Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a retail model where you sell products without holding inventory: when a customer orders, your supplier ships the item directly to them.
Because you buy each unit only after you've sold it, dropshipping needs little upfront capital and lets you test products quickly. The trade-offs are thinner margins, less control over shipping times and quality, and low barriers to entry, which means competitors can copy a working product fast.
Modern dropshipping typically pairs a storefront, often Shopify or TikTok Shop, with suppliers on AliExpress, Temu, or private agents. The work shifts from logistics to product research, marketing, and supplier management.
Why it matters
Dropshipping's low entry cost makes product selection the whole game: with thin margins and fast copycats, picking products with real demand and workable economics is what separates stores that last from ones that don't.
Related terms
See Dropshipping on real products
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