From the operations desk
The week in numbers
Between 23 and 29 August we counted 46 distinct supplier requests, after removing nine reposts and one post that was not a request. Apparel led with 11. Home and kitchen and pet supplies tied on seven each, then electronics and gadgets on six, beauty and personal care on three. One request in five named no product, and 17 named no destination.
Where a market was named, Germany led with seven, ahead of the US on six and Europe without a country on five. Italy and Türkiye had three each. On terms, 13 requests wanted a long-term partner, 13 set a delivery-time cap or asked for fast shipping, ten wanted branding or private label, nine wanted quality checks and eight wanted no MOQ or single-unit orders.
Day by day
- Monday 24 August: four requests, including a single-unit dropshipping agent for a home textile product and a custom pet product partner.
- Tuesday 25 August: 17 requests. Apparel dominated, with European and Australian sellers asking about quality checks and single orders, plus a UK clothing seller needing a four-day delivery cap.
- Wednesday 26 August: 17 requests. Electronics, lighting and baby products for German-speaking markets, and two Türkiye asks for door-to-door delivery.
- Thursday 27 to Friday 28 August: eight requests across two days, mostly pet products, a consumer gadget launch and an eBay seller wanting ready stock in two markets.
The two heavy days partly reflect when posts were collected, not a surge in posting.
What stood out
Half the week asked suppliers a direct question. Twenty-three of the 46 requests told suppliers what to include in a reply. Twelve wanted a delivery time, twelve a unit price and eleven a shipping cost. In the previous eight days, just over a third of requests made any such ask. This week the asks were also more specific: eight of the 14 requests that pictured an exact product asked for a unit price on it.
Germany was the most-named market, with seven requests, up from four in the previous eight days. Three of those seven also set a delivery cap or demanded fast shipping. Pet supplies and home and kitchen rose together to seven each, and several posts mixed the two, such as kitchen and pet scales. Shopify appeared in seven requests, up from one in the previous eight days.
Five requests asked for replica or protected-brand goods, which a careful supplier declines.
A buyer who asks for price, date and shipping in one message gets comparable quotes. Read a landed-price quote shows what each line means. Quote product plus shipping covers the hidden assumptions. The sourcing brief guide gives you the template. For the replica asks, read own brand, third-party brand or lookalike. The previous week is in the 15–22 August log.
Sample and limits
Requests come from public dropshipping sourcing communities. Every post was read and classified twice, independently, against fixed definitions, and disagreements were settled on a further reading. Reposts and posts that were not supplier requests are excluded from every count. Posts are never quoted, linked or identified; contact details are never reproduced; exact products are generalised to their family. Each post is dated to the day it was collected, so busy days partly reflect collection. Counts measure what buyers asked for, not what sells, and undercount requests whose wording was unclear.