Dropshipping means having a supplier deliver directly to your customer. You may not need to hold stock yourself, but you remain the seller responsible for the customer contract. Not having a warehouse does not make the business risk-free or remove the need for cash.
What the model changes
The supplier handles part of fulfilment while you organise sales and customer service. Establish who updates stock, dispatches goods and investigates errors. Customers should not have to chase an unknown overseas supplier when your store is their seller.
Follow the order and cash
Map the customer payment, supplier payment, dispatch, provider payout and possible refund on a timeline. Use amounts and actual agreed deadlines. If the supplier is paid before the payout arrives, you must fund that gap even when several orders arrive together.
Does this dependency suit you?
Order a sample through the delivery route your customer will receive. Keep the order date, promised and actual arrival, packaging and product photos. Ask how the supplier resolves defects or lost parcels. Use those answers to decide which delivery and service promises you can fulfil.
A seven-step launch sequence
Choose a category, check safety and your role, assess the supplier, order samples, budget the route, build clear pages and test complete orders plus returns. Record findings. Begin paid acquisition only after delivery and customer handling demonstrably work.
Assess benefits and risks together
Less stock can reduce storage, but samples, platform, marketing and service still cost money. Allow for defects, lost parcels and refunds. Imports can create tax, customs and product-safety roles. Assess the actual goods flow rather than assuming the supplier holds every responsibility.
Choose an explainable product
Find a clear need and verify that the product meets it. Avoid unsupported health or safety promises. Compare more than purchasing price: low cost offers little value if returns, poor instructions or long lead times make the product unsuitable.
Calculate contribution and reserves separately
Fictional assumptions excluding VAT: €40 revenue less €18 product, €5 shipping, €1 processing, €8 acquisition and €3 returns provision leaves €5 before fixed costs, labour and tax. For 30 orders, product and shipping alone require €690 upfront if customer funds arrive later. Other cash commitments are additional.
Market after testing
Use a limited campaign to test a specific product promise. Compare acquisition costs with contribution after returns. Do not treat general conversion percentages as certainty for your store. Stop when the supplier cannot meet delivery promises, even if ads still generate orders.
Common mistakes
Confusing stock-free with funding-free, publishing invented lead times and failing to arrange returns are avoidable errors. Check provider terms for your category as well. Automatic order forwarding or supplier integration cannot be assumed for every platform without testing.
Frequently asked questions
Who helps with a problem? As the seller, you organise the remedy within applicable rights. Is a small starting budget enough? Only a specific cash forecast can establish that. Is contribution profit? No; labour, fixed costs and tax remain.
Map the goods flow
Put supplier, dispatch country, destination, return route and payment dates on one sheet. Resolve uncertainties before launch. Read the costing guide for the full operating model and the returns guide for customer handling.
Sources and checks
Primary sources checked on 26 October 2026: NVWA: general product safety · ACM ConsuWijzer: withdrawal rights · Tax Administration: VAT entrepreneurship
