What You Need To Get Started
Getting Started
You will need 3 main components to get your dropshipping business started. A Dropship Supplier, a Sales Channel, and one of our Monthly Integration Plans
Dropship Supplier:
The first step of working with us is to be an approved reseller with a dropship supplier. We are not a middleman, we are your eCommerce technology link syncing inventory and orders between your dropship supplier and your sales channel. You can find our list of 200+ currently integrated suppliers within our Supplier Directory once you login to your free account (Or Create a FREE Account Here). You can view a sample of their product feed as well as a link for information on 'Becoming a Reseller' with them.
If you are having difficulty getting approved with a supplier, we have a solution for you:
Our US Direct integration gives you easy access to the best products from multiple suppliers. This integration does NOT require any approved reseller accounts with a supplier. You will simply need a Full Automation Plan to utilize this integration. US Direct currently only ships to the lower 48 states. You can view a sample of their product feed by logging in to your Inventory Source Account and visiting their supplier page HERE.
*Most suppliers charge a nominal fee per dropship order (approx $2-4 on average) although some may have a subscription or upfront cost for membership as well. It is important to clarify these costs directly with your supplier.
Sales Channel:
Next step would be choosing and setting up your selling platform, whether that be an eCommerce Store (e.g. Big Commerce, Shopify, etc), a Marketplace (e.g. Amazon, eBay, etc), or a Multi-channel Manager (e.g. SellerActive, Tradegecko, etc).
Here is our list of currently supported Sales Channels.
*Your sales channel may have their own monthly, yearly, or per listing cost for their services.
*It is also important to note that you will need to arrange a way to receive payments from your customers and a way to submit payments for orders to your supplier. This may include creating an account with a payment processor or setting up net terms with your supplier. This interaction is external of your integration with Inventory Source.
Integration Plans:
Once you have chosen a supplier and a sales channel you can then you can choose your automation plan with Inventory Source. Please see the following link for more information on our plans and pricing.
Our Inventory Automation Plan allows you to automatically sync your dropship supplier's (or 3PL warehouse) inventory and product data to your e-commerce store or marketplace. This data can include titles, images, descriptions, weights, category structure, pricing, and much more. Then we perform price, quantity, and status (PQS) updates at least twice daily.
Our Full Automation Plan (Inventory + Orders) includes the functionality of Inventory Automation, plus the ability to automate the order process. This means we pull order data from your sales channel and with a click of a button you can submit to your supplier(s), which will automatically update your sales channel during the process, and send any available tracking after the product(s) are shipped.