Is Dropshipping Still Worth It in 2025? Let’s Talk Real Experiences

Shopify Discussion
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Hey everyone,

I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately around whether dropshipping is still a good business model in 2025. Some people say it’s too saturated, while others argue it’s evolving and still has plenty of potential if done the right way.

From what I’ve seen, the biggest challenges usually come down to shipping times, product quality, and building trust with customers. If customers are waiting 3-4 weeks for an order to arrive, they’ll probably never come back. On the other hand, if you can solve that piece, dropshipping becomes much more sustainable.

There are also fulfillment services popping up that try to tackle these issues. For example, I came across USAdrop, which offers faster shipping from US and EU warehouses compared to the typical long wait from overseas suppliers. Tools like this make me wonder if dropshipping is shifting into a new phase, one where speed and customer experience matter more than simply finding the cheapest supplier.

So, I’d love to hear from the community:

  • Do you think dropshipping is still worth pursuing this year?
  • Have you found any strategies or services that help solve the pain points around fulfillment and shipping?
  • Or do you feel the model has run its course and other e-commerce approaches are more promising?

Looking forward to your thoughts and real experiences.

Cheers,
Moeed

1 Like
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I generally don’t like the typical drop-shipping ecommerce model; it doesn’t benefit anyone except the suppliers. There are a few exceptions. Very few.

The customer typically buys a lesser quality item for a premium price. The item often takes forever to get, is either broken or made of cheap materials. The merchant gets negative feedback and can in some cases get sued and/or have their site taken down. The typical drop-shipping supplier is usually overseas and has enough business that a few bad reviews on products don’t make a difference. There will always be a market for knockoffs.

Print-on-Demand drop-shipping companies like Printify give opportunity for merchants who just don’t have the funds to invest in heavy equipment like a DTF printer. However, this accessibility also gives much room for scammer merchants. All they need to do is download a design and upload it to their store. Printify, Printful, Gelato, and others make it an easy process to create products with generic mockup images, and the integration into Shopify is seamless. It makes it harder for the more honest P.O.D. merchants who simply are trying to provide original and authentic apparel designs.

Whatever the avenue for drop-shipping, honesty and integrity is more important than how many products you can import. If a merchant is just pumping out listings with copy and paste, hoping to snag unsuspecting customers and get their money, it is quite obvious that merchant will not last very long. While marketplaces like Google Merchant Center don’t outright ban drop-shipping, heavy emphasis is placed on integrity, honesty and reliability, especially when presenting a product to customers. The general purpose of drop-shipping is inherently opposite to Google’s policies, which also place a heavy emphasis on controlling inventory. This is part of the reason why drop-shippers have a much harder time appealing GMC restrictions.

Misrepresentation is another reason. In general, the typical drop-shipping model says “Come buy my product. It’s the best”, when in reality it’s not the merchant’s product, and the merchant has nothing to do with any part of the order. From the customer to the shipping, the merchant has no hands-on. This is perfectly acceptable for a select few. P.O.D. merchants, for example, who are exceptional designers with great knowledge of programs like photoshop can benefit from drop-shipping. For everyone else, this is downright lying to customers.

It all boils down to honesty, integrity, and hard work. If you are honest, you will not promote drop-shipped products as your own. If you have integrity, you will not accept people’s money in return for a cheap knockoff. If you are hard-working, you will not simply copy/paste or download others’ intellectual property like images and use them as your own. You will gain knowledge and experience in creating your own images and products.

It’s much easier to “sell” products you don’t have. But should you? Many merchants want their claim to fame and fortune so early, and the apparatus to teach the fundamentals of honesty, patience, and hard-work seemed to disappear too suddenly. Merchants forgot that it is OK to start small. It’s time to remind people that it IS ok. It IS worth the effort. It IS better to be honest. And it IS possible. It’s better to start with a $1000 inventory budget than to mislead the public with your reputation on the line. Merchants need to be reminded that the greats started very small. Gates and Allen started in his parents’ garage. Bezos started from his garage. And in today’s age, there’s no reason you can’t start just as small, just as unseen. Local communities are what builds empires. There are so many avenues you can take to build a business today, and with the cheap prices of equipment like laser engravers, small business investment cost has never been lower.

So, is it worth it to drop-ship in 2025? Nope.

1 Like
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Dropshipping is still a good option in 2025! Although, as long as you prioritize the customer experience instead of looking for a cheaper cost suppliers route, I would still recommend it. With US or EU warehouses, fulfillment services such as USADrop could actually help to minimize delays and build trust. Combine that with solid branding, dependable suppliers, and post purchase support for sustainability. Hope this helps you though.

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From my thoughts Drop-shipping is still in 2025 when Merchant take care of the customers.
They must have all policies with clear argue. They should have Return & Return policies along with Fast Delivery option.
If the Drop-shipper follow these important things then it might worth in 2025 and onward.

5

Hi Mo @Moeed I honestly feel like dropshipping would always be a profitable avenue for business in Shopify even beyond this year. Like people have rightly mentioned, there are a lot of issues with the traditional method which even disssuaded me against its concept totally but I strongly recommend going through subreddits like r/dropshipping and r/e-commerce on Reddit for different strategies and hooks that people are using to make it big in dropshipping nowadays

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Hey Moeed,

I like how you framed this. I don’t think dropshipping is “dead,” but it’s definitely not the same game it was a few years ago. The old way of shipping products from China with 3–4 week delivery times just doesn’t cut it anymore customers have way higher expectations now.

The people I’ve seen doing well in 2025 are the ones who:

  • Use services like USADrop, CJ, or other fulfillment partners to get shipping down to under a week.

  • Put effort into branding and customer experience instead of just pushing random products.

  • Treat dropshipping as a testing ground, then move into holding stock or hybrid models once they find winners.

So yeah, I’d say it’s still worth pursuing, but only if you’re thinking long-term and solving the fulfillment/trust issues up front. Otherwise it’ll feel like running uphill.

Curious are you leaning more toward testing products with dropshipping or trying to build a brand right away?

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Is dropshipping dead in 2025? No, but that outdated AliExpress model with the long delivery times most definitely is.
The keys to success have become reliable fast shipping (for instance from CJ’s facilities or USADrop), building a strong brand, and developing customer trust.
The shops that do well focus on narrow areas; they use TikTok and user-generated content to attract buyers and treat their operations professionally.
It remains worthwhile if you view it as a springboard toward running your own brand-led online retail business.

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Interesting comments. I like to put myself in the buyer’s position, because I buy online for my personal needs almost every day. I wouldn’t ever, and I don’t know any buyer that would prefer purchasing from a dropshipper over a store that actually has stock and ships with care. You do you I guess. But as a customer, dropshipping is an immediate exit for me.