How do dropshipping and wholesale work?
With dropshipping, you list a supplier's products in your webshop or on marketplaces such as Amazon, bol.com or eBay, where their seller rules allow it. When a customer orders, the supplier ships straight to them. You never handle the product: you pay per order and keep the difference.
With wholesale, you buy the goods first, usually per carton, and store them yourself or with a fulfilment partner. You pay for the stock before you sell it, but you decide how it is stored, packed and shipped.
Margins, stock risk and cash flow
Dropshipping keeps your cash free: no stock to finance or store, and nothing left over if a product flops. The trade-off is margin and control: the supplier's price includes handling single orders, and you depend on their stock, prices and pace.
Buying per carton works the other way round. Your price per piece is usually lower, leaving room for margin, promotions or sharper marketplace pricing. In return, you carry the stock risk: cash tied up in goods, storage space and slow sellers.
- Cash flow: know how many weeks of sales you can finance before you reorder.
- Dead stock: buy new products in small quantities until you know they sell.
- Seasonality: order seasonal items early, and only in quantities you can sell.
Delivery speed, product data and customer experience
Customers judge your webshop on how fast and how well an order arrives. With dropshipping, that depends on where the goods ship from: a dropshipping supplier in Europe can be quick, while shipments from overseas can take weeks. Marketplaces also track delivery performance, so slow shipments can hurt your account and your reviews.
With your own stock, you control the packaging, the delivery promise and extras such as a thank-you card. In either model, good photos and complete product data help listings sell and reduce returns. Weighing up suppliers? Compare importing from China with buying from a European wholesaler.
- Check that you may use the supplier's product photos in your own listings.
- Ask for packing details: units per carton, dimensions and weight.
- Find out where the goods ship from and how long delivery usually takes.
- Agree how stock changes and discontinued items are communicated.
Who handles returns and customer service?
In both models, your customer buys from you. You are their point of contact for questions, complaints and returns, and as the seller you are usually the responsible party under consumer law. Dropshipping does not pass that responsibility on to the supplier.
With dropshipping, agree how the supplier handles damaged or wrong items and where returns go. With your own stock, you inspect returns yourself and decide what can be resold. Either way, publish a clear returns policy and check the local rules with an adviser.
When to choose dropshipping, wholesale or both
Dropshipping is a sensible start when you are testing a niche, have little budget for stock or want a wide range without storing everything. It also suits slow movers you rarely sell.
Buying per carton is smarter once a product sells steadily, when delivery speed affects your reviews or marketplace ranking, or when you want to control packaging and quality. More on choosing a supplier: buying homeware wholesale in the Netherlands.
Many sellers settle on a hybrid approach:
- Test new products with small carton orders instead of large volumes.
- Keep bestsellers in stock, so they ship fast and earn the full margin.
- Use dropshipping for slow movers or to try out new categories.
- Review your sales every month and move products between the two models.
What Aleesar Group offers online sellers
Aleesar Group is a trade-only wholesale importer of household products, with its headquarters, showroom and warehouse in Utrecht, the Netherlands. As a wholesale supplier for webshops, it already sells per carton to online sellers with a valid VAT number. Register as a partner: a person reviews every application and you hear back within one business day. Once approved, you log in to see wholesale prices and order online.
Dropshipping is coming soon. To be among the first, join the dropshipping early-access list; no further details have been announced yet. Until then, you can test products with a single carton.
- Order per carton with no minimum order value, from one carton to a full container (some items may have a minimum quantity).
- Delivery to every EU country within 48 hours from the Netherlands, as tracked parcels.
- Product pages with photos and packing details, such as units per carton.
- Hundreds of products, including drinkware and wall panels.
- Own brands LEUMX®, KHMRAH® and REFMONT®.
