What Makes a Good Dropshipping Supplier?

Time and time again, many businesses find themselves hitting a brick wall and losing momentum when it comes time to actually source products. It doesn’t matter if you’ve used the best prototyping tools and built a killer product—whether it be manufacturing your own product or finding dropshipping suppliers to purchase wholesale from, they aren’t always easy to locate. A reliable dropshipping company fulfills your needs in the perfect way, and does so time after time. What is specifically required for “reliable” depends upon your particular requirements.

Key Characteristic of a Good Dropshipping Supplier

Perfect Pricing–

A lot of growing companies focus on one trait of their dropshipping suppliers: price. And price certainly is important when you are selecting suppliers to accompany you as you grow your business. If you are a large customer of a small dropshipping supplier you may get better service and discounts compared to being a small customer of a large supplier. A large supplier may be able to offer better discounts or financial terms in respect of loans and settlement terms and conditions. A supplier with accountability will take responsibility for the quality problem and work forward to address it quickly.

Will Communicate Effectively-

But there’s more to a dropshipping supplier than an invoice-and more to the cost of doing business with a supplier than the amount on a purchase order. Remember, too, that dropshipping suppliers are in business to make money. A good dropshipping supplier will communicate effectively with their partners to benefit both businesses. Goods supplied may have expiry dates or limited sale times and it is important they can be sold before the product is out of date. Ensure that your dropshipping supplier offers genuine product and not illegal or cheaper imitations which are attractive in price but not the real product.

Accountability of Dropshipping Supplier–

A dropshipping supplier with accountability will take responsibility for the quality problem and work forward to address it quickly. They might offer to remove the untrimmed threads and implement stricter quality controls or revise work instructions to prevent the same defect from appearing in future production runs. A supplier that won’t own up to their mistakes can hinder your ability to meet deadlines and product requirements. Look for signs of accountability as a key characteristic of a good supplier. An excellent supplier needs a stable employee base with skills appropriate for your needs. This may be observable via a visit to the supplier. Trusted dropshipping suppliers will welcome your visit and encourage interaction with key employees. If the supplier does not seem willing to accommodate your requests for these, you may need to seek an alternative supplier.

Innovation is a key supply chain trend at present, and buyers want to see signs of this from the dropshipping suppliers. Thankfully, when it comes to looking for a good dropshipping supplier to manufacture your product, you have more options available. There are some common attributes to look for to help you make a decision. And, of course, you don’t have to date them.