We regularly get inquiries from dropshipping stores: find products, vet suppliers, calculate margins, plus a new store. We tell them straight up what we’ll take on and what we won’t. We’re happy to build the store once the product and supply chain are in place. We don’t develop the business model. That’s a different discipline, and we’d rather say no than offer it half-heartedly.
The inquiries
Two typical patterns: a store runs on a free theme with a page builder, it’s slow and stutters when you scroll, and the ask is everything from product sourcing to a relaunch. Or a young store with products from completely different categories, no logo, no consistent design, sold-out items, and the wish is: more products.
What we do and what we don’t
| We don’t | We do |
|---|---|
| Find products and suppliers | A store on a solid premium theme |
| Calculate margins and prices | Connect the supplier apps |
| Develop a business model | SEO, conversion, email automations |
There’s a reason for the line: whether a product sells is decided by the selection, the supplier and the margin. Others are better at that than we are. What comes after is our craft.
Why more products rarely help
Apps can pull product data from suppliers automatically. But they don’t create a brand. Titles, images, descriptions and the choice of what belongs together in one store still have to be curated by people.
A store without a clear direction doesn’t get better with more products, it just gets more random. To actually sell, you first need a direction, a look and trust, and that’s a relaunch, not a product upload.
Your takeaways
- Sort out product, supplier and margin first. No store can save a product that doesn’t pay off.
- A free theme with a page builder is rarely a good foundation. Not because it’s inherently bad, but because with lots of building blocks it quickly gets slow and hard to maintain.
- A bigger range is no substitute for positioning. Better ten products that belong together than a hundred with nothing connecting them.
- Pay attention to what an agency turns down. Anyone who offers everything does a lot of it only halfway.
Are your product and supply chain in place? Then we’ll build the store that turns them into a brand.