8 Common Dropshipping Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Successfully getting started with dropshipping is easy with the right practices! Avoid these 8 common dropshipping mistakes.

Dropshipping may seem like a no-brainer to you in this world where businesses jump at any opportunity which can make a transaction convenient and quick. However, it takes time to get it right and you’re bound to make mistakes along the way.

Dropshipping isn’t a scheme to fill your pockets fast. At first, it may seem that all you have to worry about is getting customers because products abound everywhere.

But once you plunge yourself in, you’ll realize that it takes more than just having savvy marketing skills. Successfully getting started with dropshipping is easy with the right practices!

Avoid these 8 common dropshipping mistakes.

1. Having Unrealistic Expectations

You can earn much from dropshipping, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to make it big within a month or two. When you start with high expectations, you may get easily disappointed along the way and the business will fold up.

To be successful in dropshipping, you have to be dedicated and patient. It takes effort, time, and lots of learning for you to start reaping the benefits. Even established dropshippers do encounter obstacles and issues that they have to deal with almost on a daily basis.

If you don’t consider this, you will get demotivated in the initial stages and will give up even before your business picks up.

2. Posting Too-Optimistic Delivery Times/Dates

Posting too optimistic delivery times is one of the most common dropshipping mistakes. You may be so obsessed with pleasing your customers to the extent that you start posting unrealistic shipping times. There are so many things that take place in the shipping process and you can’t be sure when a shipment will arrive.

Matters can get worse when the shipping has no tracking. While long shipping times may discourage your customers, that’s no reason to fall victim of setting shorter delivery times than your suppliers can accomplish.

Find out from your suppliers how long the delivery might take then give a time range to your customers that match that of your suppliers, of course with some safe allowance.

3. Offering Various Shipping Fees

Suppliers usually offer a variety of shipping methods. If you also decide to offer several modes of shipping on your website, you’ll have too many options that you wouldn’t be able to manage. All your customers need is that their goods should be delivered at the lowest possible cost.

There are two ways to go about this. You can either offer free shipping or offer a flat rate of delivery. If you choose free shipping then you can adjust the prices of the products to cover the shipping cost.

The difference in prices won’t be that significant and stating that you offer free shipping is a good way of enticing your customers.

4. Publishing Generic or Vague Policies

Because you are new in the business, you may get tempted to copy and paste policies from any dropshipping website you come about. The problem is some of these policies may not suit your business model.

For example, you may copy a return policy that you can’t afford to honor. Some policies may also lead you into breaching the laws of your state and this may land you into legal problems. It is wise to research and write policies that are unique to your business.

5. Selling Copyrighted/Trademark Goods

You are not allowed to sell items that are registered copyrights or registered trademarks of another company without their permission. These include sports teams (e.g., NFL teams, NBA teams), characters (e.g., Marvel characters, Disney characters), company logos (e.g., Starbucks, Nike) or even phrases/slogans (e.g., "Let’s get ready to rumble", "Super Bowl").

If you want to sell these, you must obtain a license to sell, otherwise, your company may be sued. The license can cost you anything between a few hundreds dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the company that owns the products’ copyright/trademark.

6. Relying Too Much on a Single Producer

It takes time to build a working relationship with a producer. But what would happen to your business if your manufacturer decides that they no longer want to work with you? What if your producer’s business collapses while you have some pending orders?

You may find it very rough is you never had a backup. Having a backup supplier is the safest way to ensure your business will keep running even if one of your producer goes belly up.

7. The Worst of Dropshipping Mistakes is Competing On Price

You may think that lowering your prices would give you an edge against your competitors, but this is the worst mistake you can ever make. Low prices can only give you a competitive advantage if you are an established company.

Otherwise, you’ll find this unsustainable and it would only lead you to lose. It is better to maintain the normal prices or choose to deal only with high-priced items to increase your profit margins.

8. Not Building A Relationship With Your Suppliers

Especially if you are a dropshipper, your suppliers are the bloodlines of your business. In the beginning, your relationship is limited to shipping concerns and product availability, and your conversations may also be limited to phone conversations, Skype and emails.

If you let this go on for long, your suppliers may start taking you for granted, after all, they may have many dropshippers to deal with. Try to cultivate a stronger relationship with your suppliers so they can give you the priority when their goods are almost running out of stock.

It is important to pay your suppliers on time, treat them with respect and solve problems together.

Avoid Dropshipping Mistakes

Dropshipping isn’t easy, mistakes can be made but they are no reason for giving up. Anyone can make mistakes, from veterans to rookies. What is discussed above are just some typical dropshipping problems that anyone can come across.

If you are looking for a reliable supplier who can give you stable shipping times and clear shipping prices your answer is Yakkyofy. You will no longer need to entertain relations with hundreds of suppliers, Yakkyofy will be the only intermediary you will need to run your business smoothly, should there be any shortages for your products we will find new suppliers to fulfill your pending and future orders.

Yakkyofy offers an all-in-one solution to manage the daily tasks of your business from sourcing up to delivery.