What if your drop ship supplier is out of business

February 22, 2011   Amazon Marketing

If you are in the business of retailing products and having orders fulfilled by a drop shipper, you may experience the loss of a supplier every now and again. Generally, the loss of a supplier is due to them going out of business, which can definitely be detrimental to you business.

Plan for the Future of your online business

You should never rely on one solitary thing for your business. It does not matter whether it is one product, one marketing strategy, or one employee. The reality is that this leaves your business vulnerable to one single point of failure. As a retailer, this also holds true to your drop ship supplier. If you only have one drop ship supplier and they happen to go out of business, you will quickly find yourself in deep trouble.

One way to combat this is by looking ahead in anticipation that your supplier may not be able to fit all of needs. Even if your supplier never goes out of business, there is always the possibility that they are out of stock of a particular item that you need to sell immediately. It is because of this that you always need to be looking for a wide assortment of suppliers that can service your company in a variety of ways.

How to Find Multiple Drop Ship Suppliers

One way to have access to multiple drop ship suppliers is to constantly be on the hunt of new suppliers. This can be accomplished by researching suppliers online or by purchasing a drop ship directory guide. You can also opt to contact leading manufacturers of products you wish to retail and convince them to drop ship products for you, although they do not market themselves as being in the business of drop shipping.

Overall, there are a few simple steps that you can take to ensure that your company is prepared in the event that your drop ship supplier goes out of business.

  • Research a wide variety of drop ship suppliers and peruse their website to see if they offer products that would be beneficial to your business.
  • Contact suitable suppliers and open a new account with them. Please make sure that you allocate enough time to this process as new accounts may take anywhere from a few days to weeks to be created in their system. It is because of this that you need to plan ahead to ensure that you have a variety of suppliers at your disposal before you need their services
  • Upon the approval of your account, make sure that you utilize the services of your drop ship supplier on a regular basis in order to keep your account active.

Overall, if you follow the steps above you will be prepared in the event that one of your drop ship suppliers goes out of business.