Dropshipping and Virtuemart
Filed under Sourcing Tips, Wholesale Business Tips
I’ve been receving a lot of inquiries regarding dropshipping using the Virtuemart shopping cart. Virtuemart is shopping cart component designed to work with the Joomla content management system (CMS). By itself it is just a shopping cart, and one that has a pretty good reputation. If you want to use the Joomla plus Virtuemart store option, you have two basic options for set up. You can either set up your Joomla installation and then install the Virtuemart component, or you can download the Joomla ecommerce version that comes with Virtuemart pre-installed. With this option, when you install Joomla, Virtuemart is installed automatically.
Dropshipping
Many people wanting to use the Virtuemart (VM) shopping cart and also dropship products, want the sale made on their Joomla ecommerce site to be automatically recorded with the dropshipper so that the sale is recorded automatically and the product shipped without any other muss or fuss.
I’m very sorry, but neither VM nor any other shopping cart has this kind of functionality built in. If your dropshipper has the computer and software infrastructure to handle this kind of service, you could have VM modified to interface with your dropshipper. The only drop ship company I know of that might be able to offer you this kind of service is Inventory Source. Inventory Source is not really a dropshipper but more of a liason between you and a pretty good number of dropshippers and drop ship wholesalers. They provide the ecommerce interface that connects you with the drop ship companies who work with Inventory Source. They might be able to modify Virtuemart to interface with their system so that sales, bookkeeping, and shipping would all occur automatically.
Check it out.
For more information on drop ship companies, wholesale lists, eBay products sourcing:
Aid and Trade International Directory of Wholesale Product Suppliers
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Thanks for writing this blog and sharing it with the world. I would like to know how to go for reading your rss blog. Please let me know if possible.
I have to say that i wish when i was starting out on the ladder of product sourcing
and trying to find the right supplier that would not only dropship but dropship on time and and with no hidden setbacks which is the mother of all frustrations both for the seller and buyer i wish i could have accessed this kinnd of info from a blog like this oh life would have been much easier great blog and great info cheers
gerry d
That’s great to hear. Feel free to stop by and discuss your business. We’d love to hear how you got into ecommerce and what you attribute to your success.
my sideline is also related to dropshipping computer accessories, business is really great this year`-”
the dropshipping business is also great as long as you can find a great supplier.”:,
Thank you very much for a brilliant comment! I think this is potentially so helpful that I’m going to feature it as its own post.
Thank you for the post about Inventory Source. Our services are fully integrated with VM, Joomla, and many other carts like Open Cart, Zen, etc. We can help turn most platforms into a more turn-key cart by integrating with an existing site and providing easy to use GUI’s to manage the data updates.
Regarding suppliers with fees….I think we have only about 3 suppliers in our network who have any kinds of fees, like SMC. We have looked at removing them but some users still like their catalogs so they have remained since they are still a legit product source who directly ships the items. I would say 90% of the suppliers with some monthly fee are middleman…the remaining are simply try to reduce the number of resellers or non-performing resellers. If you ever did go with a supplier who had a monthly cost I would advise against it unless if you sell over X/month they wave that cost. If they charge you a fee regardless you would have to wonder if they doubt the ability for anyone to be able to sell the products in large amounts…which is why even they are trying to get revenue from some source other then just product sales. In short…there are just too many good supplier options to really feel the need to go with any source that has a monthly account fee just to sell products.
To respond to the order integration with VM. There are carts or modules for carts which say they are a supplier integration. This means you can flag and item by supplier and have the order details sent to that supplier. However, most of these integrations simply send an email. This might be fine for some people using a very small specialty supplier. However, suppliers like Wynit, DH, TechData, IngramMicro, USSCO, etc…do not accept orders from an email or fax. Many of the larger suppliers only allow you to log into your web account or integrate with their FTP directories or order API directly for bulk automated orders. This is the real reason why there is not a standard order integration plug in for a cart and even why systems like Stoneedge dont offer a true order integration option. This is why we have always focused on the inventory automation services. However, while we have not publicly announced it before. I would say we are about 1-2 months away from allowing order automation options for users on all of our integrated platforms, including Virtuemart/Joomla
Jay,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I certainly had never heard of Click Cart Pro and Europacart. I’ve just had a look at the product, and this is clearly a serious option for serious online ecommece entrepreneurs. Also, I noticed that the product advertising says that it can work alongside of Joomla, so this might be an option for people working with the Joomla CMS.
I disagree, several packaged shopping carts do allow for dropshipping! The best would be click cart pro / europacart 7. Each product option allows for distribution email address with custom email templates! The dropshipper receives an email which is basicly a shipping instruction / order request!
That’s right, we can’t condemn all the companies who participate with Inventory Source. Some may play dirty, but I know from personal experience that a number of them, such as DBL and WYNIT, do not do this. I think you’ll find that most legit wholesalers have no use for monthly fees. Monthly fees are more likely to be a part of the picture with dropship aggregators, not wholesalers.
Mike,
What you’ve said is a generalization that simply is not true for all the companies who work with Inventory Source. For example, WYNIT and DBL are legitimate electronics wholesalers who could care less about trying to nickel and dime you with monthly fees. There may be some companies who participate with Inventory Source who do this, but real wholesalers do not charge monthly fees. Anyone who takes the time to really understand what a true wholesaler is will understand this.
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Good information about dropshipping keep up the good work.
I do agree, start small.