Posts Tagged warehouse

Reducing Costs for your Retail Business

Posted by Wholesale News in Bulk Drop Shipping, Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, Wholesale Sources on July 28th, 2009

If you happen to be in business, you probably are aware of how difficult things have turned out to be in today’s economy. Customers want a bargain, and with the cost of services on the rise, you could have a very difficult time fulfilling people’s needs while maintaining some kind of profit for yourself.

There are some choices available to you, which you should check into, since they provide wonderful chances for business expansion in this economic slump.

First off, we will take a look at how to cut cost in warehousing. One of the largest expenses a retail business could possibly possess is warehousing. Something as simple as having a place to keep inventory for your customers proves to be a major burden on your financial situation. Thus, how to cut cost in warehousing is a common question amongst a lot businesses.

A really effective solution to be utilized for online business owners is to take advantage of a wholesale supplier’s services. There are some wholesale suppliers that provide drop ship relationships, which means they ship the items straight to your consumers, thus eliminating the need for you to store your inventory on your own.

Drop ship relationships are a very beneficial endeavor, since you won’t experience any increases in shipping costs from the warehouse to you, then to the consumer. Your wholesale supplier presently stores the inventory in their warehouse, so it doesn’t cost them any more money for this room.

An additionally excellent aspect of drop ship relationships is eliminating the need for you to ship orders off to your consumers. If you have been running a business for some time already, you should be aware of the financial burdens involved in spending time and resources on shipping. As a matter of fact, it is usually one of the most laborious tasks you have to accomplish. Allowing your wholesale supplier to do these things for you is a highly profitable choice which will enable you to spend more time creating your business.

Naturally, if you want a different method on how to cut cost in warehousing, then drop shipping also provides additonal benefits. You won’t be required to buy shipping supplies, racking or shelving since you won’t be handling that part of the business in any way.

You might be curious as to what sort of cost is involved in this service, and you will be shocked to learn how cheap it really is. If you take a look at the money you spend on packaging, storing and the man hours it takes to accomplish these duties, as opposed to the small drop shipping cost that a wholesale vendor charges - you will realize that it is a much smarter choice to have your items shipped with your drop ship relationships.

Just by turning over delivery costs to your consumer, this service cannot cost you any more than it had while you did it on your own, and by leveraging your wholesale supplier’s resources you can reduce all costs involved in warehousing and shipping for your business.

Most definitely, this is one of the most effective methods for conducting your business on a daily basis.

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How to Find a Reputable Wholesale Supplier

Posted by Scott in Drop Shipping, Liquidations, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources on July 16th, 2009

When shopping for products to add to your business, it is wise to make sure you are buying from reputable suppliers that offer you quality products and low prices.

You need to research and get to know your market before browsing the thousands of products a wholesaler offers, so that you will be sure to choose products that your customers will be interested in, which in turn assures you a profitable return.

Avoid buying your products from warehouse clubs like Costco or online suppliers that use eBay and similar sites. These places force you to pay the same price as your customers which makes it difficult to sell your products or make a profit from what you manage to sell.

Buying directly from the manufacturer or choosing a distribution agent is the best way to purchase your products at wholesale. By using the manufacturer directly, you are cutting out any third parties and can be sure to purchase your products for the lowest possible price.

You may also want to talk with a closeout sale agent or perhaps consider a liquidator. When you use one of these businesses, you will be able to purchase your products often below the wholesale price, giving you an advantage in terms of profit. You may find with this method however, that you can purchase quick selling products, only to find that you cannot source more of the same.

Seek out retailers in other markets that may have tips on suppliers. Businesses outside of your market using multi-product wholesalers will be more willing to share their suppliers with you and can help you find someone reputable to purchase from.

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Pros And Cons of Drop Ship Wholesale Suppliers

Posted by Bob in Bulk Drop Shipping, Drop Shipping on June 24th, 2009

Running a business that relies on drop ship wholesale suppliers can be challenging, at times. In many ways, this kind of business is just like any other business with its ups and downs. Still, there are some unique benefits, as well as some unique challenges, that come with dealing with drop ship wholesale suppliers.

The benefits of drop ship wholesale suppliers can be pretty obvious. Still, it can be helpful to specifically identify the ways in which this arrangement

First of all, you don’t have to hassle with actually handling a product. There is no packaging, and no trips to the post office to ship the product. The vendor takes care of all of that for you.

In addition, there is less up front cost when you use this kind of a vendor. There is no inventory on hand, so you don’t need to lay out a bunch of cash when you first start out to buy a warehouse full of product. In addition, you don’t have to worry about the headaches involved in the inventory management process.

You also don’t run the risk of loss when you use a drop ship wholesale supplier because you don’t have any inventory on hand. If a product stops selling and you have a room full of that product, you lose money. If you drop ship, you don’t ever have to be concerned with this becoming the case.

There are also some downsides to using drop ship wholesale suppliers. For example, you sacrifice control over the shipping process, and you’re at the mercy of the supplier as to when shipping occurs.

In addition, some vendors just don’t perform well. You may have to deal with things like delays in delivery, or poor production quality.

When you use drop ship suppliers, your reputation lays in the hands of the supplier. If your customer isn’t happy because of something the supplier does, it is your name that will be sullied.

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Verify Wholesalers and Drop Shippers with Simple Online Tools

Posted by Andrea in Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, Wholesale, eBusiness on June 12th, 2009

Research is the corner stone of good business. Every business owner should know how to research extensively before they go ahead and open up shop. Researching a drop shipper or a wholesaler is the only way you will get out of the process of finding one without being scammed for money, sadly.

Before you decide on a drop shipper or a wholesaler gather a list of prospects and take to Google. Search the names of the companies first and foremost. A bad company will likely have complaints lodged against them somewhere on the internet. Add in the word “scam” to the end of the business name and see if anything comes up. If nothing comes up you might have a decent company so put it on a short list. Any company that comes up with more than one complaint should probably be axed from your list.

Once you have a short list check the phone numbers and contact information. The contact information should be directly linked to the company name. Look for e-mail address that end in @companyname.com or @companyname.net. These e-mail address endings mean that that company has it’s own e-mail provider or entity.  It is a very good sign of a legitimate business.  A Gmail account or a Hotmail account means your mail is going to a personal e-mail address. It is a sign of a bad business.

Once you have that all figured out further check out the companies using Mapquest or Google Earth. If you are familiar with the area you should be able to tell whether or not the business is in a commercial part of a town. If you are not familiar with the company you can use Google Earth to hone in on the address. You want to see a commercial district or a warehouse district. If you hone in on an area that looks completely residential or rural you are probably looking at a scam. A wholesaler or a drop shipper will not be working out of a residential home or a residential area if they are legitimate. You want to see a big building, normally, the uglier the building the better in this case.

Call and speak to someone directly when you think you’ve found a good company. Consider the time zone you are calling and call during their regular business hours. Between 10am-4pm should be the time frame you are aiming for. Someone should be there to answer your phone call at that time. If no one picks up you need to further investigate the company.

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What Is A Bulk Drop Shipping Business?

Posted by Wholesale News in Bulk Drop Shipping, Drop Shipping on April 7th, 2009

warehouse-dropshipping

Blink an eye. That’s the time it takes for a business inventory buyer to click and make an order on a web site. Blink again. The order is processed by the web site, sent to the warehouse,and the order is shipped within 48 hours. Welcome to the digital supply chain, historically housed within one company. Today, new models for e-business are breaking up the digital supply chain in the form of bulk drop shipping– lightning quick business to business transactions of wholesale case lots.

Bulk drop shipping is the term used for a web property or web site, taking and processing orders from business owners for wholesale products not physically stored in stocked inventory. Instead, the wholesale order items are housed in another warehouse and shipped from direct from the supplier to the buyer. Bulk drop shipping has come into its own as a successful e-business niche due to the speed at which payment and information transfers from a web “store front” to suppliers.

It is not a new notion. For over a century, brick-and-mortar stores have held catalogs of merchandise available by mail-order. The store takes the money, with a small markup, and the customer would pick up the goods in a few weeks after they arrived. Our digital age makes this process a much faster purchase, especially for business to business transactions! Bulk drop shipping is so fast the business inventory buyer doesn’t even notice the products are not kept in stock by the web site owner!

Each component of a bulk drop shipping business must be robust for success.

To start, a web entrepreneur needs a strong business relationship with a reliable wholesale supplier. Bulk drop shipping web businesses may need many wholesale suppliers to fill a web site’s online catalog. It can be trial by fire to first find wholesale suppliers, find the ones willing to work with you, and then hope the suppliers are reliable to ship orders out! Many bulk drop shippers use some type of supplier listing or service to handle this headache.

Second, a bulk drop shipping web site needs to attract business inventory buyers to the wholesale products available. If business inventory buyers were bees, your bulk drop shipping web site needs to be the prettiest flower in the garden and the easiest to get pollen from! An easy to use and appealing web site is a must, but it is positively vital the information in the online catalog is up to date. Inventory buyers also expect secure shopping cart applications. These foundations of an online store are the walls and windows to a brick-and-mortar store. A faulty database or non-secure shopping cart application is the same as shoddy construction and your bulk drop shipping e-business won’t be around for long.

Finally, it is up to the bulk drop shipping web business to provide buyers with customer service, resolve concerns, and seek repeat business. You can use innovative advertising, repeat customer reward programs, shipping cost deals, and affiliations with feeder organizations to keep your drop shipping business hopping. The appeal of a relationship with a bulk drop shipper for warehouse owners is the freedom to focus on what they are good at: maintaining merchandise and handling shipping orders. At the end of the day, you are the middle man or woman for the transaction handling between case lot buyers and wholesale suppliers. And you can take a tidy profit for the trouble.

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