How to Find Profitable Dropshipping Products as a Beginner

Understanding Dropshipping

According to Shopify experts, dropshipping is seen as a retail fulfillment method. Through it the store does not keep products sold in any inventory. If a product is sold, a third party business ships it straight to the customer. Merchants never handle or even see sold products.

Due to the nature of dropshipping, you do not need much money to buy products and then store them somewhere. You even avoid shipping costs. Logistics are handled by the third party.

Bonus Tip: If you want to learn how to set up a Shopify store or how to start a dropshipping business, check out the linked articles that help you get started!

Dropshipping Advantages

Dropshipping stands out as a wonderful business model that is suitable for everyone interested in starting a business or becoming self-employed. The main advantages that should be highlighted include:

• The online store can be managed from any location in the entire world. You are not dependent on a location and can work from your home or even travel the world if you want to.
• The inventory does not exist so you do not have to worry about stock problems.
• It is easy to experiment with new products so you see what works and what does not. When a product does not sell, you can just move to another and you do not lose money.
• You do not have to worry about resources that are normal in ecommerce like packaging, stock levels, returns or shipping.
• Platforms, like Shopify, make it so simple to set up the shop without technical knowledge.

Finding Profitable Dropshipping Products To Sell

In most cases, the only thing you really need to get the hang of is finding those products that are going to sell well. You can have the best marketing plan possible and still not succeed if you try to sell wrong products.

If you want to select the very best possible dropshipping products, those that are going to sell really well, here are some tips to consider.

Brainstorming

Although it does sound really simple, you need to start with the very first step. Take paper and your favorite pen to write down ideas that go through your head. Simply write down everything. Start with those products that you really love. Continue with those that are trending and those that you use every single day. Then, add the products that you recently saw on Instagram.

When extra inspiration is needed, look at popular shops and see what they sell. Always diversify the products that you sell and add many products since you want to figure out what niches work really well and what niches have to be avoided.

Look For Trending Products

It is a good idea to use products that people need and that will be bought in the future. For instance, you can always consider t-shirts. However, going the extra mile and then figuring out what trends can bring more profit. This allows you to establish a really good ecommerce building that becomes a true leader in the chosen niche. Services and expertise will be available as people look for them.

Google Trends stands out as a great way to find products that would be trending. Check the product ideas you have and see if they are in demand.

A great example of what a trending product can do for an ecommerce store is the fidget spinner. During 2017, practically everyone wanted to buy a fidget spinner. Nowadays, nobody really cares. You do not want to sell the spinners as the trend is officially over.

Another tool that you can use is Google Keywords Analysis. All you have to do is to type the product name under the “Keyword Ideas” tool to show the number of monthly searches that a phrase gets. You will get a really good indicator of the number of people interested in what you wrote. Also, this offers related keywords so you might end up finding some extra wonderful products to promote.

You can also check out some websites like Cool Hunting and Trendhunter. On such sites you can easily find products that can potentially become really popular. Only be sure that products are suitable for dropshipping.

Extra tip: As you sell the product, be sure that you do not sell just one. The customers should buy more. Because of this, think about upselling opportunities. As an example, if the customer purchases pillows, you can offer matching pillowcases. When someone buys a chair for the deck, give access to the full area set.

Narrow Down Ideas

If you follow all the recommendations above, you end up with a pretty long list featuring numerous great ideas. The problem is that not all of them will be suitable for dropshipping. It is important to sort everything out and figure out what to actually list in your product. Narrow down the list by considering the following criteria:

Price

You will make more money with expensive products but more effort needs to be put into selling one unit. Better support is also necessary. The cheaper products almost always have better conversion rates. The disadvantage is that you will make less when you sell a unit.

If you want your dropshipping products to be successful, you need to be somewhere in the middle. Numerous dropshippers prefer the products that cost around $150. There are others that go to around $50. Your choice will surely depend on the market that you choose. For instance, a $50 product is not going to be expensive in the US but it will be a lot in a country like India.

Experiment to see the products that work well. See the price at which the conversion rate is good, costs are covered and the profit you get is enough. The profit margin you get should be around 35% per unit when you start out. This approach allows you to get enough to promote products and make money.

You can also aim to go for a specific profit per unit, like $10 for one item sold. This means that when you buy a mug for $5, your goal is to sell it for $15. Numbers are always flexible but the really high-end products, like motorbikes, will not be good dropshipping choices.

Shipment Criteria

As we already mentioned motorbikes, it should be pretty obvious that they would be difficult to ship. It is better to avoid the larger products altogether and go for those that are pretty simple to ship.

Product weight and size always need to be considered as lists are narrowed down. When a product is expensive to ship or really hard to pack, customers do not like the fact that extra is to be paid on shipping. Most customers will love getting the free deliverables. Also, orders should be shipped fast.

If a lot of money and effort needs to be put into logistics, the business becomes very complicated. Keep everything simple and you will find it easier to make a profit.

Competition

When you find a great trending product, there is a really good possibility that competitor shops will need to be dealt with. This is completely normal and it only means that what you chose really has potential. Most store owners just shy away when they see a lot of competition but you should not.

There are many things that can be analyzed when you look at the store of the competition. Analyze all that you can to see what performance is present. Will you be able to do things better than the competition?

As an example, you might be able to represent products in a more eye-catching way. The copy present on the site might be better. You might have a much more intuitive shop. There are so many ways in which you can be better than the competition. If you manage to find them, it can be worth-while to go up even against really strong competition.

Suppliers

You can have incredible products that you consider but without a really good supplier, success will not appear. Reliability is what you are interested in.

Before a lot of content is written for your site and you start work on the marketing plan, start a research and see what manufacturers or retailers you could consider. Check logistic conditions and pricing. Then, read reviews so you can learn even more about reliability. You want to sell products that are of very high quality. Also, it is vital that you supply the amounts that customers demand.

When you want to look for suppliers at a one by one ratio, platforms like AliExpress or Oberlo are wonderful and can easily get integrated into Shopify. This is because they are popular and very well-known. The only problem is that most of the competition will use these products. The potential customers will easily locate them. This is why it is usually a lot better to put in the extra effort to instantly stand out and to promote products much better than the competition.

The Products You Should Not Sell Through Dropshipping

Always be sure that you avoid all products that are copyrighted. It is very difficult to locate suppliers that offer originals. If you find suppliers promising you to give you originals, there is a really good possibility products will be fake. Customers are never happy to get branded products that are not actually original. Your reputation will be harmed and legal trouble can appear. Avoid the branded products and work hard to create your very own brand.

Is It A Good Idea To Choose A Niche?

All business experts agree that you should choose a niche. If you open an ecommerce business and you focus on a single niche, it is possible to become a full expert. This means you learn what customers want and can locate the high-quality suppliers and products. It will even be easier to find trends. Basically, you manage to develop a store a lot faster and make more profit in a shorter amount of time.

As you gain experience, you can also create content that is really good, with extra information about niche products. Customers get to see that you are very good for the products they want. In time, you can even justify higher prices by taking this approach.

Another thing that should be mentioned is that you will find it so much easier to locate a target market with the right customers. Marketing efforts can be focused on those potential customers. By doing this, you save money and become more efficient.

Conclusions

As noticed, there are different things that have to be considered before the online store (we recommend Shopify) is even started. Take your time, analyze everything and try to identify what potential products have to be added to the store. This should be done before you put your money and time into an ecommerce business based on dropshipping.

As you pick the dropshipping products, consider the following criteria:

• Big sales potential.
• Potential upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
• Profit margins of up to 50%.
• Sales prices between $50 and $150.
• Easy shipping.
• Reliable supplier.
• Potential to be better than what the competition offers.

The last thing that should be mentioned is that everything mentioned is just a set of rough guidelines. At the end of the day you need to perform tests and find what works for you. Never assume that the first dropshipping products you choose will be perfect. There is a good possibility this will not be the case. However, even if you fail and you choose bad products, you will learn about the business, the niche and customers.

Related Articles