Finding A Wholesale Dropship Company, 10 Questions That Must Be Asked (Part One)

How well do you know your wholesale dropship partner? Have you talked to them at all? If your answer is no, drop what you’re doing right now and ask them these 10 essential questions.

Asking potential wholesale dropship partners questions is an essential step of the sourcing process.

So you’ve surfed, searched and hunted and come up with a list of potential wholesale dropship suppliers who you want to source items from.

However, before you go through their site and get the details of the items you want to stock in your store it might be a good idea to get in contact with the wholesale dropship suppliers, be they a dropshipper from China or an electronics dropshipping firm just to make sure they will treat you and your customers well.

Here are 10 questions you absolutely have to ask your dropship suppliers to make sure they’re on the level.

1) Am I required to pay any joining fees/membership fees?

If they’re charging you membership fees/joining fees then there’s a good chance that this is their way of getting money, not by selling goods and they will probably not give you, or your customers a good service experience.

2) Do you have stock on-hand?

If they don’t have any stock on hand to send to customers they are probably not a genuine wholesale dropship service and instead are buying products from someone else who buys it from someone else. So when the item is sold to you it has already had about three different people take a cut.

Many companies, especially those in the US, depend on their sources to hold the products and transfer your order directly to China.

3) How long will it take for you to send the item to my customers?

A problem for dropshippers is that, as you’re not the one sending stock, you have little control over how fast an item is delivered. Ask your drop shipping company how long items it takes on average for them to get an item out. If they’re using a courier and its anywhere longer than two weeks, they will probably cause you problems with the customers.

4) Do you have a return policy; will you give my customers a warranty?

If anything is faulty, you’re wholesale electronic dropship company doesn’t have a return policy and you want to maintain a good sales reputation then you’ll have to pay for the replacement yourself.

5) Will I get a choice on which form of shipping I use?

This is a useful option, especially if your customer base comes from a wide range of locations. Many courier services have weak spots in their coverage and, if a dropshipping company from China or the US locks you to a certain courier company it can sometimes cause problems with customers due to less than speedy delivery.