What if customer doesn't receive the product?

[TheOneisBack]

I'm currently learning about dropshipping because I want to give it a go.. But I can't find an answer regarding this...

If I'm dropshipping items from Aliexpress, what happens if someone makes an order from my landing page but they don't receive the item from the Aliexpress store that I'm dropshipping from? Now I've never exactly purchased from Aliexpress before but if they are anything like wish.com, the delivery of items is not the most reliable. Sometimes they can take months or never even show up.

How do I protect myself in this situation? If someone requests a refund from my stop, then that means I'll be out of pocket since I've already made the purchase on Aliexpress for them.

 

[kaurr]

Thats why you choose whosalers with good scores and good feedback...if still some problems, you refund or give some shop credit to these clients, whatever

 

[TheOneisBack]

Thats why you choose whosalers with good scores and good feedback...if still some problems, you refund or give some shop credit to these clients, whatever

Interesting. Thanks for the reply.

You mentioned "shop credit" but what if my store is only promoting a singular item?

Do you have any tips for finding "good" wholesalers? Like where abouts does it show their score?

 

[yherrliche]

Place an order for yourself and you'll see

 

[cindyrose888]

Thats why you choose whosalers with good scores and good feedback...if still some problems, you refund or give some shop credit to these clients, whatever

Even good scores or good wholesalers make mistake. There is no perfect supplier. It is best not to depend on 1 supplier or rather to have another backup just in case.

 

[GringoMonkey]

In the eyes of the law as the store owner and the person the customer paid you are responsible for the delivery of the product. Ultimately it is not their fault you chose to dropship rather than having the products to hand.

So if it is not delivered, is faulty, broken or for any reason unsuitable you will have to take the financial hit of the refund.

But if you negotiate with your supplier you will typically get a credit from them.

 

[nakamura]

If a customer doesn't receive the item they will let you know. Just refund and move on.

 

[Soucha]

I'm currently learning about dropshipping because I want to give it a go.. But I can't find an answer regarding this...

If I'm dropshipping items from Aliexpress, what happens if someone makes an order from my landing page but they don't receive the item from the Aliexpress store that I'm dropshipping from? Now I've never exactly purchased from Aliexpress before but if they are anything like wish.com, the delivery of items is not the most reliable. Sometimes they can take months or never even show up.

How do I protect myself in this situation? If someone requests a refund from my stop, then that means I'll be out of pocket since I've already made the purchase on Aliexpress for them.

Yes. If they don't receive it, then you are out the money.
You're better off refunding them then losing money after your payment processor is forced to deal with a chargeback.
Most payment processors including PayPal, Stripe and Shopify charge for handling chargebacks unless you win them, and you usually don't.

 

[perrymason]

That's life mate, any business requires some level of risk.

As mentioned before request some products yourself and test different providers from aliexpress.

PS: People can also be greedy and request a refund despite they did received the product.

 

[TheOneisBack]

What about using a site like DHGate as opposed to Aliexpress? Because DHGate offer Paypal, so if I do transactions through PayPal then at least I have some protection and can get my money back (if the vendor doesn't ship the item).
Its a bit haunting knowing that 100 people could place orders and not receive their items. I'd be out $1000+ in pocket, seems like a big risk ...

 

[Naroha]

there is always risk in doing such business... take it or leave it. From my experience nothing like this happened, atleast not in such numbers which u are scared of. Maybe 1 out of 100 orders dont arrive. simply refund/resend the order and go on

 

[perrymason]

What about using a site like DHGate as opposed to Aliexpress? Because DHGate offer Paypal, so if I do transactions through PayPal then at least I have some protection and can get my money back (if the vendor doesn't ship the item).
Its a bit haunting knowing that 100 people could place orders and not receive their items. I'd be out $1000+ in pocket, seems like a big risk ...

Paypal can be a big pain in the ass for drop shipping. They have canceled many accounts due to the nature of the business.

 

[ionut24]

they complain like a mother f*cker