What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is selling products online without holding stock: when an order comes in, the seller buys the item from a supplier who ships it straight to the customer.
Updated
Meaning
English
Dropshipping is selling products online without holding stock: when an order comes in, the seller buys the item from a supplier who ships it straight to the customer.
Roman Urdu
Dropshipping matlab stock rakhe baghair online bechna: order aane par bechne wala supplier se cheez khareedta hai aur supplier seedha gahak ko bhejta hai.
Also called drop shipping, drop ship.
Example
A seller lists kitchen gadgets on her Instagram page. When a customer orders a chopper, she places the order with a Karachi wholesaler who ships it with her COD amount, and she keeps the difference after charges.
How it works
Dropshipping needs little capital, which is why it is popular with new online sellers in Pakistan. The trade-off is control: the seller depends on the supplier's stock, packing and speed, but the customer blames the seller for every late or wrong parcel. Margins are usually thin, and RTO costs on COD orders can wipe them out.
If you dropship, test the supplier with your own orders first, keep a written agreement on returns and damaged goods, sync stock often so you do not sell what the supplier has run out of, and reconcile every COD settlement.
In Nafaa
Nafaa is built for businesses that hold their own stock; it does not run supplier-shipped orders as a separate flow.
Related terms
- COD (Cash on Delivery)
Cash on delivery means the customer pays when the order is delivered, not when it is placed.
- RTO (Return to Origin)
RTO is a parcel that the courier could not deliver, or the customer refused, and that is sent back to the seller.
- Online Marketplace
An online marketplace is a website or app where many sellers list products and customers buy from them, with the platform handling the storefront and often payment and delivery.