Are you an entrepreneur looking for a way to get started in business? Have you considered starting a dropshipping business with books? Before you do, there are some things that you need to know. This blog post will explore what it means when someone mentions ‘dropshipping books’ and will provide information on how to start a successful dropshipping book business from home.
If you’re interested in starting a dropshipping business selling books, there are many things to consider. You need to figure out how the whole thing works, what type of book will sell well, and how much it should cost.
This is not an easy process for most people because they don’t have any experience with eCommerce or online marketing. However, now is the time to be involved with book dropshipping because the availability of tools and software makes it so much easier. There are all sorts of software that you can install on your dropshipping website.
Why Dropship Books Online?
Many people have shifted towards the digital age, but there are still those that prefer to read physical books. The book niche ranges from non-fiction, cookbooks, religious books, health books, coloring books, and more. You can even expand into other relevant product categories such as school supplies (if you sell notebooks) and art supplies (if you sell coloring books). The possibilities are endless for your own dropshipping business.
The book industry has seen a rise in sales since 2018, with over 696 million books sold. Surprisingly, physical books have been growing in popularity- making them more popular than ever before!
Pros and Cons of The Dropshipping Model
Is dropshipping worth it? Let’s explore some of the advantages and disadvantages to help you make the best decision for your online business.
What are the pros of dropshipping?
Low investment
A basic dropshipping business is an attractive option for people who don’t want to invest their own money or take on debt in order to start a business, and instead prefer to use other people’s funds (or lack thereof) as capital.
No inventory management
Dropshipping has no minimum order size, and the retailer doesn’t have to worry about inventory storage or shipping.
Competitive Advantage
This business model has an inherent competitive advantage because it means you can undercut your rivals on price in order to win sales away from them.
No need for a retail shop or storage facility
Becoming an online book retailer is a lot more straightforward than creating businesses that require physical space, such as retail shops or restaurants. Furthermore, with dropshipping, you don’t have to worry about fighting for shelf space with other retailers since your goods are delivered directly from suppliers straight into customers ‘ hands.
Scalability
With dropshipping, you are not responsible for fulfilling the orders. This means that if your business unexpectedly doubles in sales volume, there will be no increase to your workload!
What are the cons of dropshipping?
Dropshipping requires a lot more time upfront in the research and planning stages because you have to find your suppliers, negotiate deals with them, and figure out how to create demand for their products before any orders are made.
You’ll also need to spend money on marketing since there won’t be an existing customer base to automatically buy your goods.
Quality control
As a dropshipper, you won’t have physical control over the quality of products – which could lead to unhappy customers or negative reviews.
Complications in shipping
Shipping from multiple suppliers can be complicated and costly, so avoid doing it if you want to keep your customers happy.
Reliance on suppliers
One of the most difficult aspects of running an online book business is inventory control. You may have multiple suppliers, who fulfill orders for other businesses; consequently, your inventory changes on a daily basis. There are systems available to help you track this changing inventory with these different suppliers–but sometimes they fail and there’s no one left to blame but yourself!
How to Get Started with Your Own Book-Dropship Business
Research the book market by researching what books are popular, how much they cost on average, and where you could source them from. Impactful tools for this research include Amazon’s bestseller list or Bookscan data to see which authors sell well in your target country. You can also search keywords that might be relevant to your niche like “best science fiction books” on Amazon to see what comes up.
- Find a supplier. You will need an account with suppliers for anything that you want to dropship, including the shipping service and any other supplies like packing materials or labels.
- Design your online store to be attractive and easy to use so customers can find what they’re looking for. You’ll need professional quality images of the books and a shopfront where your customers can make their purchases.
- The key to success is being able to offer a range of products. For example, if you’re dropshipping books you should also be selling eBooks or other items related to your niche.
- If you want to sell books and other items, it can be hard if your supplier doesn’t offer dropshipping. In this case, you may need to create an Amazon seller account or a different account for a marketplace like eBay.
- If you want to dropship other products, think about how much time and effort is involved in sourcing them – the more niche or unusual they are, the harder it will be.
- Researching suppliers can take up quite a lot of your time. You’ll need to contact multiple companies before finding one that’s right for you.
- If you’re speaking to suppliers, try to get a sense of how well they handle returns and if there are any other hidden costs associated with the product. You may need to factor these into your pricing strategy.
- If you research and plan well then there are many advantages – you can start off with low investment, you can grow rapidly when demand for your products is high, and the risk of failure is lower.
Beginner Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
Research, research, and more in-depth research. You need to know exactly what is out there in order for you to come up with a winning business plan. Wear your marketer’s hat when it comes to researching the competition. Know who they are as well as how they operate before creating any of your own marketing materials or coming up with a pricing strategy.
Don’t try to be a jack of all trades. As tempting as it may seem, you will not have the time or resources for this and will end up doing a mediocre job at best. You need enough experience in your market sector so that when someone talks with you about their product, they feel confident investing in you because of the experience you have.
Don’t underestimate how hard it will be to get started. Many people think that they can just jump right in and start making money. But here’s a little secret: if someone tells you there is an easy way to make money, then what they are really saying is “there’s no work involved”. Don’t be fooled.
Don’t be afraid to change direction if things aren’t going according to plan. You don’t have a crystal ball and will not know everything in advance – but this shouldn’t stop you from trying something new. If you are unsure of the best course of action, talk to someone who has experience in this type of business and can help or give you advice.
Be aware that an investment into a company will need time before it starts generating income. Don’t be put off by how long it takes for your marketing efforts to start paying off.
How To Find Reliable Suppliers and Manufacturers
There are many suppliers out there that can make it easy to start your own successful dropshipping business.
However, don’t choose just any book supplier off the street. Find reputable suppliers that have your best interests in mind. You are investing time and money into building this business so make sure you find someone who will continue to invest as well. This can be done by looking at the longevity of their company i.e. how long they have been in existence.
Look for suppliers who offer up an array of information to help you find the best product for your business.
How To Set Up a Highly Converting Book Sales Funnel
Your sales funnel is your lifeline and needs to be set up to convert at the highest possible rate. You need to make sure that you are making it as easy as possible for potential customers to buy your product – there should be no hurdles in their way.
You could offer a money-back guarantee, free shipping, discounts, and other incentives so people feel confident about buying. This will help increase sales by up to 25% – start with an attention-grabbing sentence. This is your hook, and it’s what will make readers want to read on.
Your funnel needs to be automated, this means when you receive an order, it’s on auto-pilot. You shouldn’t need to pack and ship, not even forward sales notifications to the shipper – because it’s all dropship.
Get the training you need to succeed with a Book Product Dropshipping Course! It teaches you everything you need to know to set up a Book Sales Funnel and to start your own successful book dropshipping business from scratch!
Tips for Selling Your Books Online
Create a Website
If you want to sell books, you must make it easy for readers to buy your books. We recommend having an e-commerce website, where readers can purchase your books with just a few clicks.
But not all of us have the time or know-how to build our own website, so you can outsource this task and hire a web designer to do it for you. This will make sure that your site is up and running in no time at all!
Paid Outreach To Promote Your Books
Social media is a great way to promote your books, but you need the right strategies. We recommend using Facebook Ads as they are more affordable than other forms of advertising. These ads can be targeted towards specific groups based on demographics, location, etc.
Create Marketing Materials
Now that you have a website to sell books from – it’s time to make sure people know about it! One of the best ways to do this is by creating marketing materials.
To do this, you will need a few key tools: You could use Canva, as they have many templates for you to use.
Create an eye-catching banner or advertisement for social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram
Include images of book covers – If you have images of the different types of books that you sell, then include them in your marketing materials. Make sure that the images are high quality and will make readers want to buy a book.
Build a Community
Social media is a great way to target specific people based on their interests and demographics. Facebook groups are a great example of this. There is also the option of starting up more than one group; if you want to target teens then create a separate group for them.
The more people that you can get into your group, the better – this will increase traffic and promote sales of any products that you have in your bookstore.
This is also the perfect online platform for building brand awareness which will help bring more traffic to your website.
Post in Forums
Many dropshipping businesses are set up on membership forums, where entrepreneurs can advertise their products for free in threads dedicated solely to product promotion. There’s a lot of people who will help you out with advice if you need it – but be careful! Many posts that seem like they’re giving you helpful advice are actually trying to sell you their own product.
Start Your Own Blog
Create a blog to attract new followers who are interested in what you sell. Writing on blogs is one of the most effective ways to create interest around a topic or product.
The best blogs are original, well-written & informative with images or video content that can be engaging for viewers. It’s important that you’re providing valuable resources so readers will keep coming back for more!
Organic Outreach
Part of building your brand includes building an “organic” social media presence that showcases your voice and lets your audience in on updates about your products. Be sure to engage with your followers by answering as many comments as possible.
Build an Email List
One of the steps to successfully market your online store is growing a targeted email list. If you establish yourself as a trusted provider of useful information, your email list contacts will actually read your emails. You can then use your email list contacts to market your current and future books and other relevant updates.
Strategies you can Leverage to Scale up your Dropshipping Business
Most dropshippers start out small, but after a certain point, you need to restructure your business to compete with bigger competitors on a global scale.
But what strategies actually work? What steps should you take to increase dropshipping revenue? Here’s what to do:
You have to move fast and effectively to boost profits. It’s hard work, but you can increase revenue by simplifying and streamlining your dropshipping business as you grow.
Automate and Outsource – Automation is great for manual tasks like repricing and fulfillment that take up way too much of your time. Instead of letting orders pile up, automated fulfillment prevents backlogs and customer service headaches. You can also save more time by outsourcing tasks to other humans. Whether it’s social media, copywriting, web design, or web development, other professionals can help you save time while doing the job right.
Invest in Customer Support – Customer experience matters—a lot. If you’re struggling to outpace your competitors, you can win shoppers over by offering stellar customer service.
Marketing – SEO campaigns and organic content: Content marketing is a must for dropshippers. In eCommerce, your customers are finding you through Google searches and social media—start creating content so these shoppers can find you. Blogs, YouTube videos, TikToks, Influencer marketing, and more can bring more shoppers to your book dropshipping store.
The Future of e-Commence and Dropshipping
Online dropshipping has revolutionized online commerce. And it continues to evolve as we speak. In fact, dropshipping has become so big that it can be aptly considered as an industry on its own. Online dropshipping registers billion of sales a year. This will only grow in the coming years as more and more people get involved in selling online. Almost every product today can be sold online using a dropshipping model. You just have to find and approach the right suppliers and manufacturers.
To Round-Up
The growth of the eCommerce industry means that it’s easier than ever for entrepreneurs to start their own e-commerce businesses. You can dropship books or any other profitable products. Do your research, evaluate your options, and then move forward with that information in spite of your fears and reservations. It’s what entrepreneurs do.
Should you have any questions about the blog post or dropshipping books in general, don’t be afraid to ask! Contact us today with your question and we’ll respond right away. We want to help make sure that you’re successful as a new entrepreneur!
With the five-day course, you can go from idea to finished business in just one week – even if you don’t have any experience with dropshipping or marketing books.
To learn more about the course visit:
Learn How To Start A Book Dropshipping Business In Just Five Days!
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Disclosure: There are some affiliate links and I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally use.
