Drop Shipping Wholesalers: If You Get Them From, We Need to Talk

Finding drop shipping wholesalers is one of the hardest parts about starting your own drop ship store.

It’s only natural to search for shortcuts when searching for drop ship suppliers. These shortcuts are one of the reasons why many drop shippers start off on the wrong foot. Instead of doing their own supplier research, people rely on pre-made wholesaler directories.

Starting a drop shipping business requires momentum. You need to put all of the pieces together and get the wheels turning as soon as possible.

Using a pre-made drop shipping wholesaler list will drag your business to a grinding halt.

Imagine, you’re pumped to start a new lifestyle, and instead, you find yourself trudging along with a business that doesn’t work. Why?

Because you thought it would be quicker to take the “shortcut” of using a pre-made drop shipping supplier list.

NOTE

I use “drop ship supplier” and “drop ship wholesaler” interchangeably. For the sake of this blog, “wholesaler” and “supplier” mean the same thing.

Here are the quick reasons you should avoid drop ship supplier lists and directories:

• Supplier directories are ineffective because they are out of date upon creation.
• If you have to pay a fee for access to this drop ship supplier list, then you’re actually using a middleman.
• A real drop shipping supplier won’t ask for money until you sell an item.

These “drop shipping wholesalers” who sell access to supplier directories DO NOT have your best interests at heart.

When you get approved with a supplier, you enter into something like a business relationship.

Your drop shipping suppliers let you sell their products because they WANT you to succeed. Good suppliers won’t try to make a quick buck by selling you access to their “exclusive directories”. If you do well, they do well. Real drop shipping wholesalers want you to have all the access you can get!

If there's one thing I want you to remember from this post, it's...

DON’T PAY FOR ACCESS TO SUPPLIER DIRECTORIES!

Okay, let’s move on.

Should I Use The DSL Drop Shipping Wholesalers Directory?

It all started when I was on a call with one of our “Done For You” students (one of our premium eCommerce courses). This member asked me about the Drop Ship Lifestyle supplier directory.

She asked, “Is this supplier directory good? Should I focus all my energy on getting suppliers from your directory?”

So what did I say?

The obvious answer would be for me to respond “Of course, this is your only resource.”

But I didn’t.

Instead I said:

“You’re asking if you should focus ALL of your energy on getting suppliers from my directory? The answer is NO. You shouldn’t!”

I should be proud of this supplier directory. It’s mine, and it’s something that I provide to all of my students…

But I still tell my students to tread carefully when using it.

I’ve been drop shipping for a decade now, and I’ve never in my entire career sourced suppliers from a directory.

Why would I make one then? Well, when I looked at the lists that were out there, all I saw was crap! I knew that I could make a better one.

So I did some research and paid for access to a bunch of other directories to see what it was all about. These “drop ship supplier sourcing” companies charged monthly or yearly fees. They said, “Pay us and we’re going to tell you about all these drop shipping suppliers”. What I found out was that they were all just middlemen.

With these companies, you’re getting access to a middleman that is a reseller or retailer. They’ll just markup the cost, and tell you that they’ll drop ship for you. In my opinion that’s not real drop shipping. That’s not a way to make real money in this business. That’s not a way to offer your customers real value and service.

Finding Actual Drop Shipping Suppliers

The real way to find suppliers has always been to actually do research. You need to search on Google when doing niche research, find your future competitors, then get approved with the dropshipping suppliers they use. This process worked 10 years ago, and still works today.

TIP

Finding a supplier is never going to be a hands-off activity. The industry changes fast, and the best way to stay ahead of the curve is to do the research yourself.

This is common sense. Why would you work with a reseller who ramps up the cost of products when you could just source DIRECTLY from the supplier?

Working directly with your drop shipping wholesaler has its perks:

• If your customers ever have questions you can’t answer, you can call your drop ship supplier directly and get the facts. Wouldn’t you rather get information from the warehouse and not go through a middleman? This saves so much time.
• Better deals on wholesale. Like I said earlier, middlemen jack up prices, reducing your margins. If you work directly with your drop ship supplier, you’ll be able to negotiate deals that work for BOTH of you.
• Free access to your drop shipping supplier. If a supplier directly approves you as an internet retailer, you now have access to them. Essentially, you’re now on the same team!

Why Did I Build A Drop Shipping Supplier Directory?

So why did I build the Drop Ship Supplier directory? Because I knew my team could put something awesome together. I know how to do the research, and I could put together a list with real suppliers.

The drop ship suppliers on my list would never charge you for access and would actually make you money.

This idea turned into a 2-3 year long process of working with a team of around 10 virtual assistants who were working on this every single day. We compiled this list of over 8,500 high-quality, gold and silver suppliers existing within hundreds of niches. The brands and suppliers on this list were amazing.

At Drop Ship Lifestyle, we have three categories of drop shipping suppliers, Gold, Silver, and Bronze:

Gold Suppliers

Very picky about who sells for them.

Enforce MAP policies.

Great product quality.

Great customer service.

Silver Suppliers

Picky about who sells for them.

Enforces MAP policies.

Good product quality.

Good customer service.

Bronze Suppliers

Allow anyone to sell for them.

Don’t enforce MAP policies.

Inconsistent product quality.

Bad customer service.

I thought this supplier directory was going to change everything.

“Finally, a drop shipping supplier list that is worth something!”

However, as time went on, I realized that this drop ship supplier list wasn’t everything I thought it would be.

Here’s Why My Drop Shipping Wholesalers Directory Didn’t Work

Building this list took years.

So why would I still suggest that after investing so much money and resources into this project, that you’re still better off doing the research yourself?

Well, even though I think Drop Ship Lifestyle has the best suppliers directory out there, it’s impossible to keep up-to-date. It’s impossible to make it 100% accurate and to always be on top the latest trends and newest brands.

I’ll give you an example. Look at a generic niche like desk/computer chairs. The computer chair suppliers in my directory were last updated a year ago. In the past year, I’d bet at least a dozen or more new office chair suppliers popped up. They probably have great products and would be amazing to work with.

These new suppliers are probably untapped brands. You’d have less competition if you worked with them.

So, why aren’t they in our directory? Because it took years to get the directory to where it is! After going through the experience of trying to build the best drop shipping suppliers directory, I know it’s not sustainable to keep up with it.

Regardless, my drop shipping wholesaler list is a great tool. It helps give Drop Ship Lifestyle members a reference guide. It helps people dive into many possibilities they may not have realized when starting out.

But this list of drop ship suppliers isn’t the BEST tool…

The BEST tool is doing your own research. Come up with your own drop shipping suppliers list!

The Best Method To Find Suppliers

If anyone tells you that they are going to give you a list of suppliers that will solve all of your problems, they’re a middleman. Don’t trust them.

Finding a supplier is never going to be a hands-off activity. The industry changes fast, and the best way to stay ahead of the curve is to do the research yourself.

This is exactly what I teach in Module 2 of the Drop Ship Blueprint. If you’re a student of Drop Ship Lifestyle, you have access to all of my training where I teach you how to research and find legit drop shipping suppliers.

Don’t exclusively use supplier directories (not even ours). It can be a good starting point, but the best way to actually find suppliers is by doing the research yourself

This method worked 10 years ago, and will work for the next 10 years.

Hopefully this convinced you to veer away from middlemen who want to take your hard-earned cash.

Just like anything worth doing, the fast and easy way is usually the wrong way. It will cost you more time, headaches, and money than it’s worth.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the comments!