Drop shipping is a great way to make money online. It gives those with even the smallest startup budget the ability to own their own business. Since you don't have to purchase any inventory up front, you can focus all your time and money on marketing and selling products. It's a great low risk way to make some extra cash from home. Unfortunately, most new drop shippers fall for some common pitfalls. They end up sourcing products from middlemen, failing to sell on eBay, and wasting money on scams. Drop shipping has started an entire other industry of scam artists and MLM companies that leach off of inexperienced drop shippers. This article will show you how to avoid these common traps and make some real money drop shipping online.

First off, don't rely on search engines to find your drop shipping wholesale source. The search engines are littered with middlemen and MLM product sourcing companies. They source real wholesale products and mark up the prices, then they sell them to you at the new "wholesale" cost. They make money off of each sale you make. Plus, they usually charge monthly fees to make matters worse.

Here are a few tip offs that you're dealing with a middleman:
They charge monthly fees
They don't ask for a tax ID or resale certificate
They market the same products as other companies or operate under multiple aliases

If you're able to actually get a decent wholesale source, you'll need a place to market and sell your products. Most newbies head to eBay to try to sell. This is a common mistake. You can make money on eBay, but it's very difficult. Ebay is absolutely saturated with products and sellers. You will surely find thousands of others selling the same products as you if you don't find a good quality wholesale source. Then you have to deal with the high fees they charge to list and sell products. To make money on eBay, you'll need to be competitive in pricing but still have very large margins. This is usually not possible.

Instead, you should find unique ways to market your product. Build your own online store. Find other shopping comparison sites. Learn how to get search engine traffic to your products and you can enjoy much larger profits than if you sell on eBay. There are literally thousands of free ways to market your products that won't kill your margins. Before you even begin drop shipping, make sure you know who you're selling to and how you're going to get your products in front of them. After all, the best product in the world won't sell if nobody sees it.

Like any business, you need to think outside the box to get ahead. The easiest solution is usually not the best way to go. Put in some effort up front and it will pay off ten times over later on. You absolutely can make good money drop shipping, and many people do. But you can't follow the crowd. Signing up for Doba and heading over to eBay is not going to make you the next millionaire, I guarantee it.