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What is Dropshipping?
Well, an easy definition for this term would be “having your own eCommerce store without holding any inventory”. This means that instead of fulfilling the orders yourself, you will just send them directly to the vendor who will then dispatch the goods to your customers on your behalf. Sounds pretty neat right? Well, it sure does but what are the pros and cons of dropshipping?
PROS:
1. No Inventory:
One of the best things about dropshipping is that you don’t need to keep any inventory in your house or office. You just order from a supplier and when an order has been made, you just contact the supplier and give them your customer’s address. The products will then be delivered to your customers.
2. Less Capital:
Dropshipping is a low startup business as it doesn’t require much capital as compared to starting a physical store. All you need is to have a good-looking website and that’s all! In fact, you don’t even need a website if you use Shopify or BigCommerce but in my opinion, an own domain with self-hosted web hosting would be better because using any of these two services will make your site less reliable when it comes to ranking in search engines like Google which in turn may affect your sales in the long run. But if you’re planning to promote dropshipping through ads or other means, then these tools are the best.
3. No Physical Location Required:
This is probably one of the biggest advantages dropshipping has to offer in my opinion because not only you don’t need a physical location for your business but it also makes it easier for people living in rural areas or who travel outside Pakistan to invest in something they would normally have to go out of their way for. I mean if somebody wants to open up a franchise here in Pakistan, he will have to open it up inside a major city which obviously leaves many people out who’d want this kind of opportunity but can’t simply due to lack of infrastructure and access. Now with drop shipping, anybody can run an online store anywhere even from abroad!
4. No Staff Required:
This is yet another advantage drop shipping has over starting up a brick-and-mortar store. You don’t need to hire staff or manage them at all! The only thing you need to worry about is having the cash available in your account to make purchases for your customers.
CONS:
1. Illiquidity:
This is by far the biggest disadvantage of dropshipping according to many people because you don’t own any products that are being sold through your website which means if the vendor decides not to sell them anymore, then there’s nothing you can do except look for other suppliers but this process isn’t always quick enough especially when your business is growing bigger and bigger (and trust me it will grow). But in my opinion, since you don’t need to keep any products in your warehouse, it’s possible for you to remove this disadvantage too by sourcing the products from different vendors.
2. No Control:
The other downside of dropshipping is that you can’t do anything once a product has been sold because everything will be handled by the supplier and not you which means there isn’t much control over what’s being sold along with your brand name. Apart from this, there are also chances of suppliers charging higher prices than usual or even scamming people so these kinds of problems must be taken care of before starting up a dropshipping business.
3. Slow Development:
One thing I’ve noticed about many online-based businesses is that they take a lot of time to develop which is why I decided to start off with local offline stores first but if you’re not really interested in this kind of slow-paced growth, then dropshipping might be the best thing for you despite all its downsides.
You can also start your dropshipping business by listing yourself on different dropshipping websites, so here is the list:
1. eWorldTrade
eWorldTrade is a b2b online wholesale directory that provides you with a platform to list your products and connect you with international suppliers from all over the world. If you wish to sell in Pakistan, make sure you put up the cash on delivery option so you can avoid any problems when it comes to delivery or the customer simply doesn’t have current means of online payment.
2. All Dropship Companies
Alldropshipcompanies is similar to eWorldTrade but it’s based out of New Zealand making it better for Pakistani buyers because they’re not charged anything extra either by eWorldTrade or by their banks when they order stuff from abroad which makes this website much more reliable in my opinion. However, if someone wants to purchase goods from China, he/she might have trouble finding a reliable supplier.
3. DBolical
DBolical is yet another dropshipping website but it’s more suitable for selling stuff to customers within Pakistan because you can’t list your products on it unless they’re based out of here which gives the site an advantage over other websites that let people sell internationally as well. So the only problem one might face with this site is finding good enough suppliers but apart from that, it’s legit and worth giving a try if you want to run an online store in Pakistan.
4. Amazon
Amazon is a good online selling platform for people all over the world because you can create an account through your local Amazon website and choose to sell products from there. In case you’re wondering which website I’m talking about, it’s Amazon.com from where Pakistanis buy stuff online as well but in my opinion, this isn’t a good idea to start off with if you’re new to drop shipping because they already have some of their own sellers and you’ll only be making things difficult for yourself by competing with them so it’s better to avoid doing so until you’ve established yourself on some other international selling platform.
5. eBay
eBay also has Pakistani sellers who sell stuff internationally so if someone wants to purchase goods from abroad, he/she can easily choose from the safe and trusted sellers already available on this website which is why it’s better to sell products locally on eBay at first until you’ve attained enough knowledge about dropshipping.
6. Alibaba
Alibaba’s another good website for Pakistani sellers because they can sign up as wholesalers there but like Amazon, it has both local and overseas suppliers so its best to avoid selling internationally on this platform for now unless you’re willing to face some tough competition with other international sellers who are all over the website. Pakistanis should focus more on building their reputation within the country first before looking forward to selling products abroad.
7. Magento 2 Marketplace
I’m not sure how many people know about Magento 2 but it’s a global eCommerce platform that you can use to set up an online store and sell things easily. I’ve heard that people have success with this website as well after using it to start their own dropshipping business, however; like every other thing, there are some good and bad sides of this marketplace as well so it’s best if you research about Magento 2 ahead of time before making a final decision whether or not you should register with them or not because I don’t want anyone to lose money over something they weren’t even aware of.
8. Shopify
Shopify is another global eCommerce platform much like Magento but it’s easier for newbies and beginners because all the backend stuff is already managed by them so all you need to do is add the products you want to sell on your store and people will be able to visit it online and make purchases. However; I haven’t tried Shopify myself so I don’t know how easy/difficult it is to find suppliers for this website or set up a dropshipping business but if someone has, feel free to share your experiences with us by leaving some comments below because we’d love to hear from you.
9. WooCommerce
WooCommerce’s another eCommerce platform similar to Magento which you can use for selling stuff online just like all the other things listed above but it’s more suitable for selling locally within Pakistan than internationally because most of its suppliers are based out of here as well making it good enough for Pakistani customers, however; it might not be as good as Magento 2 and Shopify because I haven’t used this platform either but you can conduct your own research about it prior to getting started with something you’re unaware of.
10. AliExpress
AliExpress is a subsidiary company owned by the Chinese website called Alibaba which provides wholesale suppliers for people all over the world and it’s best if you use their dropshipping services too instead of opening up an account directly on Alibaba because they’ll take care of everything from there and all you need to do is find some decent enough suppliers before adding them on your store. However; one thing which made me stay away from using their drop shipping service was that I wanted to sell international products well because my main target audience doesn’t only consist of people living in Pakistan, which is why AliExpress wouldn’t be that great for me but if your target audience is local, you can give it a try.
Conclusion:
So that’s a wrap, I’ve just shared some of the best ways for you to sell stuff on eBay in Pakistan by opening your own store and becoming a drop shipper right from the comfort of your home. If you’re looking to start a dropshipping business yourself then feel free to bookmark this article because it’ll definitely come in handy during one of those difficult times when you don’t know what else to do next. However; I would advise our readers to not get too excited about starting their own online business within such a short period of time because it’s going to take time before you can see any real results or profit out of it.
