eBay dropshipping is a popular and accessible method for starting an online business without the need to hold inventory. Dropshipping on eBay enables us to capitalize on the huge already existing customer base and organic traffic.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to successfully navigate the eBay dropshipping process in 2024, covering essential steps such as finding reliable suppliers, listing profitable products, and managing customer service. We’ll dive into some tips, strategies, and tools to help maximize your dropshipping success, even with eBay’s evolving policies. Perfect for beginners and those looking to optimize their operations.
Using a marketplace like eBay for dropshipping means we can leverage the already existing customer base and tons of organic traffic.
The benefits of eBay dropshipping are organic traffic, no upfront investment, and ease of use; while the cons are selling limits and no room for branding.
While there are some associated costs, such as listing and insertion fees, store subscriptions, and promotional expenses, you can start eBay dropshipping for free.
It’s crucial that you follow all of eBay’s policies and limitations since they will easily flag your store for not respecting the rules.
To start eBay dropshipping you need to sign up and list your first item, then get into proper product research and find reliable suppliers before filling up your store and fulfilling your orders.
To optimize your eBay business, you can automate all of your dropshipping processes with AutoDS, provide excellent customer service, and market your products.
To start a dropshipping business, we must choose a selling channel. Selling channels are marketplaces and eCommerce websites where we can market and sell products. In fact, if we use a marketplace like eBay, we can leverage the trust and recognition that the marketplace already has. On top of that, we can utilize the large audience that is readily available on eBay.
To clarify though, dropshipping is an online retail fulfillment method where the seller does not keep the inventory they sell in stock. Rather, we purchase the product from a third-party supplier when we make a sale. The supplier then directly ships the product to our customer. Because of this, the dropshipping model is low-risk and low-investment with high-profit potential.
With a clear understanding of eBay dropshipping, let’s explore the reasons to dropship on eBay. One significant advantage is its high level of traffic. Statista reports show that over 600 million users visited eBay US each month between February and July 2024, making it the second most visited website in terms of traffic. This data only proves steady organic traffic, increasing our chances of sales. Plus, with such a vast number of users, our items will get views without spending too much money, time, or effort.
Furthermore, we can dropship in multiple regions, including ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.de, ebay.fr, ebay.it, ebay.com.au, ebay.es, and ebay.ca. That way, we can target and tap into multiple markets to increase our number of sales. By selling on eBay, we can reach millions of shoppers worldwide.
And last but not least, we can do all this with a $0 upfront investment. So, that means we don’t have to pay anything to start selling on eBay since we can list up to 250 listings for free. Then, once we start making profits, we can invest in expanding our product offerings.
Like any other business model, eBay dropshipping has benefits and drawbacks. To have a clearer picture, let’s take a look at its pros and cons:
As mentioned, eBay is one of the largest eCommerce platforms, with over 180 million users. This means we’ll have plenty of free organic traffic, helping us to generate sales. Also, eBay is great for beginners and for experienced dropshippers because it’s so easy to use. The platform is quite intuitive and allows us to start for free.
In fact, eBay allows us to list our first 250 listings for free. Following the simple listing steps, we can easily start a dropshipping business with little upfront knowledge or budget. Then, once we start selling, eBay makes it super easy to market our products. We can easily promote our products with the Promoted Listings Standard and Advanced. These are eBay’s internal features that help our listing become more visible on eBay.
eBay is not a customizable eCommerce platform with limited customization options. So, it’s difficult to build a brand and any recognition. But, we can work on making our listings more eye-catching.
Furthermore, eBay imposes selling limits on new sellers, allowing them to list up to 10 items or a total value of $500. These limits help filter out unreliable sellers. However, by adhering to eBay’s rules and guidelines, sellers can gradually build trust and request higher selling limits through eBay’s support.
And lastly, since eBay is a marketplace, all of the customers are eBay customers. So, we can’t collect their personal info like their emails, which could be useful for our marketing efforts. But, hey! At least we get to keep the profits.
When it comes to the cost of eBay dropshipping, it can vary depending on several factors. Here are some factors to consider when dropshipping on eBay:
eBay is a great choice to start dropshipping since it allows us to have 250 free listings to begin with. That way, we can keep our initial investments nonexistent or down to a minimum. However, if we want more listings, we need to pay per listing, or, more conveniently, we can pay for a subscription. In fact, these 250 free listings are the same as purchasing a starter store. After those first 250 free listings, eBay has a few subscriptions to choose from based on our goals and needs.
eBay offers various subscription plans designed to cater to different levels of sellers, each with its own set of fees and benefits. The main plans are Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor, and Enterprise.
The Starter plan is ideal for beginners, offering low-cost access with limited listings. The Basic plan provides a higher number of free listings and lower final value fees, making it suitable for growing businesses. The Premium plan offers even more listings and benefits like discounts on eBay-branded shipping supplies. The Anchor plan is designed for high-volume sellers, with dedicated customer support and even greater listing allowances. Lastly, the Enterprise plan caters to large-scale businesses with custom solutions, offering the highest levels of support and listings.
Each plan comes with its own monthly or annual subscription fee, which increases with the plan’s features and support options, allowing sellers to choose one that best fits their needs.
Each store subscription plan has a certain number of free insertion fee listings. The higher the subscription level, the less the seller will pay for each additional listing. Here is a detailed overview of insertion fees:
To be certain of the insertion fees we need to pay on eBay, AutoDS has a handy eBay Insertion Fee Calculator at your disposal. It is a fast and simple way to guarantee that the appropriate amount of fees are accounted for.
After insertion fees, we have to consider final value fees. Final value fees are fees charged by eBay for selling items on their platform. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the total sale amount (item price + postage and handling charges) plus a fixed charge of $0.30 per order.
Additionally, it depends on what products we sell. For instance, let’s assume we have subscribed to a starter store selling men’s shoes. As such, we have to pay 8% per item if the sale amount is over $150 and 12.9% per item if the total sales are under $150.
On the other hand, if we have Basic, Premium, Anchor, and Enterprise store subscriptions, we have to pay 7% per item if the sale amount is over $150 and 12% per item if the total sales are under $150. The final value fee is calculated and automatically charged by eBay at the end of a sale through eBay Managed Payments.
Calculating these fees manually can be overwhelming, but thankfully, tools like AutoDS’ eBay fees calculator make it super easy.
Standing out from the crowd is crucial when dropshipping on eBay. So, besides the mandatory fees, we might generate promotional fees. These are fees we pay eBay to market our products. Without a solid marketing strategy, getting our products in front of the right people and making sales can be difficult.
As such, eBay also charges a promotional fee for sellers who choose to use the platform’s promoted listing features: Promoted Listings Standard & Promoted Listings Advanced.
When we utilize the promoted listings standard, we pay eBay a set percentage only after we make a sale from their promo. On the other hand, with promoted listings advanced, we pay a daily budget in advance to run our ads. This works similarly to the way pay-per-click (PPC) ads work.
So, the crucial question is, “Does eBay allow dropshipping?” Essentially, eBay states that it supports dropshipping. However, it prefers dropshippers to source from wholesale suppliers rather than retailers.
That means fulfilling orders from another retailer or marketplace that ships products directly to our customers is not allowed. Thus, if we dropship from a retailer, our account may be flagged or suspended temporarily or permanently.
While there are ways to overcome this, it is better to dropship from wholesale or private suppliers if we are beginners. If we are experienced dropshippers, we can dropship from retailers and use different methods to overcome the challenges.
In line with understanding eBay’s dropshipping policies, there’s a new update that sellers absolutely need to know about. eBay just announced a new Shipping Performance Policy called ‘Item not received.’ But what exactly does this mean for us?
Sellers with high ‘Item not received’ rates can face restrictions on their accounts. These restrictions can include limitations on listing items, editing and removing listings, and even selling altogether. With that in mind, here are some tips on how to avoid suspension with this new policy.
First, we have to update our shipping policies accordingly. Managing expectations and communicating clearly with our customers regarding shipping times is crucial. The second tip goes without saying, but we must ship our products on time.
Next, we can use order automation tools such as the Fulfilled by AutoDS service. This tool helps us process orders as they come in and update tracking information as soon as it’s available.
Lastly, we need to work with suppliers who are offering fast shipping already. Knowing they already provide this service gives us peace of mind that products will arrive to our customers on time. We also need to consider the eBay International shipping update.
eBay is also rolling out a new international shipping policy, making it easier than ever for sellers to earn more profit. What used to be eBay’s Global Shipping Program will be replaced with the new eBay International Shipping.
This new policy helps sellers ship products worldwide. All we need to do is send the product to the eBay Hub, and they’ll take care of everything else. The best part? There’s no additional cost for this service.
On top of that, eBay now handles returns at no cost to sellers. Therefore, if a buyer wants to return an item, eBay issues the return label and refund. Meanwhile, the sellers keep the sale.
When dropshipping on eBay, many factors, such as competition, product demand, and market trends, can impact our profit. With that in mind, here are some tips for eBay dropshipping:
Besides finding a suitable product research method, we should always look into the product’s demand, profitability, and competitors. Additionally, we must provide excellent customer service.
So, always answer buyers’ questions, and handle any cases that may arise. Similarly, offering fast shipping and free returns helps us build our customer base.
Calculating eBay fees such as final value, subscription, and promotion fees is also necessary. On top of that, we should work with 2-3 providers as multiple suppliers offer more variety of products. It is always good to have a backup in case one of the suppliers faces issues.
Finally, using dropshipping automation software like AutoDS can help streamline and optimize various tasks, leading to more productivity. For example, it can help with automating tasks such as inventory management, product importing, order fulfillment, and customer service. By utilizing dropshipping automation software, businesses can increase their capacity to scale and grow faster.
Now that we have all the necessary info, let’s set up our eBay store. Don’t worry. It’s easier than you think to start dropshipping on eBay as a complete beginner. More importantly, beginning our eBay dropshipping journey with the right approach is highly rewarding. So, here are the key steps when starting a dropshipping business on eBay:
The first step to start selling on eBay is signing up. Head to eBay.com and click ‘Register’ in the top left corner to create an account. We’ll get the option to choose between a personal and a business account. We can choose based on our business needs, but it might be best for beginners to choose the personal account option.
For the personal account, we need to provide:
For the business account, we need to provide:
Once we fill in the necessary information, click Create Account. Now, we need to find and go to the ‘My eBay’ page. On this page, we can see our account settings and preferences. Here, we will continue to set up our selling account — payment methods, business policies, and more.
Our next step in our eBay dropshipping setup is manually listing our first item. It’s important that we start off listing items on eBay slowly – about 3 products every other day or every few days. This is because eBay expects new sellers to start slowly to minimize risks. If we start fast and list too many items from the get-go, we risk getting a temporary suspension while they look into our account.
Although we are creating a dropshipping store, we highly recommend starting by selling something from home. When listing our first item manually, we preferably need it to be new and something you have around the house. But we need to ensure that it’s not copyrighted and not from the electronics category. We just need to add images, a good title, and a description for the listing itself.
Beginner’s Tip: Dropshippers with new seller accounts should conduct all tasks manually initially. At this stage, it is essential that we create and publish listings manually and not automatically through dropshipping software.
Conducting thorough product research is crucial for the success of any eBay dropshipping business. Understanding what products are in-demand and what sells well on the platform is necessary to make a profit. Furthermore, product research also enables us to understand the market trends, what are the seasonal products, and how to capitalize on them.
With that in mind, here are some essential product research methods for our eBay stores:
We can conduct product research on eBay by looking through Best-Selling Categories and analyzing top-selling dropshippers on the platform. Additionally, we can conduct manual product research by searching for products that are selling well. On top of that, we can utilize eBay Terapeak, an insight tool, to provide us with market data on supply, demand, and pricing.
Moreover, we can use AutoDS product-finding blogs on their website and best-seller playlists on YouTube as references for our store.
Now, while these methods effectively find trending items, AutoDS Ads Spy is by far the easiest way to find hot products. With this tool, we can browse the latest popular social media videos and ads with trending products. Powerful filters allow us to sort videos and ads by likes, impressions, and interaction rate. Plus, we can even search by keywords. AutoDS Ads Spy gives you ideas on what to sell in just a few minutes.
And if you don’t have time or experience for product research, then AutoDS Hand-Picked Products is the ideal solution for you. This powerful feature provides access to winning products selected by the AutoDS team of e-come experts who conduct thorough research. With its in-depth product analysis capabilities, the platform provides us with a thorough examination of each product. We get information like the source price, retail price, profit margin, key insights into the target market, and a closer look at how competitors market the product. As a result, we can quickly spot winning products and import them to our eBay store.
While there are plenty of dropshipping products to sell, there are some products we should avoid to protect the safety and legality of our business. With that in mind, here are products we should avoid on eBay:
By steering clear of these products, we can proactively decrease the chance of encountering legal difficulties. Or else it can lead to account suspension or even legal action.
Beginner’s Tip: Go through eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) guide to be aware of copyrighted and trademarked products. Also, when using AutoDS, the software will warn us when we’re importing a product we cannot resell.
After finding best-selling products, we need to select a trustworthy eBay dropshipping supplier to source the products. A reliable supplier is paramount to the success of our eBay business. So, to ensure our dropshipping suppliers are reliable, we need to ensure they have some key features:
It’s important to be able to offer faster shipping times to our customers. So, since our suppliers fulfill our orders, we need suppliers who can deliver products faster. Customers don’t want to wait 30 days for their order. Then, we need to find suppliers with good return and replacement policies to extend them to our customers.
Additionally, working with a supplier with a wide product range enables us to find and source more trendy products. It’s also key to look for competitive product pricing so that we can add a solid markup and still remain competitive. And, working with suppliers who offer quality products translates to fewer returns and happier customers.
Lastly, a supplier with good and reliable customer service enables us to improve our own customer service to our own customers. The better service we get, the better service we’ll offer to our customers.
In summary, choosing a supplier that meets all the necessary criteria is vital to ensure they are credible. To streamline our search for reliable suppliers, we can leverage AutoDS’support. The AutoDS warehouse and extensive private supplier network are essential for dropshipping businesses on eBay. With access to unique products, exclusive discounts, and branding solutions through the AutoDS warehouse and private suppliers, dropshippers gain a competitive advantage and can maximize their profits.
Undeniably, our profits rely on how well we can set the product price and profit margin. Overall, we have five parameters to consider to calculate our profits correctly:
Since there are varying fees, it is challenging to determine how much we’re profiting. However, the AutoDS eBay Fees Calculator makes it easy to calculate our eBay dropshipping profit margins.
The calculator considers all relevant fees and calculates them automatically to give us a clear picture of our profits. This eliminates the need to manually calculate these fees, saving us time and effort.
There are two ways to import products into our online store – manually and automatically. By manually importing our products, we have to individually copy/paste the product’s information from the supplier’s website. Then, we have to transfer the details one by one to our selling channel, which takes up a lot of our time.
In contrast, with automation tools like the AutoDS product importer, we can easily import products from many suppliers with just a click of a button. It allows us to import single items in bulk or even schedule a product import for a future date.
We can source item IDs or URLs and import them one by one. Or, grab full product pages in bulk using the AutoDS Helper item grabber extension. To elaborate, this extracts products’ IDs for us and helps import tens to thousands of products at once. As such, this not only saves us time and effort but also helps us build a more extensive product catalog.
To demonstrate, first, we need to click the “Add Products” button on the AutoDS platform in the upper left corner. The drop-down menu will offer single imports, bulk imports, or the option of using the AutoDS Finder.
Then, we just need to add our product URL and save it as a draft or directly import it to our store. We also have the option to make edits to the listing with the ‘Edit Now’ option.
If we choose to edit our product listings before publishing them to our store, it will take us to the editing page. Here we can edit the product title, shipping methods, tags.
Additionally, we also have the option to edit the description, variants, images, and item specifications. This gives us the chance to optimize our listing and increase the chance of making more sales.
All in all, AutoDS makes the product import process much faster and easier.
To ensure customer satisfaction, we must fulfill orders immediately. However, when we receive more orders daily, fulfilling them manually is a hassle. It also opens the door for mistakes.
With manual fulfillment, we have to manually fill in every detail of our customers’ shipping information. Basically, we go on our supplier’s website and fill in our customers’ addresses, shipping information, and product specifications one by one.
On the other hand, if we automate our order fulfillment with the AutoDS Automatic Orders tool, the system will automatically process our orders as soon as they come in. It fulfills the order from our supplier directly to our buyer. Now, as soon as tracking information is available from our supplier, AutoDS will grab it and update it automatically on our customers’ orders. Furthermore, the order status and the supplier’s order number will be updated automatically.
Alternatively, when using Fulfilled By AutoDS, we need to load a balance to fulfill our orders. This tool uses an AutoDS buyer account with our suppliers rather than our personal one. So, there is no more worrying about getting any account locked. Plus, AutoDS will process our orders as soon as they come in and update the order status and tracking information as soon as they’re available.
Ultimately, automating our order fulfillment will save us a lot of headaches and will expedite the fulfillment process.
Due to multiple advantages and low entrance criteria, eBay attracts many sellers looking to start their online business. Because of this, the competition there is fierce, and it is difficult to stand out. Running a successful eBay store requires competitive pricing, quality products, and fast and cheap shipping. Where do you get all of those? The answer is AutoDS’ Product Sourcing Quotes service.
This innovative service from AutoDS transforms fulfillment and addresses common pain points dropshippers face when dealing with Chinese suppliers. It can provide eBay sellers with faster shipping options, possibly cheaper products, and ensure product quality. Here is why you should use this feature for dropshipping:
Here is how it works:
1. When you receive an order for a product sourced from a Chinese supplier or an unmonitored source, you can request a quote from AutoDS.
2. Our team swiftly processes your request, typically within 48 hours.
3. After processing, you’ll receive a range of options to choose from, including product variations, shipping methods, and associated costs.
4. Once you decide to source a product, its status changes to “linked.” You can connect only your product to the chosen AutoDS-sourced item (for future orders) or link existing pending orders.
You get quality products with fast shipping and lower prices than other eBay sellers. Therefore, you can stand out from the crowd and thrive on the competitive eBay marketplace.
When running our own eBay dropshipping business, we must consider marketing. That said, good marketing translates into interest that turns into sales. Getting the right message in front of our target audience at the perfect time is key. Plus, we need to navigate through the intense competition and do our best to stand out.
To our advantage, eBay has a lot of organic traffic. As such, we can take advantage of eBay’s huge audience to promote our store. In addition, we can explore either Promoted Listings Standard or Promoted Listings Advanced.
To elaborate, the Promoted Listings Standard is less target-oriented. However, placing ads across the eBay platform can increase our store’s visibility. But we need to have enough account activities to use this. Alternately, with Promoted Listings Advanced, we can compete for higher ranks on eBay search results. Interestingly, this is the eBay version of PPC marketing.
Now, a free way to promote our products is through strategies like coupons and sales events. These attract customers because people always want to pay less for the products they’re looking for. We can also provide volume pricing and cut prices for orders of larger volumes.
As with any eCommerce business, there are cases and returns we have to deal with. Importantly, we should offer fair return policies to allow for a better customer experience and to stand out from the competition.
To efficiently deal with cases and returns, we need to check our messages and cases frequently to respond promptly. Additionally, we need to be helpful, informed, and respectful so the buyer has no reason to ask eBay to step in. And lastly, we need to ensure that we upload a return label for eligible cases to streamline the process.
A good customer experience in these sorts of situations can have a very positive impact on our customers. That way, we can improve their shopping experience and turn them into returning customers.
First and foremost, we need to understand what a flagged eBay account is. It means that eBay listings of flagged dropshipping stores will be displayed lower in the search results of eBay, and they will have fewer sales.
Now, it’s essential to understand that our eBay account can’t be unflagged. But, we can learn how to work with a flagged account and still make our dropshipping business profitable. The way to deal with a flagged account and still see lots of sales is by listing many products.
When our account gets flagged, we’ll notice a small decrease in traffic coming to our store. However, when we list more products, it doesn’t really matter since we increase our overall store traffic, which means more sales. This strategy is the big numbers rule where we upload products in bulk in our eBay dropshipping stores and start optimizing from there.
Alternatively, to avoid being flagged, we need to offer our customers an awesome shopping experience. To do this, we need:
High eBay seller levels enable us to get more traction in a competitive marketplace like eBay. It lists our products higher up in the search results so that we have a better chance of making lots of sales. So, it’s crucial for us to reach and maintain a high eBay seller level.
First, we need to keep our transaction defects super low. A good rule of thumb is to keep the transaction defect section between 0-1%. Then, we need to ensure that our late shipment percentage is also low. We need to try to keep it below 5%, so it’s important to work with reliable suppliers with fast shipping.
Furthermore, it’s best if we manage and close all cases and provide resolutions to our customers. That way, there will be no need to have eBay agents step in and resolve it for us. A good place to be is to keep the percentage of cases closed without seller resolution below 2%. And, to achieve and match our high eBay seller status, we should keep our return rates below 8%. That’s why it’s important to offer good quality products.
And lastly, we should regularly upload and validate our order tracking info. In fact, we need to keep our percentage of orders with tracking info uploaded and validated on time above 70%.
Undoubtedly, providing our customers with exceptional customer service is vital for our success. This is because it helps us differentiate ourselves from the competition and attain customer loyalty. So, customers will be encouraged to return if they have a pleasant experience when purchasing from our store.
To demonstrate, a general way to offer customer service is by providing frequently asked questions. Thus, we can try to help our customers without them even reaching out. Moreover, a more direct approach is through email/messages. To explain, once a customer sends us their query, we can resolve it by sending them an email or message with the answer or solution.
The best way to stay on top of our customer support on eBay is through the AutoDS eBay Customer Support Management System. The system is synchronized with our eBay messages system and manages all messages under one screen on AutoDS. Note that we have the option to reply to customers and cases and create chat snippets.
As such, these tactics allow us to differentiate ourselves from the competition. On top of that, they ensure we offer an enjoyable experience for our customers.
One of the best aspects of dropshipping is that we can automate our tasks! Dropshipping automation allows us to automate the entire dropshipping process. As a result, we save a bunch of time and effort while reducing errors in any of the steps. Therefore, by automating our dropshipping processes, we can optimize our business and boost profits.
With this in mind, the best all-in-one automation tool to use is AutoDS. AutoDS has a myriad of tools that allow us to scale and grow our dropshipping business:
With the software working for us, we can focus on improving our product catalog, testing new products, and seeing what works for us. That way, we’re focusing our efforts on scaling our business instead of on running our business.
When embarking on a dropshipping venture, we must sell products from the most profitable niches with the highest demand. Thus, to assist us in identifying the best niches for eBay dropshipping, here are some of the top-performing categories that are worth exploring:
Each of these niches contains a vast array of products we can dropship. So, choose products that align with your interests, have strong market demand, healthy competition, and have high profitability.
Then, with the AutoDS product research spreadsheet, we can narrow down our product selection. By answering a series of questions, the spreadsheet helps us pinpoint winning products, helping us generate high profits.
Dropshipping on eBay starts with setting up your seller account. The steps mentioned above might seem intimidating, but launching an eBay dropshipping business is easier than you think. Plus, AutoDS offers plenty of resources and a free eBay dropshipping course to guide you through.
The short answer is yes! Dropshipping will still profit many online business owners in 2024. But remember that we must continually evolve to keep up as the market becomes increasingly popular. It helps to have a dropshipping automation tool to manage our online dropshipping business better.
No. You do not need a seller license to dropship on eBay. However, abiding by the website’s policies is a must to avoid getting penalties. Remember that business license regulations can vary depending on where you are. It’s best to look into your local area business laws just to be extra sure.
To wrap up the guide on eBay dropshipping, it’s clear that this business model offers significant potential for growth and profitability, especially with the right strategies. By focusing on sourcing high-demand products, ensuring excellent customer service, and staying compliant with eBay’s policies, dropshippers can build a sustainable and successful business. Like any venture, persistence and adaptability are key to thriving in the evolving landscape of eCommerce.
Success in dropshipping on eBay requires careful research and strategic planning, but with dropshipping automation and ongoing efforts to maintain a competitive edge, we’ll surely succeed.
In order to ensure success when dropshipping on eBay, we should take a look into the following articles:
Get the latest posts in your email.
