Wholesale Dropship Suppliers - How to Select the Best One For Your Online Store.

April 17, 2010 - PRLog -- As the owner of a successful business that dropships for over 300 websites worldwide, I feel that I have earned the right to call myself an expert on this subject. There are numerous wholesale dropship suppliers out there in cyber land, but before you sign up with one and start loading their products on to your website, you should educate yourself and have an idea about what is good and what is not.

A simple internet search will reveal wholesale dropship suppliers ranging from dog clothing to electronics, so the first thing you'll want to do is determine the type of online business you want to have. Once you have figured that out, here are a few key questions that you should ask:

Is there a monthly or annual fee?

Some wholesale dropship suppliers will charge a recurring fee that could range from $99 per year to $19.99 per month (approximately $240 per year). This may not sound too expensive but remember you will pay that fee even if you don't generate any sales. If you already have a successful online business and you are generating plenty of web traffic sales, then this fee may not bother you. However, if you are a new online business with an unproven track record, then this fee could impact your bottom line. My advice-- stay clear of the recurring fees until your web sales are consistent.

What is the return policy?

Typically, online sales will generate a fair amount of returns and exchanges. You need to make sure that your company's return policy is close to the same as your wholesale dropship supplier. For instance, if you accept exchanges after 21 days but your supplier only accepts exchanges after 14 days, you could find yourself with a problem. Likewise, there are some wholesale dropship suppliers out there that will not accept returns or exchanges at all on dropshipped items. You have to decide if you are willing to do business with those companies.

Is customer service accessible?

If your supplier doesn't return your phone calls or emails in a timely manner when you are just starting out and trying to gather information, then what will you do once your online business is up and running and you have a customer with a question that only the supplier can answer? Their poor customer service will make YOU look bad with your customer.

What are the shipping and handling fees?

The fee structure needs to be simple and fair. You can expect almost every dropshipper to add either a "dropshipping" fee or a "handling" fee of a few dollars on each sale. This shouldn't exceed about $5.00 depending on how expensive the items are. It could be more substantial on higher-end items such as televisions or stereos.

This brings us to the question that you must now ask yourself:

How do you plan on marketing your online business?

Having the best possible wholesale dropship supplier will not guarantee you any sales if no one can find your website. Unfortunately, I see new online marketers make this mistake all too often. Too many people out there think that a fancy website with a bunch of great products will result in profits. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, about 80% of the sites that register with my company for dropship services are out of business within 1 year! They spend a great deal of time and money on their site and they do not properly know how to market themselves online. As a wholesale dropship supplier, our company wants new accounts to succeed so we offer a solution by promoting an educational tool that will teach the new online business owner how to market his/her website. You need to have a marketing budget set aside because whether you do it yourself or hire a 3rd party, marketing will cost you time and money. Anyone who tries to tell you differently is not telling you the truth! The strategies that we use have landed our company #1 on many different keyword searches. We have the results to prove that our strategies actually work- and we are willing to share our secrets. If you're not careful, you could pay thousands of dollars to a company that promises you top search engine rankings only to wake up a year later and realize that they still haven't accomplished it. Don't let that happen to your business.

Having your own online business can be fun and profitable! Just make sure you ask the proper questions before you jump it. I wish you all the success imaginable.

Greg Preite is a successful traditional and online business owner. His online business has customers worldwide and is known as being one of the top wholesale dropship suppliers in their niche market. You can contact Greg directly for more information or go to www.OnlineProfitStrategy.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHx_lZ_lK70



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Preite

# # #

We provide wholesale and dropshipping service for other eCommerce and brick and mortar stores. We also help new entrepreneurs set up eCommerce sites and teach profitable and simple online marketing strategies.