If you lack the capital to start up a home based gift basket business, of course you could borrow money from family and friends, get a loan, refinance your house, sell your car, etc. But then you'd have to pay it back.

So you'd be starting your business owing money. Not a good way to start out. Starting a new business and drumming up income is hard enough without bills hanging over your head.

Also there's a learning curve on how to make gift baskets, and how to make them so they're professional and presentable to sell in the marketplace. Deciding on what type of baskets to make and what themes would be the best for you are more decisions to make. Then buying all the necessary supplies and equipment to make them is a big expense.

You must have an adequate supply of gift baskets made up before you start marketing your gift baskets. You must have a lot of room to make and store the gift baskets also.

There are shipping boxes, containers, packing, postage and shipping expenses. Shipping gift baskets isn't like simply shipping a book. It's more complex. There's so much to think about.

However, drop shipping the gift baskets will eliminate the need for all of this.

To eliminate going into debt, and learning how and what gift baskets to make, a great idea is to find a FREE drop shipper to work with. One that will not cost you an arm or leg to connect with.

Besides finding the right gift basket drop ship vendor, here's a big secret about why it's a very good reason, providing you're not coughing up any money to start. And that is, as you market the gift baskets, you'll develop a nice list of buying customers.

They'll all be YOUR customers.

You can then think about making and selling your own gift baskets and marketing them to your ever growing list. You'll also know what themes they're most interested in and you'll want to keep good notes on this. Once they've purchased from you they'll be more likely to purchase from you again.

Okay, so here is where you have to be careful. There are just a small handful of gift basket drop shippers out there.

Most of them charge enrollment fees, monthly fees, expect you to meet quotas, charge start up fees of various kinds and tie you to a contract. You don't want to do any of that. You don't need to.

There are a couple of drop shippers out there, with quality gourmet gift baskets that don't charge ANY upfront fees, any start up fees, any monthly fees, expect you to meet quotas monthly, etc.

When choosing a drop ship vendor, you want one that carries a broad range of gourmet and specialty gift baskets, not just one specialty or theme. This is because you're really narrowing the market when you do this. You want to have the broadest range possible.

They may also have other lines too like, candy, chocolates, gifts, wedding capsules, ready mixes, baby items, etc. You get the idea.

Also the free gift basket drop shippers give you a free website too. Your customers quickly access the website and assume it's yours.

So you market the website by placing the entry to it on a web page somewhere and they enter and reach the entire gift basket shop. And when they purchase, all the shipping and paper work is taken care of.

Yet you collect your commissions and the name of the customer. This is the ideal home based or small business.

I don't know of too many home based businesses you can start up for free and have a fantastic inventory of easy to sell professional gourmet gift baskets.

Some of the gift basket drop shippers even charge your credit card if you DON'T meet monthly quotas.

Please read the fine print of these contracts. You have to be very careful if you're handing over your credit card for them to charge willy nilly on each month. I read the fine print on a dozen and I was alarmed and shocked that they could do this.

Also, most if not all, these drop shippers don't offer you a website. When you sign up, you put individual gift baskets on your website. This can be frustrating and time consuming. Better to have your customers easily access your free website.

So you're saving time, space, inventory and money by choosing the right drop shipper; one that you don't have to sign any contracts with or cough up any money.

Most people don't know that this is possible since so many of the drop shippers do charge heavy fees. These drop shippers also give out smaller amounts or percentages of commissions.

You can hardly go wrong when connecting with a drop shipper who isn't digging into your pocketbook. This gives you time to think about your marketing, you can breathe easy. No pressure to sell or credit card charges.

Another thing is if the drop shipper has other lines of products like gifts, candy, chocolate, wedding capsules, ready mixes or something else, then you have a broader market to sell to. Just an added benefit.

If you already have an established gift basket business, gift business or anything related, this is easy to add on.

So be careful out there when going through the gift basket drop shipper maze. Know that you don't have to turn over your wallet and your life. You can easily start up a home based drop ship gift basket business for free and develop a good customer list in the process.