Three Ways to Sell Your Products without Inventory and Shipping

One thought that always prevents store owners from starting an online business is the intimidating process of holding inventory and selling products to customers. However, you can run a successful ecommerce store without carrying any inventory at all. With print-on-demand, it is now easy for store owners to have a full-blown online store without worrying about holding or shipping products. 

With over 1.6 billion websites online, starting a new one can be daunting. When you sell products online, there are various questions to be answered, such as what to do if you don't have enough space to store your products?  Is there enough capital to hold a large inventory of products? What if the products don't sell?  But don't stress; we've put together three ways you can sell products online without having to hold stock or ship your products.

• Opt to Drop Ship: Many people think that drop shipping is like a third party fulfillment but it's a little different. Drop shipping, also known as turn-key, enables ecommerce businesses to take orders via your website and the drop ship company delivers to your customers. As well as the other benefit of not having to hold stock, the vendor is responsible for shipping the products to your customers.

• Use a 3PL Service: A 3PL service refers to a third-party logistics company.  Most 3PL services handle product storage along with shipping fulfillment. In some instances, they also offer customer support and return services. The order flow process in 3PL works as follows:

1. Ship all your products to the 3PL service provider.
2. Customers will place an order on your website
3. Your website sends the order to 3PL.
4. 3PL ships the ordered products to the customer, like custom printed men’s clothes in the USA.
5. Pay 3PL a monthly fee in addition to a per order cost for fulfillment.

• Amazon FBA: Another option for those who want to sell products without holding a large inventory of products. Amazon FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon, which works as follows:

1. Ship your products to Amazon’s warehouse.
2. List your products on Amazon's marketplace platform.
3. Customers place orders for products, like men’s printed clothing.
4. Amazon handles all your storage and fulfillment needs.

The main drawback of this method is that you have to follow Amazon's stringent rules and policies, which can hurt your profit margin.