Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Dropship Wholesalers : Identifying Scamsters

Original here.

My last post spoke about dropship wholesalers and dropshipping. In this post, I am going to speak about the methods one could use to identify scamsters pretending to be dropship wholesalers. By applying these checks, you can safely separate the genuine dropship wholesalers from the scamsters.

Some of the easiest things to identify a scam are:

* one or many outdated lists with links that don't work;
* clear indications of "dealer networks" and "bulk wholesalers" who hide the fact that they're actually MIDDLEMEN (who take their cut of the profit), not real, factory-authorized wholesalers (These are particularly common.);
* this site links to OTHER sites asking for more money for THEIR list (that one really burned me);
* IMPORTANT: sites that hide their contact information so it becomes impossible to ask questions or get support - Any genuine site would have some means of letting it's visitors contact them; and
* Last, but not the least, if the appearance of the site does not seem professional, RUN!!

These tips should help you easily identify the genuine dropship wholesalers and identify the scams.

Additionally, the following information about dropship wholesalers almost proves that the site claiming to be dropship wholesalers are genuine:

* They are certified by certifying agencies such as The Better Business Bureau (BBB). The Better Business Bureau has been guarding consumers against fraud for decades.
* They are have been certified by or are partners with companies like eBay, Amazon, etc.

If dropship wholesalers satisfy the above two criteria, they you can do business with them without any fear or reservations!

Based on a survey of sites which are reliable, the following 3 dropship wholesalers sources appeared as the top dropship wholesalers in the industry:

  1. Salehoo - SaleHoo currently has suppliers for over 150 categories of goods, from jewelry and DVDs to plumbing supplies. Whatever you're looking for... we'll have a supplier for it. They've listed manufacturers, wholesalers and dropshippers, so no matter what quantity you're after... you're catered for. They have legitimate and authentic suppliers for both generic goods and brand-name goods, including Gucci, Prada, D&G, Versace, Polo, YSL, and Seven, to name a few! And most importantly, they have staff working 7 days a week, available to answer your questions and find suppliers if they're not already listed in their directories.


  2. World Wide Brands - World Wide Brands provides thousands of pre-verified, scam-free wholesalers who have already agreed to work with Home-Based EBiz owners. Dropshippers send products one at a time directly to your customer from the warehouse. No inventory investment! Millions of brand name products. They also provide thousands of pre-verified, scam-free wholesalers who are willing to sell at real Bulk Wholesale pricing for minimum orders under $500. Break into Bulk Wholesale for a fraction of the usual cost! Millions of Brand Name products.

  3. Doba - Doba connects you to 75 wholesale distributors, manufacturers, and craftsmen in one place. When you sign up, you gain full access to all the drop ship wholesalers and their wholesale product catalogs. Most importantly, Doba offers a FREE 7 day trial, so you can see what you are getting into!! Click here to sign up for the free trial offer now.
With all this information about identifying genuine dropship wholesalers, you should be on your way to profiting from dropshipping!

Dropshipping and Dropship Wholesalers

What is Dropshipping and Who are DropShip Wholesalers ?

Dropship wholesalers are people/organizations that help people utilize the phenomenon of drop shipping. Wikipedia defines drop shipping as :

"supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to dropship wholesalers, who then ship the goods directly to the customer . The retailers make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price."

In short, this means that the dropship wholesalers take care of the entire headache of packaging and shipping the product to the users while you just have to list the products for sales on sites like eBay.

Drop shipping can occur from dropship wholesalers when a small retailer who typically sells in small quantities to the general public receives a single large order for a product. Rather than route the shipment through the retail store, the retailer may arrange for the goods to be shipped directly to the customer from dropship wholesalers.

Benefits that Dropship Wholesalers provide:

The two main benefits of drop shipping from dropship wholesalers are - no upfront inventory to purchase and a positive cash flow cycle. A positive cash flow cycle occurs because the seller is paid when the purchase is made. The seller usually pays the wholesaler using a credit card or credit terms. Therefore, there is a period of time in which the seller has the customer's money, but has not yet paid the wholesaler.Scams

Drop shipping has also featured prominently in some Internet-based home-business scams. Scam artists will promote drop shipping as a lucrative work-from-home opportunity. The victim who buys into this scam will be sold a list of businesses from which drop-shipment orders can be placed. These businesses may not be wholesalers, but other businesses or individuals acting as middlemen between retailers and wholesalers, with no product of their own to sell. These middlemen often charge prices that leave little profit margin for the victim, and require a regular fee for the retailer's usage of their services.

Trusted Sources

While looking for trusted sources, make sure that the source has some sort of a certification that proves that the dropship wholesalers are secure and trustworthy

Salehoo is one of the best sources of dropship wholesalers and is widely trusted as well. Salehoo is a trusted member of the eBay Developer's program. Additionally, Salehoo has been certified for a high level of trust by America's BBB (Better Business Bureau). Salehoo's report can be checked by clicking here.

So if you are interested in getting a list of dropship wholesalers, Salehoo is one of the best sources.