Is Dropshipping a Scam

Is Dropshipping really a scam or not?

For a few months now, dropshipping has become the new web eldorado for all entrepreneurs who want to develop their own business. It must be said that this marketing method has a significant advantage: no stocks to buy which allows you to devote all your available budget to communication and sales optimization.

However, like any fashion, many marketing “influencers”, with increasingly harsh videos and articles, denounce this method of marketing and claim that dropshipping is a scam. Between the prophets of dropshipping who only seek to sell you their training and these detractors, it is difficult to navigate for Internet users who are thinking about embarking on the great adventure of online sales.

But then, is dropshipping really a scam for customers as well as for apprentice entrepreneurs? Is it Really Possible to Make Money Dropshipping? I decided to respond by remaining as objective as possible to the various arguments used by detractors while trying to bring dreamers back to reality.

This article raises the debate, so do not hesitate to give your opinion via the comments: what do you think of this marketing method? Scam or not?

 

Is dropshipping really a scam?

Here are the top 3 most common arguments for saying that dropshipping is a scam.

"With Dropshipping, the seller has no added value"

When a dropshipper selects products to sell them at a higher price or negotiates with a supplier for the latter to give him a discount allowing the dropshipper to make his margin, it is buying-reselling. It is the very principle of trade since it exists!

Since the dawn of time, a merchant has bought products, applied a mark-up, and resold them. Its added value can be linked to the way in which it will select its products to be the only one to market them in its catchment area.

For example, at the time, merchants scoured the world to bring back spices and other exotic products. They would buy these products in India or elsewhere and resell them in Europe because they were the only ones to have them. Buying reselling!

On the internet, the added value of a distributor can be in the marketing techniques that he will use to promote his products in relation to competitors. It can also be about being there, at the right time, when the Internet user performs a search in our dear Google… The principle is the same, except that it is digitized.

So, in my opinion, dropshipping should not be the end of the business but only a means of marketing products without having to bear the cost of the stock. The real value, the one that will make a dropshipper make sales, is the way in which he will market this range of products to make Internet users want to buy them from him rather than from the competitor.

Moreover, be aware that the famous home shopping shows, which are regularly broadcast on television, all operate in dropshipping. They promote the product of a supplier who gave them a discount on the final sale price, which allows them to make a margin. Make no mistake, it is indeed dropshipping!

"The 3 week delivery time will discourage your customers"

This is the typical argument of haters of this mode of marketing who think that dropshipping is only possible with Aliexpress and other Chinese wholesale sites. And for good reason, if you sell products from dropshipping suppliers on the Chinese site Aliexpress, to benefit from free delivery, the delivery time of your products will be 2 to 3 weeks.

For once, delivery times are a major obstacle for Internet users, it is no longer a secret. However, it always comes back to the value proposition you want to offer your customers: what would make prospects be willing to wait 2 weeks to receive their order? The price? Confidence in the e-commerce site? The fact that the product is tied to an impulse buy? etc… Show empathy and find the arguments that will keep them waiting if you decide to work with Asian suppliers.

And one thing is certain, dropshipping is not limited to Chinese suppliers alone. I talk about it in my article on how to find reliable dropshipping suppliers: find small producers who are specialists in their profession but who do not know how to promote their products and offer them to market their products for them.

Thus, know that it is still possible to sell despite long delivery times by working an effective sales pitch. Likewise, don't forget that dropshipping doesn't end with Chinese suppliers! The Shopify + Aliexpress combo is no picnic! (oula, I don't recognize myself there anymore!)

"To make a living from it, you have to work a lot"

The other argument of those who claim that dropshipping is a scam is that entrepreneurs who start drophipping do not realize how much time it takes to invest to make a living from a dropshipping site.

Is that so? Because now you have to work to earn money? Soon they will tell us that the fire burns and that the water wets (it reminds you of memories these words admit!).

Yes, to make a living from dropshipping, you're going to have to work and work hard. Indeed, I agree that it is not by simply launching a few advertising campaigns on Facebook that it will be possible to generate several thousand sales. Like all business creations, you will have to train yourself in the best techniques to sell products on the internet, in natural referencing techniques.

Thanks to well-crafted advertising, you will be able to generate additional income. However, to make it the main activity, you will have to give yourself the means to succeed and invest time and a little money in the success of this new adventure.

So, is dropshipping a scam? No, only an entrepreneurial adventure that requires the involvement of the creator in its success… Nothing more!

So, Scam or not?

 

Summary of my review

No, dropshipping is not a scam. Dropshipping is simply a marketing method that allows you to embark on the adventure of selling online without having to invest several hundred / thousands of euros in the creation of an inventory of products.

Dropshipping is like all business start-ups: to earn money, you have to be smart, 100% invested, and take the time to train yourself to master internet sales techniques.

The good news is that there are free training courses on the web that allow you to learn many skills. For the rest (smart and invested), everything does not depend on the motivation of the aspiring dropshipper and his ability to find the right dropshipping niche.

And you? What do you think? Dropshipping = Scam or not?

Read also:

1.  What is Dropshipping - How Does Drop Shipping Work

2. Which legal status to choose to do Dropshipping?

3. How to Find Profitable Dropshipping Niche in 2021?

4. How to Start a dropshipping business with aliexpress?