What questions should we ask dropshippers?

Hello Salehoo staff,

I am new to dropshipping.
Now, before picking which suppliers to use, what questions do you advise me to ask dropship suppliers ?
I have created the following questions. Please, see if you can add more to it so I ask all the necessary questions that is usually required to ask a dropship supplier.

QUESTIONS
1. Do you have any account setup fees ?

2. Do you have any monthly subscription fees ?

3. Will you charge us any extra fees, open or hidden charges, direct or indirect charges, etc. apart from the item selling price in order to ship the item direct to our customers with our label ?

4. After opening an account with you, how long do we have to wait to before starting to sell ?

5. Do you have handling or packaging fees ?

6. Maximum how long would we have to wait for a reply when emailing your customer support ?

7. How much do we need to spend to get a discount on each item ?

8. What is your minimum and maximum quantity order ?

9. What are your warranty policies ?

10. What are your guarantee policies ?

11. What are your shipping policies ?

12. Who pays import and export tax (Customs & Excise) ?

13.
a. What are your refund policies ?
b. Do you charge any refund fees ?
c. Do you charge for charge-backs or failed credit card charges ?

14. What are your return policies ? Do you charge any return fees ?

15. Who pays shipping for replacement deliveries ?
(Our customer returning item to us and then we return it to you. Finally, you post replaced item to our customer. There is 3 delivery step here).

16. Who pays shipping for returns where no replacements would be made, us or you ?

17.
a. How long do we have to wait before you give a refund when a refund request is made ?
b. Do you wait for the item be returned to you before giving a refund or do you give the refund immediately when requested ?
c. If you refund only after the item has been returned to you then how long do we have to wait for the refund to be issued after the item has been returned to you ?

18.
a. Do you advertise on Trade Shows ?
b. If so, then where and how long you've been doing it on these places ?
c. If not, then what's stopping you ?

19. When did you start trading and when did you start dropshipping ?

20.
a. How often do you update your stock levels on your website ?
b. When your short on stock and we make you an order, maximum how long would we have to wait for you to restock and dispatch it to our customers ?

21. Are you willing to include receipts when shipping the items with our brand names and addresses on the receipts ?
If so, is there any extra charge for this ?

22. When a customer complains against an order because the item didn't arrive or was found broken after opening the packaging, maximum how long does it take you to investigate and solve the problem ?

Very impressive!

To be honest, just submitting a list of questions like that will tell you quite a lot about the company themselves in regards to their response, and the time it takes to respond.

If you are inexperienced in the field, then that type of forward planning throughout all aspects of your business can only help to serve you extremely well.

I think we'll make that a sticky, great little learning tool for what other members considering Drop Shipping should be asking themselves.

Hi loudgob,

Welcome to SaleHoo! :) Your questions are quite comprehensive, it covers major information crucial in a drop shipping arrangement and you do not sound like a newbie at all! :)

Answers to some basic questions about their drop shipping program are usually provided by the suppliers through their websites. Information about the return policy and the minimum order requirement, and the fee structure for dropshipping, these can be found in their dropshipping link, and you can just send those that need clarification or those which weren't addressed.

In your list I'd like to add these questions -

Do you send automated/electronic notification upon receipt of order and release of shipment?

Can you please provide some examples of problems that arise with your drop shipping arrangement and how have you dealt with them?

Do you provide tracking numbers for your delivery/shipment?

It would also be best if you can possibly place a small order with your chosen dropshipper, for you to be able to determine product quality and be able to assess their service. :)

Hope this helps. We wish you the best! :)

I just wanted to know how to apply to account from your list of dropshippers?

Do I just have to visit their website and do it on my own?

sorry, but I am a member of WWB, and they already have a set up account form which you can just with one click sumbit to suppliers.

Thanks.

Hi Blondie032,

Welcome to SaleHoo, glad to have you with us :)

Yes, you will need to contact the dropshippers directly to either register or start selling their products.

Please note that here at SaleHoo, we no do partake in any business transaction between any of our suppliers and members.

Cheers!

Hello. I am a new in salehoo, enjoyed today.You did not give me any password and did not ask my adress and other thinks.Did I verified.I do not know. But I can reach the wholesalers pages with a problem that any wholesale prices there in directory search only there are retail prices of the products in their websites as all people can reach them like me. I can see the products of suppliers on their websites.selling prices are very much. my question is clearly this: how will I see the discount prices of the products.and How will I contact with the wholesalers.What should I do for make a business contact.where can I overview the discount prices of the products.Where can I see the wholesale prices of the products.I can only see retail prices of the products.I tired because of researching this problem.unless could not find.can you help me please. thanks

Hi nesimsick,

You have successfully activated your SaleHoo account. I have provided your email address for login in response to the email you sent to support. Sorry but for security reasons we do not have access to your password so I have also provided a reset password in my email.

You can access the suppliers' profile pages by doing a supplier search through our [htpp://www.salehoo.com/directory/]Directory[/url] tab. To help you learn the best ways of contacting a supplier, I recommend downloading our guide Link hidden: Login to view.

As for the wholesale prices, you may need to contact your supplier of choice directly to find out more about their wholesale prices. Remember that the final wholesale price greatly depends on your order volume/quantity.

Hope this helps :)

Hi nesimsick,

You have successfully activated your SaleHoo account. I have provided your email address for login in response to the email you sent to support. Sorry but for security reasons we do not have access to your password so I have also provided a reset password in my email.

You can access the suppliers' profile pages by doing a supplier search through our [htpp://www.salehoo.com/directory/]Directory[/url] tab. To help you learn the best ways of contacting a supplier, I recommend downloading our guide Link hidden: Login to view.

As for the wholesale prices, you may need to contact your supplier of choice directly to find out more about their wholesale prices. Remember that the final wholesale price greatly depends on your order volume/quantity.

Hope this helps :)

it was not an enough explanation and you answered me after 2 days.where were salehoo personels in 2 days. are you getting me alone with the wholesalers. what does my volume mean. why do not you give me the wholesalers discount prices.the cost of the products are so much.maybe the wholesalers selling on ebay. do not they. why do not you know.talk with them and give me real discount prices. do not say me talk them.what is your work here.Ä° want to see all of the wholesalers discount prices.will Ä° see.Can Ä° see.explain me what does your smiling picture say us ofter all the happening. i did not go the other platforms. most of them are in abd.because abd is the biggest terrorist in the world. i enjoyed salehoo. help my problems.

Take a deep breath and settle down nesimcik.

A response within two days of any inquiry over the Easter period is pretty damn good. Our customer service team works damn hard and they deserve to spend some time with their families over this period, so just relax and someone will assist you further soon.

it was not an enough explanation and you answered me after 2 days.where were salehoo personels in 2 days. are you getting me alone with the wholesalers. what does my volume mean. why do not you give me the wholesalers discount prices.the cost of the products are so much.maybe the wholesalers selling on ebay. do not they. why do not you know.talk with them and give me real discount prices. do not say me talk them.what is your work here.Ä° want to see all of the wholesalers discount prices.will Ä° see.Can Ä° see.explain me what does your smiling picture say us ofter all the happening. i did not go the other platforms. most of them are in abd.because abd is the biggest terrorist in the world. i enjoyed salehoo. help my problems.

Hi nesimick,

Sorry that you felt that the explanation was inadequate. We are more than happy to help you out.

Please note that our working hours are from Monday to Friday. With at least 1 staff on stand by over the weekends but for a limited time only to address urgent concerns. Unfortunately, my colleague was not able to address your ticket during her shift last Saturday as I have pointed out our weekend hours are limited.

Remember that the final wholesale price greatly depends on your order volume/quantity.

Most if not all wholesale orders are based on quantity or the number of units you will order. The more you order the lower the wholesale price will go down. You cannot rely purely on the published prices as these are not the final wholesale price for the products they sell.

Yes, that is true that many prices are lower on eBay. Why? Because there are many wholesalers who are selling directly on eBay!

Please note that we at SaleHoo do not partake in any business transaction between any of our members and suppliers. Although we do our best to help you out but contacting suppliers on behalf is something we leave up to you as we have always done for most our members. Personally it is also more ideal that you contact the suppliers directly so that you can ask them all your concerns and they can address your questions quickly and directly.

Again to find suppliers you can use the Directory and do a search for the product or brand that you are interested in and a list of suppliers will be provided. You can click on the 'More Information' link under the supplier's name to help you view the contact details and other important information.

Hope this helps. Should you need further assistance please don't hesitate to ask!

PS My smiling face continues to smile as I continue to help you and our members :)

a couple of other questions I like to ask them..

2. do you also sell on Ebay?

3. Do you ship the items in packaging that plasters your business name all over them?

5. Are you able to give me competetive pricing so I can compete in the market?

6. Do you offer any incentive to sell more?

7. Do you have a datafeed that I can download?

Just remember, with Ebay, you need to add at least 10% ontop of the prce to cover both ebay and paypal fees, anything above that is profit.

You've got a good list there! Definitely a good way to start your business relationship with your supplier by asking them what they can offer you and what their limitations are.

These type of questions are best asked directly, between you and your selected supplier, so if you need to clarify or ask further you can right away :)

Good one, T0pSales!

Hello all.

It's been more than a week that I do searches on dropshipping as I think it really fit my needs.

However, I had one question in mind. When selling on ebay, you normally need to give a tracking number to your customer so they can follow the shipment. But let's say for instance that I live in Quebec (canada), and when using dropshipping services the item location is somewhere in the US.

Did you experience issues when dealing with customers that tracked the package that were supposed to be sold and ship from Quebec, but when they tracked the package, the starting location is in the US ? To me, it might cause problems and it will impact your feedback.

I want to hear your experiences - opinions on that. Thank you and have a good day all!

Hello all.

It's been more than a week that I do searches on dropshipping as I think it really fit my needs.

However, I had one question in mind. When selling on ebay, you normally need to give a tracking number to your customer so they can follow the shipment. But let's say for instance that I live in Quebec (canada), and when using dropshipping services the item location is somewhere in the US.

Did you experience issues when dealing with customers that tracked the package that were supposed to be sold and ship from Quebec, but when they tracked the package, the starting location is in the US ? To me, it might cause problems and it will impact your feedback.

I want to hear your experiences - opinions on that. Thank you and have a good day all!

A couple of points here.

Firstly, it isn't a requirement to ship anything with tracking. Some would say it is smart, as it does give you a position to fall back on if something does goes wrong with delivery, but it's not an absolute requirement to do so.

In regards to location, eBay requires the item's location to be listed, not the seller's location. If you are listing something that is going to be delivered from the UK, but you live in Canada for example, then the location should be the UK.

Listing your location as the item's location, then shipping from a completely different location is a recipe for big trouble with some buyers, especially if there is a long shipping time involved.

You have to be very careful to match a customer's expectations with what you have the ability to deliver on. It's when this little equation gets out of sync when problems have the most potential to happen.

Hi and Welcome to SaleHoo, JFAudet :)

Just to add to Marc's post, another reason why it is a good idea to always mention your item's location is so that your customer's will have an idea ahead of time of any additional fees that they may have to pay when they receive their package such as importation fees and taxes (should one be required).

All the best!

Thank you to both of you for your answers. It does make sense.

are we literally sending them this list of questions?

Thank you to both of you for your answers. It does make sense.

You're welcome JFAudet :) Glad to be of help!

@Sarhuy: That's nice to know that the questions are being put to good use :) Hope these help you find a dropshipper that is completely suited to your needs!

Cheers

i found that this is very helpful. :)

Welcome to SaleHoo, Paul! Nice to have you with us :)

Should you need help with anything please feel free to let us know.

Cheers

Hello

I also have to say that I found this tread really helpful. Nice for the new ones (like me) to have this...:)

Have a nice day, everyone.:)

Now that I am a bit older, broker and dumber, I will suggest that you don't take your suppliers prices as being the cheapest, today I ordered something that my supplier stated was out of stock, their price was $24, I got it from elsewhere for $15.

I have noticed this a lot, if you are selling something, shop around for the best price you can get it for, make sure you add shipping into the equation, no use paying $10 less and being ripped on the shipping.

Do a Google search of the item you are selling, it will bring up lots of different suppliers and prices.

Try to stick to known suppliers, no upstarts that may cause you grief.

I sold something for $15 plus $5 shipping which I got from my supplier for $12 with free shipping, the exact same item was being sold by Chinese suppliers for $2 with free shipping, I chose to go my supplier because of reliability of service, bear in mind that they prolly got it from a Chinese supplier themselves.

Now that I am a bit older, broker and dumber, I will suggest that you don't take your suppliers prices as being the cheapest, today I ordered something that my supplier stated was out of stock, their price was $24, I got it from elsewhere for $15.

I have noticed this a lot, if you are selling something, shop around for the best price you can get it for, make sure you add shipping into the equation, no use paying $10 less and being ripped on the shipping.

Do a Google search of the item you are selling, it will bring up lots of different suppliers and prices.

Try to stick to known suppliers, no upstarts that may cause you grief.

I sold something for $15 plus $5 shipping which I got from my supplier for $12 with free shipping, the exact same item was being sold by Chinese suppliers for $2 with free shipping, I chose to go my supplier because of reliability of service, bear in mind that they prolly got it from a Chinese supplier themselves.

I sold something for $15 plus $5 shipping which I got from my supplier for $12 with free shipping, the exact same item was being sold by Chinese suppliers for $2 with free shipping, I chose to go my supplier because of reliability of service, bear in mind that they prolly got it from a Chinese supplier themselves.

A 500% premium for a little peace of mind? I could use a small army of customers with that mindset.

I would be placing a couple of test orders with that Chinese supplier for myself if I were you Laurie, if they come through all good then that's all the more in your pocket mate.

If they don't, then the chances are your supplier is getting their stck from somewhere else.

Hi Mr. T0pSales

I am new to SaleHoo

After car accident I became a disabled staying home dad and I would like to sell anything on ebay just to make a little profit

Could you kindly tell me about this Chinese suppliers which is selling your product for $2 with free shipping.

Just send me the website i would like to test them


Thanks & God bless

Welcome to Salehoo! Sorry to hear of your circumstances, hope things will work out for you with your online ventures!

Should you need help with anything please feel free to let us know.

All the best :)

Hi Ms. Richellemonfort

I am new to SaleHoo

And I am looking for a Reliable dropshippers in China or USA with free shipping I can trust , I am asking your experience and kindness.

Please dont tell me to search because I am a beginner and I dont know from where to start.

All what I am asking for the website for a Reliable dropshippers with free shipping.

Thanks & God bless

Hello again Cash333,

Here's a list of dropshippers that may offer free shipping - Link hidden: Login to view

Being new does not limit your capabilities, you should be open to all possible opportunities for you to grow your online business. Remember that every seasoned seller started as a new seller when they ventured into online selling :)

We have various guides which can help you -

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps you off t o a good start! All the best :)

Important to ask shipping & handling charges before you post on drop ship order. I finally received an order, item cost me $16.50 & shipping & handling was $20.00. I lost money on this deal.
Company is LaVani, Inc.

That's a good one, retailer73! Profit margins when dropshipping is not always at its highest so best to be sure you won't get burned.

Happy New Year :)

I need a dropshipper! its hard to find one on here. some of them cost extra money to sign up. Im about to ask for my money back. I need help in finding a dropshipper that i dont have to pay more money.

What sort of products are you looking for?

I need a dropshipper! its hard to find one on here. some of them cost extra money to sign up. Im about to ask for my money back. I need help in finding a dropshipper that i dont have to pay more money.

Welcome to SaleHoo, biggipauly :)

While by no means ideal, a small account set-up fee is fairly common practice among drop shippers. In most cases we can understand the charge because it costs the drop shipper time and money to process a new account.

Like Marc said let us know what products you're after and we will do our best to help you locate suitable dropshippers.

Cheers :)

im looking for electronics please let me know if you can find any dropshipers for me.

I thought when i signed up that you guys would provide me with dropshipping at no extra cost. That's why i asked for a refund.

im mostly looking for lcd tvs and plasmas

I thought when i signed up that you guys would provide me with dropshipping at no extra cost. That's why i asked for a refund.

I thought when I signed up that they would provide me with a free lunch, still waiting on that..

you need to do the research yourself, the people here will assist you, they are not here to tell you who to call, what to sell, what prices etc, that is up to you.

once you find someone, then they can assist in telling you if they are legit or what.

Hello again biggipauly,

SaleHoo is a wholesale directory and business resource for retailers, eBay sellers and consumers and NOT a dropshipper. Our members are able to use SaleHoo's custom-designed research tool to find products with high demand before searching the directory to locate suppliers who meet their requirements.

Here are a few leads you might want to check out if you haven't already -

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

All the best!

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie (to drop shipping) but have found this thread extremely helpful. Am very much looking forward to building my business, will be starting off with shoes and women's fashion... So if anyone can recommend suppliers that will drop ship to Australia, that will be great. Cheer!

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie (to drop shipping) but have found this thread extremely helpful. Am very much looking forward to building my business, will be starting off with shoes and women's fashion... So if anyone can recommend suppliers that will drop ship to Australia, that will be great. Cheer!

Welcome to SaleHoo, JoJos_AUS

We're glad you found this thread helpful :) Below are a few dropshippers that might have what you are looking for -

Apparel:
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

Additional suppliers:
Link hidden: Login to view

Shoes:
Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps! Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks for your help Richelle. These sites look great!

Hi Everyone, I read though this thread but did not see one of the things that I think is important. When looking for a drop shipper make sure you ask if they actually stock the product they sell. We have shipped product before (to end customers) on behalf of companies that were advertising themselves as drop shippers. I thought this was kind of odd to have to pay another level of markup but it happens.

Hi CG,

That's a really interesting point you make. There are many instances where people find a drop ship suppler and then simply set themselves up as a drop shipper, using the other drop shipper as the real supplier. So of course what happens there is that you get that extra level of expense with the added profit margin of the broker being built in.

That's only with one extra middle man in play, I'm sure there are set-ups out there that have more than one, each working of the other.

How do you tell?

Next to impossible if they are not honest enough to tell you, but price will always give it away. It all comes back to research, make sure you are getting the best price on your products and you will be sure you are dealing with the source directly!

Very impressive!

To be honest, just submitting a list of questions like that will tell you quite a lot about the company themselves in regards to their response, and the time it takes to respond.

If you are inexperienced in the field, then that type of forward planning throughout all aspects of your business can only help to serve you extremely well.

I think we'll make that a sticky, great little learning tool for what other members considering Drop Shipping should be asking themselves.

Hi loudgob,

Welcome to SaleHoo! :) Your questions are quite comprehensive, it covers major information crucial in a drop shipping arrangement and you do not sound like a newbie at all! :)

Answers to some basic questions about their drop shipping program are usually provided by the suppliers through their websites. Information about the return policy and the minimum order requirement, and the fee structure for dropshipping, these can be found in their dropshipping link, and you can just send those that need clarification or those which weren't addressed.

In your list I'd like to add these questions -

Do you send automated/electronic notification upon receipt of order and release of shipment?

Can you please provide some examples of problems that arise with your drop shipping arrangement and how have you dealt with them?

Do you provide tracking numbers for your delivery/shipment?

It would also be best if you can possibly place a small order with your chosen dropshipper, for you to be able to determine product quality and be able to assess their service. :)

Hope this helps. We wish you the best! :)

Hi CG,

That's a really interesting point you make. There are many instances where people find a drop ship suppler and then simply set themselves up as a drop shipper, using the other drop shipper as the real supplier. So of course what happens there is that you get that extra level of expense with the added profit margin of the broker being built in.

That's only with one extra middle man in play, I'm sure there are set-ups out there that have more than one, each working of the other.

How do you tell?

Next to impossible if they are not honest enough to tell you, but price will always give it away. It all comes back to research, make sure you are getting the best price on your products and you will be sure you are dealing with the source directly!

Hello ukseller,

Welcome to SaleHoo! I noticed that you have been quote posts by other members and staff without any post from yourself.

Is there anything we can help you with?

Cheers :)

Hello Everybody, I am iHappy from ihappystore.com, a new eCommerce website just set up by me (and still under construction), with the intention to link to similar name Pro Store on eBay. I am new to all of these and actually stumbled on SaleHoo through a referral from InventorySource.com. I am happy that I took up the bait :), because so far i quite like SaleHoo, in particular the user-friendly Forum.

I have a similar concern with the lady that asked about product location as opposed to seller location. I live in sunny Jamaica, a walking distance from the beach and wouldn't trade living elsewhere for it, but doing brick and mortar business from my country becomes a pain with the incessant devaluation of our currency. This is why I decide to go the route of drop shipping of products from USA suppliers to be onsold to USA buyers in the mainland USA initially. When my learning curve becomes smooth, I can try the UK market, where I originally came to Jamaica from and possibly the global market eventually.

I wish newbies like myself the best in their business endeavors and warn our senior members that iHappy is here to stay. I'll be needing your shoulders to fall on on quality advice.

Thanks in advance :)

iHappy

Hello iHappy :)

Glad to know that you're happy being with us!

In the case of middle men there is really no way of telling unless you do your due diligence. It all boils down to research. Exactly why at SaleHoo we pre-screen our suppliers to help make the work for our members a little less :)

Cheers!

Hi does anyone in here know how to get in touch with ezdropship, i`ve sent them like 5 emails and it`s been a week now and still no answer?
Thnx Goran

I can't help with a phone number, they don't seem to provide one unfortunately. Now I have heard some people say they are quite happy using EZ, but, and this is only my personal opinion and I have to say that I have never dealt with them myself.

I would be asking myself if I really wanted to deal with a supplier (especially a drop ship supplier) who offers such slow customer service and very limited access to that customer service.

No phone contact means that you are reliant on email as your support hotline. If you think it's frustrating waiting for them to respond to your past 5 inquires now, imagine how frustrating it would be waiting to have your emails responded to if you were trying to sort out an issue for one or more customers.

It's a point that is often over looked by many when choosing to do business with a drop shipper. The focus is more on price, more so than on the customer service they provide. When you are using a drop ship business model, the customer service you provide to your customers is only as good as the customer service you are getting from your supplier.

If they aren't providing you with quality customer support, then it's your customers that will be effected and anyone who's been in business for any amount of time will usually know that providing your customers with bad customer support results in very unhappy customers who are then more than happy to make sure they do as much damage to your trading name as is possible ..... and that's never good for business.

You can't just say, I'm sorry, I'm waiting for my supplier to get back to me. Customers don't want excuses, they want answers and solutions to any issues they feel they have. The fact that you might be having trouble getting in contact with your supplier will be of no concern to them at all, nor should it be really.

So, end result is that it all washes down hill. You get bad customer support, you deliver bad customer support and your business is the one that will suffer for it.

As I said, not a personal reflection on EZ, but I am frankly sick to death of the pathetic level of customer support some companies provide their customers. Why customers seem prepared to accept that is beyond me, but I know well that it will never change while they can get away with it.

Just a thought :)

A lot of great questions there! We are always happy to answer questions from customers, we offer a live chat to speak with us too.

fudjj wrote:Very impressive!

To be honest, just submitting a list of questions like that will tell you quite a lot about the company themselves in regards to their response, and the time it takes to respond.

If you are inexperienced in the field, then that type of forward planning throughout all aspects of your business can only help to serve you extremely well.

I think we'll make that a sticky, great little learning tool for what other members considering Drop Shipping should be asking themselves.

Hi, I am currently constructing a similar list, and was wondering; is it likely they will take the time to answer 20 or so questions? As good as they are.

Kind of depends on the supplier really.

I would suggest searching their website first to see how many answers you can get, then contact them to tick off the ones you can't find answers to. I would suggest phone, not email. While email is if course far more convenient, good chance it just won't get replied to in much detail

[quote="fudjj"]Kind of depends on the supplier really.

I would suggest searching their website first to see how many answers you can get, then contact them to tick off the ones you can't find answers to. I would suggest phone, not email. While email is if course far more convenient, good chance it just won't get replied to in much detail[/quote

Thankyou, and just another quick question in reference to their shipping policies on the questionnaire form. Does this go into areas like "F.O.B" etc? I.E; do some drop shippers only ship to ports and then the customer or me (the retailer) have to allocate a courier from there on in? I'm completely in experienced in this, so need to ask these questions.

Kind regards.

Hi Barry,

Dropshippers typically sent direct to the customer, so no issues there. The one thing you do need to be aware of is TAX, especially if you are selling internationally. It's always a good idea to inform the customer in the listing to be aware of any import tax that may be applicable in their own country.