By Jody AllenAustralian Retailers That Offer Drop Shipping
Have you ever wanted to start an online business? Worried about how you would deal with stock? Where would you store it? Not to mention posting all the orders to all your customers How about having a business you can do all from home? If you have asked any of the above questions, then Drop Shipping is for you. This article not only shows you what dropshipping is – we also have a huge list of drop shipping suppliers which we update constantly.
Australian dropshippers are few and far between – but we are hoping now that Drop Shipping is increasing in popularity – more companies will offer the fantastif fulfilment service!
If you are looking for more information on drop shipping companies – we also have these articles that are worth checking out!
List of the Major Drop Shipping Companies
Australian Women’s Fashion Drop Shippers
Custom T-Shirt Drop Shippers and On-Demand T-Shirts
Adult Product Wholesalers and Dropshippers
International Dropshippers Who Post to Australia
- List of Fashion Drop Shippers
Free List of Cheap Women’s Clothing Suppliers for Your Fashion Start Up
Australian Retailers that Offer Dropshipping
Bella Boutique
Bella Boutique is an Australian Drop Shipper of jewellery. They offer free national shipping, an easy returns policy and a safe and secure shopping experience.
See their range and find out about their drop shipping services here >
Catch
Catch is like the Australian Amazon – but reliable. You can easily use their MASSIVE range of products as drop shippers just by selling their products and then ordering through Catch and inserting your customer’s address! Easy.
They have fashion, electronics, grocery items, kids clothing, beauty products, makeup and designer goods.
Colourblocker
Colourblocker is drop shippers of kitchen supplies, home living items, electronics, watches and accessories. In order to start drop shipping you will be required to fill out a dropship application first. Tell them Stay at Home Mum.com.au sent you!
Daring Diva
Daring Diva dropship plus size fashion in sizes 14+. They also have handbags, jewellery and shoes.
Dasch Design
Dasch Design is dropshippers of home decor and furniture.
Deals Direct
Deals Direct is one of those huge Factory Outlet type stores. They are great for dropshipping as you can just order the product you want and insert the customer’s address.
Dear Jane Medical
Dear Jane Medical is a dropship supplier of medical, health and aged care equipment.
Eleganter Australia
Eleganter Australia dropship toys, arts and crafts items and birthday party items.
Eternal Design
Eternal Design is Australian Dropshippers of furniture, beds, mattresses, and pillows.
Factory Fast
Factory Fast dropship furniture, games and toys, sports and fitness equipment, DIY and renovation goods, candle supplies and pet goods.
Just Fresh Roasted
Just Fresh Roasted dropship premium coffee supplies including roasted coffee beans, coffee capsules, teas, chai powders, drinking chocolate and coffee machine accessories.
Little Smiles
Little Smiles stocks baby goods, toys, baby carriers, sports equipment and more!
Locks Lash
Locks Lash are drop shippers of premium lash and beauty supplies. BUT you need to be either a technician or salon owner or have an ABN to purchase products.
Lucent Imaging
Perfect for photographers or artists, Lucent Imaging will print and send your prints to organise for your customer in perfect condition.
OGO
Ogo is a ‘Print on Demand’ company offering custom t-shirts with your own design on the front – that they then print and ship directly to your customer.
Simply Wholesale
Simply Wholesale is a wholesaler of electronics, home decor and furniture and fashion items.
Theo & Joe Australia
Furniture, cushions, bedding, home decor and more.
Toy Wholesale
Dropshippers of a huge range of toys for all ages.
Toy Universe
Dropshippers of kids toys, playground sets, books, bikes and gardening equipment.
Wholesale Baby
Wholesale Baby has baby furniture, nursery decor, fashion and even baby foodstuffs. They add new product lines all the time.
We also have an ebook out ‘How to Start a Drop Shipping Business from Scratch’.
Buy it now!
What is Drop Shipping?
Dropshipping is where you advertise a product, sell the product to the consumer, then the supplier delivers the goods directly to the consumer. No need to do anything other than to build a website, pick the products, the supplier and finally advertise your products. That means no inventory is needed which sales you as the seller – a lot of money!
It’s not just “Build your business and forget” though; you will also need to focus on customer service and any information that potential and current customers have.
Make sure to choose companies with a good reputation and have previous experience in Drop Shipping. Some drop shippers might not deliver what was promised. It is easy to take advantage of someone when they have never seen the product in person, and of course, don’t physically stock it.
Another issue could be communication with your supplier when you pick your drop shipper to make sure that you can easily communicate with them via phone or email.
One way to confirm how good a potential drop shipper is, Is to get sent a few test products to your house. This way you can see the quality of the products and how the business communicates with the customer. If you are happy with the test products, then you can negotiate a quote for the number of products you need.
What are the Advantages of Drop Shipping?
There seem to be many advantages to this business model, while there are so many great points, we want you to continue reading to make sure you are aware of some negatives too.
- Offers quality and popular products without making them yourself.
- Ability to change the type of products/style that you are selling quickly.
- Profits on products are usually around the 15-20% plus mark.
- There is no financial outlay for the stock – You only pay the supplier when your customer pays.
- There is no need to store stock – The supplier keeps all stock at their warehouse.
- There is no handling or postage – The drop shipper is responsible for all postage.
- For an extra cost, you can send the drop shipper your logo, stickers and other packaging items so that the products look like they come from you. Enquire when you are doing your research to see what the extra costs would be to have your own packaging.
Make sure to research all companies you are looking at for drop shipping – look at their costs, shipping, products, customer service and how they communicate with their customers.
What are the Negatives to Drop Shipping?
Like any business venture, there are negatives. Here they are all spelled out for you:
Get test products first to confirm quality and service
Some drop shippers show you a picture of the product you think you are selling but send the customer something completely different. Once you narrow down the drop shipper you wish to use, you are then trusting them to deliver what was promised and agreed to.
Postage Times
One thing you really must consider with Dropshipping is that your postage time will be significantly longer if your supplier is not in Australia. You can either disclose how long items will take to deliver or find a local drop shipper to make postage faster.
Communication
If suppliers are not located in Australia it might be hard to communicate with them. It is wise to do a few tests to see what drop shipper can offer the best communication. You the business owner, and your customers will need information about products and ways the supplier handle returns. Communication needs to be able to be understood on the phone and via email and answered within a reasonable time frame.
Customer Service
Dropshipping is not a business where you just list products on a website and then they sell themselves. You need to put in a lot of time to market and advertise your goods and to be available for your customers. Good customer service can make the difference between a business who is successful and one that isn’t.
Profit Margin
You might feel that you need to earn more profit for all your hard work. To help boost your profits, get products for a cheaper price per unit, and increase the cost per product.
Competition
You might find that the niche that you choose has a lot of competition and it is hard to get customers. It’s hard to sell the same product that everyone else is selling for a profit. It is advisable to see what your competitors are doing and make a decision on your product and niche after your market research is complete.
I’ll let you in on a trick…don’t market your dropshipping site where everyone else does. Find where your customers live and market to them there.
Finding a decent list of reputable drop shippers in Australia has been hard to find in the past, but we have collated a list for you! Tell them we sent you!
Grab our e-book on How to Start a Drop Shipping Business
It has all the information you need to get started!
How to Set Up a Drop Shipping Store
Setting up a dropshipping store is super easy, I’m sure you will be so surprised at how simple it really is.
So, how do you do it?
- Sign up for Shopify Store (You can get a free trial – extended to 90 days due to COVID-19) which is an e-commerce platform that you can set up for drop shipping. After your free trial Shopify charge you $29 USD/month for a basic plan. Once you have your store all set up it is recommended to do some of the training at Shopify Academy to help your store rise to great heights.
- Now you have your Shopify Store the following apps: Oberlo and Modalyst are a must. They help you find products, and they both plugin and work seamlessly with your Shopify store.
I’ve used Oberlo and love the fact that it helps curate and promote my products. Both of these apps have free versions, but you can pay for the higher plans. - Select your drop shipper or shippers of choice and add the products to your Shopify Store
- Another top tip is to use the AliExpress Google Chrome Extension (AliDropship) this allows you to visit AliExpress and from the website click the little blue paperclip icon on the product, if you have Oberlo open at the same time this automatically adds the product to Oberlo but not immediately to your Shopify Store. You need to edit it in Oberlo first, add images, text, shipping and the prices. Once happy you can push it live to your Shopify Store.
- Oberlo allows you to search all different drop shippers or via a certain product as well. You can even narrow the search to a certain country only.
- And now to promote your shop and sell your products.
But I Don’t Want to Use Shopify?
There are many alternatives to Shopify, you can even use Facebook to sell your products. If you do decide to use Facebook be aware that you need to keep up with your products and know when you have low stock or have sold out. Using Facebook is a good way to test out if your business idea will work and also if the products you’ve picked will sell. If it is popular you can always switch to a dedicated e-commerce website.
Below are other options if you would rather not use Shopify:
- BigCommerce
- 3dcart
- Volusion
- Square Online Store
- PrestaShop
- Magento
- WooCommerce
- Weebly
- Wix
- Squarespace
You Can Get Ready-Made Drop Shipping Websites?
I can make my own website from scratch and have the skills to do graphics and make the website look fab, but like many people, I’m a busy person and if I can speed up the process to start my business then I wouldn’t knock back a stylish and ready-made e-commerce website – why not make it easier for yourself.
These templates look very professional and as you all know, you need a stunning site to win over customers.
The good thing about websites is that they are a saleable asset – so if you get ‘over’ it or don’t want to do it anymore – you can sell your store for a profit – so all that work you have put into your shop is going to make you a good return. Legally, you cannot ‘Sell’ a Facebook Page – so a website is a great idea.
There are a few places that make inexpensive ready-made dropshipping websites and they are definitely worth a look. Here are our fav’s:
A snazzy and glossy website really helps to make a good first impression!
Dropship Me
Dropship Me is another platform that will provide you with a ready-built Drop Shipping Store – and also does all the research to ensure the products you choose will sell well. Picking your products is the hardest thing and one that if you can get some extra help it is wise to do so. Once you’ve picked your winning products, all you need to do now is to market them.
Dropship Me has beautiful photography, and great images sell your products… so this is a must-have!
They do have a free version; the free plan lets you add 50 products. If you need more then you can move to a different plan which would be a paid option.
