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Wednesday 11 April 2018

How to: Drop shipping website







Starting an E-commerce store, whilst exciting can also be a very time consuming and lets not forget expensive time for any new business owner. Lets take a quick look at the steps of a traditional e-commerce store owner:


  • Find your niche
  • Register business name & purchase domain
  • Find suppliers
  • Order samples
  • Test samples
  • Order products (bulk)
  • Create a website
  • Add products individually
  • Set prices 
  • Publish website
  • Advertise
  • Hope you get sales.
12 steps, and that's just our short version of what is required. Imagine adding in all the time spent on search engine optimization, product knowledge, advertising, and of course the expenses of packaging, labels etc.

Sounds exhausting right. When you are starting an E-commerce website for the first time, this can be extremely risky too. Having spent  thousands of dollars of stock that may just sit in your warehouse without selling is not the dream you had when starting your business.

So what if things could be easier. Lets cut those steps in half to say:
  • Register business name & purchase domain
  • Register for drop shipping company of choice
  • Select products
  • Advertise
Yes i know, you're probably jumping out of your seat asking where you can sign up. But let me tell you a little more about the wonderful world of drop shipping first.



What is drop shipping?


Drop shipping is the act of providing (goods) by delivery from the manufacturer, direct to the retailer or customer. Therefore you no longer need to hold ridiculous amounts of stock. Quite the contrary, as you do not need to hold ANY!

How it works


You select products > Products appear on your website > Customer purchases products > Products are ordered directly from the manufacturer > Manufacturer sends directly to your customer > You get paid

Where do the products come from?


Products come directly from the manufacturer, which are usually the direct warehouses your products are made in. 

Can I set my own prices?


Manufacturers will have prices set (cost) in which you will be "paying" for the items. You can then select the price you wish to charge customers for these items. Depending on the platform you use.

Do I have to pay for stock?


Technically yes, you are paying for stock. However you don't pay until a customer orders a product, in which the original cost of the stock comes out of the received price from the customer.

How much does it cost to sign up?


There are many different sites available, in which have different features, costs etc. Below we have listed a few of our favorites with details.

Steps to starting a drop shipping website:

Step 1: Choosing your Niche

When starting any business, whether it is an online E-commerce site, a physical store or a service. It is important to choose a niche which interests you, or you have background knowledge on. If you are having trouble figuring out which niche would best suit you, then have a read of our "how to choose your niche" blog. (Click here)

Step 2: Business registration & domain

You will need to register the business name subject to your countries regulations, and purchase a domain name for your website. There are many websites that you can create a domain at a very affordable price, starting at around $1.00 Crazy Domains is a well known website for doing this, and is the preferred choice we use when creating any of our drop shipping sites.






Step 3: Choosing a drop shipping company to use

There are many different companies you can use to make things easier for you when starting a drop shipping company. 


Shopify + Oberlo 

Shopify is the number one E-commerce website builder in the world at present. And have recently teamed up with Oberlo to create a drop shipping option.
To use this system you simply register for a shopify account, which you will require to make your website. You then connect Oberlo using the apps provided.    
Oberlo is FREE to use with your shopify store, and has a seamless system that is simple for everyone. 


To use oberlo: 
Open oberlo dashboard
Search products
Select products you wish to feature on your website
(Products will automatically be added to your shopify store)

Oberlo also offers the option to use the recommended prices for each product. Which is fantastic for those who may not understand how much to up mark their products.

Another well known drop shipping company is Alidropship  which has a similar concept.






Step 4: Advertising/ Marketing

Once your website is complete, you simply publish this and get ready for the marketing. You can read our top picks for digital marketing here. But in the meantime, here are a few examples of ways you can advertise your new business.




Now that you have the steps for starting a Drop shipping company, you have the first steps to the little secret that is taking the E-commerce world by storm.

Want to see an in depth tutorial on how to use any of the above programs? Simply leave us a comment and let us know!

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