In 2019, the e-commerce industry is slowly picking up the pace. In this type of economic weather business models like blind shipping and drop shipping sound more appealing to entrepreneurs.
Among the two, blind shipping is a hot topic in the trading community. With the increase in international trading, business models like blind shipping are an ideal choice for many. Blind shipping simplifies the shipping process and also maintains the anonymity of the parties involved.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The whole trading space is extremely complicated. I don’t blame you if you feel a little lost. The process may be new and difficult to understand, but it’s nothing you can’t wrap your head around. Let’s dive in and start at the basics.
What is Blind Shipping All About?
So we have already established the fact that the blind shipping industry is growing rapidly. The question is, what is blind shipping? So let’s simplify the concept a little. The term blind shipping refers to the fact that the parties involved are not aware of who the shipper or the receiver is. This means that they are blind to the people involved in the process other than themselves. It can also be described in a manner that the customer is unaware regarding where is the shipment is really coming from. He will receive it as the seller sent it, but in real seller is using a company to blind ship the product to his customer.
So where is blind shipping most effective and why do sellers prefer it? The answer lies in the fact that in blind shipping, the hassle and grunt work is minimized. This is an obvious plus point for most of the sellers who do not wish to deal with the grunt work that comes with directly shipping the goods to the customer. The “grunt work” is dealing with warehouses and stocks. In addition to that, they have to deal with additional distribution channels. Most sellers would prefer to avoid that if they could. The good news is, through blind shipping, they can!
Most importantly seller does not need to invest in the stock, so his risk is minimized. He will just be concentrating on the marketing aspect, to increase the sales.
Blind shipping is also helpful in concealing the involvement of a third-party vendor. This is done by replacing the vendor’s information with the seller’s information. What this does is that now the buyer knows the product came from the seller, and not the vendor. Through numerous tips and tricks, the end goal is always to maintain anonymity.
The blind shipment method could be referred to as a “blind date” but in a business setting.
How Blind Shipment Works
As mentioned before blind shipping is preferred to minimize the cost and grunt work that goes into completing the shipments. In fact, most sellers prefer blind shipping because of its simplified process and the lower cost value associated with it. To make the process clear here is a little example.
Let’s assume that we have company A which is based in the USA. Company A is the manufacturer, offering blind shipping in this scenario. It will be manufacturing a product that will be sold to others. Now we assume that there is a seller A who is based in Ireland. This seller is going to buy the aforementioned product from company A and further sell it someplace else. This leads us towards customer A who is based in Russia. This customer is going to buy the product from the seller A. The same product which was initially manufactured by company A.
In this scenario, the seller A is the one utilizing the blind shipping method. The seller buys the product from the manufacturer and sells it to the customer A. So each of the party involved benefits here. Company who’s offering blind shipping, does not have to worry about selling to customers directly, It will be done by sellers. Sellers don’t have to maintain stock, and their customers receive the product as if seller sent it. Customer will have the product which he wanted to purchase. So it is a win-win for all the parties.
This method also conceals the identity of the manufacturing company A. If the customer finds out the company A he will not buy the product from seller A. The customer will now be getting the same product at a lower price than before. This will effect seller A’s livelihood. At the same time, the vendor/customer will be benefiting from this. This way you can understand how the process works and the damage caused once the anonymity is breached.
To summarize how blind shipping works; all you need is a website, it will have products from your vendor, who’s offering blind shipment. You will advertise those products, generate some sales. When a product is sold, you will send the details of your customer to your vendor, and he will send it as if you(the seller) sent it. Seller will have his own prices, more than what he’s getting the product for, of course. That margin will be seller’s profit.
Pros of Blind Shipping
One of the most obvious pros, which you might have already realized by now, is efficiency. Blind shipping is cost and time efficient. This method will make you save time and money as the distribution channels and the grunt work is minimized. Most seller prefer this because this method does not require any sort of inventory and warehouse. This allows the business owner to solely worry about the marketing aspect of the business. Focusing on search engine optimization and online advertisement becomes easier when the work load is distributed. Once the responsibility is off of only one person’s shoulders the process becomes easier to manage. Now, the shipping aspect is controlled by some company and the marketing is done by you. Hence, things are easier to manage.
Along with these pros, there is one that no other method provides. This is the anonymity of the third party vendors/manufacturer involved. The information of the manufacturer is concealed by the seller’s information. The makes the customer remain unaware of the origin of the product.
The blind shipping method comes with a number of pros but just like any other method, it is not perfect. So let’s look at some of the cons.
Cons of Blind Shipping
The whole shipping industry is fairly complicated. Despite the numerous pros offered by this blind shipping method, it has its flaws. Let’s talk about some conditions where this method does not perform as well as it should. Usually, the documentation for blind shipping is carried out through email. This is done to prevent and atone for any mistakes that might occur along the way. The most common mistake is the usage of an incorrect bill of lading.
What is a bill of lading, you might ask? Well, it is basically a legally binding document that will help in reassuring the parties involved in the process that they will process the delivery correctly. In each contract almost two bill of lading are required. Both of these bill of ladings will be prepaid. The bill of lading or BOL for short holds a lot of importance.
Failing to use the blind bill of lading can compromise the efficiency of the blind shipping method. Maintaining the anonymity of the parties involved is a plus point for blind shipping. If the final bill of lading is not switched, it can compromise the anonymity of the parties involved.
Most of the time the people dealing with blind shipment state that if something goes wrong they will not be held responsible. When cases like these do occur the routing mistakes are not handled by the people dealing with the shipment. This is why the most prominent con of dealing with blind shipping is the fact that the people involved have no control over the process. If not managed properly the product packaging and the time needed for the delivery is compromised. Such blunders are bound to affect the business of the people involved. These mistakes, however severe, can be managed and prevented by being careful.
Not having to invest in the stock is an advantage, but at the same time it comes under disadvantage as well. As you will be unaware of the quality of the product. And at times product will be out of stock, that can hurt your sales and credibility.
Risks Factors That Comes With Blind Shipping
We have talked about the pros and cons associated with blind shipping. It important to address that although this method comes with a few cons, they are still preventable. The blind shipping method comes with its fair share of pros, so the cons should not stop you from adopting this method.
The good news is, there is a legal method to prevent or manage any mistakes. This can be done via a letter of credit. Letter of credit? Yes! It is basically an agreement between the banks of the parties involved. Once the banks get involved almost is everything is set in stone. No one can go back on their word and if they do, there are consequences. The agreement being that the payment will be fulfilled once the task is completed successfully.
What this does is that the parties can remain anonymous and banks will act as a mediator to secure the payment. Dealing in an e-commerce ecosystem makes one prone to getting invovled in financial scams. Blind shipment can come with some financial risks if one does not know what they are getting themselves into. It is always better to know ways that can act as a safety net in time of crisis. In this case, definitely look into getting a letter of credit. Dealing in an e-commerce ecosystem makes one prone to getting involved in financial scams.
Drop Shipping And Blind Shipping – Are They the Same Thing?
If you are here reading this article, you are probably familiar with drop shipping. Blind shipping is basically a branch of the whole drop shipping shenanigan. The question is if blinding shipping different from drop shipping. Well, yes…and no. The concept behind both is pretty similar but they are still different than each other. Let’s weigh out the similarities first. Well for starters they both do not need a warehouse for storage of products. The person managing the business does not have to deal with managing the orders etc. Along with this in almost both of them, the third party company deals with most of the technical processes.
Now let’s move towards the differences. In drop shipping, the address and name of the warehouse or the distributor are mentioned on the associated documents. On the other hand, in blind shipping, the address, and name of the warehouse or the distributor are kept anonymous for maintaining anonymity. This is the only thing that differentiates the two. This is also one of the most obvious reason for why one is favored over the other.
Start Blind Shipping Today
There are many platforms that provide blind shipping services. The most notorious and successful of them all is Evereadyexpress. Evereadyexpress is by far one of the only reliable blind shipping platforms. The platform is easily accessible to all. Along with this, it requires a minimal fee to kickstart the process. The services provided will allow you to have maximum anonymity. You will remain anonymous throughout the whole process. For extra security, you can also track the shipment. What else could you ask for? The other one in the list is AliExpress.
It is essential to carefully choose the platform you are collaborating with. Putting your trust blindly into a company that deals with blind shipping is never a good idea (pun intended). Do your research and choose wisely.
Blind shipping is an excellent opportunity for those who are dealing with inventory and branding issues. With the help of platforms like evereadyexpress and aliexpress, you have no excuse to procrastinate and think about the resources you lack. So pick up your e-commerce game and start blind shipping. If you have any more ideas to add to this subject then comment down below and help others out.