Avoid These Common Drop Shipping Scams
July 5, 2008
The fact is, there are a lot of people making excellent full-time incomes–even six-figure incomes–with drop shipping. But there is also no shortage of crooks and scam artists just waiting to take your money in exchange for the promise of “Instant Drop Shipping Riches” or “Ready-Made Online Drop Shipping Stores.”
So here are a few things to watch out for when you’re researching drop shipping:
Companies offering to sell you lists of drop shippers for $3, $4, $7. The old saying “You get what you pay for” applies here. Spend $4 on a drop shipping list, and you’ll get an e-mail listing 200 company names, addresses and maybe phone numbers. A few calls to out-of-service numbers, and you’ll realize that the list is years old and basically useless.
Companies charging you a “monthly fee” to be your drop shipper. Think about it: Why would a company charge you to sell you things? Answer: Because their products are either worthless junk or they’re marked up way too high. In either case, they know your online store won’t be able to sell any of them, so they need to make their money from you through a monthly fee.
Companies offering you a turnkey online business, complete with Web site, products that can only be purchased from them), and a merchant account that allows you to accept credit cards. The strategy here is to get you to spend your money advertising and selling their products that they’re buying from real wholesalers, marking up and selling to you. These companies usually also charge a one-time and/or monthly fee.
Here’s the bottom line: No one’s going to do your work for you. If you want to set up a real online business, you’re going to need to do some legwork. Always look twice at any company that offers to make your job “easier” by giving you lists of hyped products to sell or offers to set up your site for “free”–chances are, their “all-in-one” solution will eat up a hefty portion of your profits.
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