Shipping “Agent”: How to Avoid Middlemen
Do you think that using a drop shipper is a good way of selling products on the Internet? In fact, it is. The scheme is very simple: the supplier will send the products to your customer for you from his warehouse. You never deal with those products physically yourself. Your task is to place the images of the items on your web-site and set prices for them.
Everything else is done for you. A client comes, chooses a product, and sends you order. You contact your supplier and redirect the order to him. You get the money – your client gets his purchase. Simple.
Nevertheless, there is one thing in this process that you have to watch out for – middlemen.
Some companies will try to pass themselves as true wholesalers (or Drop Ship suppliers which is the same in this very respect) in reality not being ones. These are companies who do not have their warehouses or manufacture goods- they are just putting the money of your clients in their pockets. They act as dealers between REAL wholesalers and salespeople like you.
Dealing with middlemen usually causes 2 major problems:
1. They charge money from you. It can be charged in any shape like, for instance, weekly/monthly/annual fees. Remember, when you deal with real wholesalers you don’t have to pay any fees.
2. Middlemen create incredible competition. Just fancy, a middleman (sometimes called an “Agent”) signs up with one or two real drop ship suppliers. Then he advertises himself as a wholesaler. Dozens of people over the Internet see the advertisement and decide to sign up with this “wholesaler.” What happens next? You and dozens of people just like you sell the same products from those 2 real wholesalers. The competition is sky-high.
Now let’s find out how operates an average middleman:
1. An agent searches the Internet and finds a few suppliers who are ready to work with him.
2. The contact the suppliers saying “Hi, we are here to help to increase your revenues. We have developed an ultra-new order system. ” A great majority of wholesalers are prepared to such kind of bull-shit, but some of them will agree to collaborate.
3. The agent creates a web-page claiming he is a true wholesale
4. Small middlemen as a rule have one small group of products to choose from. When you order one of these products they contact the true supplier and send the product to you
5. Huge ones create an impression of being a solid wholesaler. They pretend to have dozens of warehouses where you can order all the required products. But the scheme of work is just the same: when you place an order, they contact a real supplier and make him send the product to you acting as a middleman.
If fact, this is not a scam and it is almost legal. They work on your inattention and ignorance. They create an image of serious business being a bunch of enthusiasts who earn money on you.
So, beware of middleman and remember: no matter what dithyrambs agents are singing, a route to a product through a middleman cannot be a shortcut!
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