The popularity of dropshipping continues to grow. And this is not surprising for eCommerce entrepreneurs who have been familiar with this business model. Dropshipping allows business runners to start an online shop and sell products without having to stock the items at their own places. Rather, the products will be directly shipped to the customers from warehouses.
For people in the field of eCommerce, the dropshipping model gets rid of their headaches and makes online business much easier and more efficient. For this reason, people are craving for running an online business with the aid of dropshipping. Consequently, dropshipping tutorials are also receiving a lot of attention.
These tutorials should be very helpful at the first glance. However, every coin has two sides. Due to the popularity and convenience of sharing information nowadays, the knowledge of dropshipping available online is pretty mixed. We have witnessed new dropshippers who got frustrated and lost interest simply because of the misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations they learned from those wrong tutorials.
Therefore, the main purpose of this post is to clarify 3 common dropshipping misunderstandings we have summarized from dropshipping tutorials. If you find this article helpful, please do not hesitate to share it with your eCommerce friends or partners. We hope this post could answer your questions about dropshipping and give you hints on how to improve your business.
These 3 common misconceptions are
- Running a dropshipping business is criminal
- Running a dropshipping business is the shortcut to money
- Running a dropshipping business is very difficult
No.1: Running a dropshipping business is criminal
This misconception is probably the most prevalent one on social media and you might have come across explanations of the illegality of dropshipping somewhere. But the fact is that dropshipping is completely legal and has been developed for at least ten years before it becomes widely known.
The basic idea behind dropshipping is actually very similar to door-to-door salespeople in the past. Salespeople make their money by introducing their products to potential customers face-to-face. They are mediators between the production company and customers. By analogy, the function of dropshipping is just like salespeople. Dropshippers act as the bridge between suppliers and shoppers.
Therefore, there is no reason that dropshipping could be illegal. It’s a new business model that has been evolved from old conceptions.
The misconception that dropshipping is illegal is probably due to the fact that it’s built on various online platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Shopify. And it is the policies of cooperation between platforms and dropshippers that led to this idea. These policies could be very complicated as they cover from product quality to customer satisfaction requirements and things like business registration and tax obligations also vary from country to country. As a result, for dropshipping starters, it could be tough to follow the exact rule at every step, not to mention other challenges of dropshipping.
The advice here is to consult with specialists in your city to ensure that your business will not disobey any rule, which is the very basis for a successful business.
No.2: Running a dropshipping business is the shortcut to money
Tutorials of dropshipping are very likely to advertise dropshipping as if it is the magic to make money. Of course, by running a dropshipping business, a lot of people have tasted its sweetness. Their earnings might have increased dramatically. But if you dig into these successful cases, you will immediately discover why.
Believing that dropshipping is the shortcut to money is very dangerous. And in fact, any idea that promises you richness without a lot of effort is a lie. Successful dropshipping is built on constant learning, failing, and readapting. People tend to magnify the story of instant huge success and ignore the efforts behind it.
Even though a few runners managed to earn a lot of money within a short time, overnight success results from a rare combination of experience, luck, efforts, creation, and perseverance. A mature business runner would not invest all his money to expect quick and massive success.
Rome wasn’t built in one day and it’s obvious that this misconception is a trap for people opting for money without effort. Like any other business, successful dropshipping does not come free. So put aside any unrealistic expectations about dropshipping and start by making a detailed plan of your brand. This will certainly increase your chance of success.
No.3: Running a dropshipping business is very difficult
As mentioned above, some people tend to believe that running a dropshipping means earning a lot of money in a very short time. Another extreme idea about dropshipping is that some oversee the work behind it. They assume that it’s very challenging to manage a dropshipping business.
This is probably owing to the massive success of those long-lasting dropshipping businesses that are famous on different platforms and the enormous advertisement everywhere.
If this were the case, then dropshipping would not be as popular as it is today. The reality is, small-scale dropshippers are very common on eCommerce platforms. They might be relatively unknown but they can also gain customers and flourish. They are the major clients that these eCommerce platforms serve.
Dropshipping is like salespeople. So, what really matters is the products or services you provide, but not the person who is selling them. As long as you focus on your business, your customers will buy your efforts. It is difficult to own a massive dropshipping business. But as long as you learn how to find your market and provide gainful products, every effort will count eventually as many dropshipping stores have demonstrated.
Popularity should be seen as a reward for great efforts rather than the goal of running a dropshipping business.
Conclusion
Running a successful dropshipping business is a very tempting idea for most people. This post uncovered the most common misunderstandings of dropshipping and hopefully give you more confidence in starting or managing your business. As you have read, if you are prepared to learn and improve your skills of running your own business, you could certainly give it a try.
