If you’re a brand-new store getting ignored or rejected by dropshipping suppliers, this is specifically about that problem: how to actually get approved when you have no sales history, not general supplier vetting. I’ve got a dedicated supplier sourcing guide for the broader vetting process. This one is just about getting past the door.
I teach ecommerce and high-ticket dropshipping at Ecommerce Paradise, and the gap between a generic outreach email and one that actually gets approved is almost always the same handful of things.
Look Like a Real Business Before You Reach Out
Suppliers get outreach from a lot of people who are “thinking about” starting a store. Having an actual registered business, a working business email on your own domain, and a live site, even a simple one, before you contact anyone immediately puts you in a smaller, more credible pool.
Don’t Send a Generic Email
A message that could be copy-pasted to any supplier in any industry reads exactly like what it is. Reference the specific product line, mention why it fits your store’s focus, and ask a real question about their dealer program rather than just asking “can I sell your products.”
Expect to Be Asked About Your Marketing Plan
Suppliers that care about their brand want to know how you’ll represent it, not just that you’ll move units. Having a short, honest answer ready, what channels you’ll use, how you’ll price within their MAP policy, roughly what volume you expect in the first few months, makes you look prepared instead of improvised.
Follow Up Instead of Disappearing After One Email
A lot of suppliers simply don’t respond to a first email, not because they said no, but because they’re busy and it’s not urgent to them. A polite follow-up a week or two later, not pushy, catches a meaningful number of approvals that a single unanswered email would have left on the table.
Start With Suppliers Who Actually Work With New Stores
Not every manufacturer requires years of sales history. Some dealer programs are specifically built to onboard new stores, and finding those first builds both revenue and a track record you can point to when you approach the stricter suppliers later.
What Changes Once You Have a Track Record
The whole conversation gets easier once you can point to actual sales, which is exactly why starting with the suppliers most open to new stores matters. A first approval makes the second one easier, and the second makes the third easier still.
Want Help Getting Approved by Real Suppliers?
I work directly with people building and scaling high-ticket dropshipping stores.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an LLC before contacting suppliers?
It’s not always a hard requirement, but having one, along with a business email and EIN, makes you look significantly more credible to a supplier deciding whether to approve a stranger.
How long should I wait before following up on an outreach email?
A week or two is reasonable. Suppliers are often just busy, not uninterested, and one polite follow-up catches a real number of approvals a single email would have missed.
Should I target big-name suppliers first?
Usually not. Starting with suppliers who are known to work with newer stores, then using that track record to approach stricter ones, works better than getting rejected by your top pick first.
New to this? Grab my free beginner guide →, or if you want direct guidance, check out my coaching program →.
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- How to Find the Best Suppliers for High-Ticket Dropshipping
- Dropshipping Wholesalers vs Manufacturers: Who Should You Work With?
- Why I Chose High-Ticket Dropshipping Instead of Cheap Products
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
