If you are a seasoned e-commerce veteran, you undoubtedly have heard of drop shipping. But if you are new to the scene, you may not know that you can go into business on the Internet with no inventory! How do you do this? You find a drop ship supplier to ship or 'fulfill' your orders for you. You just collect the customer's money - buy the product from your supplier, and they ship it to your customer with your name on the packing slip.
All you have to do to go into business is a web site, a way to take credit cards (PayPal is a good place to start), and a product to sell! There are several drop ship supplier directories on the internet. You need to be careful, though about using these directories. Many of them are just outdated lists with old or bogus information. Use care when you are buying access to a list of drop shippers.
The best drop ship supplier lists give you the actual name and address of the supplier companies. That is what you want; beware of services that tell you they also provide products - they are most likely a middleman and you will pay too much for your products. Don't use a middleman, you won't be able to price your products competitively.
The internet has opened up a new world of business opportunities to those willing to spend a bit of their time and money to learn the ropes. You don't have to have a huge inventory of products to begin selling online. Drop shipping is a great, low-risk way to start.
