My Experience with a Shopify Store – Dropshipping

Hello everyone,


About a month ago, I started a Shopify store using cash-on-delivery (COD) dropshipping. I read several recommendations suggesting that this method makes it easier to sell, since many people are hesitant to enter their credit card details online.


I've received a considerable number of orders—over 100—thanks to TikTok Ads, and my ad metrics have been quite solid.
However, despite all this, I haven’t made any profit. A large number of customers end up not picking up their orders or fail to collect them from the delivery agency. My pickup rate has been around 55%, which is very low considering it should ideally be between 80–85%. I always contact customers before shipping to confirm they want the product, and I also assist them afterward if they miss the delivery, offering to reschedule or pick it up at the agency.


If anyone here has experience with this and can offer some advice, I’d really appreciate it—especially recommendations for a fulfillment center, since the one I currently use charges too much for shipping. Thanks in advance!


These results were obtained in just two weeks. (Ignore the conversion rate shown, as I use an external COD warehouse for sales.)

50% of population are living from month to month so expact these numbers to increase as the 50% are increasing too due to stagflation.

That’s a common pain point with COD the volume looks great on paper, but the pickup rate can kill profitability fast. A 55% rate is definitely on the low side, so you’re smart to look at both customer behavior and fulfillment. Pre-confirmation helps, but the real leverage often comes from your fulfillment partner:

faster shipping times, local call centers to reconfirm orders, and better follow-up on missed deliveries can bump pickup rates into that 75–85% zone. Shipping fees are also a big factor if your current center is charging high rates, you’ll always feel squeezed. I’ve worked with setups that streamline COD fulfillment while keeping costs lean, and it made a huge difference in margins. If you want, DM me and I can share a couple of fulfillment options and strategies that are working well right now.

COD dropshipping brings quick orders, but low pickup rates and high fulfillment costs often kill the profit margin, and this is a common scenario.

omi3oh1 said:

COD dropshipping brings quick orders, but low pickup rates and high fulfillment costs often kill the profit margin, and this is a common scenario.

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So you recommend switching to credit card for a beginner?

TikTok ads bring a lot of impulsive buyers who ghost later, so filtering leads upfront might help.

Caleb Harris said:

You need to tighten up your qualification process for customers. A quick call or email isn't always enough to filter out impulse orders. Have you considered asking for a small upfront deposit, even if it's just a minimal amount? Or sending a confirmation text with a link they need to click to verify?

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I dont think that asking for a deposit could be useful since it would be better just ask to pay beforehand. The SMS verification could be good, also i am going to create a new store and try to sell directly using credit card, lets see how it goes