The brainchild of a unique, creative idea designed to help entrepreneurs set up a wholesale or dropshipping model for their e-commerce business, Salehoo is quickly expanding into an e-commerce giant.
Firstly, if you’ve only just conceived the idea of starting an e-commerce business and are not entirely familiar with the term ‘drop shipping,’ let me help you out.
Dropshipping is a mechanism through which you can establish direct contact with suppliers who fulfill your customers’ orders. Sounds simplistic? It is, and that’s what makes it so appealing.
We’ve listed out a few more advantages of dropshipping for you below:
- It minimizes start-up risks – you needn’t pay for your inventory initially.
- Since you won’t be holding too much inventory, your business will be less likely to suffer from revenue growth curbed by changing trends.
- The possibility of goods being damaged in transit is lower since there will be fewer middlemen.
- Your products will be packed and handled for you.
- You save on warehousing costs since you’re not storing your own inventory.
- You can take advantage of better shipping rates than you would receive if you’d shipped your own goods.
- It’ll be easier to sell products that are otherwise difficult to store – such as perishables and luxury goods.
- You can diversify your product offerings with minimum cost to your business.
Salehoo Review Summary
Co-founder Simon Slad created Salehoo after years of struggling to find dropship and wholesale suppliers who offered reasonable prices. This was especially true for his then small business with a low volume of orders and high dependency on the integrity of his suppliers.
After years of trial and error, Simon Slad teamed up with internet entrepreneur Mark Ling to set up an online portal connecting sellers to suppliers at rates they could afford.
Against all odds, by 2005, Salehoo had been firmly established in New Zealand as one of the largest supplier directories in the world, having helped over 135,000 people set up their online businesses.
Salehoo now has a dedicated team of staff, over 1.6 million branded products, and 8,000 wholesale and dropship suppliers.
How Does Dropshipping Differ From Wholesale ?
The difference between wholesale and dropshipping is quite basic and is rooted in the workings of the supply chain.
Dropshipping – This method allows you to pay for a product only when it’s sold since you’re buying only one product at a time. Naturally, this is great from a cash flow standpoint and eliminates storage/warehousing costs as well.
Wholesale – This is essentially buying in bulk to take advantage of discounted prices and increasing buying power. Most big businesses buy products in wholesale despite the high costs of storage and hampered cashflow. Why? The prices offered by wholesalers can never be matched by the dropshipping method.
Depending on your cash flow model and how much you’re willing to spend on storage, etc. you’ll have to make the decision between wholesale and dropshipping.
Salehoo Pricing
In order to enjoy complete access to their wealth of suppliers, training, data, online community, and support services, you’d have to pay as low as $5.58 per month. This is a very competitive price considering Salehoo’s closest competitor charges about double this amount for the same quality of services offered.
The yearly access amount is quite reasonably priced at $67 – much lesser than it would cost you (in terms of time) to look for suitable suppliers and establish your supply chain from scratch.
Lifetime Access and Guarantee
A lifetime access to Salehoo’s services would cost you about $127 – a new offering by the e-commerce giant.
Furthermore, Salehoo products and services come with a no questions asked money-back guarantee if you reach out to them within 60 days of purchase.
Product Reviews
The products or services that Salehoo offers can be broadly categorized as follows:
Suppliers (Wholesale)
With a wide variety of wholesale suppliers at your disposal, Salehoo allows you to compare prices and choose the one best suited to your needs. These suppliers are sure to provide you with great quality branded products at wholesale rates.
These rates allow you to increase your profit margin and meet your targets without having to increase the volume of sales.
Buying from wholesale suppliers on Salehoo is best-suited to established businesses with enough storage space and money to purchase goods in bulk. It’s especially useful for businesses with an established consumer base and a ready market for their products.
All the information you’ll need on potential suppliers, such as their location, prices, shipping fees, etc. can be found on Salehoo like so:
One of the biggest advantages of having this information on demand is being able to sort wholesale suppliers by location – something that’ll take you hours, maybe even days to achieve on your own.
Entrepreneur Support and Learning
In many ways, Salehoo is the perfect tool for an entrepreneur in the initial stages of their business. With a vast array of educational materials such as articles, guides, and videos, Salehoo functions as the perfect learning device for the uninitiated in the world of e-commerce.
The customer support is commendable as they have means by which you can contact your suppliers via phone call, email, and live chat on weekdays during specified timings. They also have forums where you can ask for advice from sellers on the minutia of e-commerce, such as demand/supply, trends, etc.
Salehoo’s dedicated team of customer support staff are also active on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, where they’re quite responsive and handle queries quickly.
Here they offer you advice on not only how to make the most of Salehoo’s services but also on ways to expand your business via Amazon, eBay, and other e-commerce giants.
Suppliers (Dropship)
It doesn’t matter what you want to sell – Salehoo will find you a dropship supplier who will have you covered. After all, they do have over 1000 such suppliers who deal with products from videogames and food/beverages to clothing and electronics.
Salehoo reviews and verifies their suppliers’ authenticity so you can rest assured that you won’t get caught up in any fraudulent dealings. These suppliers fulfill both domestic and international orders, which helps expand your reach beyond borders and widen your consumer base.
Also, Salehoo is ideal for small businesses as they have various options for minimum order requirements, with some suppliers even offering a zero minimum order. Make sure you steer clear of suppliers who demand an application fee as most of them don’t.
Moreover, Salehoo allows you to view certain details of each drop shipper to help you make a choice, such as:
- The products they offer
- Shipping locations
- Shipping methods
- Basic contact details
- Reviews from verified customers
- Overall quality of goods supplied
Market-Based Research (Trends and Reports)
Information on trends and profitability related to different types of products is invaluable to any startup or small business, and Salehoo provides the same in abundance.
Salehoo experts review which products would be most profitable to your businesses and assess your competitors in the same field. This allows you to directly focus on profitable products with relatively less competition in the open market.
This, in turn, helps you enter the market better equipped to capitalize on the demand for unique products.
You can also use Salehoo’s data to assess changing trends and adjust your inventory, holding accordingly, thereby preventing it from becoming redundant.
You can use the information to create your own reports on the products you’re interested in and assess them based on:
- The pricing
- Trends in demand
- Frequency of product listing
- Sell rate
- Competitors
Salehoo’s Dashboard
You’ll find the dashboard on Salehoo to be well-designed and attractive in its simplicity. The dashboard has three main sections: training, suppliers, and products. All of these are just a click away and give you all the information you need at a glance.
The suppliers section is where you’ll be able to reach out to your suppliers and receive message notifications, order confirmation, and even view your message history.
Salehoo allows you to save all of the suppliers you’ve interacted with so you don’t have to look them up all over again every time you want to place an order.
The chats can also be accessed on your dashboard without having to open your supplier’s details separately when you wish to contact them. I’d say being able to view your chat history with each supplier is a bonus in and of itself, but the easy access from the dashboard definitely gives Salehoo an edge over other e-commerce competitors.
Aside from suppliers, Salehoo also has a feature through which you can store your history of interaction with other sellers. These interactions typically take place on a forum that you’ll be able to access from your dashboard.
Interacting with sellers can help you profit from their advice and guidance as some of them may be more experienced than you are. This also boosts a feeling of community and helps create an amiable atmosphere that could motivate you to grow your business.
What I found to be one of the very best features of Salehoo is how it allows you to keep track of your dealings on Amazon and eBay as well. You’ll find this information in the ‘Learning and Training’ section, which can be found on your dashboard. These features help you save time and organize your work more effectively.
Advantages of Using Salehoo
Educational Resources – There are various websites out there offering what Salehoo offers in terms of suppliers, etc. but few of them can boast the kind of learning resources Salehoo provides. As discussed in an earlier section, Salehoo provides its users with informational articles, videos, and how-to guides that help train novices into educated entrepreneurs.
Authentic Suppliers – Salehoo verifies that the suppliers listed with them are not fraudulent, so that’s one big worry off your chest. Hunting for your suppliers can be a risky business, especially if they’re located offshore since you’ll have very limited means by which you can review their workings.
Guarantee – Salehoo is so confident in the quality of their services that they even offer you a 60-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the products you’ve received. They won’t even ask you to explain why you’re not happy with the product – just a simple refund request will do.
Minimum Order Requirements – An absolute blessing for small startups, Salehoo helps you find many suppliers with low minimum orders, some of them even zero minimum orders. This is especially helpful if you don’t have adequate resources to splurge on bulk wholesale orders and expensive storage facilities.
Straightforward Fees – Salehoo is not one of those websites that lures you into buying a subscription then bombards you with a dozen other fees for different services. No, they ask you to pay a fee of $67 per year and nothing else. In case a supplier wishes to charge you additional fees for application, Salehoo will let you know this before you go ahead and place an order.
Quality Brands and Products – You’ll be sure to find some of the best quality, branded products offered by suppliers on Salehoo. Since Salehoo verify their suppliers, you don’t need to worry about the authenticity of the products either. Some of the best brands listed by Salehoo suppliers are Oakley, 3M, Disney, and Lego.
Customer Support – Salehoo’s customer support staff is always on the ready to answer your queries and address any concerns you may have. Their service is always timely and efficient.
Research and Analysis – Salehoo helps you take advantage of market trends and capitalize on them by providing you with all the relevant data to do so. Their data is known to be concise and reliable, which is another huge advantage for their users.
Disadvantages of Using Salehoo
Relatively Less Products – Ecommerce heavyweight Worldwide Brands offers ten times more products than Salehoo does. While Worldwide Brands’ support services may not be as good as Salehoo’s is there is a definite appeal in having more products on offer to choose from and diversify one’s business.
Selling Fees – If you’ve acquired your products via Salehoo and sold them via Amazon or eBay, chances are your profit margin isn’t great. This could be true even if you’ve purchased goods in bulk at discounted rates. Why? Well, simply because Amazon and eBay will charge you selling fees, which significantly reduce your profits. This may well make you wonder if it’s even worth selling your products on third party websites at all.
Building a Brand – When you have a website that’s selling products you’ve manufactured, it’s relatively easy to build up a brand name and reputation. If, however, you’re acquiring finished products via suppliers and looking to sell them through your own website, it would be difficult for you to build your brand. This could be the reason most sellers listed on Salehoo choose to sell their products via Amazon and eBay instead.
Will Salehoo Be Useful For Me?
Yes
Salehoo is most useful for those willing to take a small risk to make money as a part-time activity or a small business. If you’re not ready to invest a lot of money and wish to deal with minimum costs related to administration, distribution, storage, etc. then Salehoo would be ideal for you. As the financial adage goes, ‘The lower the risk, the lower the return,’ you’ll likely make a small amount of profit from drop shipping on Salehoo.
As mentioned in several earlier sections, Salehoo also has top-notch educational resources designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the world of e-commerce and dropshipping. The fact that many suppliers on Salehoo offer zero minimum orders and no application fees also adds to its appeal for small investors.
No
Salehoo is definitely not for you if you want to make it big in the world of e-commerce. This is especially true if you plan on selling your goods through third party websites such as Amazon as their selling fees will cut down your profit margins.
In such a scenario, it would take you a very long time to make a significant amount of money through dropshipping.
So again, if you’re considering this as an only source of income, you might be in for a disappointment.
Salehoo Review: Conclusion
Salehoo is, without doubt, an ideal e-commerce medium in many ways. It not only helps small business owners find their footing in a fairly competitive industry, it also equips them with the necessary knowledge to grow their business.
Their fantastic customer support and training facilities are second to none, and you’ll find many success stories on Salehoo, claiming they owe their progress to the website’s many services. The wide variety of products and suppliers on offer makes Salehoo an excellent place to start if you’re looking to buy products on wholesale.
Also, the basic concerns of potential fraud and acquiring fake products are virtually non-existent on Salehoo as they painstakingly verify all their sellers.
So, all in all, a Salehoo subscription is well worth the investment if you have a clear idea of your expectations and targets in the dropshipping/wholesale business.
