Dropshipping is a tricky business to get into. I will warn against dropship wholesale programs like the ones that show up when you Google search for ‘dropshipping’. Only because they aren’t a true dropshipper. They are the middle man. They advertise products with a “retail price” that is higher than any where else that you can buy the product (like Amazon for example) then they’ll list their price as the wholesale price which is more comparable to the actual “street price” thus leaving you with very little margins or even sometimes you can find the same product for cheaper on Amazon.

The ‘real’ way to get into dropshipping is to contact manufacturers directly. Large companies will most likely ingore your requests to work with an individual selling on eBay. Most eBay sellers that are able to make some good money are those actually have a brick-and-mortar retail store that sell their additional inventory on eBay. You’d have much better luck setting up a dropshipping agreement with companies if you had an established retail business in that niche.

You need to find a specific niche that will work. Consumer electronics are very popular for consumers. This means that everyone and their dog are trying to sell those things on eBay creating a lot of competition and very low profit margins.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to get started with a eBay dropshipping business but you’ll spend far too much time and money before you see a return on investment. There are much better ways to earn money with physical products on the internet.

To get started with an eBay business, the best way would be to create your own physical products to sell. I’ve coached people that sell all sorts of things on eBay. I’ve seen the most success when people sell their own products on eBay. Make and sell candles or soaps. If you’re good with fixing things up. Hit thrift stores and garage sales to find things to restore and sell. By making your own product you have more control over your inventory and product selection. Once you begin selling regularly on eBay then you can start branching out to include other products that are related to your products. For example, if you make and sell candles. Find a dropshipper for Candle Warmers.

This will be the best way to get started with a dropshipping ebay business.

Using eBay is a great way to start making money online. You can go ahead and sell things from around your house today. eBay is the most popular auction website but don’t discount the other auction websites yet. Some other auction site may offer less competition but just as many bids on a certain item that you’re selling. Be careful with other ‘lesser-known’ auction sites and do your research about their history and credibility. If you’re just starting out, I definitely recommend eBay as a great starting point.

2. Dropshipping and Product Fulfillment

Dropshipping is a great way to sell on eBay. Especially if you go ahead and do the extra work to find suppliers that other eBay auction sellers aren’t using. Notably, you can use www.Doba.com as a dropshipping resource company. Other dropshipping companies include www.wholesalematch.com and www.worldwidebrands.com which are wholesale and dropshipping directories. Other than eBay, you can setup an ecommerce store such as OSCommerce to sell your products from your own website.

3. Information Products

Information products such as ebooks are a great way to earn revenue online. If you know a lot about a certain category such as “car parts” then you could create an ebook about “how to find car part suppliers online” There will be some research involved with this type of product but the advantages of selling an information product outweigh the time and research involved in creating this type of product. Also, under this same category are downloadable audio and video products.

Advantages include:

1. Sell through your website any time of the day or night.
2. Automated Process of Digital products and downloadable products.
3. Low Overhead. Very low cost to create this type of product.
4. Sell your product over and over again.

Find a niche market, setup a blog with WordPress.com and start writing about everything you know about that niche market. When you have enough content, use that same content and create an ebook about that specific topic. Blogs are a great way to start promoting yourself as a knowledgeable person in your niche market.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a method that companies use to promote their services or products and spread the word about their company. Notable companies that have affiliate programs are www.ebay.com, www.yahoo.com, www.apple.com/store, Apple iTunes and many more. You can find these companies and others like them at affiliate networks such as www.cj.com, www.linkshare.com, and share-a-sale.com. Sign up with these affiliate networks and find companies to promote their products for them. They will reward you if someone that you refer makes a purchase of their product. Use you blog to promote these affiliate links.