SaleHoo would turn 15 this year. That could be a long time for a directory of any sort to survive on the internet. However, that’s not the only noteworthy statistic about it. Listing 8,000+ verified suppliers and 1.6 million+ products and boasting of 137,000 active members and expanding forum space, the platform indeed grabs eyeballs.
But wait! You must scan it with a lens in hand before making any investment (obviously with the goal of making some profits) in it. So, it’s important to know is SaleHoo:
- A legit resource?
- Safe for your presence on it?
- Popular among its current members (and if not, why)?
- Better than other similar platforms?
- Most importantly, useful enough to cater to your needs?
The SalesHoo review you are about to read answers each of these questions. We have made it a current and comprehensive assessment based on information from numerous resources. Let’s begin knowing it.
Table of Contents
Few Assumptions About You
Before we begin with the actual review, we assume a few reasons why you are reading it:
- You have heard about the trend of making money by selling products online and want to know the process.
- Dropshipping is an absolutely new concept for you and you wish to know some good tips about it.
- You are already selling products online using concepts like dropshipping, e-commerce and wholesale but with little or no success.
SaleHoo – An Overview
SaleHoo is an online directory of dropshipping and wholesale suppliers (along with direct manufacturers and liquidation firms). It means that you may search the directory to connect with hundreds of thousands of companies from which you can source products and sell them online to your customers.
The platform supports two different and equally popular models of online selling:
- Wholesale – The good old model in which you purchase products at wholesale prices from suppliers. Then, you store them in a warehouse or any other space and sell them as and when you receive orders from customers. In short, you maintain an inventory of products to be sold.
- Dropshipping – In this model, you would first book order from a customer and then purchase it from a supplier. The best part is that the supplier would directly deliver the order to the customer and you don’t need to maintain an inventory.
In any of these models, what you may struggle to find are the suppliers who:
- Are reliable or have been verified as legitimate
- Have a reputation for fast delivery
- Accepts zero or low minimum orders and
- Offer prices that are decent enough to leave a good profit margin for your business
That’s what SaleHoo promises to have accomplished. The directory finds and evaluates the suppliers and lists only those which it considers being the best ones meeting the above-mentioned parameters. That’s what you may not be able to do effectively after searching and scrolling through Google search results.
SaleHoo – The Team and the Background
SaleHoo is the brainchild of Simon Slade who faced a tough time looking for quality suppliers during his early years of selling online in New Zealand. With time, he developed the talent to evaluate suppliers and select the most profitable ones. It was then he decided to guide fellow online sellers and joined forces with Mark Ling, another successful online seller, to launch SaleHoo in 2005.
Within 8 months of the launch, the directory managed to register 10,000 members. One thing that works in its favour is that SaleHoo holds accreditation from the Better Business Bureau since the year 2006. The bureau rates the directory at ‘A+’ which is the highest for any business to achieve.
What Does SaleHoo Cost?
Salehoo offers membership at the annual cost of $67. It means that you may get access to one of the largest online database of wholesale and dropshipping suppliers at less than $6 per month. Three things that make this offer noteworthy are:
- A 7-day trial that would cost you only $1
- $127 as the total cost for lifetime access to the directory
- 60 days money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the directory’s services
Apart from suppliers’ lists, the members get a lot more from the directory at the above-mentioned cost.
What Do Members Get?
Suppliers’ Information
First and foremost, the registered members get full access to the contact information of various suppliers. In addition, you get to know every suppliers:
Range of products
Customer reviews
Product and service quality
Minimum order quantities
Regions/countries they ship to
Modes of shipping and much more
So, how may you benefit from this information?
Browse suppliers according to product categories
Search for suppliers in your own region/country
Find suppliers from other countries/regions including UK, USA, China, Australia and more
Compare suppliers using criteria like prices, ratings, etc. to select the best ones
Hot and Trending Products
The online sellers are often confused about which products would let them earn the biggest profits. Salehoo offers ‘Research Lab’ as a feature to address this issue. Using it, you may conduct market research among 1.6 million products to find out the hot and trending products. Here’s how you may benefit out of it:
- Keep a watch on the hot, trending, bestselling, latest and upcoming products
- Compare and choose products that only a few online sellers sell and thus have low competition
- Benefit out of occasional or seasonal products that are in demand only for a period of time every year
- Create product reports for better analysis and selection based on prices, competition, popularity and more
- Saves time than searching for the latest trends on social media and other platforms
Training
In its ‘Resources’ section, SaleHoo offers training in the form of manuals, guides, ebooks and videos for the online sellers. The people behind the directory claim to provide training to those who wish to achieve big but are not quite familiar with the best strategies of selling online. Some ways in which you may benefit from it include:
- Getting familiar with the dropshipping model and tips to get success in it
- How to start an e-commerce store and various strategies to beat the competition
- Guides for selling on the popular marketplaces like eBay and Amazon
SaleHoo Stores
Those who have no knowledge of building an online store, Salehoo offers store building assistance to them. One may choose among 15 store design templates with in-built tools for marketing. However, you must pay an additional monthly cost of $27, $47 and $97 respectively for Basic, Standard and Premium plans.
SaleHoo – Members’ Area and Support
Once you register with SaleHoo, you get access to the Dashboard and a number of tools that are useful in day-to-day activities. The directory’s member support system and forum area are among its much-talked-about features. Here’s a review of how SaleHoo facilitates its members:
Dashboard
The Dashboard area is simple yet user-friendly as it helps members keep things organized. Some of its highlights include:
- Save Supplier’s Information: Once you search and select a supplier, you can save his or her information. It eliminates the need to search for suppliers and their contact information again and again.
- Easy Communication: You would be notified about a message from any supplier immediately. You may also start an interaction with a supplier from the inbox. SaleHoo offers professional messaging templates for those who are new to online selling. On the flip side, you can interact with the suppliers using only text messages.
Training Progress Tracking: The Dashboard also allows keeping track of the training modules so that you may start exactly from where you left.
Support
Apart from all sorts of online selling guides, SaleHoo offers fantastic customer support to its members. Its customer support channels include:
- Emails and contact form
- Phone (available weekdays from 05:30 p.m. to 01:30 a.m.)
- Live chat (available 12 hours on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends)
Forums
SaleHoo Forums consist of an extremely active community that offers instant help and assistance. With over 60,000 posts, there is no dearth of information about a variety of topics available at these forums.
Answering the Important Questions about SaleHoo
Is SaleHoo Legit? Yes! With registered headquarters in Christchurch, New Zealand and a convincing existence of nearly 15 years, the directory is 100% legitimate. It utilizes a rigorous process of vetting wholesale and dropshipping suppliers to make the platform useful for online sellers. Moreover, one may find the top brands like Sony and Disney listed in the directory.
Is SaleHoo Safe? There are rare complaints of the directory being unsafe for online sellers. It offers a ‘full guarantee’ for every supplier it lists. So, there are the least chances of dealing with a supplier with a poor reputation or any fraudulent behaviour in the past. It also provides you with the peace of mind for selling only original and authentic products and no fake items or imitations.
Is SaleHoo Useful? If you have less experience and time to research the right kind of suppliers, SaleHoo is a good platform to get started with. However, you can’t expect to make any direct money with the platform. After all, it’s a directory offering recommendations and guides. You can make the best out of its supplier referrals, market research and training to build an online selling business.
Is SaleHoo for You? For this, you can refer to the pros and cons of the directory and decide for yourself.
When SaleHoo Might Not Be for You? If you are good at searching Google and other free platforms for suppliers, you might not need to pay for SaleHoo services.
Concluding with a Comparison
In the end, it would be appropriate to compare SaleHoo with another popular supplier directory called Worldwide Brands. Here are some important points:
- SaleHoo’s lifetime fee is $127 while that of Worldwide Brands is $299
- Worldwide Brands promises no money-back guarantee
- SaleHoo’s top features include training support and product market research. These are missing from Worldwide Brands’ offerings
- SaleHoo’s suppliers’ lists are limited to the countries mentioned above whereas Worldwide Brands lists suppliers from across the globe
So, what’s the final verdict about the directory? The opportunity to purchase from the verified and genuine suppliers with SaleHoo is one aspect that overpowers most of the others. Moreover, you get free training to begin in the world of online selling which is indeed a good add-on. On the scale of 1 to 5, we rate SaleHoo at 4.5 and recommend it strongly.
SaleHoo Review
SaleHoo would turn 15 this year. That could be a long time for a directory of any sort to survive on the internet. However, that’s not the only noteworthy statistic about it. Listing 8,000+ verified suppliers and 1.6 million+ products and boasting of 137,000 active members and expanding forum space, the platform indeed grabs eyeballs.
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