Yes it’s legal, although some marketplace platforms or supplier may in their terms and conditions state that they do not support dropshipping
In that case it becomes unethical to use such suppliers to dropship products without any agreement when they have made it clear on their terms and conditions that they do not support dropshipping.
If you’re not sure if a supplier or marketplace platform supports dropshipping, you can read their terms and conditions, if it states on it that they support dropshipping then it’s okay to dropship from that supplier without any further agreements to that effect.
If on the other hand, their terms and conditions expressly prohibits dropshipping or doesn’t make any statements in that regard then it’s better to reach out to the supplier and propose a dropshipping agreement.
You may ask them questions like;
“I would like to retail your product on my ecommerce store, can we have a dropshipping arrangement, such that whenever I get an order on my store, I will pay you and you’d ship the product to my customers in white label packages or packages that has my branding”
You both can then discuss the terms of the dropshipping Partnership and come to an agreement.
Generally, even in cases where the e-commerce platform clearly supports dropshipping, we still recommend reaching out to them to have an agreement.
The agreement does not necessarily have to be a formal contract. It could just be a chat or an email conversation which shows that you expressed your expectations and that your dropshipping Supplier agreed to it.
I prefer a written communication over an oral one for evidential purposes.
It’s not that you can’t have a formal contract executed. You can if you and your dropshipping supplier decides to.
The thing about asking for a dropshipping formal contract when you’re just start out, is that, it almost sounds like asking for a formal contract before buying a couple of items from your local grocery store.
We recommend this because reaching out to your supplier to have a conversation or a rapport helps to build a business relationship where you both understand each other’s expectations.
Having a good business relationship, makes it easier for you to negotiate certain business privileges like a discount offer, a net 30 payment plan, private labeling etc
I hope your payment finds this answer helpful. Check out our free A-z dropshipping course.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and I’d respond shortly.
