How You Can Become a Mail-Order Drop-Shipper

11/25/2013

There are thousands upon thousands of persons throughout the United States and Canada who regularly engage in the art of selling by mail. A few of these people work at it full-time; the majority work at it on a part-time basis. A few buy their merchandise in large wholesale quantities; most depend upon the services of professional DROP-SHIPPERS.

A DROP SHIPPER:

• Buys merchandise in wholesale quantities.

• Maintains a constant stock of merchandise.

• And fills orders for small dealers.

A Drop-shipper concentrates on two things - recruiting new dealers and filling orders. To realize a profit, he needs VOLUME. He achieves this by enlisting hundreds of dealers to sell his merchandise for him. If the retail price of a product is $2.00, he will usually fill the order for a dealer for $1.00. He expects the dealer to cooperate by providing a shipping label, which has already been addressed to the customer. The drop-shipper must apply it to the package, pay the postage and mail it. Since he has hundreds of orders to fill every day, he must eliminate as much unnecessary work as possible.

Mail Order dealers are always looking for RELIABLE drop-shippers. That is why hundreds of "Drop-Ship Directories" are sold every year. If you are willing to drop-ship orders for other dealers, place your ad in the Mail Order Dealer Magazines, and watch the flood of letters you receive!

Most dealers do not become drop-shippers themselves because:

• They do not have the capital to invest in merchandise.

• They do not want the responsibility.

• And they are afraid of the work involved.

Not all merchandise can be handled by drop-shippers. You must invest in merchandise that:

• Is not available in stores.

• Is readily available to you. If the supply runs out, make sure you can get some more.

• Is easy to mail. Otherwise your postage costs will consume all your profits.

• Is fairly low-priced. Dealers like to make a lot of sales, and most like to make at least $1.00 from each order. Items which retail at $2.00 to $5.00 are probably your best bet, at least in the beginning.

To give you an idea of what items can be sold successfully with the drop-ship plan, here is a partial list of products that are currently being sold this way:

Music Charts                Music Books
Hypnotic Discs              Jewelry
Wall Plagues                Cassette Lectures
Fish Hooks                  Recipes
Emotion Rings               Books
Birth Certificates          Flashlights
Information Books           Cook Books
Calorie Counters            Quit Smoking Guides
High School Diplomas        Lapel Pins
Clip Art Book               Mail Order Folios
Knives                      Posters
LP Records                  Will Forms
Bracelets                   Diet Plans
Health Books

If you are planning to set up a drop-ship business, and are operating with a very limited capital - START WITH ONE ITEM, preferably a printed one. Later as you acquire more money and more experience, you can add new items to your line. (If you treat your dealers fairly, they will take on any new items you introduce. They will run ads, print circulars, use direct mail, etc.) Never try to sell a product you are certain that it fills a basic want or need of many, many people.

Let us imagine that you have purchased 1000 copies of a new book on Tarot Reading. Your cost is .15 each, and the supplier has assured you that he has another 10,000 copies available, if you happen to need them. Your initial costs has been $150.00. To realize a profit, you must receive at least $1.00 per copy - which means that you must establish the selling price at $2.00. How do you get dealers to sell it for $2.00?

Here is one method. Run an ad in the leading Mail Order magazine - such as Timely Tips or Mail Order Bulletin - let it read something like this:

TEACH YOURSELF TO READ TAROT CARDS! Brand New Method! $2.00 copy

(DEALERS: Run this ad over YOUR name. I drop-ship for half!)

Immediately dealers will pick up your ad and start advertising it. (You will also get a few orders from the Bargain Hunters who will buy ANYTHING as long as it is half price!) If you run the ad month after month, you will continually acquire new dealers to sell for you.

You can also prepare a letter describing your drop-ship offer and mail it to a list of small mail order dealers. If you can enclose "camera ready ads or circulars" which they can reproduce, you will make even more sales.

The more you can do for your prospective dealers, the more money you will make. If you mail one thousand letters and only recruit twenty dealers, do not feel that your entire mailing was a loss. If you give good, honest service, some of those dealers will stay with you for twenty-five years - every time you introduce a new product, they will jump on the bandwagon and help you sell it!

Another method is to prepare circulars for dealers to include in their mailings. You can afford to sell them to dealers AT COST. If your product is low-priced, you can make a lot of sales using nothing but 3 x 6 circulars. You may even want to print your dealer's ad on one side of the circular, and your own non-conflicting ad on the reverse side. (For example, let your dealer sell the book on Tarot Reading and you sell another book on Numerology!)

To be successful as a Mail Order Drop-Shipper, you must:

• Handle fast-selling, low cost merchandise. There should be a high markup on it and it should be readily available to you in large quantities.

• Constantly recruit new dealers to sell it for you. Advertise in the Mail Order Magazines REGULARLY. This marks you as a RELIABLE source of supply.

• Provide your dealers with good selling tools. If necessary, pay a typesetter to prepare eye-catching "camera-ready ads and circulars" which your dealers can use.

• Fill your orders promptly. If you have every order in the mail within 24 hours, your repeat business will ZOOM!

• Handle complaints immediately and fairly. If necessary give the dealer or customer the benefit of the doubt. You may lost a dollar now and then, but in the long run, YOU WILL BENEFIT!

• Don't get lazy. Remember your competitors are working, too! Keep your dealers (and your pocketbook!) happy by adding new products from time to time.

Do that - and dealers will start selling YOUR products - for YOU!

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