SO you’re sick of being stuck at home - not earning the money you should & you’ve decided to give this Dropshipping thing a go…
How about we start at the beginning & take it from there…
First things first: if you've done any dropshiping, you'll know that it's a massive undertaking that eats a lot of your time.
A solution to being more productive, is using a dropshipping company that helps you to find and use winning products and vetted suppliers.
There are a lot to choose from: Doba, Oberlo, Dropship Direct, Wholesale 2B, Megagoods, etc… & they all come with some good & bad.
PS: I’ve kept the current US/China trade situation in mind.
For those of you that’s not sure what I’m taking about, this is what’s happened so far: the US has slapped tariffs on US$550 billion worth of Chinese products. China, in turn, has set tariffs on US$185 billion worth of US goods…
IOW, shipping & import duties are set to increase...
I kept that in mind when choosing these 5 Dropshipping (fulfillment) companies.
As background, you should know that I've made two successful 6 figure Shopify eCommerce stores to date with my business partner. So, we have some experience in the dropshipping business model.
However, this doesn't mean I know everything there is to know about dropshipping. All I can offer is my personal opinion, based on my own online business experience.
My Top 5 Dropshipping Companies of 2020.
#5 Dropshipping Company
DOBA
Doba is a great solution for finding the right suppliers, mainly because it was made with dropshippers in mind.
Not only does it provide a detailed directory of manufacturers and wholesalers but also offers a platform to simply add the products you want, without having to partner with multiple suppliers.
You usually have to ask suppliers whether they’re open to working with ecommerce retailers. With Doba, you only see the dropshipping wholesalers who are prepared for it.
Doba also has a handy feature that allows you to add products to your list, and integrate them with your eCommerce solution.
Pricing
Doba offers 4 pricing plans available: Basic, Advance, Pro & Enterprise.
The Basic Package starts at $29 per month & give you access to millions of products & hundreds of suppliers.
Their Advanced Package goes for $69 per month, which comes with eBay data export and access to elite seller support.
The Pro package jumps to $249 per month, that is bundled with Amazon data export and batch order updates.
As for the Enterprise package…you’d have to contact them directly
Doba is a good option if you don't want to spend hours looking for trustworthy suppliers.
Visit the site here
#4 Dropshipping Company
OBERLO
If you haven’t heard about Oberlo whilst researching or running your dropshipping business, then you haven’t truly been dropshipping.
The Oberlo brand was originally launched in 2015 by a group of friends.
The application became popular quickly, thanks to a wide selection of powerful features. In no time, it became the leading dropshipping application in the Shopify app marketplace.
The primary feature you get from Oberlo is the importing from AliExpress option.
Pricing
There are 3 payment plans available. The Free plan, Basic & then Pro
The free plan offers an amazing free account but you’re limited to 500 products and 50 orders per month.
Basic is from $29.90 per month. You’ll be able to manage up to 10,000 products, incl. real-time order tracking & affiliate program support
Pro jumps to $79.90 per month & gives you a product limit of 30,000 allowing you to scale with your sales performance. You’ll also have access to multiple staff accounts.
Oberlo is a great tool to use if you are an exclusive AliExpress and Shopify dropshipper. Oberlo saves you tons of time with their integration features. Their pricing structure is also very reasonable.
Visit the site here
#3 Dropshipping Company
SALEHOO
SaleHoo is all about helping aspiring entrepreneurs create their own businesses online.
Whatever you’re looking for; educational and training materials, sourcing products, advice from their knowledgeable support staff; it’s all available through this platform.
SaleHoo is a New Zealand company that was founded back in 2005. It is a “wholesale directory” that connects you with 8,000+ legitimate suppliers and 2.5 million products.
SaleHoo is a “service” and not a direct supplier so they do not sell actual products.
They have a unique business model that involves a mandatory verification of all suppliers before being added to their wholesale directory… that helps cut out bad suppliers.
The support area is also brilliant. They have 50 step-by-step guides and videos as well as a fantastic online forum about selling tactics, trends and suggestions on suppliers.
Pricing
SaleHoo’s pricing is super easy… there’s only one package & you can either pay $67 yearly or $127 once off & have lifetime access.
Both of the options give you access to 2.5 million products and 8,000 suppliers that are all listed in the directory. Other than the cost, there are no differences.
Your membership gets you access to the supplier directory, market research labs, members forum, and personal support via email.
They also provide you with 60-days Money-Back Guarantee – a full refund policy!SaleHoo is a great platform to find new products and suppliers. At the price, SalesHoo can be forgiven for some shortcomings.
Visit the site here
#2 Dropshipping Company
SPOCKET
Spocket is a dropshipping app which integrates with WooCommerce and Shopify stores, which are some of the more popular independent retail platforms available to e-commerce entrepreneurs.
You can sort by country and simply upload into your Shopify store. Spocket makes it easy to find US and EU items that’ll ship within your country rather than from China.
Spocket is still growing, which allows them to pay more attention to the quality of suppliers and products.
If you need a product your competitors can’t source, you can probably find it on Spocket.
This is a great option if you have customers in the US & Europe!
Best thing - You decide where your products are sent from. This means products are fulfilled quicker and it’s a lot easier to manage returns and refunds.
They have a dedicated help center with easy to reach support teams. They even provide you with some tips & tricks to get you going.
Pricing
Spocket offers 4 plans; Starter, Pro, Empire & The Unicorn
The Starter option comes in at $19 per month. You are limited to 25 products but with unlimited order processing, sample orders, and real-time inventory updates.
Pro is $49 per month for 250 products plus 25 premium products, branded invoicing & currency exchange
Your Empire plan unlocks unlimited products for $99 per month. Limitations on the unique & premium products are removed.
The Unicorn at $299 per month, is for the Big Boy stores. You get unlimited, well everything, plus your own account executive & product requests
Spocket offers an amazing service to dropshippers. Suppliers are vetted and based in the US or in Europe, which means shorter shipping times than suppliers from China/AliExpress. You can also ask the suppliers to add your own notes (like branded thank you notes/receipts) to customers.
Visit the site here
#1 Dropshipping Company
MODALYST
From the startup store looking to build a niche; to the established e-commerce business testing demand for a new category, Modalyst has something for everyone.
If you want to run your online business on autopilot and connect with the quality suppliers, this is a perfect platform.
These guys pay attention to the quality of products. They offer a curated marketplace of handpicked suppliers from the US and Europe. With a large directory of the best drop shipping companies, including Made-in-America brands, luxury international labels, handmade & unique designers.
Modalyst is the only drop shipping platform with almost complete automation, offering brand names that are delivered to your US customer within 3 business days - guaranteed.
You can set pricing and shipping rules to increase your margins & customize product details before adding them to your store.
Since Modalyst has a free plan you can take it for a test drive. After that, the pricing isn't bad, and you know you're partnering with great suppliers
Pricing
They have 3 pricing plans available; Hobby, Start-up & Pro
The Hobby plan is free and you’re offered an extension in Google Chrome to source millions of products. The downside is that it applies only up to 25 products from the curated marketplace Modality.
The Start-Up policy is priced at $35 per month & you can source up to 250 products from Modalyst’s marketplace.
The Pro plan costs $90 for per month & gives you unlimited products & access to all the premier suppliers. You also get faster shipping times. This and is aimed at the large-sized stores
The Help Center of Modalyst operates round the clock. The help center is a knowledge place thanks to a large number of articles on a variety of topics. It's a great resource combined with their blog full of dropshipping advice.
If you still need help after that, just email them – team@modalyst.co - for some direct, personal support
Modalyst is a great platform to use for your dropshipping needs. You not only get local suppliers in the US and Europe, and the subscription fees are reasonable for what you get.
Visit the site here
So. Which Dropship Company is right for you?
First things first: Why would you use a dropshipping company? Why even consider one?
If you know anything about dropshipping, it's that it is not as easy as the gurus would have you believe. It takes a lot of hard work & dedication & man hours to be successful at it.
A dropshipping business also has tons of moving parts that need to be checked & maintained and replaced from time to time.
Using a dropship company that takes the hassle out of finding products, and suppliers, and sorting out your shipping, is a huge win.
But, it comes at a price!
You will be limited by the number of suppliers you can use and it takes a chunk of your profits through subscription fees &/or transaction fees.
My Dropshipping Experience Selling Shark Onesies
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I had two 6-figure Shopify Stores.
One of them sold shark onesies.
I capitalized on the "Baby Shark" song that went viral and swept the globe. Yes, that irritating kiddies song that even Josh Groban and Sophie Turner sang together at one stage...
By accident, I found a supplier on AliExpress selling shark onesies at the height of the song's popularity (before everyone got irritated with it).
I created my eCom store using Shopify: shopcattywampus.com (Weird name, I know. But sometimes weird works. People tend to remember it... Ps: It's not live anymore, it served its purpose.)
I then went ahead and started running FB ads to it. Throwing money at it, because I was convinced these shark onesies would sell like hotcakes.
Getting traffic with paid ads isn't always cut-and-dry. It actually took a while before I was profitable.
I soon realized that dropshipping takes much more upfront capital in ad spend than I expected... But, I was already committed to this product and I pushed on.
I probably spent around $5k before I had my first profitable day. Crazy, right?
What positively set the ball rolling, was when I started running Video Ads.
Thanks to the Video Ad and the fact that it was September and Halloween was quickly approaching around the corner, pushed it over the edge.
It sounds like a dropshipping success story, doesn't it?
BUT, Here's the breakdown of my costs & profits on average:
- Each onesie sold for: $36.55
- Each onesie cost: $19.55
- (Net Profit of 1 onesie sold): $17 (sounds pretty decent right?)
- Net Profit Before Ad Cost: 1340 * $17 = $22,780
Net profit of $22,780! That sounds like I was Mr. Moneybags at that stage. Oh, wait. That was before Ad Spend...
- Total Facebook Ad Spend: $17,320
- Final Net Profit: $22,780 - $17,320 = $5,460
$5,460 in one month sounds pretty good on the surface, but unfortunately, that was my best month.
Sales began to teeter off the next month, and within 2 months I had to stop the ads because it was no longer profitable.
This is when I realized how fickle the traffic using FB Ads can be (and I'm not even talking about the FB Ad Costs!) Selling on an eCom platform is HARD:
- Yes, you can scale relatively quickly, but you also exhaust your audience pretty quickly as well.
- Products that are fads don't stay fashionable long term. You have an achingly small window of opportunity. Once that window is closed, you need the next hot/trending product.
- Constantly looking for the next "Big Product" is tiring. It takes constant product research AND a bit of luck...
I also discovered the "super exciting" (I'm super sarcastic here) world of product order fulfillment and dealing with purchase charge-backs, complaints, and returns from customers...
These new headaches were issues I had not dealt with before, in my lead gen business...
After the Shark Onesie Frenzy, I understood that you are not going to get rich off of one Shopify Store.
Is the juice worth the squeeze..?
If you're still stuck at a 9 to 5, I'm pretty sure ANYTHING is better than being chained to that desk.
And in my opinion, that is why these dropshipping courses do so well. People are desperate to take control of their financial lives again and have that freedom to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
No one wants to be a slave.
But for me, the whole dropshipping model wasn't cutting it. It honestly wasn't worth all the time and effort I had put in for the (measly) returns I got.
If you want more detail, I wrote the entire journey of creating my onesie dropshipping business. Just click on the button below:
Competitors stealing your dropshipping business
Most dropshipping courses even the top ones like eCom Hacks & eCom Elites teach the method of researching the competition and copying what's already working. Jared calls it "surfing the wave" of your successful competitors.
You can literally rip (clone/steal) someone's FB Ad, Sales Funnel, their ENTIRE store, and even their products, in a couple of hours.
This takes all the guesswork out of it. There's no skill involved. A teenager could do it...
It sounds great on the surface, but I'm not a fan of this business practice.
Why?
Well, what's preventing someone else from coming in and doing the same thing to you?
This makes dropshipping more of a short term play to me.
A business model where someone can come in and literally copy your business within hours, simply cannot be a long term business option.
Eventually, that niche will get saturated, CPC will go up, and the product becomes unprofitable.
Therefore, the dropshippers that have created a sustained business, have invested serious capital to create their own unique product(s) and sites that make it difficult to be duplicated.
You need to be a savvy product creator / innovator and have at least $25K for product design and production.
In business, you don't want "Easy". Because if a business model is so easy that literally, anyone can do it, it gets saturated quickly.
You don't want to get into a business where the barrier of entry is so low.
Why do you think plastic surgeons make tons of money throughout their careers?
Because they have a skill that not too many people can acquire.
This is why I hedge towards businesses that actually require a high skill level to operate, like lead generation. It's near impossible for someone to come in and copy your business...
So What the Heck is Lead Generation?
I personally don't like the up and down nature of relying on Facebook ads with the dropshipping business
So as of 2020, my entire focus is on lead generation which has always been my best money maker.
Here's what it is...
You build and rank simple websites at the top of Google that generate leads for small businesses. There's nothing like free traffic by ranking in Google... Most consistent traffic on the internet.
I've owned the above tree service site since 2015, and its been total passive income, paying me $2000 per month on autopilot.
You rank these sites and you can forget about them, which is not possible with dropshipping because you constantly have to monitor ads and fulfill orders.
Here's why I love lead generation more than dropshipping...
Lots of effort. Inconsistent results.
High rewards, low maintenance, consistent results.
In conclusion: What I learned about Dropshipping & Why I do Lead Generation Now
When it comes to dropshipping, I've been there and got the t-shirt. I've had two successful dropshipping stores.
Also it requires a lot of work and the profit margins are low.
People underestimate just how difficult it is to keep a Shopify store PROFITABLE with FB ads.
Spending money on Facebook ads gets old after a while because you're constantly at risk.
Which is why I believe many dropshippers transition to selling courses about dropshipping which has much better profit margins than selling physical products with such expensive ad costs.
But not everyone wants to create course.
Lead generation still has nearly 95% profit margins because we are generating leads with free traffic & leads are not a physical product.
