Find the Right and Most Profitable Dropshipping Goods
The biggest challenge facing the newest dropshipping entrepreneurs is finding a niche and focusing products. And it’s understandable in the realm — it’s potentially the biggest decision you’re going to make and has long-term impact on the business’ success or failure.
At this point the most common mistake is to choose a product that is based on personal interest or passion. This is an appropriate approach where your main goal is to be interested in the product, not necessarily business success.
But if developing a successful dropshipping platform is your top priority, you’ll want to consider putting aside your personal interests while doing market research, or at least making sure that they follow the standards addressed in this guide.
Checking out the best dropshipping items
Not all consumers are created equal. It’s curious how some clients purchasing small things feel entitled to claim the moon while other heavy spenders barely ask for something. Good demographic targeting can be a huge boon for your company. Dropshipping products which appeal to these customers appear to be worth their time:
1. Hobbyist products
People would enjoy their hobbies and spend mind-boggling sums on their equipment, training and supplies. Many serious mountain bikers have bikes that cost more than their vehicles, and people who enjoy fishing may be spending a lot fitting out their boats. If you can target the right hobbyist niche and interact with enthusiasts and their needs effectively, you can do just that very well.
2. Business products
Business buyers are often more price-sensitive than individual consumers, but will almost always buy in greater quantities. You open the door to a long-term, high-volume, profitable relationship once you have formed a connexion and gained their trust. Try selling goods that cater to individual consumers as well as companies where possible.
3. Goods with repeated purchases
Recurring income is a good thing to do. If you sell goods that can be disposed of and/or need to be regularly reordered, you can expand rapidly as you develop a loyal consumer base that often returns to buy.
Other considerations when choosing dropshipping
The best value for money
Make sure that you perceive the price point firmly in relation to the amount of pre-sale service you would need to offer. Most people feel comfortable placing a $200 online order without talking to anyone on the phone. But what about an object that they don’t know about at $1,500? Chances are, most will want to speak with a sales manager directly before making such a big purchase, both to ensure the item is a good match and to make sure the store is legitimate.
If you’re planning to sell high-priced goods, make sure you can get personalized help on your phone. You’ll also want to make sure the margins are rich enough to justify the help you’ll need to give for pre-sale. Sometimes the price range of $50 to $200 is the sweet spot for optimizing revenue without having to have comprehensive pre-sales support.
MAP pricing
Some producers will set what is known as a minimum retail price (MAP) for their goods, and will force all resellers to price their products at or above those prices. This price floor prevents market wars that sometimes break out — especially for easily dropshipped goods — and helps ensure that merchants can make a fair profit by carrying the goods of a manufacturer.
If you can find a niche where manufacturers enforce MAP pricing it’s a huge advantage, particularly if you’re planning to create a high-value, information-rich site. With rates equal to all rivals, you will compete on the quality of your website and you will not have to worry about losing customers to less credible but cheaper competition.
Marketing potential
When you know that consumer acquisition is a nightmare, the time to think about how you’ll market a company is before you launch it, not three months in. Can you brainstorm a variety of ways to advertise your shop, such as writing posts, marketing goods, or reaching out to active online groups using the items you sell? If not, then you may want to rethink.
Selling a product with lots of accessories is a perfect way to make your total profit higher.
Additional products available for sale
As a general retail law, margins on lower-priced products are considerably higher than those of high-priced pieces. Although a mobile phone store can only make a profit of 5 per cent on the new smartphone, it can almost definitely make a profit of 100 per cent or 200 per cent in the case that goes with it.
We as buyers are often much more attentive to the price of a big-ticket item and are less concerned with the price of smaller products. To use the example above you’d probably shop around on an expensive smartphone for the best price. But can you call around to find the best deal on a $20-$30 case? Maybe not. You’ll probably buy it from the same store where you purchased the phone.
Less turnover
We hope that by now, you will be persuaded that investing in a high-quality, educational site will pay major dividends. But if the goods you sell change every year, it will easily turn into a mountain of work to maintain the platform. Try seeking items that aren’t updated regularly with new versions. That way, it will last longer the time and money you spend in a superb place.
Difficult to find locally
Selling a product that is difficult to locally locate will improve the chances of success as long as you are not going too personal. Most people will probably sprint down to the nearest hardware store wanting a garden rake or a sprinkler. But where will you buy the uniform or falcon-training equipment of a mediaeval knight? You’d probably go to and start looking for Google.
Smaller ones are typically suitable
In a world where free shipping is often anticipated, selling big, heavy equipment which is costly to ship can be a challenge. The smaller the products, the easier they’re to ship to your customers cheaply.
It’s not easy to choose the right dropshipping items and allows you to weigh several factors. These guidelines should give you a clear idea of what kinds of drop-shipped items perform well. For more detail on these attributes see this expanded article on finding a viable niche market.
How to sell easily online
Selecting a dropshipping product on demand is of course just one part of the equation. You’ll need to do at least one of the following to create a successful dropship business:
Produce your own goods
You manage the delivery, and are the item’s primary source. This reduces competition and lets you charge a premium price. You will be selling current goods made by someone else if you wish to dropship goods, so this is not an option.
Had access to exclusive distribution or pricing
You can profitably sell online without making your own goods if you can negotiate an exclusive arrangement to carry a goods, or if you have access to exclusive pricing from a manufacturer or supplier. However, these deals can be difficult to organize, and hundreds of other dropship traders would have access to similar goods and rates on wholesale.
Offer at the lowest price possible
If you can deliver the lowest price, you’ll probably snatch a big chunk of the market from industry. The only issue? It is a business model which is doomed to failure. If the only thing you have to sell is a low price, you will find yourself trapped in a price war that will rob nearly all your profits. It’s generally a bad strategy to try to compete against Amazon and other proven online giants on price.
Add value under non-pricing conditions
The best way to distinguish yourself and charge a premium price is to provide valuable information which complements your products. Entrepreneurs set out to solve the issues facing people, and in the world of ecommerce and dropshipping it is no different. The best way to develop a successful dropshipping company is to provide expert advice and guidance within your niche.
Added value to e-commerce
Only add some meaning! Only pretty easy, right? Yeah, the expression is simpler than done. Rather than others, some goods and niches lend themselves to this strategy. You can look for a few main features that make it much easier to add value to the educational content.
Have plenty of components
The more components a product needs to work properly, the more likely it is that consumers will turn to the web for answers. Which purchase is more confusing: buying a new office chair or purchasing a home surveillance camera system involving multiple cameras, complicated cabling and a recorder? The more components a product needs — and the more variety among these components — the greater the ability to add value by advising consumers on compatibility of goods.
Can be customized / confused
Confusing and customizable goods are ideal to add value through content in the same vein. Do you know instinctively how to pick the best set of hot water solar panels for your environment, or what sort of wireless dog collar system is right for your yard? It is a perfect way to add value to being able to provide detailed advice about what types of goods are better suited to particular markets and consumers.
Require technical installation or Setup
It is easy to provide expert advice for hard to set up, install or assemble products. Take from above the surveillance camera system. Let’s say the camera site had a 50-page comprehensive installation guide which also covered the most common mistakes that people make installing their own systems. If you thought the guide might save you time and effort, there’s a fair chance you’d buy it from that website, even though it was less available somewhere for a few bucks. The guides add considerable value to customers for store owners, and do not cost anything to provide once they have been produced.
There are a variety of ways you can add value to diverse and challenging niches including:
- Developing detailed buyer’s guides
- Investing in product reviews and comprehensive lists
- Creating guides to install and configure (as discussed above)
- Build in-depth videos that demonstrate how the product functions
- Establish an easy-to-follow structure to understand compatibility of the components
Bottom line
Aspiring to dropshipping entrepreneurs would commonly like to know, how can I be sure my niche will work? The answer to that is, you cannot! While this chapter’s tips and guidance will dramatically increase your chances and help you make informed decisions, there’s no way to know for sure if you’re going to succeed in a market without diving in.
We started numerous businesses, some of which succeeded and some of which flopped, and at the beginning we were always in doubt. That is part of the uncertainty that comes with a dropshipping store starting and venturing into the unknown. What separates entrepreneurs from mere dreamers is a willingness, despite the uncertainty, to move forward and give it its best.
So do the homework, research and collect as much information as you can. But then, despite your hesitations and fears, make the best decision you can and move on. If you wait for “the perfect market” to solve all the uncertainties, you’ll never get started.
