Easy Steps To Finding High-Quality Dropshipping Suppliers!
So you are looking to get into dropshipping, and you have picked out your niche, and now all you need are good quality dropshipping suppliers. The next step is finding high-quality dropshipping suppliers who will drop ship the products for you. What that means is that they will store the products for your e-commerce store. Finding good quality suppliers raises a few questions like:
Do you need to buy a supplier directory?
How do you ensure suppliers drop ship without contacting them?
How many suppliers do you need to succeed in a niche?
Now, you may think it’s hard to have all the answers, but it really isn’t. These are common questions that will pop up whenever you try to set up a dropshipping operation. At Dropship US, we work with dropshipping hopefuls from all over the US and help them set up the best e-commerce operation they can.
Due to our experience with dropshippers, we know all there is to know about dropshipping and how you can find good quality dropshipping suppliers. In the following passages, you will find all the steps you need to find high-quality dropshipping suppliers. Hopefully, we will take out all the hassle of sourcing suppliers and reveal all the mysteries by the end. So without further delay, let’s begin!
Steps To Finding High-Quality Dropshipping Suppliers
So there are three main steps to finding good quality dropshipping suppliers. Here in the following passage, you will find all that you need to find suitable suppliers. So let’s check them out!
Competitor Research
One of the first things you should do when looking for good quality dropshipping suppliers is check out your competitors. Just look at the people who are already selling products in your niche. Once you have the right products to sell, you can choose your targeted keyword and type it in on Google. You’ll see plenty of different stores online in the SERPs, then list the online stores relevant to your niche in a spreadsheet. Once you have your list, you can move on to the next step.
Brick & Mortar vs. eCommerce Only
Once you have all the stores, the next step is to weed out all stores that have physical locations leaving you only with the online stores. You need to do this because some product suppliers only authorize stores that have physical locations.
Now you can quickly tell if a store has a physical location or not just by visiting their “About Us” page. You can read all about them in there and see if they have “visit us,” “come see our showroom,” “schedule an appointment,” or something along these lines, then you can be sure they aren’t strictly online-based. Once you find those who don’t strictly operate online, take them off your list. After you’ve done this, the only names on your list will be the ones that have the following traits:
Sells the products you want to sell.
They are very popular.
Don’t have retail locations.
In this updated list, you can safely assume the stores work with suppliers that dropship. So now that you have your list of businesses, you can move on to find out who the dropship suppliers are and contact them to get approved to sell their products online.
Supplier Master List
Finding the suppliers from your e-commerce business list is easy. Most sites will list their suppliers on their websites. Go to the website and check out the “Brands” and/or “Manufacturers” section. Now, you may need to check the header, footer, sidebar, or even sitemap to find them but make sure you do because you will be rewarded for it.
Some stores list 10, 20, or even 100 brands, so that means you are well on your way to building your supplier master list. You can refer to in the future for all possible drop ship suppliers in your niche. In your spreadsheet, please create a new section paste all of the supplier names on it. Make sure to repeat this for each website, and with enough suppliers on your list, you will be setting yourself up for success.
Remember that just because you have an extensive list of suppliers doesn’t mean they will start approving your accounts. But if your master list has 20+ brands, then the odds are you will get responses from enough suppliers to set up your store. So now that you know how to find good quality dropshipping suppliers, let’s check out some other important things about finding suppliers.
3 Tiers Of Dropshipping Suppliers
Keep in mind that not all dropshipping suppliers are equal, and their place in the tier depends on a few key factors. Suppliers fall into one of three categories, gold, silver, and bronze. Now, it may be hard for you to find gold suppliers when starting out your business, but you can still make much money just by working with silver suppliers.
As time goes on and you grow your business, you can add more and more suppliers and build up to working with gold quality dropshipping suppliers. To better help you distinguish between the three tiers of dropshipping suppliers, we have listed which type of suppliers fall into which category. So let’s check them out!
Bronze Dropshipping Suppliers
Bronze dropshipping suppliers offer little to no exclusivity, meaning anyone who fills up their forms can partner with them. Usually, these suppliers aren’t brands but middlemen who make money by charging you fees. Here are some features that will help you distinguish bronze dropshipping suppliers:
These suppliers usually don’t have MAP Minimum Advertised Pricing. That means they leave you little room to compete and make a profit.
They usually have inconsistent product quality, meaning you can have high returns but lower customer satisfaction.
They usually have lousy customer service.
We recommend avoiding this tier of dropshipping suppliers at all costs if possible. The best way to find bad suppliers is by googling “niche name + supplier.”
Silver Dropship Suppliers
Silver suppliers are good quality dropshipping suppliers that you can partner with to start your business. These suppliers won’t work with just anyone. They will communicate with you, and there will be some back and forth before you’re approved. Therefore, it would be best if you were well prepared beforehand to ensure you get approved. Here are some characteristics of silver tier dropshipping suppliers that will help you better prepare:
They have a MAP policy, meaning you should be able to make a decent profit.
These suppliers usually have good customer service.
Their quality control is much better, meaning fewer returns and complaints.
There are plenty of options when it comes to silver dropshipping suppliers. There are literally thousands out there, so you will never run out of options.
They are highly competitive, so to succeed, you will need to optimize your paid traffic for the best results.
So with thousands of silver dropshipping suppliers out there, you can find some to partner up with ease to start your e-commerce operation. It’s good because, at the start, there will be a big learning curve. Add to that the need to find the right paid ads strategy will take up some time before you can move on to the next tier of dropshipping suppliers. However, once you get the hang of it in a few months, you can look into the highest quality dropshipping suppliers.
Gold Dropship Suppliers
Gold dropship suppliers are your best bet if you want to make profits consistently. The products you get from these high-quality dropshipping suppliers ensure more significant profit margins and lower returns. However, they don’t work with just anyone. It’s tough to partner up with them, and they usually have a limited clientele. These suppliers operate this way because they are trying to build a brand and ensure customer satisfaction from their products.
Gold suppliers also have rigorous pricing policies. If you break their MAP pricing policy, then they will stop their affiliation with you. Gold suppliers are incredibly vigilant about their product quality and will quickly respond, replace, and refund where needed.
One of the best things about working with gold dropshipping suppliers is that they will send you customers. See, these suppliers don’t sell their products to the public, so they can refer them to you when they come up to them for buying their products. Here are some characteristics of gold suppliers that you should know about:
They enforce MAP policies.
High-quality products that ensure fewer returns.
Less competition as they are selective about whom they work with.
Fantastic customer service.
Refers customers to you.
As you can see, there are huge upsides to working with high-quality dropshipping suppliers in the gold tier. So make sure you prepare your business and set goals accordingly for partnering with gold-tier dropshipping suppliers.
The Best Place For A Dropshipping Website
So there you go; those are all the steps to finding high-quality dropshipping suppliers. As you can see from this guide, good-quality dropshipping suppliers will take your business to a whole new level. However, top suppliers like those in the gold tier won’t just work with anyone.
They need to see that you have the right platform and business model to work with you. That means you will need to have the perfect website that supports and supplements your growth, and that’s where Dropship USA can help you. We specialize in creating highly optimized drop shipping websites that are geared towards sustainability.
So if you are looking for the perfect platform for your dropshipping operation, feel free to get in touch, and our developers will help you out. Also, if you have any questions regarding dropshipping or finding dropshipping suppliers, drop them in the comments below or hit us up on our socials, and we will answer them for you. And with that being said, that’s about all we have for you today. We will come back with something new for you soon. Until then, see ya!
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