1801 7:42 Q&A

Q&A: What if your drop-shipper drops out?

Drop-shipping can be a great business model *sometimes*, but when you aren’t handling inventory, you’re at the mercy of the company that does. How can this listener protect herself from an unresponsive third party?

7:42

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What It's About

Today's caller is worried about her drop-shipper dropping some balls.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1801
Welcome to a new week! Episode #1801!

Drop-shipping is the practice of having some other company send out the product you sell. You take in the orders, you send the shipping address to the drop-ship company, and they handle the physical shipment. In some cases, it’s a great way to not deal with inventory or warehousing or any of the complexities that come with shipping.

But of course, there are costs to doing this, and there’s also a vulnerability: if your drop-shipping company drops out—or drops the ball—who do you think the customer is going to blame? They ordered from you!

Today’s listener is in a bit of a dropship quandary. How can she protect herself?
"Hello Chris, this is Tori. I’m learning about drop-shipping, and have found a vendor that sells and ships expensive leather wallets and belts. It seems like a good market to go into. Even though there's a lot of competition, there are also a lot of buyers. My concern is that this company isn't very responsive. They respond to my emails slowly, if at all. I often have to ask two or three times to get a simple answer about something. I'm worried that I could end up selling for them and then have problems with customers not receiving the items. My customers would be mad at me, not the company, because I'm the one who sold it to me. Is there some way I can protect myself? And do you think it's concerning that the drop-shipping brand is so unresponsive?"
Listen to today's episode to learn more...

 

 

 

SEE ALSO: Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

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