Dropshipping sounds like a great business model. You don’t have to buy any products up front, the costs are low, and it seems like a fairly simple way to start making money. Right away, just mentioning those benefits makes it seem like drop shipping is better than wholesaling products and selling them. So is it better?
The answer is no. With wholesaling, you’re able to get the product quality you want, as well as handle all the customer service yourself. This will ensure that the product quality is good, and that the sales you get gets shipped to customers on time. I’ve seen some nightmares when it comes to shipping out products for drop shippers.
The only time I’d recommend starting a drop shipping business over getting products wholesale, is if you have a very low risk tolerance, and little money to work with.
What Are The Benefits Of Wholesaling Over Drop Shipping?
Since we believe that wholesaling is actually better than drop shipping, let’s talk about some of the benefits of going this route.
- As mentioned above you have more control over your product quality. All you have to do is get sample orders from multiple suppliers, compare them side by side, and pick the one that suits your needs.
- You have more control over your customer service, which means you can build a better relationship with your customers.
- You create more of a brand when you buy things via wholesale. When people buy things from drop shipping sites, they barely remember where they got the product. When people buy things from your brick and mortar shop, they’ll remember you and come back over and over again.
- Wholesaling is cheaper in the long run due to the lower costs of buying products in bulk. The profit margins are much better than drop shipping because you’re not going to have to pay for a drop shipper to handle the shipping and customer service.
- On top of the stuff above, you can also sell the product locally by uploading it to Facebook marketplace and other local selling platforms.
Can You Eventually Transition To Wholesale?
After a while, once you get used to the process, you could eventually switch over to drop shipping. You could even negotiate with the wholesaler you’re already using in order to maintain your brand and quality.
We recommend going this route instead of switching over to drop shipping sites, where you upload a product and do nothing more.
At least if something goes wrong, this route will allow you to check in with the wholesaler (that you already have a good relationship with) and troubleshoot the issue.
Conclusion
In our opinion, starting with wholesaling is the better option when it comes to selling products online. Wholesaling gives you more control over the quality and customer service, while also being cheaper in the long run.
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