When do you choose a European supplier for dropshipping on bol?
Lars HurkmansCo-founder25 June 2023Reading time 4 minutes
You choose a European supplier when short delivery times, higher quality standards and avoiding import duties matter more than the lowest purchase price. For dropshipping on bol that's often decisive: you have to deliver from a European location and within a maximum of 8 working days. The downside is a higher price and a more limited range.
Asian suppliers often get preference because of their low costs. Still, there are situations where a European supplier is the better choice. Below you'll find the advantages, the downsides and a list of European suppliers you can consider. If you'd rather source from Asia, read our step-by-step plan on how to avoid a bad purchase from China.
What are the advantages of a European supplier?
The main advantages are shorter delivery times, higher quality standards, avoiding customs duties and import taxes, and better communication and customer service.
- Shorter delivery times: one of the biggest advantages of a European supplier is the shorter delivery time. That matters especially if you're dropshipping on bol, where the rules require you to ship products from a European location to the customer and deliver within a maximum of 8 working days. With products from Asia that's often not feasible.
- Higher quality standards: quality standards in Europe are generally higher than in many Asian countries. This means less chance of low-quality products that damage your reputation and disappoint your customers.
- Avoiding customs duties and import taxes: by choosing a European supplier, you avoid the import duties and VAT involved in importing from outside the EU.
- Better communication and customer service: European suppliers are often easier to reach and generally have better customer service than their Asian counterparts. That makes resolving issues and answering questions easier.
What are the downsides of a European supplier?
The two main downsides are higher costs and a more limited range.
- Higher costs: the costs of a European supplier are often higher. That's due to higher production costs in Europe, including higher wages and stricter environmental and safety standards.
- More limited range: the range at European suppliers can be more limited than at Asian suppliers. You may not find all the products you want to sell there.
Whether that higher purchase price still leaves a healthy margin against your sale price on bol, you calculate per product with the profit calculator.
Why do European suppliers fit well with dropshipping?
European suppliers fit well with dropshipping because of the shorter delivery times and higher quality standards. With dropshipping you don't hold stock yourself: you forward orders to a third party, the supplier, who ships the products directly to the customer. That means low start-up costs, less risk and the ability to offer a broad range.
On bol the shorter delivery times carry extra weight, because the rules require you to deliver from a European location and within a maximum of 8 working days. On top of that, the higher quality standards of European suppliers help increase customer satisfaction and protect your reputation. The costs are indeed higher, but they can be offset in the long run by higher customer satisfaction and fewer returns. Dropshipping is one of the ways to sell on bol; how it compares to private label, white label and reselling is covered in a separate blog.
Which European suppliers can you consider?
If you do dropshipping, there are several European suppliers you can consider. Here are some of the most notable ones:
- Etsy Netherlands: an online marketplace for unique or custom handmade items. Etsy also offers options for dropshipping.
- CJDropship: a platform that offers dropshipping services, with a wide range of products.
- Alliance B.V.: this company has extensive experience in fruit and vegetable wholesale and has operated in the Western and Eastern European market since 2003.
- Droppery: digitally connects wholesalers, suppliers and brands with new resellers, i.e. webshops.
- Zentrada: a European B2B platform with a wide range of products from various suppliers.
- Orderchamp: a B2B marketplace where retailers discover unique products from selected brands and suppliers.
- BigBuy: a leading dropshipping supplier in Europe, with thousands of products in various categories.
- Spocket: a dropshipping marketplace that lets you find products from suppliers all over the world, including Europe.
- Modalyst: a dropshipping platform with access to a wide range of products from independent brands and suppliers, including European ones.
- VidaXL: an international online retailer with thousands of products in the categories home, garden, garage, DIY and clothing. They also offer dropshipping services.
What do you remember about European suppliers?
European suppliers are often more expensive, but offer advantages that make them attractive, especially for dropshipping: shorter delivery times, higher quality standards and avoiding customs duties and import taxes. Against that stand higher costs and a more limited range. In the long run those downsides can be offset by higher customer satisfaction and fewer returns. The best choice depends on your product, your margin and the delivery rules of the platform you sell on. The lowest purchase price isn't always decisive here.
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