I have to say that I have never dealt with them myself.

I would be asking myself if I really wanted to deal with a supplier (especially a drop ship supplier) who offers such slow customer service and very limited access to that customer service.

No phone contact means that you are reliant on email as your support hotline. If you think it's frustrating waiting for them to respond to your past 5 inquires now, imagine how frustrating it would be waiting to have your emails responded to if you were trying to sort out an issue for one or more customers.

It's a point that is often over looked by many when choosing to do business with a drop shipper. The focus is more on price, more so than on the customer service they provide. When you are using a drop ship business model, the customer service you provide to your customers is only as good as the customer service you are getting from your supplier.

If they aren't providing you with quality customer support, then it's your customers that will be effected and anyone who's been in business for any amount of time will usually know that providing your customers with bad customer support results in very unhappy customers who are then more than happy to make sure they do as much damage to your trading name as is possible ..... and that's never good for business.

You can't just say, I'm sorry, I'm waiting for my supplier to get back to me. Customers don't want excuses, they want answers and solutions to any issues they feel they have. The fact that you might be having trouble getting in contact with your supplier will be of no concern to them at all, nor should it be really.

So, end result is that it all washes down hill. You get bad customer support, you deliver bad customer support and your business is the one that will suffer for it.

As I said, not a personal reflection on EZ, but I am frankly sick to death of the pathetic level of customer support some companies provide their customers. Why customers seem prepared to accept that is beyond me, but I know well that it will never change while they can get away with it.

Just a thought :)

A lot of great questions there! We are always happy to answer questions from customers, we offer a live chat to speak with us too.

Very impressive!

To be honest, just submitting a list of questions like that will tell you quite a lot about the company themselves in regards to their response, and the time it takes to respond.

If you are inexperienced in the field, then that type of forward planning throughout all aspects of your business can only help to serve you extremely well.

I think we'll make that a sticky, great little learning tool for what other members considering Drop Shipping should be asking themselves.

Hi, I am currently constructing a similar list, and was wondering; is it likely they will take the time to answer 20 or so questions? As good as they are.

Kind of depends on the supplier really.

I would suggest searching their website first to see how many answers you can get, then contact them to tick off the ones you can't find answers to. I would suggest phone, not email. While email is if course far more convenient, good chance it just won't get replied to in much detail

Kind of depends on the supplier really.

I would suggest searching their website first to see how many answers you can get, then contact them to tick off the ones you can't find answers to. I would suggest phone, not email. While email is if course far more convenient, good chance it just won't get replied to in much detail[/quote

Thankyou, and just another quick question in reference to their shipping policies on the questionnaire form. Does this go into areas like "F.O.B" etc? I.E; do some drop shippers only ship to ports and then the customer or me (the retailer) have to allocate a courier from there on in? I'm completely in experienced in this, so need to ask these questions.

Kind regards.

Hi Barry,

Dropshippers typically sent direct to the customer, so no issues there. The one thing you do need to be aware of is TAX, especially if you are selling internationally. It's always a good idea to inform the customer in the listing to be aware of any import tax that may be applicable in their own country.