Many people think that dropshipping is a difficult business because you have to build a store, upload products, source products, and then do some advertising and many more. The truth is, it is a bit of easy and difficult at the same time.
It is easy because you do not really have to build a store from scratch as there are many platforms that you can use. You do not need to learn how to code computer programs. And it is difficult because just like any business, it takes a lot of work.
Here, we will be talking about several ways you can get into the dropshipping business, including building your own store.
1. Amazon
Amazon is the world’s leading online marketplace. There was a time when you could only sell here if you were in the United States. But today, you can sell on Amazon even if you are not a resident of the US.
What you have to do is to become a member. Register online for a seller’s account, and then choose your Selling Plan. This will determine how much you will pay. If you choose the Professional plan, you can sell as many items as you want and only pay $39.99 per month.
For the Individual plan, you can sell only less than 40 items per month, and then you will pay $0.99 per item sold. Apart from these fees, Amazon will charge referral fees and variable closing fees.
Once you are done with the registration, just post the items for sale, and when somebody buys, proceed to purchase the product from your supplier, and then have the product delivered to your customer.
2. eBay
eBay is an auction site, but it also has a Buy It Now option. It started out as a place where you can sell second-hand or pre-loved items. Now, most of the things sold here are brand new.
After signing up for an eBay account, you need to add a payment method. You can add either a credit card or a PayPal account. This is the account where eBay will automatically charge fees.
If you want to drop ship on eBay, you must put the item’s location on your product listing. If the location is not an approved country, you cannot list that product on that eBay site.
Once approved, the product is now live. And if somebody orders, just buy it from your supplier. The cost of selling on eBay varies per country, but be prepared to pay insertion fees, auction, and fixed price fees.
3. Your Own Store
This is the most common way to do dropshipping. The benefit here is that you can sell using your own name, your own logos and brands, and you can also design your own store.
There are several ways to build your own e-commerce store. The most popular today is Shopify, but you can also use Magento, Woocommerce, and others. The thing is, you will spend more money if you build a store because you have to pay a monthly fee for your site hosting.
The average cost of putting up your own online store is around $15 per month.
You also need to pay a transaction fee to the payment processor you selected. Most of the time, you will be charged 2% of the transaction cost.
If you dropship using your store, you will also spend money on marketing.
4. Facebook
Facebook is not just a social media channel anymore. You can build a shop on Facebook, and then post your items for sale. Your customers can view your products via Messenger or browse your shop’s menu.
You can also sell in Facebook Marketplace. Just go to the left panel of your FB profile page, and then go to Marketplace. Once there, you can post the item like as if you are just sharing your own photos. But here, you can put a price as well as a product description.
The second way to do this is to find specific groups, and then post your products there. To find groups, click on your newsfeed, click groups, and then look for one that fits your niche. You can also use the search bar to find groups by typing the keyword of your line of business.
If you sell on Facebook using these methods, you will not have a payment processor. What this means is that you and the buyer will need to discuss how he will pay you.
5. Blog
You can do dropshipping on your blog site, too. This may sound like affiliate marketing, but it is not. If you already have a WordPress account, you can use different plug-ins to convert your blog into a store.
With these plug-ins, you can add products which, upon clicking, the customers will be taken to a checkout page. Woocommerce is the leading solution or plug-in to do this.
Also, you can post the products you are selling on the blog post itself. This is great if you are doing a product review. You can also post specific “blogs” that are not blogs but sales pages. Add the description, price, and then if a customer orders, buy it for your supplier.
WordPress is the leading platform to create a blog. However, you can also use other popular ones like Wix and Weebly.
6. Etsy
Etsy is a marketplace that is dedicated to handicrafts and artwork. In Etsy, you will be creating a store within the Etsy marketplace.
Start by completing the registration, and then build your shop. You also need to choose a name for your Etsy shop, and then you can begin listing your products.
There are fees that you need to consider, like listing fees and transaction fees. The listing fee is $0.20 item.
If the item sells and you want to list it again, you will pay again. The transaction fee is 5% of the total money you charged from your customer, including the shipping and gift wrapping.
There is also a thing called a subscription fee. This costs $10 per month, but you will only pay this if you opt-in for an Etsy Plus account. This account gives you more tools, and it is best for growing businesses.
7. Pinterest
Pinterest is like an Instagram of sorts. What you need to do here is to pin your posts, and others can “re-pin” it. Essentially, you are showing photos of a lot of things—things that other people may find interesting.
The better way to do this is to create a business account. If you have this account type, you can create Buyable Pins. These are posts that people can click and buy. If you want, you can link your Buyable Pins with your Shopify store.
Pinterest will not charge you for your sale, but you will pay if you advertise on the platform. These ads are called Promoted Pins. The payment is through the cost-per-click model, which means you will only pay if somebody clicked your ad, even if he did not buy.
The issue with Pinterest add is that you cannot make it a sales material. Things like price information, call to action, and promotional information is not allowed.
8. Instagram
Instagram is one of the best places to sell physical goods. Although you cannot sell here technically, what you can do is to post your products, add hashtags, and then add your product description and price.
If someone contacts you or comments, you can work it from there. Instagram is free, and you do not have to pay for the items you sold. Like Pinterest, you will be charged money only if you advertise.
The issue with Instagram is that you cannot post links. All the contents of the post will be text only. This is alright, as all you want really is for people to see your product’s picture.
When selling on Instagram, make sure you only use the best photos. Instagram is a place where the most attractive pictures win the crowd.
You cannot use any payment processing method here, so you have to convince your buyer to pay you some other way, like PayPal or Western Union.
9. Walmart
Walmart is no longer just a chain of stores. It is now also an online marketplace. It is a little difficult to get in, but it is worth a shot.
You must first apply for a seller’s account, and then wait two to three weeks to know if you are approved or not. Walmart prefers that you have previous experience selling online, and they will check your background in Amazon and eBay.
Once approved, you have to complete all the requirements in building your Walmart Store, including the policies for refund and shipping.
Next, you need to add a bank account, and Walmart will need to verify it. This is how Walmart is going to pay you if you made sales on the site.
Unlike Amazon, Walmart does not charge a monthly fee, but it does collect a referral fee. The cost of the referral fee is between 6% and 20% of the selling price.
10. Zibbet
Zibbet is a marketplace that has been around since 2009. Zibbet is like Etsy, where you can put up your own shop and sell. The cost of the subscription is at least $5 per month if you pay annually, and you can use many tools to grow your sales.
If you pay on a monthly basis, the costs $6 per month.
It also has Etsy as a sales channel, which means that the products you sell on Zibbet will also be sold on Etsy. You can also choose to sell on the Zibbet marketplace only, or you can build a standalone website on Stitch.
Zibbet is primarily focused on artsy stuff. The audience here is those looking for handicrafts. Upon sign up, you need to name your store, and add a PayPal email address. All sales will be paid to this PayPal account.
11. Bonanza
Bonanza is an online marketplace like eBay. Here, you can list your products and wait until someone buys. You will pay fees only when you made a sale.
There is a thing in Bonanza called Final Offer Value or FOV. This is the total cost that the customer has to pay, and this is the basis of the fee that you will pay. The site charges 3.5% of the total sale cost.
Bonanza specializes in rare items like antiques and collectibles. The audience you will find here are those looking for vintage items or replicas of that. If you are going to dropship in Bonanza, the hot items that people pay for here are collectible toys, DVDs, memorabilia art, and garden goods and equipment.
Bonanza offers buyer and seller protection, and this is why the site has more than 50,000 registered sellers.
12. Jet
Jet is an online market place that was acquired by Walmart in 2016. Before you can sell here, you have to apply for membership which has to be approved by the Jet team.
After that, you can choose to integrate Jet with your existing store, or just leave it as it is if you have no other sales channels. But if you do, you can integrate Jet with Zentail, Solide Commerce, and GeekSeller.
The thing with Jet is that buyers cannot choose the seller. In Amazon, you can compare two same products sold by two different people. At Jet, a customer cannot do this. The system uses a single-product listing.
It is the Jet system that determines who makes the sale. Also, it is Jet that posts the product. For example, the product title will come from Seller A, and the product description will come from Seller B. Jet will do the checking, and then create a final, single product page.
If your price is competitive, Jet will select you to supply that product to a customer if a sale is made.
13. OfferUp
The last one in this list is OfferUp, an online marketplace for both buyers and sellers. It works like eBay where you post an item and put your listing price, and wait until someone buys.
This site has a thing called Best Offer. This is an algorithm that guides sellers to make a decision on whether to ship the item or not. For example, a buyer makes an offer but has no profile or feedback, then OfferUp will not tag this as Best Offer because it is risky.
Posting and buying items are both free. However, the site will charge money from sellers if you use its premium features, or for big-ticket items like vehicles.
Summary
There go all the 13 methods to make money by dropshipping. What you need to do now is to choose the site that makes the most sense or the site that you find favorable because of your product type.
As you make a choice, review the terms and conditions, especially the fees that you have to pay, and then price your products accordingly, so you make a profit after all your dues are paid.
If you want to know how to make money with dropshipping checkout some more of our articles below!