In this article, let me briefly explain some basic ideas of how dropshippers can leverage our agency platform, what dropshippers should do to quote their ideal products for their online business, and the key points they should be aware of. We will organize this article by including different Q&A in logical sequence, so you can start anywhere with the questions you interested in.
Q1: As a dropshipper, what should you give to agents, if you want to quote a product that you want to sell on your own website?
A1: The information about the product you want, such as the pictures of this product or the link by which you can see the pictures of this product, and the destinaton countries where you want the products to be sent to.
Q2: Where can you get the links of products?
A2: Apart from Amazon and Ebay, which are globally known, Aliexpress, a subsidary company of Alibaba Group, is more and more popular and influential in the world. And for dropshippers, Aliexpress is just as popular as Amazon and Ebay. The link below:
www.aliexpress.com
Q3: What is Aliexpress exactly?And how does it work?
A3: Aliexpress is a well-known international E-commerce website, where global buyers can connect to a big number of small businesses in China, such as dropshippers.
For them, it is also the platform where their ideal products come from. In order to run their business, they need to buy products from somewhere. In most cases, this place is in China, because everyone knows that China is the “global factory”.
Q4: How can Aliexpress, or dropshipping business relate to our own company? What is our strenghs?
A4: Now since our company is located in Zhejiang, almost the “manufacture center” in China. So there is natural strengths, for us, to act as a role in providing cheaper products for dropshippers.
Q5: If you ask an agent by offering a link of pictures of products and destination countries, what can you get immediately?
A5:
1.A simple answer: Yes or No. The agent or supplier will tell you whether they can find the products you want.
2.A real quatation—-a chart which your agent or supplier provides, which contains: the pictures of the product, the product name, MOQ, total price, the delivery time with different logistics company, and the destination countries you give initially.
Q6: Of all pieces of information, which one is more important?
A6: Total price and time(Delivery Days).
Now let’s start with “total cost”, how does the agents get the total cost?
Before that I will firstly show you a formula:
Total cost = unit cost + freight cost(delivery cost) + profit + commission
Q7: Where do the agents get the “unit price”?
A7: From the manufacturer or supplier, and through a website called 1688.com, which is also from Alibaba Group. If you give agents a link of products from Aliexpress, or Amazon, then the agency will use the pictures inside the website and search the exact product on 1688.com, that is why they will come up with “Yes” or “No”, because the result will be either “have” or “not have”.
Q8: How do the agents get the “delivery cost”?
A8: It is certain that a “delivery fee” will be included because the agency needs to send the products across the national border, and to the other countries. And not just 1 company is in charge of this, so different companies will have different methods or lines with different vehicles around the globe. There is a simple rule here: If you want a faster, you should pay a higher delivery fee. Why? Because every dropshipper, every customer wants to get their products at the moment when they need the products, so the sooner, the better. There are many logistics companies in the world, such as Fedex, DHL, CNE, EMS, YUNTU, YANWEN, 4PX, etc. And there is an issue which almost all clients will be bothered, the uncertainty of arrival of products. But as dropshipper, we need to let customers knows beforehand. And that is why we offer the “delivery days” a range. Also, the freight cost may vary because of your the products you want, including weight, volume…Is it liquid? Is it a product with inner battery? Is it a magnetic product? All these questions matter, and will affect the final freight cost. Normally weight will determine the freight cost. But for products with low density, the cost will be influded by the volume, which equals
(length* width* height).
Q9: How about the “profit and commission”?
A9: Of course, as agents, they earn their profits by offering their clients services. And this part of price exists not only for the company, but also for the agents themselves.
Also, there are also other factors that matter, like the exchange rates between Chinese Yuan and US dollors, or Chinese yuan and euros. But I will not cover too much about this in this article.
With all these factors considered, can qualified agents always offer reasonable prices and delivery?
A: Of course not, and even worse, the agents in most cases cannot offer the right products with acceptable price and delivery days. Why? Because this online market is somehow brutal, in that many “niches” have been controlled by the other dropshippers or agents. And their prices can simply “kill” yours, by being lower with a big difference, because they have already built a network of supply chain where unnecessary cost has been reduced.
However, the good news is that this huge market is not only growing, but also updating. New products, with new niches are booming with the development of E-commerce, due to this unfortunate global Covid-19.
Finally, my opinion is that dropshippers, rather than just looking for lower number of price and days, should pay their attention to the inner logic behind these numbers. In this competitive market, price war always exists. But if we really want to do a long-term DP business, we had better find the trustworthy agents, with their responsiblity, their timely response, their detailed explanation of any potential risks, their extra work of recommending hot products, their suggestions on the website, and their information update. After all, the true value is not merely the “price” and “number of delivery days”, but the “guy” that we cooperate with and the value he/she can offer to us. This is also true when customers choose their products where they are looking for the feelings of getting services and being concerned. Of course, there is, and always will be a certain percentage of people who just focus on the cheap products. Let’s get used to it! Because if we find new niches, which the other competitors are not aware of, those people will be our first wave of customers.