Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog

No products? No problem! Start an online store today with Doba Dropshipping

Written by Shift4Shop | Jan 4, 2014 4:14:13 PM

At 3dcart, we aim to make opening an online store easy and painless for everyone, even for those with no money to invest in inventory and no technical skills to speak of. How can that be, you ask? Simple! We’ve teamed up with Doba, a dropshipping powerhouse, so you can sell the items you want and build the business you deserve in practically no time at all.

For those who aren’t familiar with Doba/dropshipping and how it works with 3dcart, check out the following list:

  • 3dcart online stores can select the items they want to sell from Doba’s growing catalog of more than 2 million products before saving them in an “Inventory List” inside their Doba account.
  • The inventory list is then generated into a 3dcart-friendly .csv file that can be uploaded to your Online Store Manager.
  • After importing the list, all the products selected via Doba are posted for sale on your ecommerce website.
  • 3dcart’s custom Doba Connector automatically keeps product data and inventory counts current on both the back and front end of your store.
  • When a 3dcart merchant makes a sale, the customer pays the sale price to the merchant and the merchant in turn pays the wholesale price to Doba; keeping the difference as their profit on the sale.
  • 3dcart automatically and immediately sends the order to Doba for fulfillment.
  • Doba’s drop-ship suppliers take on the heavy lifting, i.e. warehousing, packaging and shipping.
  • Doba will then send order status updates back to 3dcart’s Store Manager when certain milestones have been achieved; such as a tracking number having been assigned to a shipped item.

(Note: For a detailed step-by-step breakdown on how to configure Doba inside 3dcart’s Online Store Manager, check out the following integration tutorial housed inside our Knowledgebase Center)

Imported inventory comes complete with high-res photos, flushed out titles, in-depth product descriptions and item specifications.  And while there is no limit to the number of products you can upload from Doba, we think it makes sense to concentrate on a niche market. So if you want to sell fashion accessories in your online, try selling designer sunglasses only. This will help keep your business manageable while also allowing it to stay competitive in a targeted market.

To get started with 3dcart and Doba, you will need to add Doba’s premiere dropshipping service to your 3dcart account. Our team will then enable the Doba Connector in a matter of minutes and you’ll be well on your way to starting a successful online store.

Already have a 3dcart account and want to add to your existing product catalog? Great! Give us a call via the number above, and one of our support guru's will be happy to help you get started.

In addition to having a functional 3dcart account, you will need to register for Doba and supply some basic information like your name and website’s URL. Once complete, simply browse Doba’s catalog, select what you want to sell and then import your chosen inventory into 3dcart.

Outside of a minimal monthly subscription fee, you will never pay a penny to Doba unless you make a sale. And given that Doba guarantees the lowest drop ship price on the market for every item it houses, there’s no reason you can’t open shop and start making money in just a few short days.

If you have any questions or comments, please post them below.