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Making money online can be done in many ways, and using the best dropshipping suppliers to create your own highly profitable dropshipping business is certainly one of the most practical.
This retail model, along with the many dropshipping, wholesale companies and platforms available have been around for many years. Some of them dating back to the 1990s or even earlier.
Moreover, dropshipping is a cheap solution for those working from home. Not to mention, a great way to access cutting-edge products and high discounts while maintaining a flexible inventory that you can change at any time.
What is Dropshipping and How Does It Work?
Focused on acquiring products from a third party and reselling them, dropshipping allows merchants to pick and choose their preferred products to sell. And provided that they find reliable dropshipping suppliers, can set up a highly profitable business in no time.
Before looking for the best dropshipping suppliers, it’s important to understand what dropshipping is and how the business model works.
The basic idea of the model is that you become a merchant who connects product suppliers with clients through your own online store and inventory. This is backed up by vetted products provided through wholesale dropshipping suppliers such as SaleHoo and AliBaba.
When a client places an order on your website, the order is sent automatically to your dropshipping supplier who will then prepare to ship the order. The requested product is then shipped directly to the customer, and you get paid the difference between the wholesale price and the price you set on your eCommerce store.
So, if for example, you find a t-shirt sold by a supplier at a wholesale price of $12, you can sell it for $20 on your website, get it ordered for your customer, and pocket the difference.
Building Your Own Online Dropshipping Business
The best dropshipping suppliers can provide you with many resources to build up your business from scratch, and you won’t need a large upfront investment. However, you might also need to find your own tools, if they are not provided through the platform, or you’d prefer to find better avenues to set up your business and online store.
While you can use social media, blogging, or video marketing to promote products, it is essential to also have your own online store. This is where you’ll need a little upfront investment money.
Start with deciding on your niche and researching it, then setting up your own domain name and hosting platform for your online store. After that, you can use a special CMS platform for installing the website and activating it. WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, and Open Cart are some of the best dropshipping platforms you can currently use.
It’s also a good idea to invest a little extra into promoting your online store through SEO, social media, and email marketing.
Who Are The Best Dropshipping Suppliers?
The best wholesale businesses you can use are those that provide you with access to a comprehensive, well-organized, and constantly screened database of high-quality products that are very likely to sell for a great price.
Keep in mind that even though some wholesalers on our list are free, that doesn’t always reflect on the quality being offered. A lot of the best dropshipping suppliers will require payment for membership tiers, but they also provide a wide selection of products, excellent customer service, and timely deliveries.
Consider what 5 of the best wholesale companies in the world can offer.
1. SaleHoo.com
Experts believe SaleHoo is one of the very best dropshipping suppliers. The company is based in New Zealand and has been around since 2005. They have more than 1.6 million products from a selection of more than 8,000 different vetted suppliers.
Every supplier among their 75 categories is verified as legitimate and authentic. Moreover, in-depth product discovery tools allow members to determine how likely it is that a product might sell on major platforms like Amazon and eBay.
In addition, they provide a handy training platform that makes using SaleHoo very easy to learn.
2. AliBaba
A high-profile and well-known wholesale supplier that’s very popular in Asia, AliBaba and AliExpress (its sister site) are great alternatives for those who want to start out with dropshipping without investing too much money.
Although there isn’t much information about all the products, the service is free and the selection is huge. Moreover, AliExpress has excellent support, and many listings are posted directly by the manufacturers rather than wholesalers.
3. Oberlo
Among the best dropshipping suppliers out there, Oberlo is one that has a lot of products and is integrated into Shopify. It has many options for shipping, including ePacket, China Post, UPS, FedEx, AliExpress Shipping, and more.
One of its features includes the ability to place bulk orders up to 1,000 orders at once. The platform is convenient, cheap, and easy to get started with, making it a fun, exciting, and profitable choice for beginners.
4. Printful
Print-on-demand dropshipping provides sellers with the option of selling a wide array of customized mugs, t-shirts, and other products using their own designs. Printful is one of the best and easiest wholesalers supporting the print-on-demand model.
It ensures outstanding customization and the option of adding brand labels, stickers, inserts, and more while subscribing to a cheap monthly plan.
5. Spocket
When seeking the best dropshipping suppliers, don’t ignore the newcomers. Spocket is a growing service that offers a remarkable diversity of products and ease of use for entrepreneurs looking to sell in Europe and the United States.
Spocket provides easy integration with your online store and can streamline your work when it comes to dealing with your inventory and order fulfillment. Furthermore, they’ve recently launched a print-on-demand collection that can be used together with Oberlo and Printful.
Spotting Fake Wholesalers
To find the best dropshipping suppliers, you need to understand your industry’s various distribution channels and research the manufacturers associated with your niche.
Unfortunately, not all wholesalers offer dropshipping services, and some of those that promote themselves as dropshipping suppliers might even be scammers.
When researching the best dropshipping suppliers, make sure that they are verified, they provide proper contact details, and that they don’t sell to the public, but only through verified merchants.
Legitimate dropshipping companies will not claim to give you huge margins or ask for large upfront fees or pre-order fees. Additionally, they are not “middlemen” dropshippers who will pass your order to the real wholesaler.
Finally, you have to be able to get samples and build a good rapport with the dropshipping supplier you choose. That means you’ll need to establish good communication with the supplier from the start, get information on their order requirements, and do a background check to see whether or not their business operates as advertised.
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Summary
By working through these methods you can ensure that you won’t be charged expensive hidden fees and that your customers will not be victims of bad practices that would also reflect poorly upon your reputation.
So long as you research the best dropshipping suppliers, tools, methods, and business strategies, you can easily be on your way to success.
