Drop Ship Professor

So you’re thinking about starting a business that relies on drop shipping. Congratulations on making an excellent decision. You probably already know that drop shipping can save you a ton of money on your inventory and storage costs. But now you face the problem of trying to find a good drop shipper. If you search the Internet or eBay you’ll find many people selling “lists” of wholesale drop shippers or “memberships” in drop shipping sites. The problem is that many (maybe even most) of these sites and lists are scams!

“Review” sites - the latest scam

The latest scam seems to be, so called, drop shipper review sites. Some of these are legitimate, but I have recently become aware of at least one that was setup by a drop ship membership site. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 82% [?]

Did you know that most people who purchase online, begin their purchase using a search engine? These days that pretty much means Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Combined they control almost 90 percent of the searches that occur online. Google alone accounts for about 50 percent of all online searches (and it’s gaining market share rapidly).

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization or SEO is a term that is bandied about quite a bit these days. What is it really about? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 66% [?]

There are a lot of wholesale and drop shipping scams proliferating on the Web. Just about anyone can claim to be a “wholesaler” or offer wholesale pricing. Unforunately, there seems to be very little policing of these claims. So if you are looking for a new source for products, you need to protect yourself.

Fortunately, there is a very easy way to determine if a company is a true wholesaler. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 72% [?]

Starting an online store, or any business venture, can be a scary prospect - especially if you need to come up with a large amount of money for that initial inventory purchase. Drop shipping removes the axiety and the big inventory bill. So, what is drop shipping and how does it work?

Product wholesalers usually only deal with retailers - shipping them products in bulk quantities. However, many wholesalers will now ship directly to the end customer - this is drop shipping. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 82% [?]

This post is in direct response to a forum question on Shopster.com concerning legal liability as a drop shipper. Shopster is an interesting company that combines drop shipping and a shopping cart. I’ll post a full review in a few days.

First some preliminaries. I am not a lawyer and don’t even play one on TV. I have spoken to a few lawyers about this and nobody really wants to go “on the record” as every case is different. This is really a technical legal term called money grubbing. The material below is from my own limited research. So basically you this advice as a general guide, but consult with an attorney about your specific situation. Second, you really should consider incorporating. Talk with your accountant about the possible tax advantages. In addition, real wholesale drop shippers will not deal with you unless you have an employee ID number.

So, now the legal stuff. In general you can be held liable for the content on your site. For example, you sell nutritional supplements and state on your site that vitamin C cures cancer. You can expect a call from the Federal Trade Commission and possibily a lawsuit from someone who was not cured. You might also get into trouble if, for example, you stated on your site that the recommended dose for a certain supplement was dangerously high.

Another way you can get into legal trouble is by selling products to people who legally cannot purchase them. The obvious example is selling pornography to a minor. Certain states may regulate particular items. For instance, various states allow different formulations of pepper spray.

You can insulate your personal assets, from lawsuits, to some extent by incorporating properly. Again, check with your accountant and/or lawyer. If you decide to incorporate, I recommend the company I personally use, The Company Corporation.

Popularity: 69% [?]