Top 3 Myths About Drop Shipping
The three major myths surrounding drop shipping are:
- It's Easy
- There's No Risk Involved
- The Supplier is Responsible
The truth is, drop shipping takes a lot of work. Just finding the right products that can be sold at a big enough profit margin can consume most of your time. Even after you find some products that can make you money, there's a good chance others will discover it too and start to beat down the price.
Myth #2 - There's No Risk Involved
One of the biggest advantages to drop shipping is that if no one buys your products you don't lose any money (other than advertising and promotion) and you don't get stuck with unwanted inventory. But when you do get a sale, a whole bunch of things can go wrong from that point on. Any and all of these need to be handled by you.
Myth #3 - The Supplier Is Responsible
Sellers falsely believe that they can remove themselves from the process once they put the customer's order in to the supplier. Remember, you are on the front line between the customer and the supplier. It is your customer and you need to treat that customer as if the product was manufactured by you.
While it's true that there are some bad suppliers out there, in the end that affects your reputation if you don't make good on the purchase. Besides, if you did simply pass off the responsibility to the supplier, you have basically giving up any potential for future sales with the customer as they probably will deal directly with the supplier at that point in time.
As you can see, drop shipping is not a business model that you just set it up once and then it starts churning out cash. It certainly can be a viable business model to those that put the time and effort and nurture it like any other business.
Consider Affiliate Marketing Instead
I have tried drop shipping and I am currently an active affiliate marketer. Of the two (at least for me) I find affiliate marketing to be a much easier and safer way to do business. This is not to say there are no risks associated with affiliate marketing. Nor will I say it doesn't have it's own fair share of problems. But when I learned how to do it the right way, I found it to be a much better way to earn money and much less time is needed to find the right products, etc.
So my recommendation is to go for the affiliate marketing business model. I can help you on how to go about that. Simply take a look at my review of Wealthy Affiliate here:
http://getpaidbootcamp.com/wealthy-affiliate-evaluation
By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate since January 2009. I have seen many programs that claim to teach affiliate marketing but none have come close the comprehensive trainings and support available at Wealthy Affiliate. Also, if you join (you can do so for free) I will personally look after your success to make sure you are on the right track. My Wealthy Affiliate profile is @techhound. Look me up and say hi!
