So you have chosen a product that you want to base your website around.
Unless this is something that you plan on making and shipping yourself, you need to find a supplier.
This is sometimes easier said than done, but luckily there are several different methods of finding suppliers.
One of them is bound to work, but some are harder than others.
Let us go through the different things you can do to find a supplier for your website.
These are in no particular order, and you may need to do a combination of these things to find the supplier or suppliers that you need.
Search Google (or another search engine) This is one of the most time consuming ways to try and find suppliers because a lot of dropshippers do not advertise themselves on the search engines as 'dropshippers'.
But there is a good chance that you'll be able to find something.
Just go to a search engine like Google and type in "[product name] dropshipper".
For example, if I needed to find a supplier for tents I would type in "tent dropshipper" and then go through the results to see what I can find.
You could also try this with the word 'wholesaler' and see if you can talk them into doing dropshipping for you.
Manufacturer Directories Another way to search for suppliers is to go looking for manufacturers on a manufacturer directory.
If the manufacturers will not dropship, they might know of a distributor of theirs that does.
Here are several sites that you can go to find manufacturers:
This is a more expensive way to go, but that is what happens when things are convenient.
Sometimes these sites are called 'dropship aggregators' because what they do is go out and find the manufacturers, suppliers, and others and list their products on their site.
They normally charge some sort of fee to access their information, and they also will not tell you directly who the actual suppliers are.
Examples of sites like this are Doba and Simplx.
Dropship Directories One step beyond working with someone like Doba is to go and find suppliers on a dropship directory.
Unlike Doba and Simplx, these sites also go out and find suppliers but rather than just selling the products to you from their site, they tell you how to get in touch with the supplier so that you can set up your own relationships.
Basically you are cutting out another middleman that you would have if you go with a 'big dropship company'.
And the more middlemen you can cut out the better.
Two examples of dropship directories are The Shipper and World Wide Brands.
These sites are also good because not only will they give you a list of suppliers that you can start with, but they will also teach you some of the techniques that they use to find suppliers so that you can go out and find some on your own.
Local Suppliers It is also a really good idea to look around locally and see if you can create some type of an exclusive or first time relationship with a local company.
This would involve getting on the phone or going down to the location and seeing what you can work out.
This is also a little more time intensive, but can be a big payoff in the end if you are able to get a good supplier.
It is great when you can have a personal relationship with a supplier rather than just an email or phone relationship.
In conclusion, in order for you to sell something online you have to have access to it.
Using a combination of these resources you should be able to find out who your potential suppliers are or even if you will be able to supply the product at all.
Unless this is something that you plan on making and shipping yourself, you need to find a supplier.
This is sometimes easier said than done, but luckily there are several different methods of finding suppliers.
One of them is bound to work, but some are harder than others.
Let us go through the different things you can do to find a supplier for your website.
These are in no particular order, and you may need to do a combination of these things to find the supplier or suppliers that you need.
Search Google (or another search engine) This is one of the most time consuming ways to try and find suppliers because a lot of dropshippers do not advertise themselves on the search engines as 'dropshippers'.
But there is a good chance that you'll be able to find something.
Just go to a search engine like Google and type in "[product name] dropshipper".
For example, if I needed to find a supplier for tents I would type in "tent dropshipper" and then go through the results to see what I can find.
You could also try this with the word 'wholesaler' and see if you can talk them into doing dropshipping for you.
Manufacturer Directories Another way to search for suppliers is to go looking for manufacturers on a manufacturer directory.
If the manufacturers will not dropship, they might know of a distributor of theirs that does.
Here are several sites that you can go to find manufacturers:
- Alibaba - deals mostly with Asian manufacturers
- ThomasNet
- TradeKey
This is a more expensive way to go, but that is what happens when things are convenient.
Sometimes these sites are called 'dropship aggregators' because what they do is go out and find the manufacturers, suppliers, and others and list their products on their site.
They normally charge some sort of fee to access their information, and they also will not tell you directly who the actual suppliers are.
Examples of sites like this are Doba and Simplx.
Dropship Directories One step beyond working with someone like Doba is to go and find suppliers on a dropship directory.
Unlike Doba and Simplx, these sites also go out and find suppliers but rather than just selling the products to you from their site, they tell you how to get in touch with the supplier so that you can set up your own relationships.
Basically you are cutting out another middleman that you would have if you go with a 'big dropship company'.
And the more middlemen you can cut out the better.
Two examples of dropship directories are The Shipper and World Wide Brands.
These sites are also good because not only will they give you a list of suppliers that you can start with, but they will also teach you some of the techniques that they use to find suppliers so that you can go out and find some on your own.
Local Suppliers It is also a really good idea to look around locally and see if you can create some type of an exclusive or first time relationship with a local company.
This would involve getting on the phone or going down to the location and seeing what you can work out.
This is also a little more time intensive, but can be a big payoff in the end if you are able to get a good supplier.
It is great when you can have a personal relationship with a supplier rather than just an email or phone relationship.
In conclusion, in order for you to sell something online you have to have access to it.
Using a combination of these resources you should be able to find out who your potential suppliers are or even if you will be able to supply the product at all.
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