This is the age of the Internet entrepreneurs. You see millions and millions flock to the Internet each day. They easily understand the business potential and the low bar in starting a business website. They jump directly without much thought or research, contact one or two product sellers and open shop as resellers of the items. A very few succeed owing their success to previous experience or contacts they have. Many of them just fall into the bottomless pit of waiting for the orders spending money on pointless traffic sources. Nearly half of them finally figure out a way to grab the attention of the customer and finally manage to entice them to buy their products. There in the problem starts. They now have to figure out the best way to ship the item. Unprepared, they initially end up paying for the shipping and handling out of pocket for the first 10 orders. Tell me I am wrong, the author is a fine good example of this. If only we could present articles like this to them before they blindly start their journey to the bottomless pit?

The good concept that allows the home based entrepreneurs to try out various business methods without holding any inventory is called Drop Shipping. There are tons companies who offer drop shipping of their products. It is a win-win for them. In the reseller market the product manufacturer doesn't know who the customer is. In drop shipping they get first hand information of who the customers are and also find good sales folks for free. The web business owner who signs up for the drop shipping also wins. If they are new to the business they don't have to worry about shipping and handling. They need not worry about maintaining inventory. The established business owners know how difficult it is to manage inventory. The countless software and business intelligence products in the Inventory management tell the story about the nightmarish Inventory management. The best thing for the new business owners to do is signup for the dropshipping and let the pros take care of the delivery. Once they understand how things are done they can increase their revenue by starting to manage inventory in addition to signing up for drop shipping. Slowly you can finally manage to become a complete distributor or may be become a value added reseller.

Given the number of companies who competitively price their product for reselling and the various drop shipping methods they offer, it get real confusing to the new comer. The best thing they can do is purchase the hot drop shippers or manufacturer directories and ping each or broadcast for quotes. It is easier this way as it will fit the quick launching spirit they are in. Typically you get responses from 10-20% of the requests you send. This is more useful than the direct contacts you make. Here is why you will get better deals when you go through these directory purchases you make:

1. The product manufacturers know you are serious and not just collecting emails.

2. The product manufacturers advertise through these directories and offer the directory for premium placement and since this brings a constant stream of sales websites they offer a better deal than what they would through other sources.

3. Typically the pre-screening is done by the directories themselves hence they spend less time spending time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

4. Sometimes the initial consulting is offered by the directories hence they spend less time in finding best match services.

The above are typically translated into higher commissions for the seller. There is just one caveat beware of the multiple layer sale. 50% of the folks who claim to drop ship are basically middlemen who add one more layer of cost. Ask your directory supplier to do this chaff removal for you.