What is the difference between Wholesale & Dropshipping

[David263]

Hello! 

I am newbie and wanted to learn shopify from start, please suggest me the best way to learn and grow?

How can we maximize ROI and which Add network is best for running ads?

Regards,

Greenhouse Management software

[Moira]

Hey, @David263!

This is Moira from the Social Care team at Shopify. Thanks for posting, and a very warm welcome to the Community! I'd be more than happy to provide you with some resources that will ensure growth for you and your business here on Shopify.

Getting started on Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce software that merchants around the world use to create their own, independent stores to sell online or in-person. Are you looking to start an online business selling your products or services? If so, then have a look at this guide right here to see what Shopify can offer you. Did you have any products in mind that you were wanting to sell? I'd love to hear more and help you out.

Starting a business can seem daunting or confusing, especially if you're unsure where to start. Luckily, Shopify has plenty of online resources to help with the start-up process, including experimenting with different ways to run your business.

Because you may not have an idea of a particular niche to dive into, have you considered Dropshipping? Dropshipping is a business model where you essentially curate a selection of products within whichever niche you choose, using wholesale sites like AliExpress, and once a customer buys from you, you then purchase the product from your supplier and have them ship it directly to your customer. It's a very hands-off way of starting a business and has a low start-up cost. We have plenty of resources on this topic:

• The Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping E-book: At Shopify, what we really like about dropshipping is that it provides a lower-risk approach for independent businesses to test out new product ideas (and product lines) without having to own and pay for the product upfront.

• Oberlo Blog: Oberlo is an app that connects to Shopify, allowing you to sell products from outside sites. Oberlo is also owned by Shopify, and these Blogs are great at giving you pro-tips about running this type of business.

Outside of this, we also have plenty of resources to help you get started with Shopify:

• Shopify Blog: Our Shopify Blogs are an amazing resource for everything Shopify-related, included finding a niche to explore.

• Shopify Compass: Is full of video classes you can work your way through to learn how best to run your business! These classes are free with a Shopify membership.

Running Ads with Facebook

Facebook Ads are especially perfect for those merchants like yourself who are just starting out and may not have much advertising experience or a big ad budget. Before you can create Facebook ad campaigns in Shopify, you need to set up the Facebook Marketing feature in the Facebook channel. Check out this guide for instructions on how to set up your Facebook channel.

Most businesses have a Facebook and/or Instagram business page they use for connecting with their fans and customers on social media. When you decide to use paid ads on Facebook and Instagram, you can opt to have them come from your brand’s social pages. This often results in increased brand exposure and new followers for your company, which is one of the benefits of advertising on social platforms.

TIP: I’d highly recommend looking into Facebook Blueprint where you can discover online learning courses, training programs, and certifications that can help you get the most out of Facebook marketing platforms.

As you're working on just getting started, you may be interested in learning about growing your business with Shopify. I've attached the course below so you can learn more about how this can benefit your business:

• Getting Started with Shopify by Samantha Renée

If you have any questions please feel free to thread those below.

Cheers!

[dropship_helps]

Hi @David263 

Facebook and Google Ads are always king.  Instagram Influencers Shoutout recommended. 

[TeamSpocket]

Hi @David263 ,

Wholesale requires you to buy the products in bulk, shipped them to your warehouse, and then sell them to your customers.  Dropshipping on the other hand only requires you to buy the item once a customer placed an order from your store. This is the case for dropshipping because your supplier is the one fulfilling the orders and not you.  In terms of cost, dropshipping requires less upfront investment making it an ideal business model for new e-commerce merchants. 

On top of this, there are apps that help you drop ship products easier.  You can try Spocket. It's a dropshipping app that allows you to import and sell products from our suppliers around the world.  This is perfect for merchants like you who plan to sell online. 

You can check this article and see how easy it is to set up a dropshipping store using the app: 

Quick 5-Step Process to Launching your Store

You can sign up here for a free Spocket account.  You can also check our success stories on some of our retailers. 

Cheers,
Spencer and the Spocket team

[DropshipStore]

Hello @David263 ,

The main difference between drop shipping and wholesale is the handling of inventory of products.  

Both are product acquisition which relates to retail. Drop shipping does not need an inventory of products, while in wholesale - product inventory is important because the items are bought at larger quantities.

For Learning you can go through this link:-

https://dropshipcorporation.com/dropshipping-course/

[啵啵]

Dropshipping is relatively more costly, but to do it big, I suggest you have your own agent and can create your own brand. control the quality of the product etc.

Wholesale costs are high, need to prepare inventory in advance, and need a lot of capital if the product is of high value

[Trapa]

@David263 Hope you are doing well.

Basic differences between wholesale and dropshipping: 

• We all heard about wholesale, this term is quite familiar to us. It’s basically selling your bulk amount of product at a lower possible price. On the other hand, in dropshipping sellers buy the product from a third party, and they will directly ship it to the customer.
• In wholesale business, the seller owns the product so he/she needs space for the products, which will be an extra cost for the seller. But in the dropshipping business, he/she doesn’t own the product so he/she doesn’t need any space to stock the product.
• In wholesale business, it needs huge employees for maintaining the business. but dropshipping doesn't need employees for maintaining the business.
• There is an initial product buying cost in wholesale, but in dropshipping, there is no initial product buying cost, because he/she does not own the product.
• The main advantages of wholesale are, you have control over the products and the shipping. You can ensure the product quality first hand and decide when the product will ship, the shipping carrier, or the courier. It makes the shipping process way faster than dropshipping.

Here I share a short summary of the difference between these two.

Hope it helps 

Thank You.

Wholesale VS Dropshipping (Shopify)

[Team_Syncee]

Hi @David263 

You can learn about Shopify from Syncee articles: https://syncee.co/blog/

[Fulfillman]

I totally agree with some of the most helpful replies here. But to make your shopify journey less labor intensive and more productive, I would like to recommend you our fulfillment and dropshipping service. We will do all the work for you from sourcing, purchasing, branding, packing, and delivery at a very low cost. We deliver from our base in China to US and UK in only 7-11 days! Please check out our social media accounts and youtube channel to learn more and get started!

[rochemay]

Hi there! 

Dropshipping has grown hugely in popularity over the past decade because it offers digitally-native retailers fast and easy entry into the marketplace. This is because dropshipping doesn’t require you to own and manage your own inventory; instead, customer orders are passed on directly to the product’s manufacturer, another retailer, or a specialist dropshipping service for them to fulfill and ship on your behalf. 

This means that dropshipping cuts out a lot of complex logistics management because the merchant never has to interact with the product themselves – they only need to facilitate the actual sale. 

When purchasing wholesale, merchants will approach manufacturers directly and buy items in bulk to get a more favorable price per unit. Because the products are branded and are already established, all the merchant needs to do is list the item on their store and incur sales off their existing reputation.

Check out Spocket! Spocket is a platform where you can easily find amazing products and dropship them directly to your customers meaning suppliers will send the item directly to your customer. Spocket also gives you access to thousands of products from all sorts of niches - right from apparel and footwear to tech and pet accessories. And with a few clicks, these products from suppliers all over the world, can be added to your store. I would recommend signing up to our trial period plans so you may have a first hand experience on how our app works. Please let me know once you have tried subscribing or if you need further assistance on this, you can reach out to us 24/7 through our chat channel or you can send us an email at support@spocket.co. You may try out Spocket for 14 days trial period, sign up via this link.