"Can I see proof, please?"

"Sorry, we don't have a copy."

"Can I please speak with someone in your abuse department?"

"Sorry, I can't connect you. You have to email them," she replied. "They don't even have telephones. Imagine abuse they would take if they did?"

Really? I could not imagine why. I emailed abuse department. It took them just 35 minutes to inform me that they would respond to my email within 24 hours. Weeks later, I still have not heard back from them.

I headed to bar and grill across street to tame, once again, those growling beasts in my stomach.

"Would you believe my business just got shut down for sending junk mail I did not even send?" I asked of customer next to me.

"Don't I know it? I used to be a spam cop. We shut websites down all time for sending unsolicited email. We never bothered checking if complaints were legit. Didn't last long, though," he moaned.

"Why not?"

"One day I walked into my boss' office and spoke to him."

"So?"

"It was unsolicited. I was fired on spot. By time I got back, there was a photocopy machine where my desk used to be."

"So where do you work now?"

"Nowhere. How can anybody find a job if they can't send an unsolicited resume."

"But doesn't every exchange begin with an unsolicited message," I asked.

"Welcome to post-Internet world. The greatest communications tool of all time ended communications forever."

"But what can we do about it?" I wanted to know.

"I don't know about you," he said as he slipped into his jacket. "But I'm off to freedom-of-speech bureau to report an unsolicited conversation. They should be here soon to staple your mouth shut."

Seriously, be very careful about this, there are many wolves in sheep's clothing out there. So skip middleman, get your tax license, get legitimate and you will save yourself a lot of grief and money.

Once you make an account with a wholesaler, some will mail you a wholesale catalog and price list in mail with a CD full of product images to use on your website. The smaller companies will just allow you to copy pictures and descriptions off their website. With this product information, you can post products to your online store and wait for orders. It's as simple as that!

Then, when a customer places an order, you either call, email or fax your contact at wholesaler and give them customers name, address, and items they want, including any other miscellaneous information wholesaler may want. The wholesaler then charges you for cost and shipping of order at wholesale price, then packages it up and sends it off to customer. All you have left to do is turn back around and charge customers credit card for items with your profit margin markup.

The reason this is growing in popularity amongst wholesalers is because they get to have many other companies market and sell their products, thus reaching more people and selling greater volumes. The wholesale company is still able to sell their products for price they want, and you get to keep profit margin as a reseller. It's a win/win situation.

Drop shipping is enabling average person to be able to run a successful, full service online retail store from comfort of their home. Zero inventory, no shipping department, only buy when you have already sold -- this is perfect affiliate program.

Copyright © 2003 by Palyn Peterson mailto:palyn@futureinternetmarketing.com