Drop shipping is a common phenomenon in online business. But its can be risky at times.  A trustworthy drop shipper is a boon for your eBay business but the problem that lies is that the market if filled with fraud drop shippers. Here are some reasons why drop shipping should be avoided.

Stock availability

Lack of stocks is the biggest reason why drop shipping should be avoided. The interesting part is that it happens most of the time and no body can be blamed for it. Logistics, lack of communication and a host of other reasons can play spoilsport. The result can be a nightmarish experience for your eBay business. Your reputation is affected if you are not able to honour your commitment when your drop shipper does not have the stocks. This may not be that serious for smaller volume of sales, but for larger orders, it can spell disaster to your credibility as a seller.

Lack of refund policies

Drop shippers, mostly, do not have exclusive returns policies. Therefore, if he delivers a faulty item, chances are that you will have to end up paying the compensation for the damages. As you are the direct force behind the sale, it is your reputation which is at stake. Again, for small sales, the loss may not be much, but bulk orders can greatly hamper your profit margins. 

Supervision and administration

Drop shippers need constant attention and strict supervision. You have to ensure everything, from placing the order, to make sure the customers receive it on time without any problem. Although it sounds interesting that you do not have to store anything physically, here, the grass on the other side is not as green as it seems.

Dealing with many drop shippers

A genuine drop shipper will never be able to provide all the goods to you. Thus, if your eBay store has a vast array of products up on sale, do not expect to be doing business with only one drop shipper. You will have to handle many drop shippers at the same time. This automatically ups the amount of supervisory work, administration and problems you will encounter with these drop shippers.

Fraud drop shippers and involvement of brokers and middlemen.

You may have received many emails from so-called drop shippers who say they can deliver any kind of item to you. However, the truth is that these are just brokers or middlemen and not the real drop shippers. The actual wholesalers or drop shippers will only specialize in a particular domain and supply certain specific items. They will never be supplying any and all kinds of items. Therefore, you have to be very cautious while dealing with such people.

EBay looks down upon it

EBay does not recognize drop shipping. They only support World Wide Brands as an authentic drop shipping company. You may still take the risk but if any problem occurs at a later date, you will not have the support of eBay because they do not allow drop shipping. You have to be in possession of the stocks if you wish to sell on eBay ideally. 

Reputation at stake

Last but not the least; when you sell on eBay, it is your reputation at stake, not the drop shippers’. As long as they are getting their commissions from you, they are not bothered if your credibility on eBay is affected because of their fault. Thus, if items are not in stock in their inventory or if they have dispatched defective or damaged items, it is not their responsibility. Yet, as an eBay seller, it can badly damage your reputation. If a customer sends a bad review for you, it can cost you all future sales on eBay. Therefore you cannot afford to rely on a drop shipper.