How Much Information Should I Give My Supplier About My Customer?

Many drop ship retailers worry about their suppliers “stealing” their customers. They worry that with all the information needed in order to ship the product, the supplier will start advertising to the customer directly for additional sales in the future; thereby cutting you out.

In my experience, this rarely happens. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever happened to me. It all boils down to being careful when choosing your suppliers. Make sure they are a good and ethical company. Have a clear understanding of what, exactly, will be in the box with your shipments. I had a vendor that did everything right, except put a sticker on the product box with their logo and website. I simply had them stop using that sticker and everything is now fine.

So What Does The Supplier Actually Need?

Well, name and address, obviously. The questions usually come with phone numbers and email addresses. I do supply phone numbers because that is passed on to the shipper (UPS or whatever). If the shipper can’t find the shipping address, they should use that phone number to contact the customer and complete the delivery. A good thing for us all.

I do not, however, give my supplier my customer’s email address. I have yet to find any reason that they would need that piece of information. Questions about the order should be coming back to you, the retailer. If they want the email address to send tracking information, give them your own. I want my company to notify my customer of shipment status, not the supplier.

Conclusion

Do your homework, pick good suppliers, and you really should never have to worry about your suppliers taking your customers. Most likely they aren’t in that business anyway. They realize there is much more in it for them to keep a retailer happy, than to take a single consumer. Double check periodically, however. You never know.

One Response to “How Much Information Should I Give My Supplier About My Customer?”

1. jamezu Says:
   February 1st, 2008 at 2:14 am

   yup, it’s really better to be careful and double check things rather than sorry in the end. n_n

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