When you dropship, your supplier sends the parcel straight to your customer. So where your supplier sends it from decides three things your customers will notice: how long they wait, whether they are asked to pay anything when it arrives, and how easy it is to send it back.
Broadly, you can use suppliers who send from the UK, or suppliers who send from abroad, most often from China through AliExpress. This guide sets out what the supplier apps themselves say about each, so you can decide which suits the products you want to sell.
How long your customers wait
This is the biggest difference. Avasam, a supplier app with UK suppliers, says its suppliers send orders within 24 hours of payment on working days, and that tracked delivery takes one to two days by express or two to four days by standard.
Zendrop, which sends from China, says its orders to the UK take about 9.2 days on average, after one to three working days to prepare the order. DSers, which connects you to suppliers on AliExpress, doesn't give a delivery time to the UK. It says delivery times depend on the supplier's stock, how long they take to send it and the delivery service they use.
Whichever you choose, order a sample to your own address first and write down how long it really took. That is the delivery time to put on your website.
Who pays VAT and import charges
When a parcel worth £135 or less is sent from abroad straight to a UK customer, the VAT is charged when the customer pays, not when the parcel comes into the country, and it can be you who has to charge it. Our guide to VAT explains how that works.
Some suppliers abroad don't pay these charges in advance. Zendrop, for example, says it doesn't prepay import VAT, so your UK customers may be charged import VAT when the parcel arrives. A customer who is asked for money at the door often blames the shop they bought from, which is you.
A supplier sending from inside the UK doesn't have to bring the parcel through customs, so this doesn't arise.
How returns work
Your customers have the right to cancel and send things back, and the refund comes from you, whoever the supplier is. What matters is where the item goes back to.
- Avasam says its suppliers must accept returns up to 30 days after delivery when a customer changes their mind, if the item is unused, and up to 60 days for faulty items.
- Zendrop says returns aren't needed for products from its Chinese suppliers: the customer keeps the item. It gives refunds when it is at fault.
- Syncee and Spocket say each supplier has its own returns rules, so you need to read them before you sell that supplier's products.
Our guide to returns and refunds explains what your customers are owed.
What the parcel looks like
Your customer sees the packaging, so it is worth knowing what they will get. Avasam says its orders go out in plain packaging, with no branding. DSers and Zendrop say custom packaging is available through their own agents, and CJ Dropshipping offers custom packaging from a single unit.
What the product costs you
We can't tell you which is cheaper, because it depends on the product. Compare the price each supplier charges you for the same product, including delivery to the UK, and then use our profit calculator to see what you keep from each sale.
Which to choose
If your customers will want their order within a few days, or your products are likely to be sent back, a supplier that sends from the UK is the simpler choice. If you want the widest choice of products and you are happy to tell your customers that delivery takes longer, suppliers abroad give you more to choose from. Some supplier apps let you do both: AutoDS lets you pick suppliers with UK warehouses, and Syncee names the UK among the places its suppliers are.
Compare the supplier apps → Read about Avasam → Read about DSers →
