Most of you are familiar with the fact that Ebay dropshipping (also known as arbitrage) is becoming quite popular these days and can be indeed a profitable business model. I personally know hundreds of people who have started in the past few years and have increased their sales to millions in revenue.
As a result, the marketplace is overcrowded and if you are already dropshipping for some years you can easily notice the big difference in margins now and then. The more people who join the ride, the harder it is to stand out from the competition.
However, there is a lot you can do about it! Below are a few ideas that will have a dramatic impact on your Ebay dropshipping business!
So keep reading… and take good notes!
The newbies and a brief overview of the market
From my experience with more than 300 dropshippers, it looks like beginners usually struggle with finding profitable items to sell. It is rather easy to open an Ebay and a Paypal account and figure out the listing, selling and shipping processes, but WHAT to sell seems to be an issue.
At least 95% of all arbitrageurs use Amazon as a supplier and there are several reasons for that – millions of items with a good quality and price, super fast shipping and outstanding customer support. This makes it a great one supplier to start with but as a result Ebay is full of Amazon products and a lot of them are listed by hundreds of people.
There is another reason for Amazon to be the most widely used supplier. Inexperienced sellers often research other drop-shipping stores on eBay to find hot items that they can “steal” and list with a lower price. When almost everyone is selling Amazon products, chances are really high that your research will end up with another Amazon item.
There are more than 100 listings of the same product with same picture, same description and a pretty similar title and price. So basically even if you offer the lowest price(which often means you sell at a loss) on this particular product, you will still be one of the many and struggle to make a sale.
All this leads to ever greater competition where not only you are selling rarely but your profits are slimmer, often less than $0.50. The lack of knowledge and experience leads to price undercutting and slimmer profits, where the only winner is the customer. As the famous billionaire investor and venture capitalist Peter Thiel says – “Competition is for losers”.
So what do we do about it? Let’s get to the point!
Work your way out of the price war rollercoaster
If you really want to jump start your business without necessarily paying with your time, you have to find new suppliers to drop-ship from. There are literally hundreds and here are a few I personally work with and would recommend:
Let’s make a brief overview of the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Less competition
- Higher profits
- Different products, often with a better price than Amazon
- Cashback 2-8% (only a few categories have cashback for Amazon)
Cons:
- There is no match for the Amazon customer support
- Returning policies may vary and you should check the terms
- Some accept US cards only
Building a successful and sustainable eBay drop-shipping business
It takes much more than including a new supplier in your arsenal to grow your business but it’s a must if you are serious about it. I have friends that use this strategy for a few months already and increase their sales with 50-100% every new month, no joke. So keep this in mind:
Less competition means more sales with higher profit, more competition leads to less sales, less profit and more stress! In other words – don’t sell what everyone else is selling – take your time, make a deeper research and do not rely on Amazon only.
Now get your *** back to work and don’t forget to check our blog for new content every week!
