What is a Dropshipper
As an online consumer, you’ve probably purchased a product that was fulfilled by a dropshipper without even knowing it. Lots of people don’t know who a dropshipper is and what a dropshipper does. In an effort to clear up misconceptions this article answers the questions, “Who is a dropshipper?” and “What does a dropshipper do?”
Who is a dropshipper and what do they do?
Simply, the answer is a supplier who dropships. What is drop shipping? Drop shipping is a method, or technique in which products are sent directly from the supplier (or a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, etc.) to the end customer without passing through the retailer’s hands. This practice is used by retailers and performed by suppliers. Dropshippers are suppliers that perform this drop ship service.
Who isn’t a dropshipper?
Consumers
Consumers are not dropshippers. They simply purchase the product. They start the process with the original order, and end the process when they receive the product. Most consumers don’t even know that dropshippers were involved.
Retailers
Retailers are not dropshippers. Some big-named online retailers (such as BestBuy.com, Costco.com, Amazon.com, and Buy.com) use dropshippers, but they themselves are not dropshippers. They have relationships with dropshippers or dropship aggregators.
Dropship Aggregators & Directories
Some companies common in the drop shipping industry are not dropshippers. There are companies that expand business opportunities for both the retailer and dropshipper. These technology companies (e.g., Doba, Worldwide Brands, and Shopster) offer software that helps bring together retailers needing a product source, and dropshippers needing retailers to sell their products. Even though these companies work directly with retailers usually they are not the actual dropshippers.
Overall, dropshippers are simply suppliers offering the dropship service. Although they are not dropshippers themselves, consumers, retailers, and dropship aggregators are all pieces of the drop ship pie. They are necessary to make drop shipping work.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
nice article, i got one question, i’m looking for dropshippers in europe, especially western europe, i found a lot of dropshipper in the UK, but i’m looking for germany, france and holland, i did find this website - http://www.frontosa.eu/dropshippers_in_europe.html - does anyone no some other sites?