Dripshipper is an amazing tool that allows you to sell coffee beans directly from your online Shopify store, which means no inventory or fulfillment costs.
Dripshipper is a (relatively) new service that helps ecommerce businesses create their own dropshipping store. The idea behind Dropshipper is simple: they provide a free web application that lets anyone build a business dropshipping coffee in minutes.
The app streamlines everything. They source the coffee, allwo you to use your own brand on all the packaging, and completely automate inventory and order fulfillment.
So they provide two services, basically. First they operate as a source for coffee and second they operate as a tech platform in the form of an app you can add to Shopify that provides full and automated integration with your order fulfillment.
All that's left to do for you is to sell the coffee and process payment.
In this post we'll go into more detail on how the App works and when it might be appropriate to use it.
How to Get Started With Dripshipper
First, Dripshipper is built by an organization called the Doughty Org.
They specialize in building Shopify Apps intended to help merchants drop ship products, so their other apps include things like Beardsy - used to drop ship hair care products - and Blingy - used to build a drop shipping business selling jewelry.
Each of their apps / services provides a very specific and narrowly focused product to dropship.
Dripshipper is intended only for those who want to:
A. Sell coffee.
B. Sell coffee through a drop shipping model.
C. Use Shopify to do A & B.
So before using their service you'll need to be ready to sell your coffee through Shopify.
If you're certain in using Shopify for your online coffee store, the first step in using Dripshipper is to choose the type of coffee you would want to sell.
They offer single origin coffee, blends, and even flavoured coffee (things like "French Vanilla" and so on..). Their decaf coffee is decaffeinated using the Swiss Water Process.
You also have the option to choose from different roasts so you can sell light to dark roast coffee products.
The coffee is sourced from regions like Costa Rica, Brazil, and Colombia.
Finally, you should be aware that Dripshipper doesn't just provide coffee beans - they also sell coffee capsules and pods.
What Does Dripshipper Cost?
Using the Dripshipper app costs $30 USD per month.
After that the other costs you need to consider are the prices of the coffee you'll be purchasing from them.
The prices are broken down in the following table below (all prices are USD):
As you can see the prices are inclusive of packaging, custom branding labels, and shipment tracking. So each bag of coffee you sell through their service comes with those additional services.
It's also important to note that they offer discounted pricing based on volume.
Once you have spent $1,000 prices per order are discounted by 5%.
Once you exceed $5,000 in purchases prices drop by 8%.
Finally, at $10,000 you get a 10% discount on the original price.
How Fast is the Shipping?
According to Dripshipper all coffee is roasted to order before being packaged by hand. To ensure quality and freshness, whole bean coffee is shipped on the same day it was roasted. Ground coffee takes an extra day so that is usualyl shipped out the day after it was ordered.
So the time to receive the coffee depends on when it was ordered and when the next batch of coffee was scheduled to be roasted.
On average it should take from 1-5 business days before the coffee is shipped, and of course it can take an additional 1-5 business days to receive the coffee if its sent with standard ground shipping by USPS.
What about International Shipping?
Note that although Dripshipper is a US based business they do ship internationally. International shipping rates are determined using the USPS's cheapest rate.
Regardless of the customers location the shipping delays are the same. 1 - 5 days depending on when the next roast was scheduled and once shipped out the time it takes depends on the courrier service.
Can You Use Dripshipper for Coffee Subscriptions?
We've written a lot about the coffee subscription model, mostly because it's such a compelling way to sell coffee. So it makes sense to find out if Dripshipper can be applied to that sort of business.
The short answer is "Yes", you can use Dripshipper to start a coffee subscription business.
The app doesn't provide the subscription functionality and unfortunately that's also not a feature Shopify provides on its own.
However, other Apps can be installed on Shopify's platform and can add in the ability to sell coffee through a re-occurring subscription model if needed. Dripshipper recommends using the Paywhirl app to set this up and confirm on their website that their products compatible with the app.
Does Dripshipper Handle the Labels?
Yes, Dripshipper provides extensive options for branding and creating custom coffee labels on your coffee products. In fact it's one of the biggest selling points of the service.
The Custom Coffee Creator
Dripshipper provides something they refer to as the "Custom Coffee Creator" which, simply put, helps you go through the process of creating a custom label.
Basically, the process prompts you to take the followng actions, step by step:
1. Create your own custom label.
A key part of the process is ensuring your packaged coffee includes labelling that complies with FDA requirements (they have a resource which details those).
2. Select actual coffee.
Meaning you choose the quantity, bag type, flavor, roast, etc..
3. Select Professional Product Photos
The App will also enable you to select from a small variety of professional photos of the coffee and packaged coffee.
4. Purchase Labels
At this stage the wizard will ask you to select the number of labels you would like to purchase.
Dripshipper staff will review the labels created and purchased to ensure that all the necessary guidelines have been followed. Once they've completed the review they send the label design to a printer. Once the labels are printed, they update your product's stock level in Shopify.
The emergence of Dripshipper as product that both automates inventory and sources coffee is exciting as it brings robust drop shipping capabilities to the world of coffee.
I should also add that reviews of Dripshipper appear to be overwhelmingly positive, with only some complaints regarding the limited options for selling to customers outside the U.S. - which might be something that can eventually be improved upon.
