There are many out there wondering if eBay is still a great place to dropship and sell, so here comes a complete article about dropshipping on eBay and why opening such an online store can still be very profitable.
Why do we believe eBay is still popular? Well, according to the latest data, eBay is still the most popular marketplace for online sellers in the USA. At the moment it has 138 million active buyers and is the second most visited online marketplace in 2022, surpassed only by Amazon.
So, this means dropshipping on eBay is a great idea today too as it allows you, the retailer, to access a huge customer base to sell your products to.
Read on if you want to know all about eBay dropshipping, from the reasons to start dropshipping there to what are the steps to follow to start an online dropshipping store on eBay.
Table of Contents
What is eBay dropshipping?
Let’s start by explaining how dropshipping on eBay works. So, just like you would do on any other marketplace, you first need to choose the products you want to sell, which you then add to your eBay store by marking up their price so that you can sell them to the eBay customer base.
As it happens with Amazon, dropshipping is a great way to start an eBay online store for many obvious reasons, like the fact you don’t need to physically own the items you’re selling, or even to store inventory in your own warehouse.
As you may know already when dropshipping all that has to do with your order delivery and packing is done by your dropshipping supplier, from picking the item, packing, and shipping it to your eBay customer.
Why setup an eBay store?
As said, eBay was found to be the most popular online marketplace among sellers, while the ecommerce giant Amazon came in 7th place. These results were based on these key areas: profitability, customer service, communication, and ease of use. Also, the sellers were asked if they would recommend the online marketplace as a selling venue.
So, both for beginners and professionals, eBay is one of the best dropshipping marketplaces to own a store on. This gigantic online marketplace is full of sellers who hold physical stock and dropshippers like you.
Let’s see now what are some of the most common benefits of dropshipping on eBay.
The benefits of dropshipping on eBay
These are some of the reasons why eBay is a popular choice for dropshippers worldwide.
Free traffic
If you have a store on eBay then you will get a ton of free organic traffic as you won’t need to invest any money on Ads on Facebook or Google to get to those customers.
Presence in a marketplace where $22 billion is sold every quarter means you have a big chance to make some sales too. More than that, if you dropship in the USA, there are millions of Americans active on eBay every year, spending billions of dollars. So, even a tiny fraction of those sales can make a difference to your ecommerce business.
Minimal upfront costs to start dropshipping
Probably one of the greatest benefits when dropshipping on eBay is the fact that you don’t need a huge investment. You don’t need to pay for an eBay account, you only need to pay eBay a fee when you actually sell something, as you get 200 or 250 free listings to start.
But, if you want an eBay store, you will need to pay for a subscription starting from $21,95/month. And you will also need to pay for dropshipping apps, like AppScenic, plus other start-up costs, but compared to selling on Amazon or starting a Shopify store, eBay is much cheaper in terms of initial costs.
Automate your store
eBay allows dropshippers to connect their store with different apps and tools that will help them automate many things in their stores. Automation will speed up a lot of things for your business, and this means you can do a lot in less time and without spending too many resources. In the long run, this will save you lots of money.
AppScenic is one of the best dropshipping automation apps out there that can automate your entire dropshipping store, from order processing to your inventory and payments.
You can sell almost anything
Yes, that’s true, there are lots of customers that will buy almost anything from many different categories on eBay. You can sell items for the home, pets, fitness, outdoor and camping, gadgets, etc.
There are, of course, some products that you can’t sell on eBay without proper authorization from the manufacturer, they are called VeRO products.
The downsides of dropshipping on eBay
Well, as expected, eBay dropshipping does have its downsides, that’s why the type of products you want to sell and the app you source them from, can really play a huge role in your eBay dropshipping success.
High competition
The downside of being so easy to build a store on eBay is the huge competition you will need to face. The fact is that there are over 1.3 billion items listed on eBay, which means there are probably many sellers with the same items as you have.
And if you’re sourcing your product from the same dropship suppliers or platform, then there are other dropshippers selling the exact same items on eBay already.
Due to all these, you will need to find new ways to attract customers to your store, either by keeping your prices very low, which means low profitability, or either by offering added value through free shipping or customer services.
So, it’s possible to get ahead of your competition, but unfortunately, there are many sellers who will use tricks like buying your products and then placing bad reviews or making returns. These can really damage your listing and make you harder to find.
Low brand loyalty
As you may imagine, eBay customers are eBay’s more than yours which means it’s hard to build brand loyalty with an eBay store (the same applies to Amazon).
Loyal customers come back and this strategy of building brand loyalty is much more profitable than always fighting to get new customers. On eBay, this is quite hard to do as these customers will always associate your products with eBay and not with you.
So, it kind of works like this, when they have a good experience you get no credit, but when they have a bad one, you will have all the responsibility. That doesn’t sound too good, right?
Also, according to this research, eBay is less trusted by customers, so keep that in mind if you want to start an eBay store.
10% goes to eBay
Yes, unfortunately, up to 10% of any sale goes to eBay. And after you pay this fee plus other costs for your dropshipping platform, you can find yourself with not too much left in terms of profit.
And it all becomes even more complicated when you have to keep your prices low due to high competition.
How to start dropshipping with an eBay store
As with any other dropshipping business, the first steps you need to take are researching, choosing your niche, a name for your store and then incorporating your business. But we won’t get into these here as we have specific articles you can check for each of these steps.
You can start by reading these +40 popular questions about dropshipping, and then research all about this business model by checking the next blogs and channels:
- AppScenic Blog
- AppScenic YouTube Channel
- Do Dropshipping Blog
- Shopify Blog
- Torchbankz Blog
- Dropshiplifestyle Blog
Now, if you need help choosing the right niche, here’s how to find the right dropshipping niche for you. We recommend picking one of these top niches to dropship, one that’s evergreen and predicted to trend in the coming years too.
Once you know what niche you want to go for, you can pick a name for your online store. We recommend doing a Google search for a certain product store or niche for some inspiration. Or you can brainstorm store names with your business partners or your family and friends.
Keep in mind that another must-step for every dropshipper and business owner is to choose a legal structure for your business. You should start by researching what are the rules of the country you’re dropshipping in and find out the ecommerce laws that apply to your specific location.
Read this article if you want to setup a sole proprietorship or LLC in the USA. If you’re in the UK or want to dropship products there, then read this article.
Create an eBay seller account and start building your store
So, after you do all these steps we just talked about, you can start your eBay journey by creating a seller account. Yes, you will need a seller account to start your own eBay store and sell on their marketplace.
You will need to register here and then enter a few things about your dropshipping business. Then you have to choose an eBay store option and add your business bank account to get paid for sales you make.
After this, you can add your chosen name to your eBay store and start building your store.
Check here for the steps to follow to start an eBay store
Choose your dropshipping suppliers and apps
The moment you know what you are going to sell, you also need to find the suppliers that have those products. And just in case you didn’t know this, well, the suppliers you choose are probably one of the most important steps for your dropshipping business on eBay or any other platform you choose to sell on.
Besides the fact that your suppliers should have high-quality products at affordable prices, they also need to be as close to your customers as possible. That’s the only way they can deliver your items as fast as possible and this can be a great selling point for your store – shipping ultra-fast.
The fastest and more efficient way you can find all these at a supplier is by finding a dropshipping app you can connect to your eBay store. These types of apps give you access to hundreds if not thousands of suppliers from all over the world.
Start by doing a Google search and check what other sellers are recommending in terms of dropshipping apps for eBay and make sure you read reviews, and check their delivery times and fees.
Once you found your niche and started setting up, you will also need to find a dropshipping app that can give you access to the products you need.
One of the most advanced dropshipping apps that can integrate with your eBay store is AppScenic. Our app gives you access to over 1,5 million dropshipping products, all coming from some of the fastest and most reliable suppliers in the USA, EU, CAN, UK, AUS and so many other countries.
As we know how important it is that you take your time and test our platform, you can upgrade to any of our paid plans and start publishing your products and also benefit from our awesome automation features. AppScenic is a full automation platform too that will automate the entire dropshipping process, such as product sourcing, product import, 24/7 stock & price sync, auto-ordering, automatic payments, auto-import tracking numbers, and many other powerful features.
Here’s more on how to start dropshipping with AppScenic
Start advertising your eBay store products
At the end of all these steps, you will need to invest some time and money in advertising so that you can bring some traffic to your store.
Don’t forget to optimize your online store for Google after you do some keyword research and better understand what your audience is searching for. Once you know more about your audience and identify a few keywords, you can build your product pages around those keywords. If you want your store to rank better on Google, you could also start a blog and write a few articles per month. This will help potential customers find your store faster when they search for specific information on Google.
Then once you are done with this, these are the main channels you should start promoting your store:
- Facebook and Instagram – Build up pages on Facebook and Instagram and start interacting with your audience there. To gain more followers and customers, you need to put some budget into Facebook/Instagram Ads.
- Google Shopping – We also recommend using Google Shopping Ads, so that you can reach more potential customers.
- Pinterest – We recommend starting a Pinterest Account too, as there are 40% of users on Pinterest that earn more than $100K per year. Here’s a great guide on how to use Pinterest for business.
How much money do you need to start an eBay dropshipping store?
That’s hard to say, but here’s an example of how much it can cost to start a dropshipping business in the USA on eBay:
- Domain: $14 per year
- eBay store subscription: $21.95 per month (Basic Store)
- Dropshipping platform (such as AppScenic): $24 per month
- Sampling products: $200
- Marketing (such as advertising on Google and Facebook): $1,000 per month
- LLC company to incorporate: $600 one-time fee
- Other apps: $29 per month
All these can get to a one-time cost of approx. $1800. Now, the cost per month will be a bit lower, let’s say around $1000 if you keep the same budget for advertising.
A few important tips for dropshipping on eBay
Here are a few things that can help you when dropshipping on eBay:
- Use a dropshipping app that can automate the whole process. For example, AppScenic can sync all your product and order information, from stocks to prices, so that you don’t have to manually keep track of these.
- Offer great customer support. As you can imagine, your customers won’t know or care that you’re dropshipping and your products are shipped by somebody else. So, if a supplier fails to deliver on time or ships the wrong products, you are who your customers turn to. Your customer support should be as transparent as possible, taking responsibility and finding solutions. This way your customers can feel you have their back.
- Go for eBay-promoted listings too. If you’re just starting to build up your customer base, another way to gain new customers is to opt for eBay-promoted listings.
- Use offers from time to time. As you are dropshipping so you won’t pay for the delivery costs, you can also choose to offer free shipping. Or you can use multi-buy offers, for example, buy one product for $5 or three for $12.
Start your eBay dropshipping business now
If you think dropshipping is for you, setup your online store on eBay and connect it to AppScenic to start importing and publishing high-quality products from top suppliers.
