10 Products You Should Avoid Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a unique type of business where you do not need to have production facilities, purchase materials, and deliver the final product. Dropshipper only organizes the online store, chooses the product niche and suppliers, and takes orders. He distributes the orders among suppliers and communicates with customers about readiness. From one point, it is the best business model to try yourself without significant investments. You can sit at home with a stable Internet and a laptop and start making money. From another point, you fully depend on the profitability of your product and suppliers. The dropshipper takes the difference between the sales price and the supplier’s price. In this article, we will focus on the products. We describe ten products that you should avoid dropshipping to make your business work.

The list is based on the dropshipping experience, delivery practice, and customer reviews.

1. Oversized Home Appliances and Furniture

Most oversized (large dimensions and weight) home appliances (like refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, etc.) and furniture (sofas, cupboards, beds, etc.) can’t be disassembled to standard packaging sizes. That leads to expensive delivery costs. If the Customer does not like the goods or would like to return the item, you need to deliver it back. The warranty for home appliances should be valid for a couple of years, so you need to purchase from authorized suppliers. All these aspects significantly cut your possible profit.

2. Fragile Items

Unfortunately, this category is huge and includes very popular products such as dishes, vases, and glasses. Delivery of such items is also expensive, regardless of package size, as it requires additional packing and special conditions for transportation. Even though you are ready to pay additional costs, do not forget that such items very often come damaged. So, you need to agree on a return policy with your suppliers. This limits the supplier’s choice and complicates your agreement. It is better to move to high-quality plastic.

3. Not Proprietary Products

For sure, Chinese markets are full of fake and counterfeit sneakers, jeans, and bags significantly cheaper than the original Brands. These items have, in most cases, poor quality and are made of dangerous raw materials. Delivery of such products leads to legal problems with customs and problems in court with authorized brand representatives. Your customers definitely will complain in reviews. You need to advertise and list only licensed items.

4. A Complete Guide: What Is a Group Health Insurance Policy

All stores require advertisements for stable customer traffic. If you open a new store, you need to advertise it everywhere where possible. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and more are restricted from advertising such product categories as weapons, tobacco, sex products, and drugs (the full policy is available on their websites). For restricted items, you need to find other platforms that are visited significantly less than mentioned. Whatever, if you have a significant number of customers already, you can skip this point.

5. Healthcare Products

This product category is dangerous to potential threats that can be caused by incorrect taking, allergies or bad quality. Not all people can take supplements or diet pills without a consultation with a doctor. In most countries, the policy for medical products is very strict. You can’t build a stable business for many years with such products unless you do detailed research among licensed manufacturers.

6. Food

Food is a huge product niche. Some products can even be recommended, such as protein bars, but mainly, they are not recommended. Many types of products (dairy, meat, fish) require special temperature delivery conditions, which are difficult and expensive to maintain for long deliveries, narrowing your supplier choice. It is essential to find only reliable suppliers with licensed production. If you still want to continue, please start with dog food, tea or other products that are recommended by professional dropshipping websites like Easync.

7. Expensive items

Dropshipping is a high-competitive business where every dollar counts. Your customers always search for the best price. The higher the margin you include in the sales price; the fewer customers you will have. For items that cost more than $100, customers also check the store’s trustworthiness. For new stores, you will have a small number of reviews, and it won’t be easy to gain some credit from your suppliers. It is better to choose items under $20; you can have a huge list and quickly change positions.

8. Safety Equipment

Like drugs, safety equipment (helmets, safety cloths, glasses, flame retardant clothing, safety boots, etc.). should be only top-class items to ensure human safety in dangerous situations. In case of any accident and injury, you will be sued as the company sold items that were not performed as promised. You can’t check the quality of items; crash tests are very expensive, and you can only rely on the supplier’s data. Moreover, most customers prefer to purchase these products at the authorized stores.

9. Liquid Products

Limitations on liquid products are also connected with the delivery of these items. The potential spill and leak make delivery of these items complicated. Chemical substances (even cleaning solutions) should be certified for human safety; beverages should be safe for human beings as well. Delivery of such items is connected with losses and returns; it is better to skip these items. The only possible items could be inexpensive cosmetics in plastic bottles.

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10. Political Products

It is not accidental that it is not recommended to start a political conversation. If you do not want to clean your review sections from political debates, it is better to avoid political T-shirts, cups and more. These items are very unique and valid only for a couple of months. For international business, you can’t find the items that could be easily sold everywhere. You need to double-check the political situation in your target market, region and even city.

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Conclusion

The list of products that are not recommended is quite long. But the list of awesome examples for the best dropshipping start is much bigger. With minimum investment, you can start selling Ceylon tea or car accessories in the USA. There are many popular resources, including e-commerce platforms like eBay or Shopify, proposing detailed guides to start a new dropshipping business. We always recommend starting with items less than $20, not from the avoid list and already popular to start this business model.