Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are all of Affordable Agility's products available for drop-ship?
A. No, only a select amount representing most of our best-sellers. If you are a registered user you will have access to the selection list. Sometimes there are changes to the selection or prices. Once you are a registered user, you will be notified of any changes by email, but you still should visit here often to keep up-to-date just in case.


Q. I do not have a website with a shopping cart. Can I still be a drop-shipper?
A. Yes, providing you are a legitimate business and can receive money from customers. We do not drop-ship to people for their own use. You must have a real customer you are selling to. We reserve the right to ban membership of anyone who does not have a customer they are selling the product to.


Q. Can I sell on eBay?
A. No. We do not allow anyone to sell on eBay or any similar discount venue. This includes eBay "stores". The reason for this rule is to keep our line of equipment 'pure' in the sense of setting a MAP standard for pricing, as well as a distinction in the market.


Q. How do I bring in sales?
A. If you have a website: You will create a virtual on-line store of our products. After you sign up to be a Drop-Shipper, you will have access to the Product Feed and Price List to freely use the images and descriptions for your website. If you do not have a website, but you have 'clients' or customers who are interested in agility equipment: After you sign up to be a Drop-Shipper, you will have access to a printable catalog that you can print and give out to people. These are catalogs that have a space on them to put your own label ("To order anything in this catalog, contact: Your Business Name"). There is also order forms/price sheets to print out that you will insert into your catalogs.


Q. How do I make money?
A. You will charge your customer the retail cost for the item, plus a flat-rate shipping fee that we tell you ahead. You collect the money and deposit it into your own account. (It is best if you can accept credit cards, but if not, you will have to take checks and cash) Then you contact us with the order details, and we ship the item(s) to your customer. Then we charge YOUR credit card on file with the discounted "Drop-Shipper's" price for that item, plus the flat-rate shipping amount. This is how you make money. You collected more from the customer than what you were charged for by us.


Q. What do I charge for the obstacles?
A. You must charge at least the retail cost, which is the same cost as what we sell the item for on AffordableAgility.com. You cannot sell the item for less than our published website price. After you sign up, you will have access to the price list.


Q. Do you 'blind' drop-ship? (that is, hide the fact that the products come from Affordable Agility?)
A. No. The assembly instructions and shipping label on the box will show our name. So in this sense, no, it is not truly blind-ship. However, with the Drop-Ship program, there is no up-front customer connection with Affordable Agility. Neither do we put one of our own invoices in the box. (We use a generic blank one that says "if you have any questions about your order, contact the company that you purchased it from). You will have to provide your customers with your own invoice/receipt. Note: If you wish for a completely separate 'identity' such as in a true blind-drop ship program, you may want to consider our Wholesale Program. However ,you have to stock the items and ship them out yourself. The DropShip program is truly the easiest way to go, and it also has a larger selection of obstacles.


Q. How do I send you the order(s)?
A. You can email, fax, or call us to place the order. You'll mention you are a Drop-Shipper, and will give us your customer's name and address where to ship the order. (UPS also asks for the phone #). We will always confirm we received the order within a few business hours (9-5, M-F, EST) of you sending it, so if you don't receive confirmation, contact us ASAP so as to not delay the order for your customer.


Q. How do I pay for each order?
A. You must put a credit card on file with us (you can do so with your first order). When you place an order, we charge you for the discounted Drop-Shipper's amount plus the flat-rate shipping charge. We ask that you call in your first order so we can get a credit card number on file to use for your future orders. If we find that you are sending us more than one order, per week, for a period of 4 weeks in a row, we can set you up on a Net30 status if you prefer.


Q. Why a flat-rate shipping charge?
A. The flat-rate shipping charge represents an "average" cost for us to ship the item from N.Y. to any of the domestic U.S. states. For some, it will actually be more, for some it will actually be less. But to make things simpler, so there is not a multitude of shipping rates to program in your site, we provide you an average. If you charge your customer this amount, we will in turn charge you this amount, and you will not lose out on any money. We suggest that in your description you mention what the shipping amount will be that will be added on.


Q. Where do You ship?
A. While we can ship all over the world, the flat-rate charge we charge you (which you can charge your customer) covers only the domestic United States. If you have a customer from Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Canada, or any international countries, you must contact us first for a shipping quote, which you will then want to pass on to your customer. Or you can charge them whatever you want, but we have to charge you the exact rate that it will cost us to send it to that customer. All this makes sending non-domestic more complicated, and you may want to just put in the description that it will take extra processing time.


Q. How do You ship?
A. In most cases the items ship UPS, but a few items are sent by Post Office/Priority Mail. International shipments (as well as Hawaii and Alaska) are usually shipped by Parcel Post. We will mention in the Drop-Shippers Selection Page (which you will get after you sign up) how each item is shipped so you can tell your customers if you wish.


Q. Do you communicate with my customers?
A. No, in all cases we would try to refer them back to you if they should happen to contact us by accident. Most likely they will contact you first with any questions. If you would like your customer to get an automated UPS email notifying them of their tracking number and their shipment delivery date, you need to provide us with your customer's email address. This will not put them on our mailing list.


Q. How quickly do you ship, and how do you handle backorders?
A. We pride ourselves in keeping our obstacles in stock for immediate shipping. After receiving your order we will ship it out to your customer in 48 business hours (Mon-Fri. 8-5, EST) unless we inform you otherwise. After that, the time your customer gets the obstacle depends on their distance from N.Y. We suggest you tell your customer 2 weeks to be safe, though 95% of the time they will get it in about a week. In the occasional instances where we have an item back-ordered, we will tell you so you can pass that information on to your customer. (Usually there is no need for this though, because most our back-orders don't last more than a week). If, in the even more rare instances where we anticipate longer back-orders, we will tell you ahead so you can mention it in your website.


Q. How do you handle returns?
A. While returns are rare for our items, if a customer wants to return something they will likely contact you first. You will then contact us directly for a suggestion as to how to handle it. Each situation is different, but in most cases where the customer just changes their mind, you'll want to advise the customer to return the item to us. When we get it, we'll notify you to credit your customer (minus the shipping), and we in return will credit you (minus the shipping). On rare occasions where something is our fault (wrong item, for example), we will do a "call tag" to the customer so they don't have to mail the item back themselves, and you can credit them their shipping as well, and we will do the same for you. more...


Q. Will prices and the selection change?
A. We understand the inconvenience that price changes make on our Drop-Shippers, so we make every effort not to change them unless we absolutely have to. But because of fluctuating market conditions and material costs, Affordable Agility reserves the right to change prices, including the suggested retail cost, your discounted Drop-Shipper's price, and the flat-rate shipping cost. In addition, the selection can change. An item may be discontinued or a new item may be added. It is advisable that you periodically check the Drop-Shippers Price List page (that you'll be given when you sign up) to see if there are any changes. But once you sign up and give us your email address, we will also email you updates as they happen.