Just when you think you’ve seen it all, they come up with yet another stupid name to sell courses. Drop Surfing is one of the latest and probably the most stupid I have yet seen.
In case you did not know, 99% of dropshipping and eCom gurus make their money from selling courses.
Youtube is flooded with dropshipping videos and almost all of them are designed ONLY to get views. That is how these guys make money. The video titles reflect this and they have to constantly “top” the other videos.
That is why they invent stupid names and ideas to hook good people into clicking and watching. I would urge you to take everything you see on Youtube with a grain of salt. There is a ton of really bad information out there regarding dropshipping and actually making money from this stuff.
Creating videos and courses is a lot of work – which should make you wonder why someone who make “Lambo Money” would do it??
What is Drop Surfing Ecommerce?
Dropsurfing is not someone you need to be concerned about for the most part. It is a nothing term that sounds cool and catchy.
It is basically what every Aliexpress dropshipper is already doing.
You basically “surf” around Aliexpress (or eBay) sellers to find the best deal for the product(s) that you are selling on your store.
Instead of sticking to just one supplier, you spread your wings and shop around looking for the best deal from multiple vendors..
DropSurfing vs Drop Shipping
When I started dropshipping back in 2009, Aliexpress was not an option. In fact, almost nobody was dropshipping from China.
The way we did it was to reach out to dozens and dozens of suppliers to try and secure a dropshipping deal. Most simply did not understand the concept and ecommerce was not really ready yet.
When you did find a vendor it would be quite a tedious process. They would have a catalog of products and everything was done via spreadsheets.
The concept was 1 vendor with their catalog of products on your store. This is true dropshipping.
With Aliexpress it is very different. You have multiple vendors (Aliexpress sellers) selling the same product. This gives you options to find the best products, the best shipping times and the best service. This is what dropsurfing is.
Using The Drop Surfing Ecommerce Idea
While I loathe these shitty names that gurus come up with, the concept is worth noting. Not in the way they use it but in a way that can actually affect your bottom line.
When you surf Aliexpress vendors you will start noticing that most of them have similar listings with similar images.
What does that say to you?
They all have the same supplier!
Once your dropshipping store starts making consistent sales you need to move away from Aliexpress and go straight to the source. 90% of the time you will find them on Alibaba but you will probably have to buy stock in bulk.
If you are scared of doing this, don’t be. You know your product is selling. All you need to do is set up fulfillment with a fulfillment center and ship your order from your supplier to your fulfillment center.
There are many great options. Dollar Fulfillment used to be cheap and easy. Now it is just easy – and they have upped their order limits.
For an easy hands-off solution I would suggest you check out Printful. They are not the cheapest but they are by far the easiest to use.
Taking Dropsurfing One Step Further
If you do decide to stick to finding the best Aliexpress sellers/vendors then why not shop around a bit. Yes, Aliexpress will probably be the cheapest but you can leverage others who are importing your products in bulk.
Huh?
Yes! And the answer is dropshipping from eBay. It is probably the most underutilized option for dropshippers. eBay sellers are scraping the bottom of the barrel with razor thin margins. You can often find your products on there for only slightly higher prices than what they sell for on Aliexpress.
The big difference is that your products will ship locally.
- This means faster shipping times
- Less customer support
- Happier customers
- Less refunds
- The ability to offer returns
- Returning customers (you make more money)
Dropshipping from eBay was a real nightmare to manage until Dropified came along. It automates virtually everything just like Oberlo does with Aliexpress.
You can take the drop surfing idea even further.
Why not source your dropshipping products from Amazon?
Or from Walmart?
Always remember that people buy the “perceived value” of a product and not the actual value. If your store does a good job at creating a perceived value around your product(s) then people will buy it – even if its available from Walmart at half the cost.
The dropshipping boom of 2016 is well and truly over. You have to move on and start looking for alternatives. I’ve written about dropshipping from Etsy before.
Finding unique quality products that are presented well and that ships fast is the name of the game. People simply do not tolerate crap products or 3 weeks shipping anymore.
