- Exclusive suppliers cap the total number of retailers they approve to protect their brand reputation and pricing.
- They aren’t the right fit for beginners — they’re looking for retailers who can already move product.
- If you get accepted, you enter a far less saturated market with fewer competing retailers.
- Many exclusive suppliers will send you free traffic since they don’t retail their own products directly.
- It takes longer to build these relationships, but the payoff in exclusivity and reduced competition is worth it.
In this dropship supplier training series, we’ve covered Open Door suppliers, MAP suppliers, and Private Label suppliers. Now let’s jump into the 4th type of dropship supplier — the one we call:
“Exclusive Dropship Suppliers”
Exclusive dropshipping suppliers are exactly what the name implies. They cap off the total number of retailers they accept for their products — usually to protect their brand reputation and pricing integrity.
They also limit retailer numbers because they’ve often experienced the frustration of approving too many applicants who never actually do anything to sell their products.
Exclusive suppliers are the wrong suppliers to apply to if you’re just getting started. Like every other legitimate supplier, they’re looking for retailers who can actually move product — not first-timers still figuring out the basics. Build your track record with open door or MAP suppliers first, then come back to exclusive suppliers once you have proven sales experience to point to.
That said, exclusive suppliers can be excellent to work with once you do get accepted — because you’ll typically be entering a far more exclusive retail market. In other words, you’ll be one of the few retailers with permission to sell their products at all. Many exclusive suppliers will also send you free traffic to your website, since they often don’t do any retailing themselves in many circumstances. They leave the retailing entirely up to you.
It takes a bit longer to follow up and eventually secure these relationships with exclusive dropshippers — but it’s genuinely worth the extra effort and patience.
Where to Go From Here
Inside the DropshipXL Supplier membership, we have an eCourse that shows you exactly how to find and get accepted with exclusive suppliers — along with every other supplier type covered in this series.
We’ve researched and curated a growing list of quality exclusive dropship suppliers, included as part of your membership alongside the many other tools, resources, suppliers, and training you get access to when you join.
If you’re serious about learning and accessing what it takes to build a genuinely successful, lucrative dropship business, now’s the time to take action.
Now that we’ve covered the various types of dropship suppliers you can work with, you can see how approachable this can actually be — even if you’re brand new to dropshipping. It works. And this business model isn’t going anywhere, because there will always be products people want to buy.
You’re choosing a solid business model — one with the power to help you build real financial independence, fund vacations, supplement retirement income, or simply keep your mind sharp and engaged as you get older.
In any case, you have what it takes to get started — so now is your time.
Join the Academy
Take Action — Set Up Your DropshipXL Supplier Account Today
Get immediate access to our full supplier directory, all of Trent’s mastery training, and the complete eCourse on finding and getting accepted with exclusive suppliers.
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I’ll see you inside the members area!
Hi…Ordered “WordPress for Beginners” to build websites.
Picked a better niche, thank you for help doing that.
Political and health disruption is distracting buyers. So this is a good time to learn. Will think hard about using your suppliers. Thank you.