How to Learn the Dropshipping Business in 2019

by Simon Hopes Author

While many aspiring entrepreneurs look to dropshipping as a type of get-rich-quick-scheme, learning the ropes of dropshipping is actually quite a bit of work. Although at first it may seem like an easy business you can get into immediately, you should first understand that dropshipping is quite common. It is estimated that between 22-33% of Internet retailers have adopted dropshipping to fulfill the bulk of their orders from customers. This includes everything from e-commerce giants like Amazon and Wayfair to smaller ventures. The good thing is that because the method is so widely used in ecommerce, it will not be difficult to find suppliers to fulfill your orders. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know to learn about dropshipping and get started on the industry.

Pick the Correct Niche

If you decide to learn from a legitimate dropshipping program, they will tell you that you need to do proper market research in order to properly service the market you are looking to dominate. For example, given that Zappos started off as primarily a dropshipping company, and dominates a lot of the shoe ecommerce market, that is probably not a good position to take. Instead, source your own passions and look at what you think would be interesting products to sell in accordance with those. Then, you’ll need to look at the market around that and see what the competition looks like. Perform keyword research in Google and in Google Ads, and look on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to see what companies are advertised and running ads in that niche. If you think you can do a better job with your marketing efforts than the competition in that niche, then this is probably the right niche for your dropshipping business.

Estimate Your Costs Based on Your Supplier Relationships

There are two main costs to owning and operating a dropshipping business – your marketing efforts, and, of course, your costs associated with your suppliers. When starting out, make sure that you find suppliers that will work with you and that understand that at first your dropshipping store may not generate a ton of revenue. It could take some time to get market traction, and although it’s unlikely that at the early stages you’ll find a supplier willing to sign an exclusive deal with you, you will have a good idea of what types of costs you will incur working and ordering with them. When signing a contract with a supplier, you need to make sure that the pricing works with what you are intending on marking up to customers. Make sure that your marketing efforts are factored in to this as well, as hiring an SEO agency, running Facebook or Instagram ads, and bidding on Google PPC ads all end up being recurring expenses that aspiring dropshippers often to not take into account.

When getting in to dropshipping, it is always wise to learn as much about how the industry functions as possible. Aside for reading this article, it may be wise to take a course or get involved in a dropshipping program or community so that you can get advice and actionable tips on how to get started as a dropshipper.