How to avoid dropshipping – news Nordland

You have come across an apparently unique product on an apparently Norwegian online store, and you take the plunge. Delivery time: 3–4 weeks, customs may apply. It is also difficult to find out how the item can be returned, and little contact information. There is a good chance that you have just shopped at an online store that uses dropshipping. According to Appscenic.com, approximately 27 percent of all online stores use dropshipping. Nora Wennberg Gløersen, consumer lawyer at the Consumer Council advises consumers against shopping at online stores that use this method. – Dropshipping will often present challenges related to delivery time, import taxes, high return costs, unclear contact information and goods that are of poor quality. You may also experience being sent goods that are illegal in Norway. – This is because products from, for example, Asia are not necessarily produced according to the same requirements that apply in Norway or the EU/EEA, says Gløersen. Since the online store does not have its own inventory, there is also a certain risk of the online store closing down or going bankrupt before you have received the item you have purchased. – It is usually less serious players with weak finances who use drop shipping. Sending products from China As the companies do not have an inventory, they must make an agreement with a wholesaler. One of the biggest is AliExpress, a service owned by giant wholesaler Alibaba from China. Over 2 million different online stores sell products delivered through AliExpress’s dropshipping service, but when you shop from the online store it does not say that they are the ones who send you the item. It can still be quite easy to figure out. If you right-click on the image of the product in the online store, it is possible to search for the image. You then get an overview of other online stores that sell the product. If you find the product at AliExpress or another dropshipping operator, it is possible that the product you have chosen will be delivered with dropshipping. news has tried to get in touch with Moderneliv, Binor, Kravenashop, Sarabeauty, Bloesa, Bravavi, Evabeautys, Wallfree and to find out if these use the dropshipping method. We have also tried to get hold of Alibaba and AliExpress. Only Moderneliv responds to our inquiry and writes the following in an email: This is how you can recognize dropshipping: If you are still unsure whether you are shopping from an online store with dropshipping, Gløersen recommends taking a look at what the online store says about delivery time. – Online stores that do dropshipping have no control over the delivery time, and the delivery information on the website is often unclear or incomplete. She also recommends looking up the online store on Trustpilot or similar, so that you can read other consumers’ experiences. Hi! Do you have any tips for things I should look into? Feel free to contact me. Malin Nygård SolbergJournalists



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