Dropshipping is one of the well-known e-commerce business model and a potentially lucrative business for that. One of its major appeal is that, virtually anybody can get started on dropshipping. Hence, that partly explains the popularity of dropshipping in the circles of e-commerce.
That being said, as with other types of businesses, dropshipping has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you are new to dropshipping and deciding on whether to give it a try or not, this article will help you see the both sides of this potentially lucrative business.
That being said, let’s talk about dropshipping and its pros and cons.
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is an e-commerce business model where the seller does not stock his or her inventory. Instead, he or she partners up with a manufacturer or supplier. Then, the seller will post the manufacturer’s products on his online store. Once someone buys in his store, the manufacturer or supplier will directly deliver the product to the customer on behalf of the seller. The manufacturer will simply set the base price and it’s up to the seller on how much profit would he want to make from his products.
Advantages of Dropshipping
1) Anyone can do it
As long as you have a stable internet and a laptop, you can virtually get started in dropshipping. Whether you’re a college student, someone who works at a regular job and needs an extra income, a housewife, or whoever you are, as long as you have access to the internet, you can get started on dropshipping.
Partly, this is because you can get started with little to no cost – if anything, the only cost you have is your internet connection and laptop for initial investment.
Also, you can get started wherever you are – whether you live in the US, Europe, Asia or even Africa, you can get started as long as, again, you have a good access to the internet.
2) Potentially high profit margins (with little to no startup cost)
Aside from the ability to get started on dropshipping with little or even no cost at all, the best thing about dropshipping is that, you can earn potentially a lot of profit from it. While a regular business limits your profit potential (low startup investment = low profit potential), this is not the case with many online businesses such as dropshipping!
Even if you started at $100 or even $20, you can gradually grow your profit multiple times than your initial cost!
3) You can run your store anywhere
Since the internet almost knows no geographical boundaries, you can run your business anywhere. This means that you can run your business even if you’re on a vacation in the Philippines or Indonesia. This means that you can operate your store even if you’re visiting the beautiful places and cities in Europe.
Of course, it’s up to you on whether or not to bring your business with you when you’re travelling. The point is, you can freely travel anywhere and not worry about missing a thing on your business.
Disadvantages of Dropshipping
1) You have no control on the product quality and delivery
Since your manufacturer or supplier supplies your products, you have no control over your products. If the manufacturer you happen to partner with is unreliable, then your store will also suffer.
Of course, you can mitigate this by wisely choosing your suppliers – and indeed, there are great suppliers/manufacturers out there. But in the end, you still have no control on your products. If the manufacturer/supplier you partnered with changed course, you have no control on that.
2) Dropshipping is a very crowded space
Since virtually anyone can start their own dropshipping business, the market eventually became saturated. This means that you need to deal with potentially hundreds of thousands of competitors and find ways on how to stand out from them.
Fulfillmen Can Help You With Dropshipping!
If you have decided to start a dropshipping business, Fulfillmen can help you with your business. We offer dropshipping services (among other interesting services) which can help you meet your business goals.
If you are interested, you can simply contact us here. Our dedicated team will gladly assist you in your matter!
+86 752-2313067
