2020’s coronavirus disaster led many a discouraged employee to consider self-employment by way of entrepreneurship. In simple English, more than one furloughed worker considered opening a new business. As a result, drop shipping became a hot topic. Wholesalers not previously engaged in drop shipping started offering all sorts of products. Sunglasses were among them.
You might be wondering if drop shipping sunglasses represents a good business model. It could go either way. The issue isn’t really the product you decide to sell. Any product that sells under the normal retail model can be drop shipped. No, it is how you go about building a drop shipping business.
This post will discuss some of the ins and outs of drop shipping. Wholesale sunglasses will provide the example, but everything you read here applies to any type of product you might sell as an online retailer.
What Drop Shipping Is
The place to start is defining what drop shipping is. As an online retailer, you would normally purchase wholesale sunglasses and have them shipped to you. Then you would ship to your customers as orders are placed. In a drop shipping scenario, you never actually see the products. When a customer places an order with you, you turn around and place that same order with your drop shipper. The drop shipper ships the order to your customer in packaging that bears your company name.
Drop shipping benefits you in that you don’t have to worry about overhead or the time and expense of shipping. However, it is disadvantageous in that you make less profit per piece. That’s because your wholesaler’s have to cover their shipping and handling costs. That eats into your profit.
Fair Wholesale Pricing
The key to successful drop shipping lies in a couple of things, the first of which is fair pricing. Under the traditional retail model, you will get an excellent price on bulk sunglasses from Salt Lake City’s Olympic Eyewear. Will you find a drop shipper willing to match that price? Maybe. Then again, maybe not.
Wholesalers sometimes charge retailers higher prices for the privilege of drop shipping. In essence, they mark up shipping costs in order to make a profit on them, too.
Strong Wholesaler Support
Another thing you have to consider is wholesaler support. As a retailer, you are a customer of every wholesaler with whom you do business. They should offer you the same level of support you offer your customers. If they don’t, is it worth doing business with them?
Strong support is displayed in a willingness to answer your questions and solve your problems. It is demonstrated with open lines of communication. Whatever way your customers would describe strong support from your business should also apply to your wholesalers.
Adequate Inventory and Selection
This final piece of the drop shipping puzzle, inventory and selection, is less important given that you can always work with multiple wholesalers if that’s what it takes to stock the inventory you want. What you cannot compromise on is availability. Working with wholesalers who routinely list products as being out of stock only makes your job more difficult. You need to be able to trust that your wholesalers can fill your orders when you place them.
Drop shipping wholesale sunglasses is one way to make money in what is a highly competitive industry. As with all things retail, succeeding with the drop shipping model is about making sure you have all the right pieces in place. Find good wholesalers with fair pricing, strong support and adequate inventory, and you’ll be just fine.
