Dropshipping / Fulfillment
The Difference between drop shipping and order fulfillment.
Drop shipping is a method of selling and distributing goods where the supplier of the product (in this case, you) ships the product directly to the consumer on a middleman’s (retailer’s) behalf. The retailer pays you the wholesale price (plus shipping costs) and charges the consumer a mark-up. You, the supplier, can ship the product yourself, or you can choose to use a fullfillment service to process the orders for you.
Just because you can drop ship, doesn’t mean you necessarily want to. First, you will have to analyze the added costs. Many wholesalers prefer to ship multiple items to one retailer. It saves on order processing and shipping costs. Drop shipping is more labor intensive, and may require special packing slips and labels with the retailer’s name on them. A fullfillment service will pass those costs on to you, as well.
If the costs don’t seem prohibitive, then it may be a good idea to offer drop shipping. Thousands of people are looking for products to sell online, but don’t want to carry inventory. Finding a good drop shipper is the answer for them.