Many internet marketers stay away from physical products because they are concerned that they will create more problems than they are worth.

It is true that you will need to find suppliers, stock inventory and deal with packaging and shipping. But you can also have a lot of success with physical products, so it’s worth exploring the possibilities. There are three main ways to incorporate physical products into your site.

Three Way to Add Physical Products to Your Site

1. Sell Directly to Consumers

First, you can sell the physical products directly to consumers. When you choose this path, you will probably either want to sell on Ebay or a similar site, or set up your own ecommerce site and sell directly to customers.

The negatives when you choose to use this method are that you will need to make sure you always keep enough inventory on hand and are able to package and ship the product in a timely manner. Especially in the beginning, when you can’t afford to hire help, you will most likely find yourself packing products until late at night and going to the post office every day.

If the product doesn’t get to the customer, you will need to get proof of delivery from the customer or the carrier and then either replace the product or issue a refund. You will also need to decide whether, and under what circumstances, you will accept returns. You will need to weigh the desire to please your customer with the fact that you will probably not be able to resell the product.

2. Use a Dropshipper

A second option is to use a dropshipper. You will need to research possible vendors and negotiate prices and other costs. Usually, the margin of profit is less because the dropshipper is acting as a middleman between you and the manufacturer.

With dropshipping, you will need to set up an ecommerce site and drive traffic to it. Then, when someone places an order, you will send the order to the dropshipper, pay for it, and they will ship directly to your customer.

This eliminates the need to carry inventory, packaging and shipping but you will need to take care of customer service. Customers won’t know they’re dealing with a middleman, so they will expect you to take care of their problems. This can be difficult if your dropshipper doesn’t live up to his responsibilities.

3. Become an Affiliate

The last option to sell physical products is to become an affiliate marketer. This can be lucrative, and if done correctly, much easier than either of the other two methods.

There are thousands of companies offering affiliate options.

For example, you can open an Amazon account and market any of its hundreds of thousands of products to your customers. There are also other affiliate networks that offer physical products, such as Linkshare and Clickbank.

Any one of these options can help you build a successful business online. However, you will need to decide which method is most suitable for your lifestyle, finances and time availability.