Dropshipping is a business model that allows entrepreneurs to start an online business and sell products to their buyers without ever actually stocking the items themselves. Instead, when a dropshipping store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer.

At Shopify, what we really like about dropshipping is that it provides a lower-risk approach for independent businesses to test out new product ideas (and product lines) without having to own and pay for the product up front. It's a business model that allows many more people to participate in entrepreneurship.

Often, because entrepreneurs have to spend a significant sum of their money on inventory before they can start selling, these costs feel really restrictive. While we’re also building services like Shopify Capital to help businesses get the money they need when they need it, dropshipping remains a highly accessible way for enterprising founders to connect customers with products on-demand—without the need to stockpile inventory. It’s like retail’s version of cloud computing.

Still, the model continues to mystify many people. That’s why we wrote this comprehensive dropshipping guide. In it, we’ll cover how dropshipping actually works, where you can go to source reliable suppliers, how to pick products that are a perfect match for dropshipping, and the sales and marketing advice everyone should consider when looking for customers.