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Tea dropshipping is getting famous nowadays due to many reasons. It is popular, and the most widely consumed beverage in the world next to water, and almost 80% of all U.S. households keep tea in their homes.
The USA market is the biggest opportunity for tea sellers.
If you have ever wondered how to start a tea dropshipping business, this will serve to be the best guide you have ever come across. This will give you insight into this marketplace.
Are you ready? Let’s get started!
Market size of Tea Sales in the US (1990 to 2020)
As per a Statista statistic report published on Jan 13, 2022, the wholesale tea value in the United States from 1990 to 2020. U.S. wholesale tea sales amounted to approximately 1.84 billion U.S. dollars in 1990 and increased to about 13.12 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
In 2019 alone, ready-to-drink (RTD) tea generated sales amounting to approximately 7.9 billion U.S. dollars.
How does Tea Dropshipping work?
Starting a tea dropshipping business is fairly simple. You can break this process into simple steps:
- Finding a supplier
- Buying a domain and hosting
- Build an online store
- Marketing Plan
I will be sharing each of these steps in detail down the page. However, let’s first learn what dropshipping is and how exactly it works.
Dropshipping: An Overview
Dropshipping is a business model where a seller will enter into an agreement with a supplier (prior to selling the item) to ship the product directly to the buyer.
The motivation point here is that a seller never buys the product, nor does make any investment into product-buying until an item is sold. They also do not have to go through the hassle of packaging and shipping.
This way, a drop shipper can list the items on their eCommerce store and when the item gets sold, they can forward it to the supplier for order fulfillment.
Sounds interesting? Well, let’s find out about the benefits that drop shipping offers.
What are the Benefits of Tea Dropshipping?
- There is no upfront investment
- No cost/low-cost business model
- Hassle-free packaging and shipment
- Work from home/office or anywhere
- Part-time or full-time opportunity
How To Start A Tea Dropshipping Business
Building a tea dropshipping business will require:
- Domain and Hosting
- An online store
- A Supplier
- Marketing Plan
Let’s learn in detail about each of these steps…
1. Domain and Hosting
Before you launch your tea dropshipping store, you need a domain name. Your domain is your store’s online address. Let’s say, for example, my blog is an online store and its domain is www.BossfreeStressfree.com.
In addition to your domain name, you also need the space required for building your store. Your store will have lots of content, file, and images and you need an online space to store them. This space hosts your website and is called Hosting. A domain name and hosting is the first step you need to take.
I prefer Namecheap for my domain and hosting services; however, you can use any of the other reliable companies like Hostinger.
2. An Online Store
The next step is to build your online shop for your tea dropshipping business. If you do not know how to build an online store, you need to hire a web developer who will have the expertise in building your store and integrating a payment method. For an online store, you can use any reliable platform like Shopify or WooCommerce. Shopify comes with a monthly cost while WooCommerce does not cost you anything.
To build your store, you need a web developer. I prefer Fiverr where you can find good developers to build your online store.
3. Finding a Supplier
Now, you need to look for a supplier that can fulfill all the orders you receive from the buyers. You can find such suppliers in your neighborhood, in local markets, and at the trade fair to name a few. They are available online as well.
I recommend partnering up with a reliable supplier who must provide quality products at a competitive price, 1-2 days shipments as well as offer Returns and Refunds. If you can find a Wholesale supplier, you would have a better profit margin.
If you have not been able to find any suppliers as yet, you should keep your search on, and in the meantime, you can try SaleHoo where you can find vetted and reliable tea dropshipping suppliers.
4. Marketing Plan
The last and most important part of your business plan is marketing your store to potential buyers so that you can get leads and conversion. For marketing, you can go for Google Advertising and Facebook marketing.
You should focus on launching successful marketing campaigns that will bring customers to you. However, that should not end here.
It is important that these customers become recurring customers. Fortunately, tea is such a beverage that you can easily turn your random website visitors into your recurring customers by delivering quality products and services. While you are running your campaigns, remember it is easy to bring a customer than keep it for a long time. So, made sure you do not lose customers once they buy from you.
Find A Dropshipping Tea Supplier
Finding a dropshipping tea supplier is a very important step in the entire process, and you must not rush through it.
For your business success, you need to understand that you and your dropshipping tea supplier have to work together as partners to keep the customers happy and the business going.
When finding a supplier, make sure you choose a reputable supplier with a good inventory of tea and other beverages, and the ability to efficiently, safely, and quickly ship those items.
Sometimes, drop shippers pick the suppliers who use their own name and your customers think the tea you drop ship comes from another supplier which is not good for your business.
So, you should always associate the service they receive from your dropshipping supplier with your brand.
You can also try using a wholesale directory. Directories provide a vetted list of wholesalers and dropshipping suppliers. In some cases, they’ll even choose the best ones for their price, product selection, and shipping times. These directories do not focus on any one product category, so you’ll have to search within each to find wholesale tea suppliers.
To find suppliers, you can use the supplier directory. They provide a long list of vetted dropshipping suppliers as well as wholesalers. They also provide filter options to select suppliers by their product selection, price, and shipping timeline.
Some of the well-known directories are:
Herbal Tea Dropshipping
Let’s talk about Herbal tea dropshipping now.
Herbal tea is gaining popularity due to its health benefits. People from all over the world have been taking herbal tea for centuries. Herbal tea dropshipping business can be a good opportunity for your online store.
Benefits of Herbal Tea
Chamomile tea – It helps to reduce muscle spasms and thus reduces menstrual pain, and stress, and also improves sleep and relaxation.
Rooibos – It provides relief from allergies, improves blood pressure and circulation as well as lowers bad cholesterol. It also makes hair healthy and strong.
Peppermint – Peppermint contains menthol that can serve as a treatment for constipation and soothes an upset stomach, motion sickness, and irritable bowel syndrome. It offers relief from migraines pain, tension, and headaches.
Ginger – It is an excellent herb against morning sickness, and is used to treat joint pain caused by osteoarthritis and chronic indigestion.
Hibiscus – It is well known for preventing the formation of kidney calculi (stones) as well as lowering fat levels and blood pressure and improving overall liver health.
Herbal Tea Dropshipping Suppliers
1. Lifetime Tea
If you are looking for a supplier for herbal tea, you can try Lifetime Tea. They offer private label customized services.
The Minimum Order Value (MOV) for creating any custom blend is $2,000.
They can offer:
- Green tea
- White tea
- Matcha
- Oolong
- Black tea
- Pu-erh
- Rooibos
2. Empire Tea
The company started around 42 years ago.
They are in the wholesale and drop shipping tea business. You can use them for even private label dropshipping. They have a very reasons le price for loose tea and pyramid sachets that start at 4.50 per Pouch and 5.00 per Tin respectively.
3. GreenDropShip
GreenDropShip offers over 20,000 Natural, Organic, Gourmet & Specialty Products at real Wholesale Prices. They offer you all tools required for your dropshipping business. However, you need to take their annual dropship membership, available for US $149.00/year.
Learn more
Final Words
Now, you are fully ready to launch your general tea or organic tea dropshipping business in the US and elsewhere. While launching your business, it is important that you set the right expectations for yourself. Remember, just because you have started a tea business does not mean everyone will start buying from you immediately. It takes time (I sold my first item after 6 months) and you get better day by day through your experience as a drop shipper. organic tea dropshipping
If for some reason, your standalone store is not making good money for you, you need to find out the reason and replace them with what will work for you. In the meantime, so as to stay motivated and earn some money in your initial days as a drop shipper, you can start selling on eCommerce marketplaces also like Amazon or eBay while working on your store to bring business.
Are you already dropshipping? How has been your experience? Do share your comments in the box below. Is this article helpful? If so, please do share it on your social media with others so that everyone can benefit. Sharing is caring. 🙂
