.Dropshipping is not limited to shopify, you can even use the platform to do a consignment business.
For instance, you can take products from Aliexpress to Amazon, and you can take amazon products to other niche platforms. This is also another mode of dropshipping, after all it is a reselling business too!
Below I list some of those common channels, you can apply the dropshipping mode on these channels to operate. You can choose one or more combinations, such as eBay, Amazon, etc.
Do dropshipping on eBay
EBay is already well known as one of the largest online B2C platforms. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of dropshipping on eBay:
Advantages of dropshipping on eBay:
Easy to get started - you can jump into eBay immediately and start showcasing your product. Set up an account, add a product, and then you're ready to go. The steps are simple.
Reach a wide audience – you can reach a lot of online buyers who visit eBay regularly, and millions of people will see your display. If the market is very dynamic, you can get a good price for your product.
Less marketing – The traffic on the eBay itself is huge already. You don’t have to worry too much about the regular traffic channels of marketing and SEO. This saves you a lot of time
Disadvantages of dropshipping on eBay:
Transaction fees – eBay’s biggest disadvantage is that you have to pay fees. Some charge a commission of 10% or more of the price of the product. In dropshipping, where the profit margin is already slim, the payment will make your profit even lower.
Constant monitoring – eBay is an auction market, so you need to constantly monitor and re-present the products you want to sell. You can automate this process with a few tools. It’s not as easy as uploading a product to your own e-commerce site and waiting to be sold.
Can not customize the sales platform – After all, it is not your own independent website, you have to follow those rules.
It is very difficult to build a long-term relationship with your customers– You may have a few repeat buyers, but most people probably won’t buy from you again. The goodwill you’ve built up through good service can slowly drain away.
eBay.com doesn’t care about retailers like you, they only care about products. How you communicate with customers, how you build a personal brand, how you design your store, etc., will be greatly limited by the platform.
You’re not building an asset — when you build a store and start generating traffic and repeat customers, you’re building a valuable business that you can sell to anyone. When you sell on eBay, you’re not building a lasting brand or an online asset with any tangible value that you can sell in the future.
Do dropshipping on Amazon
Although Amazon itself stocks and sells products, most products are actually sold by third-party retailers through Amazon’s website. Same as eBay, Amazon aims to speed up sales and solve any problems caused by sales.
Advantages of dropshipping on Amazon:
The advantages of dropshipping on Amazon are similar to those of eBay: it’s easy to get started, can reach a wide audience directly, and doesn’t have to worry about marketing or SEO.
Amazon also has its own order fulfillment warehouse (FBA) so that, in addition to dropshipping, you can supplement your product without having to deal with packaging, shipping or warehousing issues.
Disadvantage:
Transaction fees – like eBay, when you take advantage of a large customer base on the platform, you pay a high commission. Amazon’s commission varies from 10% to 15% depending on the type of product.
If your dropshipping is low margin, the platform commission will make your profit even lower.
Sales disclosure – another risk with the Amazon platform is that Amazon can see all of your sales data, from your best-selling products to your overall sales. In fact, people have been criticizing for using the data to identify good sales opportunities, strengthen its own performance in niche markets, and eventually crowd out other retailers in the market.
You can’t build a long-term relationship with your customers — the same with eBay, it’s almost impossible to build a long-term relationship with your customers. Amazon exists to help themselves, so their biggest interest is in the product, not the seller. How to build a personal brand, display products and communicate with customers will be severely restricted by the platform.
Not customizable – like eBay, you can’t customize. Everything you do about branding, UI, marketing, it’s hard to personalize
Use your own online store for dropshipping
In addition to third-party platforms such as Amazon and eBay. With this platforms you can also choose to set up your own online store to sell products, which attracts a lot of people who are interested in dropshipping.
Advantages of selling in your own store:
Have more control – if you have your own online store, you can create a shopping environment that is good for selling products and, most importantly, increase product value. You can customize the store’s appearance and layout. create customized product pages, and optimize the page so that customers can better understand the product.
Design convenience and simplicity – it’s easy to set up your own e-store, especially with a platform like Shopify. Just choose one of hundreds of store designs, do some customizations, add products, install payment portals. Then you can start selling and making money! It depends on what type of online store you want to create. But you can usually get everything done in one day.
Mobile compatibility – mobile is becoming more and more important now, with nearly 30% of shopping online operating from mobile devices.
Online store platforms like Shopify make it easy to do business on mobile devices. It is especially appealing to dropshipping owners whose phones are actually quite adaptive.
