Supplier Torbert (active in the Doba catalog since Oct. 1, 2008) is a leading distributor in the shooting sports market. Torbert carries more than 7,500 shooting sports products from top brands including Glock, Remington, Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson. Torbert’s products span a wide range that includes:

• Knives
• Scopes
• Mounts
• Ammunition
• Cases
• Airsoft guns

Torbert also carries a selection of hunting accessories that will make any outdoorsman who shops your store grin from ear to ear.

As you’ve come to appreciate from many of our suppliers, Torbert has no drop shop fees on its products and an average ship time of just two business days.

Please Note: Because Torbert deals in weapons and accessories, some of its products are subject to various state restrictions. Be sure to check the restrictions on the any specific product page before ordering in order to avoid any violations. For additional information, log in to your Doba account and visit supplier Torbert.

Supplier Azure (active in the Doba catalog since Aug. 9, 2008) is an industry-leading distributor of office equipment and supplies. Azure carries more than 30,000 products to support office and IT needs of customers ranging from large corporate offices to the basic home office. It has everything you need from printer cartridges to file folders, scanners to paper clips, and plenty in between. Azure can supply an entire office or supply just a replacement for a favorite pen. Either way, they have the supplies that every office needs, ready to ship direct to your customers.

Azure has a fulfillment rate of more than 98 percent and an average processing time of three to five business days. For more information, log in to your Doba account and visit supplier Azure.

Check back in a couple of weeks when I’ll profile another pair of Doba drop-ship suppliers. Meanwhile, if you’re not a Doba member with access to our virtual inventory catalog of 1.75 million products, you might want to try our free 7-Day Trial Membership today.

As a result, choosing to be a drop-ship merchant allows him to travel and be with his family in Karachi, Pakistan and Windsor, Canada. In fact, all that globetrotting was a major factor in Ovais’ decision to build his online business. Being able to work anywhere in the world is why he’s been a Doba-affiliated member since the summer of 2009, selling products on Amazon under the store name USA Wholesaler.

Meet Ovais:

Doba: How did you get started with Doba?

Ovais Ali: A friend and I started selling products on eBay in order to supplement our income. My friend came across some information about Doba, and that turned out to be the perfect solution for our business needs. He found out that Doba specializes in drop shipping, which makes it possible for us to sell products on Amazon and not worry about warehousing, packaging or shipping. It gives us the freedom to run our Amazon business from anywhere — all we need is an Internet connection and relationships with drop-ship suppliers. Doba is one of our drop-ship technology vendors.

Doba: How does Doba help grow your retail business?

Ovais: Besides having a huge catalog of drop-ship products, Doba has made it extremely easy for me to get a data feed of products using its “My Inventory” and “Custom Export” tools. This is important for my business because it allows me to upload and track my inventory.

Doba: On average, what is your profit margin in selling drop-ship products from the Doba catalog?

Ovais:  Right now, it’s approximately 30 percent.

Doba: Do you have a particular product niche, and if so, what is it and why did you pick it?

Ovais: I tend to lean towards electronic accessories, home appliances and consumer electronics.

Doba: What have you done to make your business stand out from the crowd? In other words, why would someone buy from you instead of your competitor?

Ovais: It’s our customer service. Repeat business is a result of good customer service. I want to make sure that my customers have a good experience buying from me and I am quick to resolve any issues. Also important is product description. The one thing I learned about ecommerce is if you are going to sell something you need to spend time writing good product descriptions. Many retailers who have a drop-ship model tend to overlook this. They use whatever description is provided by the supplier/manufacturer and don’t take the time to modify that description in order to make the product more marketable. I spend time on the product descriptions and I believe it has helped me sell more.

Why did you choose to drop-ship products rather than purchase inventory?

Ovais: Drop shipping is relatively hassle-free. Remember, for me this is a part time business, so I really don’t want to invest in buying products in bulk, leasing a warehouse, hiring employees, etc. Drop shipping allows me to leverage my drop-ship suppliers. I may not make a 50 percent margin, but I also don’t have the additional risk. And it’s convenient. I can run my ecommerce business anywhere in the world with an Internet connection and computer. You can’t beat that.

No you can’t. Thank you, Ovais, for sharing your story and by doing so, choosing to inspire others who may someday follow in your footsteps.

Each year, CyberSource evaluates numerous company surveys to come up with this data and publishes it for free. We here at Doba took part in the 2009 survey and we have turned to it every year since to benchmark our efforts against other eCommerce companies.

Of course, what caught my eye in this year’s report is that the industrywide decrease in fraud order attempts against online retailers corresponds with an increase in the dollar value of the fraud orders being attempted. The percentage of online orders that turned out to be fraudulent dropped to 0.6 percent last year compared to 0.9 in 2010. Meanwhile, losses were up to an estimated $3.4 billion last year, with merchants claiming fraud is becoming more difficult to detect. This has prompted many of merchants to spend more for fraud detection tools to automatically screen their orders.

One of the things this report tells us is that these persistent fraudsters are angling to get more bang for their stolen buck by placing orders on more expensive items.

The report also points out that consumer electronics are once again the main target for fraudulent purchases. If you are in the business of selling high-end electronics, it is essential that you become aware of current fraud prevention measures and conduct thorough due diligence on all suspect orders.

And with the continued forecasted growth for online sales (an anticipated 11.3 percent increase for 2012) it becomes even more important that your fraud prevention efforts are scalable to any influx in order volume. Any increase in sales revenue is welcome, given that all profitability leaks are plugged internally.

Another important statistic in the report is the number of international orders that are showing up as fraudulent. It’s estimated that the fraud potential for international orders is more than 2.5 times higher than orders shipping within North America. Subsequently, the order reject rate for international orders stands at 7.3 percent as compared to only 2.8 percent for domestic orders.

I find this particularly interesting since I’m seeing the same trend here at Doba. Last year, I began to notice an increase in orders being shipped directly to Doba retailers who intend on sending the items themselves internationally (because Doba only ships domestically). While your first international sale can be an exciting event as a retailer, it’s important to understand that this type of selling activity carries serious fraud risks, especially if you’re not confident in the validity of your customer’s shipping address.

Furthermore, most credit card AVS (Address Verification System) checks are not supported internationally, which will not only disqualify you from Doba’s Fraud Protection Program, but might disqualify you from fighting any chargebacks received. The bottom line is to be certain you know who your customer is. I assure you these quick tips can end up saving you a lot of time and money in the long run.

If you are interested in reading this complete survey, visit the 13^th annual online fraud survey site today. It’s a great way to see how you stack up to the other companies who are employing the same fraud prevention tactics you are on a daily basis within your own business.

Meet Lance:

Doba: Who are you and what do you to do here at Doba?

Lance Steelman: I’m the crazy guy who had six kids in seven years — and five of them are girls.I am the director of technology at Doba, which means I’m in charge of all software development, third-party integrations, technical support, internal hardware and software needs, and pretty much anything else that someone can justify linking to IT.

Doba: What did you do prior to coming to work for Doba?

Lance: Prior to Doba, I worked as VP of development, Chief Technology Officer, and manager of business systems at Proton Communications, Net Marketing Solutions, and iLinc Communications.

Doba: What attracted to you to Doba?

Lance: The great work environment and the tremendous growth possibilities.

Doba: Where did you go to college and what did you study, and how did that prepare you for the job you have today?

Lance: I have attended both BYU and Utah Valley University. I studied business administration with an emphasis in marketing.  I have always believed that having a degree in business has helped me stand out in the world of technology.

Doba: When you’re not working, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Lance: I both play and coach soccer. With six kids, the rest of my “spare” time is engulfed in dance and any other activity they might be signed up for.

Doba: What reality TV should you be on and why would you win or lose?

Lance: If I could be on any reality show it would definitely be “The Amazing Race,” unless they come up with “An Idiot Abroad.”  Either way I would be happy to see the world on someone else’s dollar. I’m not sure if I’d win “The Amazing Race,” but I would certainly fight to the end.

Doba: What’s one thing not many people know about you?

Lance: For three years I managed three Christmas tree lots here in Utah.

Doba: If you could take a one-year paid sabbatical from work to set up your own Webstore, what would you call it what would you sell?

Lance: I’m not really sure what I’d call it, but I would sell all things sports related.

Football fans go to great lengths to support their favorite teams and players. They spend the entire season (and pre-season) following the progress of their own brand of “men in uniform,” all in hopes that their team will win one championship or the other, or their favorite player or fantasy pick will do well. However, only one team can hoist the championship trophy at the end of the season. Obviously there is opportunity in marketing products of the “winners.” but that doesn’t mean you as an online retailer can’t still win with the “losers” as well.

Believe me when I say I know what I’m talking about here. I’m a Chicago Bears (and Cubs) fan. My teams haven’t held the championship trophy in their respective sports in quite some time. Take, for instance, the fact that the playoffs just ended and my Bears have been hibernating since the end of the regular season. But, that doesn’t mean I still don’t buy new Bears apparel, accessories and equipment each season. In fact, my excitement keeps me purchasing new gear at the beginning, middle and end of the sports seasons. Doesn’t matter a whit whether my teams were winners or losers.

When you really come down to it, you’re not selling a team’s product; you’re selling to a connection, bond, and sense of belonging. You’re helping create the connection a fan has with his or her heart to the team. If you’re a sports fan and you cheer endlessly for a particular team, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Your team is like your own kid. If they lose the spelling bee, you’re not going to dump them and take home some other kid who has a better chance of winning it next year.

It doesn’t matter if your customer’s teams are winners or losers, they are still your  customer’s teams and they’ll be loved regardless. Like I said, as a Chicago Bears fan, I’m all about the saying, “There’s always next year.”

Below are two products from the Doba product catalog that showcase a pair of losers, but also are examples of winning listings on eBay’s.

These are just examples of the types of products in our catalog that successfully sell on eBay. We highlight these items only to spark your own creative product selection and encourage you to conduct your own product research to find the variety of items at Doba that have sold well on eBay.

Note: The items highlighted above are the two among thousands of products Doba members are successfully sourcing and selling each and every day. Keep in mind, however, that these particular items (if you were thinking about selling them yourself, may be in short supply, out of stock, or even discontinued by the time you read this blog entry). Also, the wholesale costs shown above are based on our PrePay program (learn more about Doba PrePay here). Finally, eBay only promises to maintain ended auctions for 90 days after the closing date. If an auction number above does not display when clicked, it may be because that particular auction has passed the 90-day threshold.

A newer provider of B2B cloud commerce solutions, Savtira’s catalog line delves deeply into the digital — offering music, movies, games, audio/e-books and software. Savtira assists merchants by taking care of the grunt work, including obtaining the licensing and agreements for digital media. This time-consuming and often difficult process is just one less problem for its clients, enabling the Savtira customer to focus instead on growing their ecommerce business.

In addition to digital media, Savtira also provides merchants with access to physical goods that include apparel, accessories and jewelry, automotive, baby/kids and toys, electronics, health and beauty, home, garden and living, sporting and outdoor equipment.

The Tampa, Fla.-based company, which was founded in Nov. of 2010, features an advanced infrastructure, unified shopping carts, and places an emphasis on custom-branded eStores for its customers.

And now, by adding Doba to the equation, Savtira has literally doubled its inventory of physical goods from which its retailers may choose to include in their own online marketplaces. That partnership enables Savtira’s merchants and entrepreneurs to concentrate on selling their items at the retail level without having to deal with issues that confront their brick-and-mortar brethren. For starters, they don’t have to deal with storing products, managing inventory, packing and shipping products to be delivered to customers, or handling those pesky and time-consuming returns from unhappy clients.

That’s what Doba does best. We’re an inventory-on-demand platform that acts as a virtual warehouse and fulfillment system, managing through our drop-ship suppliers all stocking, shipping and handling, thus leaving the online retailer free to plan marketing programs and generate income.

Meanwhile, Savtira says it is in the process of building the next carrier-class “Entertainment Distribution Network” (EDN), that will offer streaming services that enable applications like video games and business software to be started instantaneously with a click of a button. It will also allow for pause/resume capabilities portable to any Internet-connected device.

Please help us in welcoming Savtria as Doba’s latest partner. Check out Savtira by visiting www.Savtira.com.

Supplier Diamond (active in the Doba catalog since June 11, 2003) is a leading distributor of electronics, gadgets and gizmos. Diamond carries a vast array of fun and useful products that range from iPod alarm clock docks and laser printers to Swiss Army knives and touch-screen computers. Diamond’s offerings include many of the “must-have” products customers are looking for. Currently operating at a 98.2 percent fulfillment rate with only a two-day average shipping time, you can count on drop-ship supplier Diamond to fulfill your customer’s order quickly and accurately.

Diamond also has no drop ship fee on all of its products, so you can offer the most competitive price to your buyers. For more information, login to your Doba account and visit supplier Diamond.

Supplier Quartz (active in the Doba catalog since Dec. 1, 2005) provides the nuts and bolts of tool supply. Quartz has more than 13,000 different tools and accessories that can help any handyman or do-it-yourselfer get the job done right the first time. Quartz features brand name tools fit for any job including axe grinders, socket sets, impact wrenches, pliers, reciprocating saws — just to name a few. By tapping in to Quartz’s massive tool library, you can convert every man’s inherent need to own power tools into cold hard cash for your business.

Quartz has a solid fulfillment rate of more than 96 percent and an average processing time of one to four business days. With no drop ship fee, Quartz helps keep your costs low and profits high.  For more information, login to your Doba account and visit supplier Quartz.

I’ll profile another pair of Doba drop-ship suppliers for you to consider ordering from in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, if you’re not a Doba member with access to our virtual inventory catalog of 1.75 million products, consider starting a Free 7-Day Trial Membership today.

The National Retail Federation reported that American’s spent $15.7 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day gifts in 2010, making this made-up holiday the fourth most popular shopping holiday of the year, just behind the winter holidays of Christmas/Hanukkah, back-to-school and Mother’s Day. And while it’s true that the overwhelming majority of dollars spent for Saint Valentine’s Day go toward flowers and candy, there’s still enough romance in the air for you to get in on the action with a creative merchandising act of your own.

Here are just a few ways your online drop-ship store can leverage Valentine’s Day to your benefit:

Think small and bundle: While Valentine’s Day is among the most popular gift-giving days of the year, consumers tend to spend less because they’re still hurting from the holidays. Others are saving up for Mother’s Day, spring break or summer vacation. That’s why it’s a good idea to promote small, bundled items — not as the primary cupid-day gift, but as an additional way of expressing one’s love.

Go red: Almost every online retailer, regardless of niche, has red or pink merchandise. And with the Doba catalog stocking more than 1.75 million items, you’re bound to find something to fill the bill. To get in the spirit of things, it doesn’t hurt to alter the appearance of your homepage, adding splashes of red along with calls to action that put the focus on Valentine’s Day promoted items. Catching the eye of your visitors with a red heart or two or a Valentine’s Day-themed border might be all it takes to draw them deeper into your site to see what you’ve got to offer.

Picture it: Photo frames and accessories make wonderful gifts for customers searching for a simple, last-minute gift for a loved one on Valentine’s Day. Check out the huge selection of items you can sell online in the Home, Garden & Living section of the Doba catalog.

Market to men: Most men will go to great lengths to avoid shopping at a brick and mortar store for Valentine’s Day. We’ve all been there or seen it for ourselves — the hapless guy roaming the aisles of the drug store nearest his home, usually on the morning of the holiday. If you have an email marketing campaign in place and you’re able to segment your list according to gender, target the men on the list and send them a mailer before the end of January.

Use a creative subject line, like “Hey Guys – we’ve got you covered for Valentine’s Day.” And word the piece in such a way that your male customers know that you feel their pain, but you’ve got a solution! Tell them that flowers alone aren’t going to cut it. Suggest that, in addition to candy and flowers, they should remember that it’s the thought that counts. Then promote the heck out of a dozen or so small items you’ve got in stock. And remind them when the cutoff date for shipping is so their gifts will arrive in time for the holiday.

Following these tips won’t necessarily make or break your Valentine’s Day-related promotion but they will get your creative juices flowing, which is really the whole point of Valentine’s Day anyway.

Just recently, 3DCart completed its Application Programming Interface (API) integration with us, becoming Doba’s newest Certified Integrated Partner. What exactly does this mean to those contemplating an online business or beefing up their existing business? This partnership means 3DCart can leverage its ecommerce platform, offering its merchants access to new shopping categories and more than 1.75 million name-brand wholesale products currently available through Doba.

What 3DCart has been bringing to the plate for more than 10 years are all the tools needed to create a website and online store. It offers more than 50 website templates as well as the ability for merchants to create their own designs using HTML and CSS. With 3dcart’s 3dZoom, product images are easy to create and enlarge; and its Quick Edit Bar enables design changes to be made in rapid fashion, adding categories, products and web pages in real time.

In addition, 3DCart makes Search Engine Optimization (SEO) extremely easy with more than 25 tools to help users to build and market their online store. 3DCart’s social media tools enable merchants to simplify the practice of updating their Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as blogs from one central location. In fact, merchants can even sell their items directly from Facebook using 3DCart’s solution.

And now, with its fresh integration with Doba, 3DCart merchants have become resellers of our drop ship suppliers products, with instant access to everything in the Doba catalog that they can sell on eBay, Amazon, Facebook, or their own website. And remember that we were an original eBay Certified Service Provider. Among our services is shipping the products 3DCart merchants sell directly from our suppliers to their customers.

Here’s how the API Integration works between 3DCart and Doba:

1. Online merchants select the products they want to sell from Doba’s product catalog and save them as an “Inventory List” in their Doba account.
2. 3DCart reaches out and downloads the merchant’s Inventory List to their shopping cart’s Online Store Manager.
3. The merchant lists the Doba products for sale on their online store.
4. The integration automatically keeps the product data and inventory counts current in 3DCart’s Online Store Manager and on the merchant’s website.
5. 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.
6. 3DCart automatically sends the order to Doba for fulfillment.
7. Doba’s drop-ship suppliers take on the heavy lifting — warehousing the products, the packaging and the shipping.
8. Doba sends order status updates back to 3DCart’s Order Manager when certain milestones have been achieved, such as an order tracking number having been assigned to a shipped item.

For a detailed step-by-step explanation of the process, visit: 3DCart’s Support Page on Doba API Integration.

By combining the resources of Doba and 3DCart, online merchants get a big boost in their ability to take charge in a crowded marketplace. For its part, 3DCart has gone the extra mile to explain how its merchants can best take advantage of the partnership with Doba.

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Editor’s Note: Clicking on links associated with 3DCart in this blog post may result in a potential affiliate fee paid to Doba.

It’s too bad we use so many negative words to describe negative qualities or actions when we consider New Year’s resolutions. We often address bad habits involving tobacco, alcohol or drugs, or biting our fingernails, and other issues that are detrimental to healthy lifestyles. And, of course you can’t discuss resolutions without talking about the ever-so-popular “lose weight” resolution.

Fitness centers and gyms owe the majority of their success to this specific resolution (I have to admit that I’m guilty of making this resolution — more than once). Here’s the thing. As online retailers, you too can take advantage of this particular resolution. And here’s something else: You’ve got a big advantage over brick and mortar gyms. That’s because you can market to those who actively go to the gym and those who stay at home to exercise. This gives you a better opportunity for more sales.

And you don’t have to stick to fitness. There are other resolutions out there that need your customer’s resolve to solve. Use your imagination and market products and ideas that will touch any resolution you want. People are seeking change in their lives, and maybe a bundled group of self-help books will fit the bill..

Have fun with it. Here are some promotional ideas to help you get started:

• The “Weight Isn’t Going to Lose Itself” Sale
• The “Time to be Timely” Sale
• The “Resolve to Dissolve” Sale
• The “Now You’re Losing It!” Sale

Granted, some of these headlines are just plain silly, but you get the idea. If you’re scoffing, then come up with your own eye-catching heads.

List products in bundles or kits to relate to your customers. Doing so will help you sell more items and earn more revenue. Being creative will help your promotions, products and brand to stand out among others.

Below are two products from the Doba product catalog that touch a few personal resolutions of my own that I need to work on. I call them the “Tummy and the Timely” resolutions. Help others attain and keep their New Year’s resolutions, and make some cash along the way.

These are just examples of the types of products in our catalog that successfully sell on eBay. We highlight these items only to spark your own creative product selection and encourage you to conduct your own product research to find the variety of items at Doba that have sold well on eBay.

Note: The items highlighted above are the two among thousands of products Doba members are successfully sourcing and selling each and every day. Keep in mind, however, that these particular items (if you were thinking about selling them yourself, may be in short supply, out of stock, or even discontinued by the time you read this blog entry). Also, the wholesale costs shown above are based on our PrePay program (learn more about Doba PrePay here). Finally, eBay only promises to maintain ended auctions for 90 days after the closing date. If an auction number above does not display when clicked, it may be because that particular auction has passed the 90-day threshold.