Here is a situation many online sellers have found themselves in:

You come across a dropshipper who on the face of it looks quite good; flashy design, profit promises, fancy product pictures etc. But you want to actually experience the service first hand before using them as your dropshipper for your hard earned customer base.

So what do you do?

The only way to experience how good the drop shippers service is is to buy from them. Go through their site (may need to create an account to see prices) and list all the main products you want to sell a long with pricing. Preferably order a lower cost product to reduce your risk in case the website isn’t legitimate. Then once you have the product you can either sell it on, or keep it for future reference should you decide to start selling the product (having a physical product can often be great for customer queries) .

Benefits Of Test Buying

• You learn if they deliver goods on time
• You find out how they package products
• You see how good the product itself is & whether it was described accurately

Potential Problems

Some dropshippers require an upfront fee, in this situation paying a £30 fee just to test buy is obviously not viable! If this is the case you could try contacting the company and asking if there is a way you can make a special order on a specific product. If you explain you are looking to start selling lots of their products they are unlikely to turn you away when you could make them lots of money!

Another potential problem is the company could be a complete scam and you lose your money and end up with no product! When you come across all dropshippers always remember to check their contact page and drop them an email first to see how they react, you should also place posts on business forums or message boards to see if anyone else has experienced the company.

Conclusion

Test buying is a great way to find out how good a drop shipper really is, it gives peace of mind in a way someone telling you they are good just can’t do. If the service is poor you know you aren’t going to be able to use them as a solid base to build your business from. However if they provide a flawless service you know you can sell to your customers with confidence and increase your business profits!