dropshippers
Fulfillment outsourcing merchants
Dropshippers are retailers who sell products without keeping inventory.
When a customer places an order, the dropshipper purchases the item from a third party—typically a wholesaler or manufacturer—who ships it directly to the buyer.
The model requires minimal upfront investment but thin margins: Half these Instagram ads are just dropshippers reselling cheap stuff from China.
The term often carries skeptical connotations, associated with get-rich-quick schemes and low-quality goods.
Bulk goods middleman
- manufacturerOne who produces goods
- vendorOne who sells goods
- sourcingObtaining from suppliers
- catalogOrdered list of items
Alibaba · reliability · communication · samples · white-label
Exploiting price discrepancies
- markupAdded percentage for profit
- marginsEdges of a page
- profitGain exceeding expenditure
- outsourcingThird-party task delegation
E-commerce website builder
- nicheRecessed wall space
- automationSelf-operating system design
- scalabilityCapacity for growth
- SEOImproving site discoverability
branding · storefront · marketplace · upselling · retargeting · checkout
State of achieved purpose
- deliveryConveyance of goods
- trackingMonitoring location over time
- 3PLThird-party logistics provider
- suppliersThose who furnish goods
warehousing · customs · freight · carriers · returns · supply-chain · import · consolidation
wholesaler
Bulk goods middleman
- manufacturerOne who produces goods
- vendorOne who sells goods
- sourcingObtaining from suppliers
catalog · Alibaba · reliability · communication · samples · white-label
arbitrage
Exploiting price discrepancies
outsourcing · scalability · cash-flow · entrepreneur · sourcing
Shopify
E-commerce website builder
- nicheRecessed wall space
- automationSelf-operating system design
- scalabilityCapacity for growth
SEO · branding · storefront · marketplace · upselling · retargeting · checkout
fulfillment
State of achieved purpose
suppliers · warehousing · customs · freight · carriers · returns · supply-chain · import · consolidation
- online servicesweb services, cloud services, SaaS, web hosting, e-commerce
- self-employedfreelancers, freelancer, freelance, solopreneur, independent contractors
- shoppersshoppers, bargain hunters, window shopper, impulse buyers, window shoppers
- e-commerce sellersAmazon sellers, eBay sellers, Etsy sellers, small businesses, resellers
dropshippersbrick-and-mortar stores
Shops with street addresses
stockists · wholesalers · big-box stores · department stores · distributors
dropshippersmanufacturers
Entities producing goods massively
producers · makers · factories · artisans · craftspeople
dropshippersauthorized dealers
Sellers granted official permission