If you’re looking for a home based business opportunity online you may want to consider drop shipping as an option. According to PC Magazine: “drop shipping is the shipment of merchandise directly from the manufacturer or distributor to the end user after the purchase of the item at a retail store or online at a Website. The world of online shopping (e-commerce) has caused a marked increase in drop shipping.”
This home business money maker involves establishing relationships with suppliers, manufacturers and wholesalers who are trying to sell their products online. When you reach an agreement with one of these distributors you will sell their merchandise from a virtual online storefront.
The wholesaler would be responsible for the inventory control process as well as fulfillment leaving you with the task of driving traffic to your home business website, closing sales and sending customer orders to your supplier.
This type of home business opportunity is very attractive for a variety of reasons:
First of all there is the obvious benefit of not having the responsibility of inventory control or of having to warehouse your merchandise. This is all taken care of by your distributor as is the shipping and handling of your products.
Setting the price point for each good is up to you as the promoter, so you can mark up the merchandise to increase your profits from each sale. However, care must be taken not to price your goods too high which could result in taking your enterprise out of the competition for sales in the marketplace.
Another advantage is you’re not obliged to sell a minimum amount of merchandise within a certain time frame in order to retain the product sales rights. There is no added pressure of having a sales quota to reach each quarter or each year. You can sell one product every six months or every year and still be allowed to advertise and sell your supplier’s goods. However, more sales equal’s higher profits and more success for your online home based business.
Also you aren’t restricted with regard to the number of virtual stores you can operate on the web. You can promote the merchandise of as many distributors as you want but it may be wise to get your first business established and then consider adding another store front to your growing Internet empire.
Another plus is you don’t have to pay for your products up front. You only pay your supplier after you’ve sold an item which certainly reduces start up costs therefore making it very affordable to establish your Internet store. Your initial costs would be limited to a domain name, a website hosting service, a website design and creation charge, if you aren’t technically inclined, and the cost of advertising your home page.
This brings us to another benefit which is the low cost of marketing your home business online. There are many low cost and no cost alternatives available on the web which can be very effective traffic generators for your business site. This will allow you to start turning a profit before considering any paid alternative promotional sources on the Internet.
Another way to cut initial costs would be to take advantage of the many free website services available online, including WordPress, which guides you step by step through the web page creation process.
So as you can see drop shipping can be a very cost effective strategy for getting a home based business established on the web which can eventually lead to a very lucrative part-time or full-time income from home.