5 Amazon Dropshipping Tips

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For a general crowd, dropshipping is one procedure of selling products without getting the responsibility of carrying shipping or inventory goods. This is one interest model for business, which has increased its popularity recently, as you can get to see it by the Google Trends. You now get the chance to dropship on Amazon or by using that own e-commerce store. 

Before you get right into ways to dropship on Amazon and how it works, it is time to touch on the dropshipping by using your own store. For the first steps, you need to list the items on your site without even holding any physical inventory. Then you get to receive an order and finally contact the supplier, who will ship one item or more to the consumer directly. The method is pretty simple and straightforward. However, dropshipping on Amazon can prove to be a bit tricky, so learning the steps beforehand is important.

Understanding The Value of Dropshipping on Amazon

Amazon is targeted to be one of the biggest e-commerce sites globally, with a sales hike at around $280 billion as of 2019. Once you have actually approved for that Amazon seller account, you can start selling on the platform. Dropshipping on Amazon is mostly accepted as long as you comply with the requirement rules from Amazon. For that, you need to:

• Work our as the seller or records of the products in here for selling
• Have to identify yourself as a seller of products on all the packing slips and some other information provided in connection with them
• Get to remove any of the invoices, packing slips, external packaging, or other valid information used for identifying third-party drop shipper before shipping the order
• Need to hold a responsible head for accepting and then processing customer returns of the items
• Must comply with all the terms associated with the seller agreement and applicable Amazon policies

There are some examples of drop shipping, which are not permitted. You need to be associated with those points too. You cannot drop-ship by purchasing items from any other online retailer and then having that retailer ship to the customers directly. It is also not allowed if you want to ship orders with invoices, packing slips, or any other information, to indicate seller name or contact information other than your own. Failing to comply with any of the requirements as mentioned by the Amazon team will result in removing selling privileges.

The Power of Amazon FBA

It is mandatory to cover Dropshipping on Amazon with the help of Fulfilled By Amazon or FBA program. With FBA, Amazon gets the chance to pick, pack, and then ship orders for you. They are here to offer to track information to customers and then take care of related customer service, which will include the returns.

• But, this form of service will definitely come with a cost. What you are here to pay on Amazon will solely depend on the product you are willing to sell and at what time. In case the goods are there in the warehouse for over six months, then you have to pay those long term based storage fees. The Amazon fee calculator is currently available online for calculating the costs and revenue.
• In case you are one FBA seller, the product listing will target sold by “seller name” and fulfilled by “Amazon.” One major benefit of using the FBA fulfillment method is that you will stay eligible to present Prime shipping to customers. Moreover, chances of your winning Buy Box will also increase.
• Even when Amazon will not allow traditional dropshipping methods, there are plenty of sellers who will still do it. In case you ever come across a listing where the shipping time is marked for 7 to 14 days, then it is highly purchased from a drop shipper anywhere else, like China.

The Pros and Cons to Consider

Right now, dropshipping has become one major method to start any business on Amazon. It is arguably the most lucrative method of selling items on Amazon, which will include private label and wholesale. 

Wholesaling is more about when you are purchasing goods at a bulk rate from any supplier to just resell to another retailer or distribute as a retailer yourself.

The private label is one method of manufacturing own products to be sold on Amazon. But, there are numbers of advantages that dropshipping do have on Amazon who is more than a private label and wholesale.

Enjoy Lower Startup Costs

Unlike the other popular e-commerce methods like wholesaling and private label, dropshipping will not need you to your own inventory. 

In its place, when you are going to get paid by the consumer on sale, then you can just simply turn that around and then use a portion of the proceeds for purchasing a product from a supplier. Then it has to be ship to the buyer.

A Faster Way to Set Things Up

As you do not have to worry about owning your own inventory while dropshipping on Amazon, it is easier to set up and quicker at the same time. The best part is that you do not have to wait for the inventory to be just manufactured or shipped to the fulfillment location. It is always ready to go, and all that you need is one sale.

An Ultimate and Fully Automated Business

You will come across loads of apps and plugins, which run online. It will help you to automate the dropshipping completely on Amazon. For such reasons, you can almost completely handoff with the current dropshipping business. 

Amazon Will Always Allow Dropshipping

As per the dropshipping policy from Amazon, the method is generally acceptable. So, be sure to follow the specified drop shipping guidelines from Amazon before moving to the next step and working on it.

Also Quite Easy To Research

Apart from the points mentioned above, dropshipping on Amazon will add selling some of the pre-existing products from the manufacturing units over here. For this, you can use some of the tools like Jungle Scout, which is a one all-in-one platform for selling items on Amazon. You will further get to see how well some of the other sellers of that said product are actually performing on Amazon. This actually provides you with an edge over your competitors while working on the e-commerce business.

Now For The Disadvantages

When checking out drop shipping and its advantages, you will be amazed at this business module for sure. But, much like anything else, this dropshipping will have its share of disadvantages or cons to consider as well.

Hardcore Competition All The Way

As there remains a barrier of entry, and those are pretty low with dropshipping, competition is always towards the higher side. Along with that, there remains the possibility of some differentiation with items that you are selling. So, nothing will stop other Amazon sellers from selling such identical items. Price also remains one of the few levers that you need to pull for setting yourself apart from others.

Slower Delivery Times in Here

Most of the time, goods that are drop shipped on amazon will be shipped from manufacturers and suppliers. Those suppliers are mostly overseas. Mainly because of this reason, shipping times from overseas suppliers can easily take around a few weeks to reach the buyer.

Lacking Quality Control With The Products

As items get shipped quite directly from manufacturer to buyer, there is hardly any way for you to take control over the product’s quality. Whenever you consider that products might travel around 10,000 miles or even more for reaching the final destination, the chances are high that the item might get damaged in the process. 

Five Success Tips While Dropshipping on Amazon

Well, not to forget that dropshipping is pretty simple. Creating one such business on Amazon is quite easy. However, succeeding with the dropshipping on Amazon will be a completely different story. With the help of five successful tips, you might end up making the right choice here.

Tip 1: Focus on Customers

Whenever you are planning to perform dropshipping on Amazon, you will be taking a lot of hard parts of just being an entrepreneur. There is no need to manufacture a product or the need to ship it. Just be sure that the customers receive it, and they are happy with the result.

• So, the time that you normally spend to run your business, you can invest those hours for customer service with dropshipping.

On the other hand, customer service will help you to get some proper product reviews. These reviews can easily make or just break products on Amazon.

Tip 2: Always Cast Down a Wide Net

As you do not have to worry about the startup costs with the dropshipping business, it becomes a lot easier for casting a wide net forward. In other words, you can list down multiple items right at the same time. 

• Some options are here to fail, and then you have others, which might succeed.  
• All you have to do is double down on the points that might work and then cut down the rest.
• As long you get to follow the rules that Amazon has laid down for you, the approach will be pretty fine. You just need to stay organized all the way and get positive results in return.

Tip 3: Time to Promote The Listing First

For maximizing sales, you have to drive traffic to product listing. You can cover this task in so many ways.

• At first, you need to have an Internal Sponsorship Program from Amazon, PPC. With PPC, you have to create ads for products to make them appear on a higher scale in Amazon Search results for your set up keywords.
• Then you need to drive traffic to Amazon product listing through some of the external methods like blogging, social media, and email marketing. 
• This method might get a bit difficult to start with, but it will help you to differentiate your item from that of your competitors. 

Tip 4: Time To Get Some Samples Going

Before you ever got to the stage where you are listing your items, be sure to know what your selling points are. Be sure to order for the unit in advance to know what you are dealing with. And if you can perform the task without letting any supplier know about it, then it will be even better.

• Whenever the sample arrives at your doorstep, it is time to inspect the same. The look of the product, the time it takes for the product to arrive and whether the item looks like the image – these questions need to be answered first.
• These little details will actually help you to predict how the customers might receive the product once you start the dropshipping business on Amazon.

Tip 5: Primary Focus Needs to Be on The Brand

One major disadvantage associated with dropshipping is that you will be selling items over, which you won’t have any final say in the design or development process. Along with that, the sellers might get access to the same supplier.

• It might leave you with a steep competitive advantage. So, it is vital to focus on the brand instead.
• Even when the product remains identical to competitors, it does not mean that the result will be the same. 
• The reason over here is pretty simple. It is because people focus on the brand name along with the image it purveys.

The Final Thoughts on Dropshipping on Amazon

The points mentioned already, along with the pros and cons and the successful tips, are enough to portray the value that dropshipping business has on Amazon. Keeping the major points in mind and following the strict Amazon guidelines are all that you need to attain success in this method. Remember to learn more about the difference between Amazon FBA and regular dropshipping, just to take the proper steps forward.

Know the ways you should start drop shipping in Amazon and also learn about the advanced tactics. These methods will actually help you to take your current Amazon store to its next level forward.