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Hide That Model or Part Number

Thursday, December 4 2008

If you have a drop ship home business or plan to start one, here is a security step that often goes overlooked. Hide that model or part number! When you buy from a drop ship supplier, you will have access to their product information which usually includes their part number. This might be different from the manufacturer's part number.

It's easy to just use the supplier part number on your website or eBay listing to save yourself some work. But here's the problem with that. When you use the supplier part number on your website, someone else can use it to find your supplier. You can thus make it easy for your competitors to find your suppliers. Conversely, you can use that method to find suppliers from your competitors but you didn't hear that from me (grin). Doesn't always work, but often you can put the part number in Google or another search and find the supplier just from that number.

If you deal in niche products for your drop ship home business, you'll want to protect your supplier sources as much as possible. It's an extra step to scramble the part number or just use your own but it can be worth it. And you'll need a way to cross reference them to your supplier number. That's easier done when you first setup your products, but you can always go back and set them up them later. How do you find niche products to sell on eBay or elsewhere on the web? Try using the Worldwide Brands OneSource Directory.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

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