We entered another decade of the 21st century. 2020 was tough both personal and business-wise. In most cases, global pandemic stopped projects that could change millions of people's lives. Dropshippers were one of those affected most by the pandemic and economic recession. 2021 is when every dropshipper around the globe has to start practices that could be bulletproof for the years ahead. Yet, there could be less bulletproof practices than before, but we will try our best to bring the definitive guide to drop-shipping in 2021.

What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a model of e-commerce when store owners never keep in stock the products they sell. Maybe it's hard to understand? That's ok, and we were in your position a few years ago. We all start somewhere, so it could be the first learning steps in dropshipping today. So, let's take an example, and you'll understand the basics of this e-commerce model right away. 

Visit Amazon.com, and you'll see millions of products in every category. Check if those products are in stock, what is the price? Go and check the competition for a particular product. After a little research, you know the price, sellers, competition (whether it's big or not) and the location from where the product will be shipped to you. For instance, you are searching for a toy to give to your pet (dog or cat). Screaming chicken is a trendy toy for dogs. Let's take a look at that product on Amazon.com - in a second, and you'll see that there is a big competition for that product. Now, you've to check the prices. What is the lowest price you see from the first 20 sellers of Amazon? (see the image below - you'll see that the lowest price for toy screaming chicken is $8.99 - Affordable price indeed!). 

Now you may say, 'hey old sport', where is the catch? What's the point of research screaming chicken toys? There is a catch, and please continue small research with me. It's time to switch to Aliexpress. It's one of the biggest eCommerce platforms in China. Let's do research on this site and search for the same product like Amazon. 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..

Drum roll, please…

Ta-da / welcome to the magic of the e-commerce world.

Now you see that some suppliers from different countries have low prices on our chosen product. (please, check the image below - those are prices mentioned on Aliexpress) There could be thousands of reasons why Chinese factories and entities sell this product for such a low price. Now, when you register a store on Amazon and list a 'screaming chicken', you can add a competitive price on it. You see that sellers on Amazon have listed $8.99 as the lowest price. Now you copy the image, product title and description from Aliexpress and list on your Amazon store. Customers on Amazon see your store and competitive price, so they think of trying your product, why not? They place an order, and you get paid for instance $8.99 for a screaming chicken toy. You go to Aliexpress and ship directly to American customers. You'll pay an Aliexpress seller $.99 and rest, $8 goes to your wallet. Isn't it beautiful? Yes, dropshippers know that feeling—that feeling when you get a big profit - oh, unforgettable. 

By this example, we hope you understand the concept of dropshipping. It's the magical world of e-commerce where you are just 'one product away from getting high-profit campaigns". Let's go straight to the platforms to start a dropshipping journey.

Amazon - The biggest e-commerce platform 

A few days ago, Elon Musk (founder of Tesla and SpaceX, former owner of PayPal) became the world's richest man. For two years prior, there was only one king - Jeff Bezos. Jeff is the main man behind Amazon's success. Almost 30 years ago, he founded Amazon, and the rest is history. Nowadays, Amazon is the biggest e-commerce platform, and it gave Jeff the chance Jeff to become the world's richest person in 2018. By that way, he was the first man in the world who reached the 100 billion dollar threshold. 

Amazon is a platform that no digital seller will ignore in 2021. Half of the USA market is covered by Amazon's dominance. Here are critical factors on selling Amazon

• 8 out of 10 online buyers check price and product on Amazon
• Amazon sells 12 million products alone - along with Amazon marketplace sellers, the platform sells more than 350 million products
• Ninety-five million people have AMZ Prime members in the USA alone!
   

Dropshipping could lead to crazy numbers in sales and net profit. Check the image below to see how one little product can change everything. This particular Amazon seller is shipping more than 170 000 pieces of his creation (batteries - one bundle for $27)

eBay - second runner up in the USA

It's the second-biggest e-commerce platform. You may associate eBay with the auctions and random old products sold on the market. It has changed the profile, and now you can see millions of products sold by the biggest brands on eBay. Pros could be a comfortable barrier for anyone to enter any eBay market. Con could be the % eBay takes from each sale you make on your store.

• eBay has more than 180 million users (2020 update)
• 1.3 billion listings are posted on eBay (a record)
• Anyone can sell on eBay - any individual without forming a company
   

eBay sellers are making a perfect living from random products, and it's visible from the simple research. For instance, we took just one store on eBay and here are statistics. (Check the image below, and you'll see that with only 470+ active listings, sellers on eBay made more than $28000 in the last 30 days.)