Want to start a dropshipping company but keep the costs down? Dropshipping on eBay may be a good option.
Dropshipping eliminates the need for a storefront, as you can start selling online using your eBay store. You can also save money by selling to an already-established audience.
Fascinated? This article will cover everything you need about eBay dropshipping, from finding suitable suppliers to maintaining healthy margins.
What is eBay Dropshipping?
Dropshipping on eBay is a low-cost, profitable business model. A merchant purchases products at wholesale prices, increase the cost, and resells the product through the platform.
Many entrepreneurs prefer this method because they don’t have to touch the product or rent a storage facility to keep inventory. Dropshipping vendors will sort, pack, and ship your orders.
Dropshipping on eBay: Benefits
Dropshipping on eBay has many benefits:
Low-risk: Dropshippers on eBay only buy goods when customers purchase them. There is no minimum order quantity. If a customer buys only one necklace, you will only be charged for the necklace. This is a great model for entrepreneurs who want to experiment or even experienced entrepreneurs looking to explore a new niche.
Highly Automated: Using suppliers such as DSers will allow you to automate the majority of your dropshipping activities. You can list your product on eBay in just a few moments. Once a sale is made, it only takes a click to complete an order. You can spend more time on marketing and customer service.
Lower cost: Because you are selling a product already designed by a manufacturer, you will pay wholesale prices rather than creating your products. Dropshipping can be a great way to keep costs down for you and your customers.
Saves you time: Only a few administrative tasks and marketing and customer service are required. The manufacturer must often do time-consuming and expensive tasks (such as packaging and shipping) or carry inventory.
Choose from millions of products: There are thousands of dropshipping products. You can add products to your store by browsing product marketplaces such as AliExpress. It is easier to sell products that have already been proven than to try and create them yourself.
Is dropshipping allowed on eBay?
Dropshipping may be legal, but whether eBay permits it is another matter. Let’s now look at eBay’s dropshipping policies.
eBay dropshipping policies
Is dropshipping banned on eBay? It’s not exactly. But it is restricted. Dropshipping is technically allowed on eBay, provided you “fulfill orders directly from a wholesale supplier.” So, what does that mean? You can promote those products on eBay if you purchase bulk quantities from a wholesale supplier.
What can’t you sell on eBay? Well, if you’re reselling products from another retail website or marketplace–think Amazon or AliExpress–you can’t dropship on eBay. eBay states, “Purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is prohibited on eBay.” So, dropshipping from Amazon to eBay isn’t allowed: You can’t list something on eBay, buy it from Amazon, and then ship it to your eBay customer.
And eBay is strict about this policy, stating that it will remove or lower your listings in its search results. If you’re a long-time seller, it may even lower your rating or status on the platform. Ouch!
How to dropship on eBay
Ready to become an eBay drop shipper? Here’s a step-by-step guide to launching your own successful eBay dropshipping store.
Create an eBay seller account
A seller account is necessary to sell products via an eBay store. To create one:
Go to the registration page and provide basic information about your online business.
Subscribe to the eBay store option that best suits your needs.
Link your checking account to receive payments.
Once you’ve completed these steps, connect the new store to Shopify using the eBay app. Doing this will enable you to see inventory levels, communicate with buyers, and manage returns–all through one dashboard.
Find profitable items
Next, investigate which products sell best on eBay. Check eBay’s bestsellers page for insights and whether you can source similar products at lower-than-MRP through dropshipping sites like Doba or AliExpress.
The popular item categories are:
Clothing, shoes & accessories
Consumer electronics
Home & Garden
Pet supplies
Toys & Hobbies
Products that are lightweight and sell are generally the easiest to drop ship, so consider finding such items in the listed categories. You’ll also want to check the return rate of each item–products with a low return rate are less likely to cause problems with your customers.
Choose your dropshipping suppliers
Once you’ve found a profitable item to sell on eBay, look for dropshipping suppliers that can offer you a good deal on bulk purchases. If you own a Shopify store, you can use apps like DSers to connect with different wholesalers.
Vet suppliers by checking their seller ratings, customer reviews, shipping times, and fees. Pay special attention to the delivery time since eBay requires brands to deliver items within 30 days of placing an order.
Create your eBay listing
Create a listing for each of the products you’re dropshipping on eBay. Include keywords that your target customers may use when searching for those items. And pay special attention to the following things–they all influence how likely the eBay algorithm is to show your products to potential customers:
Product title and description
Product images
Customer reviews
Return policy (check whether your dropshipping supplier handles product returns)
Price your product
eBay dropshipping becomes lucrative when you leave enough room between an item’s purchase and resale price. Determine the price of your dropshipping products by factoring in the following:
Product costs
Business expenses (listing costs, shipping fees, etc.)
How much profit do you want to make.
You’ll also want to monitor and collect data on what comparable products are selling for through the marketplace. Tweak your product pricing accordingly until you find a middle ground between competitive prices and shoppers’ willingness to buy.
Dropshipping from Amazon to eBay
Previously, Amazon sellers have used Amazon-to-eBay dropshipping software like Easync and PriceYak to sell their Amazon products on eBay. This way, eBay sellers could resell Amazon products at a higher price.
However, with new policies, some store owners have suffered the consequences.
In a 25-page thread on eBay, customers were frustrated having ordered a product on eBay only to receive an Amazon package in the mail with a gift receipt inside. Knowing they were paying a premium for purchasing on eBay naturally led to angry customers hurting the brand. So policies were changed to stop sellers from dropshipping from Amazon to eBay.
