August 2nd, 2009
Product selection is crucial to your succeeding in dropshipping. I say this all the time and it is obvious without repeating.
What do you expect from your product research?
- To spot a good online seller (high demand and proper for e-commerce)
- To see moderate competition
- To make sure of the lasting nature of product (I mean it is likely to be in demand and on the market for years to come)
- To set up reliable product sourcing with competitive prices
- To have some personal liking (or at least you should learn to like the products you promote)
We reviewed a number of products in the past, some examples include:
Today we will have a look at dropshipping skateboards. Skateboards no doubt meet our initial requirement – good online sellers – people buy this product online and they do not need to touch or smell it (though we know that everything sells online now).
What about demand?
KEI |
|||
1,557 |
12,543 |
10.50 |
|
972 |
7,830 |
0.01 |
|
886 |
7,138 |
0 |
|
521 |
4,197 |
0 |
|
344 |
2,771 |
0.4 |
|
336 |
2,707 |
0.56 |
|
266 |
2,143 |
25.20 |
|
250 |
2,014 |
0.66 |
About 2 000 keywords. Not that huge as we wished to see it, but quite big. You should keep in mind that keyword tools do not provide 100% exact information. Another point to remember – many searches are of browsing nature and only some tiny share of search phrases are of buying kind.
Google Insights For Search say that there is a gradual decline of ’skateboard’ searches over time with the primary product market still in the United States (yes, this tool is great to define key markets and top searches in addition to the general demand trend).
How do you check competition? Most keyword research tools provide this feature. Probably, the easiest way is to check the number of Google results returned for the term ‘skateboard’, but you need to compare it to something you are familiar with. And it makes sense to enter less general terms.
If you think of the lasting nature of the product it is likely to stay on the market.
What about skateboard dropship merchants? You need verified, reliable, competitively priced. A few sources that are worth your time include Salehoo, Worldwide Brands, Doba – you can see them compared here. Fast check shows that you will have a choice of suppliers:
Drop Ship Wholesalers |
27 |
Light Bulk Wholesalers |
36 |
Instant Import Buys |
1 |
Liquidation Auctions |
6 |
Our research is not a final answer to the question – should I give a try to dropship skateboards. It is sort of initial steps. You should make a much deeper research using your own extra techniques or applications available on the market similar to finding hot selling eBay goods or in-built market research tool