Finding a "reliable" dropshipper and getting the best deal!!

[fximpeccable]

I'm new here and I have very small knowledge regardind ecommerce.
Anyway, I'd like to sell apparells through my website; and, just so that I can have a wide variety of products, I'd like to do dropshipping. I have several questions regarding this system.

1. How to find the most reliable dropshipper
I'm intending to sell well-known brand products. In this case, should I contact the headquarter of the company through their website? or do I have to find a different source?

2. Getting the best deal
Most online stores that sell apparells are much cheaper, or at least cheaper, than the original tag price. If my dropshipper is the company itself, I don't see any reason for them to be selling at a cheaper price and also give an additional commission fee to me. I was wondering if anyone could tell me where the people get their products from and how they offer such a great deal.

3. Question regarding shipping
Suppose, I have 5 dropshippers from 5 different brands. Most likely, all 5 brands would have a different shipping fee; however, I've never seen a website sell their products and show inconsistency in their shipping fee.
How do you make the shipping fee consistent in this case?

4. How much does it cost, in average, to start a website?
If I were to make a website through ecommerce-website programs, how much does it usually cost??

Thank you for your time. I'd greatly appreciate it if you could give me some answers. Thakns in advance.

[dcomiskey]

FX, we have a nice feature on drop shipping on our home page: www.ecommerce-guide.com. The link is located at the top of the page in the "Focus" box.

[Gromit]

Dig around in the forum archives, too....I've seen lots of discussions with good advice on drop shipping.

And welcome!