Have you been considering starting an online business that sells specific kinds of products? If you have, you should check this guide on dropshipping for beginners. It is one of the best business models to source your products and delivers them to customers.
Read ahead to find out what dropshipping is, how it works, and the various benefits this business model can offer you. We will also discuss a complete guide on dropshipping for beginners and how you can start your own dropshipping business. Let’s get started on everything you need to know about dropshipping for beginners in 2023.
What we cover
What is Dropshipping?
How Does Dropshipping Work?
A Complete Guide to Dropshipping for Beginners
How Do You Pick a Niche for a Dropshipping Store?
How Do You Find Winning Products for Dropshipping?
How Do You Find Reliable Dropshipping Suppliers?
What Do You Need to Do in Preparation Before Dropshipping?
Best Dropshipping Supplier
FAQs of dropshipping for beginners
Q1: Is dropshipping good for beginners?
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping, put simply, is a method of order fulfillment where an e-business doesn’t actually keep the products they sell in stock. Instead, the business buys inventory from a separate dropshipper, and the dropshipper then delivers the products to the customers. The dropshipper is a third party – usually a sourcing agent, a manufacturer, or a wholesaler.
Dropshipping differs from regular retail because of the presence of a third party. With the third party between the seller and the customer, the seller does not need to keep their own inventory in stock and can rely on the middleman to ensure that the customers receive their products.
As a beginner, you may wonder why you should choose drop shipping instead of a standard retail model. The reason for this is that dropshipping offers you several advantages. Here are some of the advantages you would receive if you chose to dropship for your business:
You can begin dropshipping with less upfront capital.
This is the biggest advantage of dropshipping and the number one reason beginner businesses prefer this business model. Businesses can start with just creating an online store and do not have to invest thousands of dollars in inventory. Inventory usually requires a lot of upfront capital, which can get tied up if the business fails.
With dropshipping, a business doesn’t actually buy a product from the dropshipper until they have already got an order from a customer. This way, the business can be set up with very little money, especially considering the low overhead costs, without requiring any physical warehouses or business operating spaces.
It is very easy to start dropshipping.
To begin the process, you must set up the online store and choose a dropshipper to work with. This means that a beginner does not have to handle inventory and physical products, and nor do they have to manage the logistics of acquiring and delivering products to customers or dealing with returns and overseas shipments.
With dropshipping, a business doesn’t actually buy a product from the dropshipper until they have already got an order from a customer. This way, the business can be set up with very little money, especially considering the low overhead costs, without requiring any physical warehouses or business operating spaces.
There is flexibility when it comes to location.
A dropshipping business is usually run from home or out of a small office location. All that is really needed to run a business is a laptop or two and a good internet connection. This means that there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to where the business is being run from. As long as you are able to properly communicate with the customers and the dropshipper, then it does not matter where you are running the business from.
A dropshipping business can sell various kinds of products.
This is mostly because such a business does not need to order an inventory and can sell any trending products on its online store. As long as the dropshipper they are working with has those products in stock.
Dropshipping is a good way to test out your store or see what the customers like.
With dropshipping, you can start selling certain products and get an idea of whether or not customers are showing interest. You can also switch between the kinds of products you sell until you find something that works for you.
All of this is easy with dropshipping since you do not have to commit to buying a whole inventory and can keep switching between products with little to no additional cost. Many businesses begin with dropshipping, and once they settle on a niche product, they then switch over to the traditional retail model of buying their own product inventory.
How Does Dropshipping Work?
So, how exactly does dropshipping work? Well, the business model for dropshipping works in such a way that a business first creates an online store and markets certain products.
When customers place orders for the products, the business sends that order forward to the dropshipper. The dropshipper will then handle the rest of the product procurement and delivery process for you. Once the dropshipper has your forwarded order, they will source the products and have them delivered to the customers.
The exact process of dropshipping can be considered in a few simple steps for a clearer explanation:
1. A seller creates an online store
2. The seller then enters into an agreement with a dropshipper
3. Customers place orders on the online store
4. The seller forwards the orders to the dropshipper
5. The seller sends the customer an order confirmation
6. The dropshipper ships the order to the customer
7. The customer receives their order
A Complete Guide to Dropshipping for Beginners
Now that we’ve gone over what dropshipping is, the potential benefits you can gain, and an explanation of the dropshipping business model. Let’s explore the tips you should know before you start a dropshipping business.
How Do You Pick a Niche for a Dropshipping Store?
Before starting your online store, you need to decide what kind of products you will sell. This means picking a product niche. There are various ways you can go about doing this.
1. Finding dropshipping niche by Google
You can start by looking up Google keywords to see which products are being searched for the most online. Google keywords lets you search for broad terms, specific keywords, or exact matches.
You can also keep your search relative to your location to see whether customers in your area are looking for certain products. Once you have the numbers from your Google keywords search, you can move on to Google insights for a more detailed insight into the demand for certain products.
With the Google trends tool, you can see search trends over time to gauge whether demand for a product will continue to increase. The tool can also help you understand how a market for product work, and what time of the year demand for that product is the highest or lowest.
The geographical concentration feature is also very useful. It can help you determine which location most of the customers for a product might be based out of.
2. Finding dropshipping niche by Social media trends
After google, it would be a good idea to take a look at different social media trends. To start off, Facebook would be a great social media site to consider, given that it is the biggest social media network in the world at the moment.
Facebook has a very useful tool you can use – Facebook Audience Insights. You can use the free tool to look up certain audiences or audiences that might be interested in different product niches.
The tool offers you information about any keyword you type in, such as the demographics of people that search up that keyword, what other pages these people are interested in and liking, where these people are located, and more about their Facebook activity.
3. Finding dropshipping niche by Wikipedia’s List of Hobbies
Other ways to find a good niche for your dropshipping store include Wikipedia’s list of hobbies or looking at global marketplace trends. One of the top global marketplaces to consider includes Amazon.
How Do You Find Winning Products for Dropshipping?
Once you have selected the product niche you are interested in selling, you can move on to finding winning products from those niches. Here are some success tips you can refer to find a trending product:
1. Best Marketplace listing
The number one way to do this is by taking advantage of other online stores’ bestseller lists. These lists can help you determine exactly which products customers are buying the most.
To start off, you should take a look at Amazon’s Bestsellers. This can help you find the top-selling brands, as well as unbranded products, that are doing well. Similarly, you can also check out the winning products on the online store Wish, as well as the watch count on eBay.
2. Competitor product research
Another thing you can do is research what your competitors are selling. Look up different online stores in your area that are selling products of the same or similar niches. Then, take a look at their best sellers and which products their customers are leaving the most reviews on.
One more option to consider is researching product hashtags on TikTok and monitoring high-performance ads. This will give you a better idea about specific products that people are looking for and demanding.
3. Product research tools
And finally, we would suggest that you make use of various online product research tools. Many of these tools are free and can be added as extensions to your internet browser. Some examples include EPROLO, Sell the Trend, AliShark, Dropship Spy, Find Niche, and more!
How Do You Find Reliable Dropshipping Suppliers?
The future success of your dropshipping business depends on finding reliable dropshippers that have products worth the money. Without reliable dropshippers, having your business take off and build a good reputation for yourself can be difficult.
One of the best ways to find a reliable dropshipper is by contacting the manufacturers of certain products. As the manufacturers, which suppliers they work with, and the relevant contact details. This way, you can be certain that you are dealing with legitimate suppliers.
Many websites list their suppliers under different product niches. These supplier directories are a great resource for finding a dropshipping supplier that you might want to work with. Worldwide Brands and Salehoo are two directories you can check out. Other than these directories, you can try your luck through some extensive Google searches. And finally, visiting trade shows will allow you to meet with and get to know a number of suppliers in your niche product market.
What Do You Need to Do in Preparation Before Dropshipping?
Before you actually begin dropshipping, it is a good idea to have all your goals set out so that you can prepare to achieve them. As we have mentioned before, research goes a long way in helping you figure out what product niche you want to sell, which products will be the winning ones, and which products to stay away from.
The next and most important step to take before beginning dropshipping is to prepare your finances. One thing to keep in mind is to separate your personal finances from your business finances. It would be a good idea to set up a business bank account and to prepare payment gateways in advance. This means you must determine whether you plan to use local or international payment methods.
You should also familiarize yourself with tax considerations and learn what is expected from your dropshipping business in terms of taxes. For more preparation details before dropshipping, please click here to have a read. It will show you the dropshipping mistake you should avoid.
Best Dropshipping Supplier
So, now that we’ve gone through most of our guide on dropshipping for beginners in 2022, let’s take a look at EPROLO – the best dropshipping supplier you should consider working with.
EPROLO provides several professional services that will help entrepreneurs rocket their e-commerce businesses. It mainly scales dropshipping business, allowing you to start an online business with lower risk investment. It is also one of the best sourcing agents to provide you with trending products at wholesale prices.
There are many advantages you can gain as a dropshipping beginner by using EPROLO as your supplier:
- EPROLO is completely free and does not charge a monthly service fee like other dropshippers;
- The company uses an automated dropshipping business model that can streamline the entire selling process for you;
- EPROLO provides additional branding services such as printing out brand logos and packaging the products in your brand’s packaging for you;
- The company can offer you several products at wholesale prices so that you have the opportunity to maximize your profits from sales;
- EPROLO is compatible with many different dropshipping e-commerce stores, such as Shopify and AliExpress;
- EPROLO offers Additional Fulfillment Services for Amazon, which makes for easy and convenient amazon dropshipping for beginners.
By using EPROLO, you can become an authorized Amazon user. This offers several benefits to help your dropshipping business expand and become profitable. To begin with, you can choose products from Amazon that have already been prescreened. Once you find products from Amazon’s inventory, EPROLO can automate your process.
EPROLO’s fulfillment services include Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), where EPROLO can help you source products from China and ship them over to the Amazon warehouse, as well as Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM), where you then get orders from your store on Amazon and EPROLO syncs these orders for you and ships the products off to your customers.
FAQs of dropshipping for beginners
Q1: Is dropshipping good for beginners?
Yes, dropshipping is a very good option for first-time entrepreneurs. This is because it is a low-risk project and requires very little upfront capital to work with.
Q2: Can you start dropshipping without money?
Yes, quite a few platforms allow you to start dropshipping freely during a trial period. Some options to choose from include eBay, Amazon, and Shopify.
Q3: Is dropshipping illegal?
No, dropshipping is not illegal. As long as you are working with credible dropshippers and are protected by a Dropshipping Agreement Contract, you can legitimately use dropshipping as your method of order fulfillment.
Q4: Is dropshipping worth it in 2023?
Dropshipping is becoming increasingly popular in 2023 and is definitely worth it if you are considering starting a dropshipping business. Online shopping and ecommerce is a growing and profitable field that dropshipping beginners can benefit from.
