A drop shipper is a supplier that gives many people – no matter how small or individual the business – a chance to get involved with online selling. It doesn't matter if you prefer selling through your own eCommerce website or an online auction, you can use the drop shipping method to your advantage.

This model for supply chain management begins with the seller discovering the supplier who is offering to drop ship the products they are interesting in working with. This relationship between drop shipper and seller cannot be underestimated or forgotten. As you grow your online business you'll need to know that you supplier is reliable and can supply the demand you will create.

That is the next step – creating demand. The seller is in charge of all the promotional aspects of the business. This includes the listing of the item on the site or online auction, and all the activities around it to draw now customers to the product.

For example, if you are developing your own eCommerce website, you'll have to do something to bring in a lot of traffic. This could include pay per click or banner advertising, but more likely it should also include search engine optimization. This is why a drop shipper likes this model as well. SEO can take a lot of time to come to fruition, and it is time that many manufacturers and suppliers simply don't have. But when the seller takes the time to do the promotion and to work their way up the search engine rankings, they don't have to worry about it anymore.

The good news for the seller is that this is all they have to do. Simply list the item and collect the money once the purchase is made. Then, when they have received the money, the seller merely transfers the order and the product cost to the supplier. The drop shipper, then, sends the product or products directly to the customer.

What this means to the average seller is that they won't have to come up with a huge capitol investment just to get their initial inventory. There is, after all, no inventory for a seller to buy at all. There is no stocking or storing of inventory, no costs for warehouses or store rooms, and no risk of getting stuck with a ton of outdated or unpopular merchandise when the market shifts.

A drop shipper gives a seller the opportunity to create this positive cash flow cycle. A more traditional retail model involves the seller paying out a lot of money to the suppliers before they sell a single product. A positive cycle means just the opposite. The seller the money first and then orders the product from the supplier. In this manner the seller never has to worry about losing lots of money on items that end up not selling.

The online auction environment is another great area in which drop shippers can help the small business person. When working on a site such as eBay or some other auction you can't use the same optimization techniques that you would in the greater Internet world. There is something you can do, however.

It's about reputation. There are many, many sellers competing for customers on an online auction. The only real way to set yourself apart from the others is to build your reputation as a trustworthy seller.

There are a number of things you can do to develop this reputation: quick responses and quality customer support are certainly part of it. Prompt and efficient deliver is also crucial, and this can only be accomplished with a reliable drop shipper. You won't have to worry about troublesome messages like “on back order” or “temporarily out of stock”. You can simply keep selling and let the drop shipper help you look like a professional.

When you include a drop shipper in your business model you can start to make money online and develop your business exactly how you want, and then watch it grow and become a real success.