A concept often promoted by influencers, dropshipping has become more and more popular over the past years. We often hear about people becoming millionaires overnight from dropshipping, but is this actually true? Is dropshipping a side hustle worth investing your time in?
What exactly is dropshipping?
Dropshipping is the process of selling products without actually having to store or ship them yourself. How could this possibly work? It’s fairly simple; a consumer places an order through the dropshipper’s site, buying the product as per the dropshipper’s price. The dropshipper orders the product from the wholesaler, and any profit made from the difference between the dropshipper’s listed price and the wholesaler’s price is kept by the dropshipper.
“Side hustle: dropshipping” – Blackbullion
What can I dropship?
In theory, anything! However, it is best to be strategic when deciding which products you want to dropship. Some points to consider when selling products are:
- Lightweight – Light or small products are easy and cheap to ship, so you can set flat rates for shipping costs.
- Durable – Non-fragile products are less likely to break so returns, malfunctions or damage during shipping become far less common.
- Timing – Products that coincide with seasonal or societal events usually have a burst of popularity, e.g. Santa costumes around Christmas.
- Competition – Dropshipping is not an uncommon side hustle, so entering an oversaturated market can make sellers less likely to buy from you.
What are the ethical concerns of dropshipping?
- Carbon emissions – shipping products from international locations can lead to long shipping distances, contributing to high carbon emissions.
- So, sell from local suppliers!
- Poor quality – if you cannot confirm the quality of the product, you may mislead your customers by selling a poor-quality product.
- So, test the product in advance! Receive the product from the supplier so you know what you’re selling.
- Overconsumption – dropshipping thrives off of hype, which may contribute to overconsumption.
- So, cherry-pick what you sell! You can opt for sustainable, recyclable products.
- Poor labour conditions – dropshipping products from regions with low labour regulations can result in exploitive wages and working conditions to ship your product.
- So, research your supplier! Ensure that the working conditions and wages from your supplier are fair and ethical.
How can I get started?
Now’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for; how can I start dropshipping?
- Pick an e-commerce platform you’d want to sell your product on, like Shopify or BigCommerce.
- Make your product interesting. Take nice photos of your product, write a lovely description about it – anything to attract your prospective buyer.
- You can then promote your product on social media, pay for ads online, or email people about your product. You can fund your marketing with the profit you obtain for your first few orders. Note that there are laws and taxes if you meet certain criteria. These can be checked here.
Warning: it is very important to do your research about the companies you partner with to avoid getting scammed. Criminals may deceive dropshippers to use them to resell stolen goods. You should do your research about any company you’re considering partnering with.
So, there you have it! A brief guide to how you can use dropshipping to earn an extra source of income, in a safe and ethical way. As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns and we’ll see you in our next post!
Hirra Yasir
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice
The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts.