Let us create a 3D eBook for you!
Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com

Drop-ship or U-ship: That is the Question


For small Internet retailers, drop-shipping is one of the best innovations since sliced bread. How else can a start-up offer a wide variety of products and convince customers that they have a fully-stocked warehouse-while investing virtually nothing in inventory or warehousing? Before you jump right onto the drop-shipping bandwagon, however, there are some pitfalls to avoid.

While a quality drop-shipper is truly a dream come true for the Internet retailer, there are plenty of painful pitfalls to avoid. Things can get embarrassing and costly in a hurry when a drop-shipper:

? sends products out late
? forgets to process your orders
? sends out poorly packaged products
? double-bills your credit card for orders on a regular basis
? provides cheaply made products and/or shoddy workmanship.

A Matter of Credibility

In addition to the above drawbacks, many customers are not very impressed when they find out you retail drop-shipped products. This is especially the case with the rustic log furniture I sell on the web. Many phone customers ask if we make the products ourselves, or are "merely" drop-shipping.

They are relieved and impressed when they find that we manufacturer, finish or pack most of the log furniture we sell at our warehouse. We sell to a lot of people with expensive vacation homes, and quality is of utmost importance. It's always easier to testify to the quality of furniture when you have seen it yourself, and we are able to offer a more unique line by going to Amish suppliers whose products aren't sold elsewhere on the Internet.

Advantages of Drop-Shipping

With this said, there are still some sizeable advantages to drop-shipping. As the volume of our orders grows, it becomes more and more difficult to package all of that furniture. Fortunately for us, our largest supplier is only two miles away and we have a pretty good deal going: we finish all the log furniture they want finished, and they drop-ship the unfinished furniture. So they make it, we finish it.

That means if somebody orders unfinished furniture, it can go directly from the factory. This might have made me nervous about quality control at one point, but I have developed a high degree of confidence in our log furniture manufacturer. In the five years I have been associated with them, they have never let me down. They fill orders with a high degree of quality and accuracy, which makes our job easy.

Choosing a Drop-Ship Partner

Unfortunately, not all drop-shipping companies are as reliable as the one I have found. This is why it pays to do your homework before choosing a drop-shipping company. If you align yourself with fly-by-night operations, your business will most likely suffer as a result. If you are wildly successful, which you no doubt hope to be, a small start-up may not be able to manufacturer or ship product fast enough to meet your needs. A drop-shipper that is unstable as a business may be happy to take your cash but fail to fill orders on a timely basis.

Any business who drop-ships your orders will affect your reputation as a company one way or another. As a result, it's important to make sure any drop-shipping companies you partner with meet the high level of customer service and quality control standards you set for your business.

Copyright 2005 Log Cabin Rustics

Cari Haus is webmaster for http://www.logcabinrustics.com, an online retailer of quality log furniture.


MORE RESOURCES:

The Market Oracle

US Treasuries Decline Before Record $30 Billion Debt Auction
Bloomberg - 2 hours ago
7 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury three-year notes fell before a record $30 billion auction of the securities. Treasuries of all maturities also declined on concern ...
TREASURIES-Longer bonds fall on auctions, issuance fears Reuters
Treasurys Slide; Long Bond Drops Wall Street Journal
Big Year Coming For Bonds Forbes
CNBC - Reuters
all 244 news articles


Record UK Gilt Sales Raise Risk of Auction Failure
Bloomberg - 2 hours ago
7 (Bloomberg) -- Britain may overwhelm bond investors with a record number of quarterly debt sales, risking the first failed auctions since 2002 as the ...
Fears over UK gilts going unsold First Post
all 3 news articles


Washington Post

Japanese 30-Year Bonds Decline as Dealers Prepare for Auction
Bloomberg - 5 hours ago
7 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s 30-year government bonds fell for a second day on speculation dealers reduced holdings of debt in preparation for an auction of 1.9 ...
Japan 10-Year Bonds Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
Japan Bond Futures Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
Japanese 10-Year Bonds Fall a 2nd Day as Stock Gains Sap Demand Bloomberg
all 541 news articles


MiamiHerald.com

The $100000 Tuna
Luxist, CA - Jan 6, 2009
It may not look like much but the 282-pound Japanese bluefin tuna shown above brought in more than $100000 at auction recently. Two sushi bar owners, ...
Premium Tuna Sells for $104400 in Auction Wall Street Journal
all 275 news articles


Treasurys down ahead of auctions
MarketWatch - 21 hours ago
The notes to be auctioned were trading with a yield about 22 basis points more than regular 10-year Treasurys, said Alex Li, interest-rate strategist at ...
Treasurys Continue to Slide Wall Street Journal
Treasurys down ahead of auctions, ISM data MarketWatch
Treasurys down as auctions loom MarketWatch
all 10 news articles


TopNews

India May Delay 3G Auction, Raise Prices
BusinessWeek - Jan 5, 2009
India's long-awaited 3G and Wimax auctions may be delayed yet again, as the government considers doubling the floor price for prospective licensees. ...
mocoNews.net - More Possible Delays For India's 3G Auctions Washington Post
India Telecom Dept: 3G Auction On Track For Jan 30 CNNMoney.com
DoT rejects finance Ministry's proposals on 3G auction TopNews
TeleGeography - RTT News
all 105 news articles


Voxy

World Milk Prices Continue to Decline - NZ's Fonterra
FLEXNEWS, France - 5 hours ago
Average prices for milk powder have fallen 54 percent since Fonterra started online auctions in July. The auctions offer a one-month contract with delivery ...
Milk powder prices curdle in crisis The Australian
Weak prices at Fonterra online auctions NZ Herald Dunedin Metro
all 35 news articles


Matchbox Battleking K107 Self Propelled Howitzer
Auction Central News, NY - 1 hour ago
(2) As this is a live auction and will take place in either Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or British Summer Time (BST), Ebay's time remaining stamp will not be ...


NY art sales to tempt buyers with attractive prices
Reuters - 17 hours ago
Art values dropped in October when the US-born economic meltdown engulfed the world and several art auctions fell far short of low pre-sale estimates, ...
Secrets of the auction room Sztuka.pl
all 5 news articles


UW SWAP strikes big with Union South bowling alley auction
Isthmus Daily Page, WI - 17 hours ago
As so often happens in online auctions such as this, bidding started low and stayed low until spiking in a flurry of bids on the final days of the auction. ...

Auctions - Google News

home | site map

List2Sell.biz Domain Is For Sale - $8,500 For Enquiries eMail Us

© www.List2Sell.biz 2006

eXTReMe Tracker