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If you are looking for a no fuss way to start a business that is minimum cost and minimum risk… a easy way to get up and running is via drop shipping. in this episode I explain what drop shipping is… and how it works. Using the example of a person who wants to start a no risk business selling custom tshirts online… and using a real world drop shipping service.

To make it easy to understand I’m going to use the real life example of a drop shipping service called printful who handle things like cups, caps, phone cases, bags and clothing like tshirts, swimwear and socks. You can find them on the web at www.printful.com

Let’s say you want to set up a site selling T shirts online… but you don’t want to have to preprint lots of sizes and hold stock of different designs before you actually sell them. A dropshiping company a is a service that sits invisibly between you and the consumer… and takes the risk out of the transaction.

It all begins with an online store that you have set up to sell the T shirts… using an existing E Commerce platform like Shopify, amazon, etsty or woo Commerce. Or even directly from your website. Rather than holding lots of stock yourself… and fulfilling all of the orders locally too… all you really do is process the order and payment for the item from the shopper who visits your online store… and then hand the rest over to the drop shipping supplier.

Once you get a purchase from a shopper on your site… you process the payment with them using an established payment platform like PayPal or credit card. This would then automatically generate an order to the drop shipping company to create the size and style of T shirt that the visitor to your store has purchased….   They even print pack and ship the product to the end consumer. You can also choose to have the drop shipping company wrap the product in materials with your brand on them for shipping so the service seems personalized and directly from your business.

At this point you pay the drop shipping company for the printing and fulfillment at whatever cost you have agreed with them in advance. This means that you have a very clear understanding of the profit margin that you will be making for every product sold.

At the final stage of the process the shopper  receives the product with your branding on it and as far as they are concerned you completed the whole manufacturing and fulfillment process.

And, to top it all off, most drop shippers partner with global carriers to bring you many affordable and reliable shipping options. And many have apps to enablke you to manage the process on-the-go

Drop shipping is a great business model for people who want to set up businesses with minimum risk arising from having to hold stock… and gives you a very clear indication in advance of sales as to what your profit will be.

It just depends on the type of product that you want to sell online, how complicated the production process is, and if I drop-shipping company exists that can complete the transaction on your behalf.

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