Drop shipping on Amazon can be a pretty cool way of doing business. You have no inventory to worry about, you can reduce your expenses, and you can still get the benefits of selling on Amazon. But to help you avoid making these five mistakes when drop shipping on there, RepricerExpress is here to the rescue.
Mistake 1: Picking Shady Suppliers
Having the right suppliers is key to being great at drop shipping on Amazon. Find the right ones, and you can just about coast through the selling process. But go with the wrong ones, and it’ll be headache after headache sorting things out.
So, what makes a good supplier?
- Reviews: Even if you can meet your supplier in person and vet them that way, you’re still going to need reviews on what they’re like. Talk to other sellers they work with and find out what their experiences have been — what to watch out for, what the common issues are, what their communication style is like and more.
- Websites: A good supplier will have a website that shows what they’re all about. While there can be good suppliers without websites, a supplier with one makes it a whole lot easier to evaluate them and their inventory.
- Experience: Sometimes it can be good to go with an inexperienced supplier. They’re new, so they might be more eager to go the extra mile. If you can afford to diversify your supplier selection, consider giving someone a leg up in getting started. But otherwise, you’ll want to look for a supplier who’s a veteran in the game.
- Value: Good suppliers will have fair prices, but also flexibility to accommodate your orders. Maybe they can drop the price a bit if you can guarantee X number of sales, or maybe they cost more but can ship items faster and more reliably than other suppliers. Make a list of your criteria and see who most fits the bill.
Mistake 2: Skimping on Your Business Strategy
The more you can anticipate how you’ll react in certain situations, the more you’ll be setting yourself up to succeed. Read case studies of Amazon drop shippers and what they learned from their experiences, and see how it relates to what you want to do. It’s so easy nowadays to get set up on Amazon that making mistakes can happen without you almost realizing until it’s too late.
Solidify your drop shipping plan before you start selling so you know where your line in the sand is. And then stick to it.
Mistake 3: Selling the Wrong Items
Finding the right niche is a bit of an art and a bit of a science. You’ll want to pick items that’ll bring in a good profit margin, but also items that make you enjoy the drop shipping process. You can use extensions like camelcamelcamel or Keepa to help you stay up-to-date on Amazon products and their prices, along with getting engaged on social media platforms to see what buyers are actually talking about.
One thing you definitely want to watch out for is taking on too much, product-wise. New drop shippers tend to think they’ll do better the wider they cast their nets, but you can create problems for yourself that way if you can’t keep up with demand, suppliers, product descriptions and shipping. Start off small, see how things go, and then expand once you feel ready to grow. By not spreading yourself too thin, you’ll be able to market adequately to the customers interested in those products.
Mistake 4: Expecting Easy Money
Just because you’re selling someone else’s products doesn’t mean you can take it easy on marketing. You’re the middleman between supplier and buyer, and will have to do your fair share of attracting consumers. This means making sure people know who you are and why they should buy from you instead of Joe Blow down the digital street.
Another thing to consider is shipping costs. If you’re dealing with multiple suppliers, that can mean different shipping prices. And do you absorb the costs, or pass them onto your buyers? Do you have separate prices for items based on who the supplier is, or set a flat rate to make things easier? Sit down and crunch the numbers so you can find the best overall (value/peace of mind) strategy for yourself.
Mistake 5: Ignoring Your Customers
It can be tempting to wash your hands of a sale once it’s done because you’re the middleman, but don’t fall into that trap. Buyers don’t care where the item came from, they only care that you were the one they signed on with to get the product. And that means keeping them abreast of inventory and shipping changes, answering their questions, and addressing any concerns or complaints they have. After all, it’ll be on your page they’ll be leaving their reviews, so do everything in your power to make sure they’re good ones.
One of the best things about being an Amazon drop shipper is you get to set your own prices. But with all the other stuff involved with being a drop shipper, don’t spend any more time on pricing strategies than you have to. Instead, let RepricerExpress take care of that for you so you can focus on growing your brand. Try us today and get the first 15 days absolutely free.
Related: 4 Great Tips for Drop Shipping on Amazon
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