Over 50 percent of American consumers claim to prefer shopping online. For most people, finding time to go to a brick and mortar store is nearly impossible. The overwhelming popularity of online shopping has led to a large increase in eCommerce-based businesses.
One of the biggest misconceptions most people have is that owning an eCommerce store requires an individual to have a large warehouse space. In reality, many eCommerce stores use the power of dropshipping to get consumers their products.
In short, dropshipping is a process where an eCommerce business owner allows a third-party to fill the orders they receive. Not only does this make the ordering and shipping process easier, but it is also more cost-effective for business owners.
Know which items to offer and which products to avoid dropshipping is important. Failing to set limitations on what your eCommerce store dropships, can lead to lots of problems in the future.
The following are just some of the products you should avoid dropshipping at all costs.
1. Large Products are Very Difficult to Dropship
Most newcomers to the world of eCommerce think they can sell any and everything in their online store. In reality, you need to set some boundaries for the items you offer to consumers. One of the main things you need to avoid doing is trying to dropship larger products.
Many people use China-based suppliers because they offer really fast and cheap shipping methods, such as the ePacket and Special Line. Both these shipping methods are a flat rate shipping mechanism that can save an eCommerce business owner lots of money. However, there are limitations on the items that can ship with these services.
The larger the product is, the more money you will inevitably have to pay to have it dropshipped. Company regulations state that an ePacket can be no longer than 60 cm and no thicker than 90 cm and Premium Special Line can weigh more than 3 kg. With this information, you can easily assess whether or not the product you want to sell on your site is too big for dropshipping.
2. Products that Can’t Be Advertised on Facebook
Making an eCommerce website popular will require a lot of hard work. The owner of an online store will need to use social media to their advantage. Taking out ads on popular websites like Facebook is a great way to generate a buzz about an eCommerce website.
When trying to decide what type of products you want to dropship from your online store, you need to be aware there are items that you simply can’t advertise on Facebook. These items include things like surveillance equipment, adult products and drug-related items.
If you are unable to advertise a particular product on this social media platform, you will have a hard time selling it to consumers. Be sure to read over the Facebook advertising policies to get a handle on what you can and cannot do.
3. Products to Avoid Dropshipping: Fragile items
Before you launch an eCommerce store, take the time to make a list of unique products you want to carry. Taking a look at a competitor’s online store is a great way to get inspiration. Ideally, you want to choose products that have low competition.
Trying to sell and dropship watches, glass ornaments or other fragile items is something you should definitely avoid. Not only are these items generally expensive, but there is also a good chance they will get damaged when being shipped.
Even the slightest jerk or drop can lead to fragile items getting broken or not working. This is why you need to focus on more durable items when trying to devise a winning dropshipping strategy.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW
4. Dangerous is Definitely A No-No
There are times when an eCommerce business owner’s attempt to sell specialized or niche items leads to bad decision-making. This is definitely the case if an online store attempts to sell knives, brass knuckles or other dangerous items. Not only are these dangerous items considered weapons, which means you can’t advertise them on Facebook, they are also dangerous.
Also, most countries have very strict restrictions on what they will and will not ship. As an eCommerce business owner, you will need to do your homework to find out about these restrictions.
Ignoring this information can lead to you selling items you won’t be able to ship. This may cause you to upset customers and lose money, which is never a good thing.
5. Fake Items Can Be Problematic
As we already wrote in a former paragraph is better not to sell products that you can’t be advertised on Facebook.
Among these, there are Copyrighted products, this means products that have been copied from an existing brand.
Not only these products, can’t be advertised on Facebook and can also lead you to the ban of your Facebook account, but they can also create disappointment in your customers that expect to receive the real deal, and most important because selling them is illegal.
If you sell this kind of product and you are caught the consequences can be really serious. Of course, this doesn’t matter if you have an official license to sell them.
Finding Ways to Make Dropshipping
Now that you know more about products to avoid dropshipping, you need to put this information to good use. The main goal you should have as an eCommerce business owner is making the dropshipping process easier and more successful.
To reach this goal, you can try Yakkyofy.
Yakkyofy is the only software that helps you source products directly from Chinese suppliers at B2B prices, and then ship them directly to your final customer, with an automatic fulfillment process that helps you save time and money.