Short answer to this question is a huge, NO. They are so not the same thing. On mywifequitherjob.com, the writer explains, “In other words, they want to be able to make money with as little active effort as possible. They don’t want to have to carry inventory or do product fulfillment which is why I receive many questions having to do with either running a dropshipped online store or becoming an affiliate marketer. ”And that is my biggest hint that the two occupations are different.
Let us break it down some more, because the writer is helpful enough and clear enough to help us out here, “Dropshipping is a way to run an online store where you don’t have to store inventory and you don’t have to ship product. The way it works is that you set up your storefront and collect money just like a regular store. But instead of having to pack and ship the product once you receive an order, you simply place an identical order with the distributor at a wholesale price and the distributor takes care of shipping the product to the end customer for you. The amount of profit you make is your selling price minus the wholesale price.”
Right? So, drop shipping involves an online store and a distributor who sends the product for you.
What about affiliate marketers? What are those? And what exactly do they do? How are they different from drop sharing companies and stores?
“Affiliate marketing is when you refer a customer to another business and take a commission if the customer makes a purchase. In effect, your website acts like a marketing and referral engine and you don’t actually sell any product. In addition, you don’t directly collect any money either. Once a sale has been made, the affiliate business is responsible for paying you your commission which usually occurs on a monthly basis.”
So what are the advantages of both positions?
With affiliate marketing, “The main advantage of affiliate marketing is that the entire sales process is completely hands off. Once you refer a customer to a business and the customer makes a purchase, your job is done. You don’t have to worry about product fulfillment. You don’t have to worry about customer support. You just get paid your commission and that’s it.
With a dropshipped online store, the customer is effectively making a purchase from “your store” even though you are not the one fulfilling the product. As a result, you are responsible if the customer does not get their shipment on time. You are responsible if the product is defective or arrives broken. Therefore, you will have to devote a certain amount of time dealing with customer issues especially if your dropship vendors are not reliable.”
Nevertheless, drop shipping stores have a similar disadvantage, “The main advantage of dropshipping of course is that you don’t have to manage inventory or product fulfillment. However, since you are selling the product under your own store name, you are still responsible for customer support.”
