AuctionCut

As a new seller would it be better for me to dropship or start out by buying merchandise?

Also are there any good dropship lists out there?

Does anyone here dropship or do you buy inventory ahead of time?

looking for a lil experience to help me out...

-Mus

From what I can tell, dropshipping is somewhat tricky to get the hang of, but it is low-risk compared to per-buying your inventory, because if you don't sell by doing dropshipping, you don't lose any out of pocket money. Also, if you are on a low budget, dropshipping is appealing. Just my two cents.

In my experience (and especially in my cousin's experience), dropshipping can be the safest as far as your cash goes. However, the key to succeeding with dropshipping is to wade through the crap that's out there disguised as legitimate suppliers and to find an actual legitimate supplier.

There can certainly be a better profit margin if you buy in bulk and then sell, but you got to be careful and do thorough research ahead of time to make sure that the seller is legitimate and that you're getting something that you can sell. I've purchased in bulk before (laptops) and made money, but I had to spend a good deal of money up front to make it worth it.

HTH,
Clint

You could do both and see which is better for you, it doesnt have to be only one or the other.

Dropshiping is probably easy and lest costly on your part but if dropshipper back orders your order you will get killed with negative feedback. Tough choice to make....

For all those who are just getting started in the retail business i would prefer dropping shipping the best as a dropship service offers several benefits like the setup fees are minimal,the suppliers stores and manages inventory and also they only packs and ships products directly to your customers,You pay your supplier only after your customer pays you,low risk of testing the market, you can focus more time and resources on dollar-productive activities, such as marketing, advertising, and product research, rather than on inventory management, packing, and shipping,since Drop shipping will cut costs, increase sales, save time, and reduce risk, and you can do it all with less manpower....

Without a doubt, physically holding stock is your best bet when starting out.

Remember, if it is a new eBay account, start of slowly, otherwise they will limit what you can list each month.

Dropshipping, IMO, is good to expand inventory, and offer the customer more choice. Margins are low on dropshipping, so I would be concentrating on holding stock, which will allow you to maximise profits.

Good luck