Drop-shipping in Europe: How Does it Work? Everything You Need to Know!

Often, customers will not notice an online company sells products via drop-shipping, although there are some indicators pointing to it — such as very long shipping times or generic product images that can also be found on other websites.

There is a great advantage to generic product images: it is quite easy to find the original source by using tools like reverse image search in search engines. After a simple enquiry, consumers can find the shop where the drop-shipping company would buy it, too — and they can purchase the exact same item there if they like.

As drop-shipping companies are online retailers in the European Union, they are responsible for returns. In the EU, the consumer should be able to withdraw from the purchasing contract and return online orders within 14 days.

So, if you buy products online through a drop-shipping system, you can claim your consumer rights directly from the EU-based company you have ordered from. If a product is broken or defective, they will often offer to send a new product without asking you to return the broken product (as the latter may be too expensive). If a consumer wants to exercise their right of withdrawal because they do not like the product, they should bear the return costs.

Things may be more complicated if the drop-shipping company is not based in the EU. In these cases, it can be quite difficult to enforce your consumer rights, and return costs can be very high.

To find out if you are dealing with drop-shipping companies, look for clues — their websites are often created using Shopify, Wix, or BigCommerce. Furthermore, shipping times tend to be long.

If you want to benefit from bargains but avoid unpleasant surprises, do not pay in advance. You should also take any additional costs, such as VAT and customs duties, into account.