Income Idea #2: Set Up An Online Store

Overview:

If selling physical goods online is more appealing to you, then understanding how Drop Shipping works could be really beneficial.  This is essentially the process of finding wholesalers who will let you sell their products online, and who will handle all the inventory and order fulfillment on your behalf so you don’t have to.

How Drop Shipping Works:

Drop Shipping is very easy to understand conceptually, and here is an overview of the steps involved:

1. Set up an Internet Store, with a shopping cart and the ability to accept credit cards. 
   (Yahoo Merchant Solutions offers turnkey solutions here.)
2. Find a distributor who is willing to DROP SHIP products you want to sell.
   (You can either find these distributors individually, or go to a recognized network that vets distributors for quality and integrity.  The best place on the Internet for this is Worldwide Brands, as we’ll explain below.)
3. Establish an account as a retailer with one of these Drop Ship Suppliers, an receive images and descriptions of the products you want to sell and post them on your Internet Store.  (In a way, this is similar to Affiliate Marketing.)
4. As customers surf to your site and purchase items with their credit cards (let’s say for $80), your store charges $80 plus your shipping fee, and you turn around and immediately email that order to your Drop Shipper, along with the customer’s name and address.
5. The Drop Shipper sends the product directly to your customer, with YOUR Store’s name on the package, keeping only their wholesale price (let’s say $40), plus shipping, and you keep the other $40 in profit for yourself.

Income Potential:

Very high.  Many people are doing this as a full time job, and it is one of the easiest ways to set up a business online.

How You Get Started:

Set Up An Internet Store

Everything you need to start an online storefront in one place including domains, hosting, site layout, and the ability to process credit card payments can be found at Yahoo Merchant Solutions.  By far the easiest we’ve seen to get up and running.  Additionally, many eBay affiliates put up their own storefronts here as well.

Find Drop Ship Suppliers

The undisputed leader in this category is Worldwide Brands, which offers a solution called OneSource, that has thousands of Drop Shippers who have already agreed to do business with you.  Sign up for their service, follow the instructions, and you’ll be on your way.

Resources

• Worldwide Brands
• Yahoo Merchant Solutions
• OneSource