There are several ways to get drop ship products, you just have to find the right company that is willing to do it for you.

You start with the manufacturer. Manufacturer's make the products and then distribute them out from there. The traditional supply chain is that most manufacturers (especially large brand name manufacturers) will only sell their products to authorized distributors and wholesale suppliers. This is because distributors and wholesalers purchase in large volumes so they can sell to multiple retailers or other wholesalers.

But you should always talk to the manufacturer first. If they are willing to do drop shipping for you, that is the best company to work with, as that is as close to the source that you can possibly get. You would place the order with the manufacturer, and they will ship it to your customer.



If the manufacturer won't drop ship for you, ask them for a list of their authorized distributors or wholesale suppliers that you could possibly work with. Then contact those companies and see if they drop ship for retailers.

The further down the chain you go, the higher the wholesale prices are. The distributors and wholesalers have to pay for these items, the freight costs and employees to unload trucks. So they will add to the wholesale price to recoup these expenses.

Common Misunderstanding

We talk about scams and middlemen on our site as companies to avoid. Yes, you should!! Check out our Scam Watch page for things to look out for.

One of the biggest misunderstandings when we talk about middlemen, is many retailers think that we mean distributors and wholesale suppliers because they are in between you and the manufacturer. This isn't true in the world of dropshipping.

When the manufacturer won't provide drop shipment for you, then you have to work with one of their wholesale suppliers. This isn't a middleman scenario in this case, because you simply cannot obtain the products from the original source; the manufacturer. So you have to work with who you can, but keep it as close to the manufacturer as possible! So only working with authorized distributors or first level wholesale suppliers is very important and will get you better pricing.

Tracking down the right dropshippng suppliers that offer drop ship products can be VERY time consuming. Once you know what to look for and where to start, the process can be a little easier, but it's still a lengthy process and don't give up when you hear NO, which happens a lot.