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How You Can Become A Mail-Order Drop-Shipper
There are thousands upon thousands of persons throughout the United
States and Canada who regularly engage in the art of selling by mail. A few of these
people work at it full-time; the majority work at it on a part-time basis. A few buy their
merchandise in large wholesale quantities; most depend upon the services of professional
DROP-SHIPPERS.
A DROP SHIPPER:
* Buys merchandise in
wholesale quantities.
* Maintains a constant stock
of merchandise.
* And fills
orders for small dealers.
A Drop-shipper concentrates on two things - recruiting new dealers and
filling orders. To realize a profit, he needs VOLUME. He achieves this by enlisting
hundreds of dealers to sell his merchandise for him. If the retail price of a product is
$2.00, he will usually fill the order for a dealer for $1.00. He expects the dealer to
cooperate by providing a shipping label, which has already been addressed to the customer.
The drop-shipper must apply it to the package, pay the postage and mail it. Since he has
hundreds of orders to fill every day, he must eliminate as much unnecessary work as
possible.
Mail Order dealers are always looking for RELIABLE drop-shippers. That
is why hundreds of "Drop-Ship Directories" are sold every year. If you are
willing to drop-ship orders for other dealers, place your ad in the Mail Order Dealer
Magazines, and watch the flood of letters you receive!
Most dealers do not become drop-shippers themselves because:
* They do not have the capital to invest in
merchandise.
* They do not want the responsibility.
* And they are afraid of the work involved.
Not all merchandise can be handled by drop-shippers. You must invest in
merchandise that:
* Is not available in
stores.
* Is readily available to
you. If the supply runs out, make sure you can get some more.
* Is easy to mail. Otherwise
your postage costs will consume all your profits.
* Is fairly low-priced.
Dealers like to make a lot of sales, and most like to make at least $1.00 from each order.
Items which retail at $2.00 to $5.00 are probably your best bet, at least in the
beginning.
To give you an idea of what items can be sold successfully with the
drop-ship plan, here is a partial list of products that are currently being sold this
way:Music Charts Music Books
Hypnotic Discs Jewelry
Wall Plagues
Cassette Lectures
Fish Hooks
Recipes
Emotion RingsBooks
Birth Certificates
Flashlights
Information Books
Cook Books
Calorie Counters
Quit Smoking Guides
High School Diplomas
Lapel Pins
Clip Art Book
Mail Order Folios
KnivesPosters
LP Records
Will Forms
Bracelets
Diet Plans
Health Books
If you are planning to set up a drop-ship business, and are operating
with a very limited capital - START WITH ONE ITEM, preferably a printed one. Later as you
acquire more money and more experience, you can add new items to your line. (If you treat
your dealers fairly, they will take on any new items you introduce. They will run ads,
print circulars, use direct mail, etc.) Never try to sell a product you are certain that
it fills a basic want or need of many, many people.
Let us imagine that you have purchased 1000 copies of a new book on
Tarot Reading. Your cost is .15 each, and the supplier has assured you that he has another
10,000 copies available, if you happen to need them. Your initial costs has been $150.00.
To realize a profit, you must receive at least $1.00 per copy - which means that you must
establish the selling price at $2.00. How do you get dealers to sell it for $2.00?
Here is one method. Run an ad in the leading Mail Order magazine - such
as Timely Tips or Mail Order Bulletin - let it read something like this:TEACH YOURSELF TO
READ TAROT CARDS!Brand New Method! $2.00 copy(DEALERS: Run this ad over YOUR name. I
drop-ship for half!)
Immediately dealers will pick up your ad and start advertising it. (You
will also get a few orders from the Bargain Hunters who will buy ANYTHING as long as it is
half price!) If you run the ad month after month, you will continually acquire new dealers
to sell for you.
You can also prepare a letter describing your drop-ship offer and mail
it to a list of small mail order dealers. If you can enclose "camera ready ads or
circulars" which they can reproduce, you will make even more sales.
The more you can do for your prospective dealers, the more money you
will make. If you mail one thousand letters and only recruit twenty dealers, do not feel
that your entire mailing was a loss. If you give good, honest service, some of those
dealers will stay with you for twenty-five years - every time you introduce a new product,
they will jump on the bandwagon and help you sell it!
Another method is to prepare circulars for dealers to include in their
mailings. You can afford to sell them to dealers AT COST. If your product is low-priced,
you can make a lot of sales using nothing but 3 x 6 circulars. You may even want to print
your dealer's ad on one side of the circular, and your own non-conflicting ad on the
reverse side. (For example, let your dealer sell the book on Tarot Reading and you sell
another book on Numerology!)
To be successful as a Mail Order Drop-Shipper, you must:
* Handle fast-selling, low cost merchandise. There
should be a high markup on it and it should be readily available to you in large
quantities.
* Constantly recruit new dealers to sell it for you.
Advertise in the Mail Order Magazines REGULARLY. This marks you as a RELIABLE source of
supply.
* Provide your dealers with good selling tools. If
necessary, pay a typesetter to prepare eye-catching "camera-ready ads and
circulars" which your dealers can use.
* Fill your orders promptly. If you have every order
in the mail within 24 hours, your repeat business will ZOOM!
* Handle complaints immediately and fairly. If
necessary give the dealer or customer the benefit of the doubt. You may lost a dollar now
and then, but in the long run, YOU WILL BENEFIT!
* Don't get lazy. Remember your competitors are
working, too! Keep your dealers (and your pocketbook!) happy by adding new products from
time to time.
Do that - and dealers will start selling YOUR products - for YOU!
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