I think that the definition of the term 'drop shipping' is being confused here.
If you have the item in stock or otherwise in your presence then you would be delivering that item to your customers NOT drop shipping.
If you do not have the item in stock or in your presence but you sell it first and then have your supplier deliver that item direct to your customer then that is what is called drop shipping.
You could theoretically drop ship any quantity of product but considering that most retail customers only buy one or a handful of the same item at any one time, drop shipping often involves the delivery of one piece or so per item.
Drop shipping is a good method of sale and delivery under the right circumstances. In my opinion the right circumstances would be a supplier that acts as a wholesaler or distributor holding stock in hand in your own country.
But if anyone is hoping to be able to buy direct from the manufacturer in Asia at manufacturers prices and have that supplier deliver per piece products to their customers on their behalf then I think you will find that very few if any manufacturers of the product would be interested.
The above aticle is merley exploring the idea for retailers with brick and mortar locations to supplement their income through dropshipping; not their inventory in the store; additional non warehoused items supplied thourouhg his or her current suppliers and available only online. Through the web and dropshipping the retailer is able to carry an unlimited amount of products without warehousing any of the inventory; this gives them an unlimited, untapped revenue stream which marketed correctly can result in revenues exceding the phisical retail location.
Giving these local small business retailers an additional tool like dropshipping to add additional revenue is key to competing with the large corporations trying to force them out of business. Utilizing your relationships with your current vendors who know you, your business, and your reputation best gives you an opportunity to retail additional products which may not make scence in the local retail store, however online sales are through the roof.
Quoting from [Egernia]:
I think that the definition of the term 'drop shipping' is being confused here.
If you have the item in stock or otherwise in your presence then you would be delivering that item to your customers NOT drop shipping.
If you do not have the item in stock or in your presence but you sell it first and then have your supplier deliver that item direct to your customer then that is what is called drop shipping.
You could theoretically drop ship any quantity of product but considering that most retail customers only buy one or a handful of the same item at any one time, drop shipping often involves the delivery of one piece or so per item.
Drop shipping is a good method of sale and delivery under the right circumstances. In my opinion the right circumstances would be a supplier that acts as a wholesaler or distributor holding stock in hand in your own country.
But if anyone is hoping to be able to buy direct from the manufacturer in Asia at manufacturers prices and have that supplier deliver per piece products to their customers on their behalf then I think you will find that very few if any manufacturers of the product would be interested.