Selling items online as a self-employed entrepreneur is a profitable business. There are several sales possibilities. For example, you can open a Facebook shop and sell a product on it. You can also create an e-commerce store.

Otherwise, you can also be part of the merchants who sell on a marketplace. For example, you can sell on Amazon. In short, there are many options. In addition, there are various forms of ecommerce that you can achieve.

Among the most profitable and advantageous, there is dropshipping. Want to know, what is dropshipping? So go through the few lines that follow.

What is Dropshipping?

You ask yourself the question: what is dropshipping? In fact, it is a profitable e-commerce. It consists of selling certain products or items that you do not own. In dropshipping, the e-merchant also does not manage supply, storage or logistics. It will be the dropshipping supplier who will take care of it.

The latter will prepare and ship orders to end customers. But this simple principle is not enough to answer the question, what is dropshipping. To learn more, we must go into detail.

Dropshipping in detail

To answer the question what is dropshipping, the ideal is to see how it goes in detail. In this form of distance selling, there is the seller and there is the supplier of the product. The seller's role will be to create or search for e-commerce sites where he will market a product or sell the items.

But since he does not have the items concerned, and since he does not have the means to buy and store the products, he must find a supplier who will do it for him. And to make things even easier, this supplier must agree to manage orders as well as delivery.

The seller will be able to make a profit by increasing the price of the products on his site. He will only pay the original price to the supplier. So, what is dropshipping? It is a sale where a merchant makes margins on products of the supplier that he offers for sale, but that he does not own.

It is its partner, the dropshipping supplier (see how to find the right one to get started), which manages the other parts of the sale (excluding online commerce). But for this system to work and for it to be profitable, there are a few steps that need to be taken.

The steps of Dropshipping

When we answer the question what dropshipping is, we have the impression that it is an easy sale. On the contrary. Behind this simple definition lies a complex journey. To answer this question what is dropshipping, discover the steps to achieve this e-commerce.

First of all, to get started in the business you have to create your own shop or choose a marketplace as a sales platform. After that, you have to choose the products to sell and choose a dropshipping supplier. Then, these products must be marketed directly on the site.

By the way, also check out our guide to how to set up Stripe on Shopify. It's a tipping guide that offers you effective strategies to put in place for how to pay for a site on Shopify.

Create an E-Commerce Site

It is possible to create your store through solutions like Woocommerce dropshipping, Prestashop, Shopify, WordPress, etc. What you need to know is that by going through a CMS (like WordPress for example), you will have complex tasks to manage.

You'll even need some programming knowledge to properly launch your store. By going through a SAAS (like Shopify dropshipping for example), you will have subscriptions and various fees to pay. In any case, having your sales site on the internet allows you to offer a product to your targets without constraint.

If you do not want to create a shop, know that you can go through the marketplaces. There's Amazon, Ebay, etc. By choosing a marketplace, you will use its interface as a sales store for your products.

The advantage is that you won't have to totally work on your marketing strategy to get traffic. You will take advantage of the notoriety of the marketplace to get customers. You also won't have to create a site.

But what is dropshipping on a marketplace? It is a sale of a product that must follow the conditions of the chosen marketplace. There are several. Some require, for example, a fast delivery time. Others perform certain tasks of dropshipping suppliers in return for a subscription.

This is for example the case of Amazon. This marketplace stores and delivers products to end customers, but you have to pay for this service. There are also prohibited products on marketplaces. In short, there are conditions and constraints that must be checked before embarking on this adventure.

Choose a Product

Want to know, what is dropshipping? It is a sale that must go through several stages, including the choice of products to sell in dropshipping. You must carefully select the items to sell on the internet to be able to succeed in this sector.

So, what to sell? Sell winning products. But how do you sell in drop shipping and find this kind of profitable product? First of all, you have to choose a niche and carry out a market study. The niche is the product category you want to sell.

Market research will let you know which product in this niche sells best. This study will also allow you to see what your chances are as well as the benefits you can make. When you have found the niche, you can search for your winning products on Amazon dorpshipping or Aliexpress for example.

You can search for their bestsellers and orient your choice in this direction. Then, do a competitive intelligence to see who your competitors are, what about their prices, how the market evolves, etc.

Find a Dropshipping Supplier

What is dropshipping? In addition to the creation of sales sites and the search for products that sell, dropshipping is also the search for a supplier. There are several ways to find one. For example, you can go online and visit directories like Alibaba, Aliexpress, and many others.

These platforms can offer you various suppliers depending on the type of product that works, and that you want to sell. You can then get in touch with the supplier of your choice and offer them a dropshipping partnership.

Otherwise, you can also approach small brands to offer them a dropshipping partnership. In addition to margins, you can negotiate a commission with this kind of wholesaler. You can even negotiate the price. You can also find your wholesaler by visiting trade shows.

After that, what is dropshipping? This sales concept does not stop at these stages. Dropshipping (see the complete guide) is also the choice of a good supplier. You must choose a direct supplier, not an intermediary. Then, choose a reliable supplier that offers quality products and a return and refund service in case something goes wrong.

Also choose a wholesaler who has a legal status and is responsive. To test the reliability of a supplier, you can check customer reviews. You can also order a sample of merchandise to analyze the delivery time, the quality of the delivery, the quality of the product, the responsiveness of the wholesaler, etc.

Once you've found a supplier, set up a contract with them. Then, ask for a list of products as well as product sheets (see an example). Import them and start selling your products on the site.

Some platforms, such as SAAS for example, have tools for importing profitable products. The same goes for marketplaces. There are solutions, such as plug-ins for example, that allow you to import dropshipping products directly to the sales platform.

After that, what is dropshipping? When these steps are completed, all that remains is to wait for a sale. When buyers have placed an order on your store, you collect the money (see also how to earn a good salary in dropshipping). You must then contact your supplier to place an order and pay.

At the same time, you tell him to which address he must deliver the package. Follow up on the order to see if everything is going well. Then sell your other products by following the same process.

If necessary, use marketing strategies to sell your products quickly. Be aware, however, that there is also another form of dropshipping. This is print-on-demand dropshipping (see what it is).

Dropshipping Print On Demand

Would you like to know, what is print on demand dropshipping? To answer this question, let's first see what print on demand is. In fact, it is a print-on-demand. It is therefore a sale of personalized products.

So, what is print on demand dropshipping? It is simply an e-commerce of personalized objects, but as with dropshipping, it will be the supplier who will take care of the majority of tasks (supply, storage, preparation, delivery, etc.) including printing.

How Does Dropshipping Print On Demand Work?

What is print on demand dropshipping? It's dropshipping, but instead of classic products, you'll have to sell print-on-demand products like t-shirts for example. To achieve this e-commerce, you must also follow several steps. They are not very different from those of classic dropshipping.

What is print on demand dropshipping? What are the steps to follow to make this sale? You need to find product niches. For this kind of sale, the best way to find niche products is through social networks like Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Next, you need to create a site. You can also go through a marketplace. It should be noted, however, that not all marketplaces correspond to a sale of this kind. You should target marketplaces like Etsy, for example, platforms that accept personalized items, crafts, personal creations, etc.

As with Amazon and others, check the conditions of the marketplace before integrating it. After that, you have to find a supplier. The search will be different from classic dropshipping. What is print on demand dropshipping? How do I find a supplier?

The best way to find one is to go through the Net and search by keyword. In case you have created a SAAS site, you can check if your site provider is not partnering with a print-on-demand dropshipping provider.

For Shopify for example, it is related to PrintFull. This greatly facilitates the search, but also the integration of products on the site. After these steps, you need to find a design to print on your products.

You can hire the services of a graphic designer to get your design or else buy photos and designs on image banks. You can also follow online tutorials to learn how to create your own designs.