From the operations desk
The week in numbers
Between 20 and 26 September we counted 39 distinct supplier requests in public dropshipping sourcing communities. Three reposts and one post that was not a request are excluded. Home and kitchen and electronics and gadgets led with six each. Apparel and bags and travel followed with four each, then beauty and personal care with three.
Germany was the most-named market with six requests. Europe without a country followed with five, then France and the UK with four each, and the US with three. On terms, ten posts asked for no MOQ or single-unit dropshipping. Eight asked for a long-term partner, eight for quality checks, seven for system integration, and twelve set a delivery cap or asked for fast shipping.
Nine posts named no product, and 18 named no destination. That is 46 per cent, up from 32 per cent in 6–19 September.
Day by day
- Sunday 20 September: two requests, one for apparel to Europe and one for a UK supplier with UK stock.
- Monday 21 September: eight requests, including bags with quality checks and plain repacking, a cosmetics supplier for Canada, and a seller who wanted stock held in the UK.
- Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 September: ten requests. Several were picture-led asks for one exact item, plus a sports bundle for Germany and a jewellery brief that asked for material test reports.
- Thursday 24 September: eight requests, including furniture for France and a customisable sports product for five EU countries.
- Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September: eleven requests. Buyers asked for private agents, order-system links and EU returns handling.
Daily counts follow the day each post was collected, so busier days partly reflect collection, not a posting surge.
What stood out
Speed came up most often: twelve of 39 posts set a delivery cap or asked for fast shipping. No MOQ came next, with ten. Five of those ten also wanted quality checks before dispatch, and both posts that asked for branding also asked for no MOQ.
The most common question to suppliers was what they charge. Of the 13 posts that told suppliers what to state, seven asked for a process or service fee. Five asked for delivery time, four for a unit price and four for a catalogue. Two asked for company references. More of them asked about the service fee than about the unit price.
Thirteen posts, a third of the week, named an exact product, mostly through a picture. Only one of those thirteen also asked for a unit price. Four posts wanted a protected brand or a replica, and four raised compliance. Five wanted stock in the destination country, and three of the four UK posts were among them.
Each of these asks has a guide on this site. What no MOQ really costs prices the no-MOQ ask. How to read a landed-price quote explains the service-fee question. Exact product versus similar alternative covers the picture-led asks, and connecting a Shopify store answers the integration questions.
Sample and limits
Requests are gathered from public dropshipping sourcing communities. Every post was read and classified twice, independently, against fixed definitions, and disagreements were settled on a further reading. Only distinct supplier requests are counted, so reposts and non-requests are excluded. Posts are never quoted, linked or identified; contact details are never reproduced, and 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 when the wording was unclear.