dropshipping

November 5, 2006 9:47 AM

im looking into starting an adult drop ship site, does anyone know who the best drop shipping companies are, who has the best margins, selection? anything helps! thanks.
posted by butterball to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Are you talking about a fulfillment center?
posted by paulsc at 10:45 AM on November 5, 2006

Unfortunately these kinds of details are usually kept secret, and I doubt you'll get many answers. The only thing you can really do is research everything yourself, but this will take a lot of time and effort.
posted by jayden at 10:48 AM on November 5, 2006

yeah i am, but i would like to know if anyone has experience with any that are good or bad.
posted by butterball at 10:48 AM on November 5, 2006

Last I checked, drop shipping adults wasn't legal. But I do have....

Oh, wait. You mean DVDs? Toys? All of the above?
posted by trevyn at 10:58 AM on November 5, 2006

yes all of the above, although drop shipping adults might be kinda fun... black market adult dropshipping. right up my alley.
posted by butterball at 11:07 AM on November 5, 2006

This was last year, but I remember doing a lot of research in this area and being impressed by iFulfill. They may have some restrctino against adult products -- like web hosting, it may just turn out to be much more expensive to find fulfillment services for adult products. Also remember you need a very solid knowledge of the sex toy/etc. laws in each state.
posted by lorimer at 2:53 PM on November 5, 2006

If you'd like to go out and meet the people who provide these fulfillment services and ask them questions in person, I'd suggest going out to the Internext Expo this year. It's a place for adult webmasters in all aspects of the business to get together and network.

You'll also have access to the other webmasters using their services, and they're more than eager to tell you who has the best margins, etc. Get a drink with a guy, and he'll spill every bit of strategy he's learned over the years. Just strike up a conversation with any slimeball eyeing the same booths you're eyeing.

Oh, and they're ALL slimeballs. But some are pretty fun to party with.

I used to go every year, since my old job was in that industry. We didn't use fulfillment services, but there were always at least a few different companies with booths. You also get to see all over the other business opportunities in that realm, and see where the real money is being made.

The people running the booths are really informative, know their services really well, and will either be technical enough to give you all the information about integrating with their service, or be able to get you in touch with their best tech guys. The adult space has a really helpful small-business feel.

Oh, and if you can manage to get yourself into the right parties, you'll drink like a king at a zillion open bars all week.

The parties. Get into the parties.
posted by hutta at 9:50 PM on November 5, 2006