Those who are new to the dropship business will soon become aware of how important it is to have a good dropshippers directory handy.
This forms the core of any strong dropshipping business.
Some people take a lot of time and effort to collate a list by hand.
Others pay a fee and purchase ready-made directories.
But why are these lists and directories so important? If you have no experience in the field, it might be easy to assume that you simply need to use the search engines to find suppliers.
However, there are far more factors involved in finding the right kind of dropship suppliers.
The Search Feature It's true that the search engines do play some role in creating the average dropshippers directory.
In many cases, it's a good place to start since a single search will offer you hundreds of names and addresses.
This does not mean all these contacts are legitimate or even updated.
While it's certainly fine to use the internet as one aspect of your supplier search, it is only one of many steps.
A legitimate dropshippers directory will usually offer you a list of suppliers who, at the very least, have updated contact information.
If you do use the search engines to find potential suppliers, you need to check for a couple of factors.
One is to make sure that the supplier has a physical address and a landline telephone number.
If only an email id or a mobile phone number is provided, it could be a scam.
A landline and physical address show that the supplier at least has valid contact information.
Calling them up is the best way to ensure that the information on the list is up to date.
Doing all this manually can take a lot of time, which is why many people simply opt to purchase a verified dropshippers directory.
The Middle Man When looking for wholesale USA suppliers, a common trap that people fall into is that they end up dealing with middlemen.
This is not something that exclusively happens to amateurs.
Some experienced wholesalers fall into these traps as well.
This is one of the reasons why most free lists and even some cheap dropshippers directories should be avoided.
Rather than legitimate suppliers, these list are usually populated with middlemen.
It's easy to spot potential middlemen, provided that you know what to look for.
Many middlemen are notorious for charging very high set-up fees.
While it's not uncommon for legitimate suppliers to offer a nominal fee to join, very high membership fees should be avoided.
Another telltale sign of middlemen in a dropshippers directory is the product pricing.
To be specific, you will find great products but absolutely no pricing listed.
In order to access this pricing, you will ask to cough out another set of fees.
It's best to avoid any supplier who refuses to share their price listings with you.