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Dropshipping - Can you do it in the UK?
by Brian McGregor

If you are interested in selling on eBay, you might wonder where you can get items to sell. I mean after you have exhausted the logical first places, such as items in your garage or loft or spare bedroom!

One of the drawbacks for anyone wishing to expand an interest in auctions into a business – be it part or full time - is the need to have stock to sell. Here are some of the issues you face:

Locating suppliers of stock at affordable prices
Somewhere to store your stock
The means and space to wrap the items
The time to take them to a Post Office

One of the ways around all of these problems is to use dropshipping. There are many people in the USA making extra cash, and in some cases making a living, by selling items on auctions on a dropship basis.

Well, dropshipping has arrived in the UK, and you may want to consider it further. You might be asking, “What on earth is dropshipping?”

Dropshipping is a system of trading offered by certain suppliers. These suppliers have stocks of goods, normally products which will sell well on auctions, and which they are willing to package and forward to your customers DIRECTLY.

This is how it works. Let's imagine you are a seller on eBay. You join a dropship company - it will cost you something like £20 one-time fee to join. You then get access to the company's online catalogue, which will usually have hundreds of items at discounted prices. It will also explain to you how much they charge you for P&P to your customer. You select an item, create an auction listing and list it. The auction finishes, and your winner pays you.

All you now do is send the winner's name and address, and a portion of their payment, to the dropship company. They then package and send out the goods to your winner. Your profit is the difference between the discounted catalogue price you pay, and the winning bid.

The system has some great plus points - you've made zero outlay up-front for stock, and you are alleviated of all stock storage, packaging and mailing problems. And you have a ready made supply of new and different product lines.

On the flip side, you need to be careful you can make enough margin - don't forget you pay any auction fees incurred. And if you accept PayPal or any other online credit card payment system, you will have to pay their percentage too.

However, with the right product, at the right price, dropshipping might be a useful addition to any seller's armoury.

If you sell in the UK, you might like to look at my own ebook on Dropshipping. You can read about it here: http://www.uk-dropship.co.uk


About the Author

Brian McGregor is an internet business creator, consultant and author. He is the author of several books including 'The eBay Formula', an essential guide to selling successfully on eBay. He has also written many articles and is published on the internet and in the printed media. He is also editor of the eBay Auction Newsletter, which you can subscribe to free. For a free ebook on how to use the leverage of eBay to help your business grow, go to http://www.leads-generation.co.uk/lgdl. For full information about Brian, go to his main website http://www.workwinners.com

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