If you’re trying to break into the world of dropshipping, you’ve probably heard of SaleHoo. SaleHoo is an online service that connects wholesalers with people looking to get into dropshipping or online retail.
Dropshipping businesses connect with wholesalers to provide products to their customers. When a customer makes a purchase on a dropshipping website, their product is shipped directly from the wholesaler’s warehouses. This allows dropshipping business owners to run a lucrative online business without needing to hold onto inventory.
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Table of Contents
What is SaleHoo?
SaleHoo is an online service that was founded in 2005 in New Zealand. They offer an online marketplace that helps connect wholesalers in several countries connect with small businesses.
SaleHoo is not a supplier, but a service that helps buyers find reliable wholesale suppliers. Their extensive vetting process helps people rest assured that the wholesale contacts are legitimate businesses, and not scammers.
SaleHoo offers the three best products which are SaleHoo Directory, SaleHoo Dropship, and also exclusive eCommerce training. But what is the difference between them? Let me explain in a simple way.
SaleHoo Directory is the ultimate eCommerce toolkit. As you can get access to more than 8000 trusted suppliers. You will also get a really powerful tool to research your market for sourcing hot products.
SaleHoo Dropship is a tool that can help you build your dropship store in the simplest and smartest way. It really helps to automate your dropship store, just pick a product and add it to your store.
While the other products are more to Education. You can learn from the expert about eCommerce. They offer exclusive eCommerce training videos that teach you how you can build your successful online store.
Some buyers worry that SaleHoo might be a scam, but they are not a scam. They offer a real service, even though the information they provide could be discovered for free with enough time and research.
They’ve been featured in MSN, Forbes, CNBC, Huffpost, and Inc. SaleHoo is a great resource for new entrepreneurs looking to break into the online selling space. Their customers often sell through independent websites and on marketplaces like Ebay and Amazon.
How Much Does SaleHoo Cost?
SaleHoo uses a simple, transparent pricing system to make things as understandable as possible.
The SaleHoo Directory charges $67 for one-year access and $127 for lifetime access only. If you plan to use their service for more than one year, it may be worth it to spend the extra money for lifetime access. This will help you save money down the road.
SaleHoo Dropship charges for two different prices. The price for the beginner who really just wants to start their eCommerce journey only $27 per month. But if you have a big team and ready to expand your business, the premium package is really best for you. They offer only $97 per month but have a lot of features with unlimited import high-profit products you store.
SaleHoo Education is really simple but yet it’s amazing. They offer a lifetime charge of only $47. But what you will get is really can help you to success in this business.
There are no hidden or confusing fees. The flat annual or lifetime rates you see are all you’ll pay to SaleHoo for their services.
Compared to other services in this space, SaleHoo’s price cannot be beat. Worldwide Brands, their chief competitor, charges $299 for lifetime access.
If you aren’t satisfied with your SaleHoo membership, they offer a money-back guarantee within the first sixty days. No matter your reason for being dissatisfied, they’ll refund your membership fee.
SaleHoo’s Suppliers
With your SaleHoo membership, you gain access to about 8,000 vetted wholesale suppliers. Of these, about 1,000 suppliers offer dropshipping as an option for their customers. All of their suppliers are carefully vetted, ensuring that you don’t waste your time and money getting scammed.
When searching through suppliers, you can sort your results based on what their minimum order requirements are. This can be helpful for finding good suppliers for your dropshipping business.
While some wholesalers charge an application fee, nearly two-thirds of the available suppliers charge no fee to get started with them. On each supplier’s description, SaleHoo includes the Better Business Bureau review of their trustworthiness. This helps you make the best decisions as you choose suppliers for your business.
SaleHoo has wholesalers based in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, and more. Unfortunately, they do not yet have a feature allowing you to search for suppliers by location. If you’re looking to have production done in one country only, you’ll have to sort through the locations yourself.
Once you’ve signed up for SaleHoo, you can search for wholesalers based on the product category you’re interested in purchasing from. Clothing, jewelry, shoes, baby gear, health, and more are available to you.
However, there is no guarantee that you’ll find wholesalers producing specific products, especially if your business is focused on a narrow niche. One reviewer noted that they could not find any wholesalers offering unlocked phones, for example.
SaleHoo Brands
SaleHoo works with trusted providers of brand name items worldwide. Trusted brands like Disney, Sony, Adidas, Lego, Oakley, and 3M can all be purchased through SaleHoo’s contacts.
One of the major drawbacks of SaleHoo, unfortunately, is that the products already have branding attached. If you’re trying to create an identity for your dropshipping brand, the lack of custom branding options through SaleHoo can make this difficult.
SaleHoo’s Market Research
SaleHoo offers market research to help you discover which items are hot and profitable each season. Their information helps you determine your average cost, sale price, and profitability. Additionally, their research can warn you if a certain item already has a high market saturation.
Their market research is often quite accurate. However, because they freely publish this information to their subscribers, the competition can be fierce to claim a piece of these markets.
Market research can be especially helpful if you’re trying to decide on seasonal or promotional items. This research can also help you stay in the loop on the latest buying trends.
Customer Support
The customer support at SaleHoo is one of their greatest strengths. Customer support can be contacted through live chat, phone, email and contact forms. Their responsive support is great for helping answer customer questions.
One of the primary praises about SaleHoo is the strength of their customer service. Even reviewers who choose to discontinue their relationship with SaleHoo note the helpful and responsive customer support.
Training & Guides
SaleHoo has an edge over their competitors when it comes to providing quality training and guides to their members. They took time to understand the needs of their customers in creating guides that target common questions and difficulties in getting started with a dropshipping business.
It’s important to invest the time in looking through their guides, since these guides are a valuable part of their services. There are over fifty guides and videos to help you get started and grow your business.
SaleHoo’s Dashboard
The user dashboard on SaleHoo’s site is easy to understand and user-friendly. Members are able to view their suppliers, products, and training from the dashboard.
SaleHoo’s dashboard makes it easy to find contact information for companies you’re working with. You won’t need to waste time looking up information with it all in one easy-to-access place.
Communication with wholesalers, other members, and customer support can all be tracked on the member dashboard.
One of the best features of their dashboard is the ability to track sales progress on sites like eBay and Amazon. Since many dropshipping businesses rely on selling through these marketplaces, it’s helpful to be able to track sales through these sites.
Is SaleHoo Profitable?
You can make money with SaleHoo. After all, they share success stories of business owners who have made significant amounts of money.
However, making money through a dropshipping business can take a lot of time and hard work. You won’t be ready to quit your day job on the day you sign up for SaleHoo, but over time you can build a profitable brand.
Many of the negative reviews for SaleHoo mention that they were unable to find specific products. Other reviewers note that they did not make as much profit as they expected, making SaleHoo less lucrative than they hoped.
Although SaleHoo does not have fees beyond their annual and lifetime membership, online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon charge fees. These fees often cut into profitability significantly and should be considered before selling on these sites.
There are two things you can do to maximize your profitability. First, don’t limit yourself to only one niche. Try selling products in a variety of niches to determine how profitable they can be. Second, find less competitive products to sell. It’s important to find things that will sell quickly and in large quantities.
How Does SaleHoo Measure Up against Competitors?
SaleHoo offers wholesaler contacts for less money than their competitors. Worldwide Brands and Spocket both charge higher fees. Additionally, Spocket only offers a 14-day money back guarantee (compared to the 60-day satisfaction guarantee at SaleHoo).
Although you can find these contacts yourself for free, the vetting process offered by SaleHoo can save you time and give you peace of mind.
Worldwide Brands has ten times the sales volume as SaleHoo. Their higher fees can help you gain access to more wholesalers, but Worldwide Brands doesn’t offer the same customer support and training as SaleHoo. In almost every way, SaleHoo is better than Worldwide Brands.
FAQ
Can I make money on SaleHoo?
Yes, you can make money on SaleHoo! However, making money is in no way guaranteed. Your hard work and research will be major determining factors in whether or not you make money from the contacts from SaleHoo.
Dropshipping businesses can be very profitable, and the success stories on SaleHoo highlight the money that can be made. Because you don’t need to carry inventory, there is less risk associated with starting a dropshipping business.
However, you can also lose money if your business efforts are unsuccessful. The money you spend on your SaleHoo membership, your website costs, and more can leave you with a net loss if you aren’t careful.
Do I have to carry inventory to sell from SaleHoo?
No, you don’t need to carry inventory. Of the 8,000 wholesalers on SaleHoo, about 1,000 of them offer a dropshipping option to buyers.
Many of these retailers have no minimum purchase required, making them perfect for a dropshipping business. Simply create listings for products on your website or through online marketplaces. Once an item is purchased, the wholesaler will ship it directly to your customer.
Are there hidden fees?
There are not any hidden fees on SaleHoo’s website. The annual or lifetime membership is the only fee you’ll ever need to pay to them.
However, online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon charge fees. To sell on these sites, you’ll need to pay these fees. The cost of fees should be considered in your calculations to determine whether or not dropshipping can be a profitable business.
Key Benefits of SaleHoo
There are lots of things that make SaleHoo a great option for your dropshipping business.
1. Price
SaleHoo’s price cannot be beaten. Their lifetime membership is less than half the price of Worldwide Brands, their primary competitor. Although Spocket offers monthly pricing, Spocket’s fees add up to be more expensive than SaleHoo.
The pricing for SaleHoo membership is extremely clear. They have an annual membership and lifetime membership option. There are no fees, and they offer a 60-day money back guarantee.
2. Customer Support
Almost every positive review of SaleHoo mentions the quality of their customer support. Not only do they offer several methods of getting in contact with the support, but their customer support goes above and beyond to provide great customer service.
If you’re having trouble getting started, SaleHoo’s customer support will help guide you in setting up your dropshipping business. For members looking for certain products, customer support offers assistance in finding the right wholesalers.
3. Training & Guides
Members can take advantage of over fifty training guides and videos. These training materials target the most common problems faced by dropshipping businesses. By listening to the needs of their customers, SaleHoo has compiled an extensive library of truly helpful materials.
The training available through SaleHoo is one of the things the benefits unavailable from competitors. Worldwide Brands does not offer any training and guides, even with their higher membership fees.
4. Market Research
The high-quality market research provided by SaleHoo is very helpful to dropshipping business owners. Their research not only shares how popular an item is, but the potential profitability of that item.
By calculating the market saturation of certain products, SaleHoo’s market research can also help you determine whether or not your business can make money selling hot products.
Drawbacks of SaleHoo
Despite all of the good things about SaleHoo, there are a few drawbacks to their services.
1. Variety
Some members report not being able to find the products they’re wanting to sell. If you have a very specific product in mind for a dropshipping business, it’s important to know that SaleHoo doesn’t guarantee you’ll be able to find that item on their marketplace.
Because you aren’t able to find out about specific products until you’ve paid for your membership, you may want to be ready to cash in on that money back guarantee. You have sixty days from the time you start your membership to cancel it. If your desired products are unavailable, simply cancel your membership.
2. No Location-based Sorting
Although you can sort wholesalers based on the minimum purchase amount, you still cannot sort them by location. If you want to provide products shipped from one country only, you will have to sort through the results yourself.
3. Contact Cost
It costs nothing to find contacts yourself. If you’re skilled at researching, it may be a waste of your membership fee to sign up for SaleHoo.
However, it’s good to keep in mind that SaleHoo is not only providing you with the wholesale contacts. They are providing contacts to companies that have been carefully vetted. The resources included in membership may be valuable to new dropshipping business owners.
Conclusion
Some people worry that SaleHoo could be a scam since their cost is so low and the results of their top sellers are so great. However, SaleHoo is a legitimate service that offers wholesaler contacts to retail and dropshipping business owners.
For less than $70, you can get started with your own dropshipping business. If your business through SaleHoo is unsuccessful, you can claim their money-back guarantee within sixty days of signing up. This makes starting a dropshipping business relatively risk-free!
The low cost, resources, and fantastic customer support all make SaleHoo a great service for online entrepreneurs.
