Should You Be Dropshipping? Probably Not

Previously I have touched on all sorts of things like dropshipping and other ecommerce business models, but I've only touched on them briefly, and since the internet machine craves constant content I’ve got to keep writing new blogs to feed the various algorithms. So let’s take a more in depth look at dropshipping and, since the title of this blog already makes the point, why you shouldn’t bother with it.

What Is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is, at its core, a storefront listing products they buy from other companies. The companies who are creating the products also maintain product stock and fulfill orders. The storefront acts pretty much entirely as a middleman that the customers buy products through. With dropshipping the storefront doesn’t even go as far as putting their name or logo on the products, they just send orders to the manufacturers who ship products to customers. It is a very straightforward way to potentially make money, but honestly, you won’t make a ton of money with this method.

The Pros of Dropshipping

It would be entirely unfair to not bring up the positives for dropshipping, and I’m nothing if not fair. There is a fair amount of good with dropshipping, it’s just massively outweighed by the cons that largely exist due to it being an old niche that has been thoroughly filled. The two biggest pros for dropshipping are that you don’t need any space for inventory and your income flows more easily because you’re moving the product as soon as you buy it. These are certainly incredibly compelling reasons to get into dropshipping, and they absolutely were when dropshipping first became a thing that people could do. And yes, this pros section comes with all sorts of caveats, so let’s just move to the cons.

The Cons of Dropshipping

I’m going to start off the cons with something that can also be seen as a pro. Dropshipping has an incredibly low barrier to entry. Basically anyone with a spare bit of cash can get into dropshipping. That functions as a con the longer dropshipping is a thing because the competition for dropshipping gets wildly out of hand. If you were to get into dropshipping now, in February 2022, you have to have an incredibly specific niche that you know basically everything about and are constantly on watch for. In order to make good money in dropshipping you will absolutely be spending a lot of time doing so, and you will still require a lot of luck to make that money. Dropshipping at this point is essentially a race to the bottom on price that is so intense that a lot of people will end up losing money in the process.

Conclusion

The dropship has absolutely sailed at this point and if you’re only just now considering getting into dropshipping it is almost definitely too late unless you have a very specific niche that you have found to have low competition and high margins for you. Dropshipping has been happening for so long at this point that you almost certainly don’t have that, because those niches get filled up very quickly. If you do choose to take on dropshipping you will face more challenges than it is really worth considering how low your margins will have to be to move your product.