Ebay has very quickly become the biggest auction site in the world, bringing millions of buyers and sellers together, but the increased competition has driven prices lower and lower. If you're looking to build a successful and profitable dropship business, there are much better alternatives, particularly if you are selling higher-value or branded dropship products.
Sell on Amazon
A great place to sell your products is Amazon. Amazon has made it really easy for dropshipping businesses and individuals to market their products on one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. Many professional eBayers, particularly those who prefer the more predictable fixed price format, have already moved to Amazon, and are now enjoying better profits from their sales.One of the biggest benefits of using Amazon is that your dropship products appear on the sales pages, right next to all the Amazon products. So the millions of people who shop on Amazon every day, are all potential customers for your dropship enterprise.
There are a few restrictions on what products you can list, but Amazon has over 25 categories to choose from, and even though you are limited to how you can list your items, having to use Amazon's images and shipping rates, if you choose the professional selling option, there's a little more flexibility. Amazon also offers another option for your dropshipping business, and that's Amazon Webstore.
Webstore gives you all the tools and assistance you need to set up your own ecommerce site, as a standalone website, or to sell your dropship products on Amazon as well. You can even advertise on Amazon, to drive customers to your Webstore, or any other website you might have, so it certainly offers a lot of potential for your dropshipping business, one way or another.
Your Own Website to Expand Your Drop Ship Business
If you really want to grow your dropship business, you're going to want to get your own website at some point. This way, you'll have complete control over the branding for your business and the products you can sell. A lot of people are put off setting up their own website, mainly because they think it's incredibly difficult.But there are plenty of website hosting companies who can provide all the tools and software you'll need to get your own, good-looking website, up and running in no time. Taking orders for your dropship products is easy as well, as most have integrated shopping cart facilities, and you can use PayPal until you are selling enough to make it worthwhile having your own merchant account, to accept credit cards. A well-designed, and well-marketed, website will really help to make your dropshipping enterprise a success.
Other Options for Your Drop Ship Website
As simple as it's become to get your own website set up, you might still prefer an easier option, and there are plenty of those about too. eCrater is a great solution that allows you to set up an ecommerce site as a subdomain of their main marketplace. You get your own web address, all the tools and help to build and design your site, plus, the items you list on your new dropshipping website, will also go into the Google Product Search Marketplace to attract even more customers. The best part is, it's all absolutely free – you only pay for any upgraded listings you might want.Shopify is another ecommerce solution, and works in avery similar way to eCrater, except they do charge a monthly fee, However, it's still a great way to give your dropshipping business its own website, if you don't want the hassle of dealing with domain names, hosting etc...
With more competition and lower prices, it's getting harder to build a successful dropship business using eBay alone. With so many other great ways to sell your dropship products, and technology making it even easier to get set up, more and more people are finding the alternatives to eBay offer much more profit potential.
