Setting up a Dropshipping System

Product Development & Sourcing
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Topic summary

A tow truck and wrecker parts dealer wants to dropship products from their authorized supplier NRC, who carries niche parts difficult to find online. The proposed workflow involves:

Current Plan:

  • Clearly communicate lead times and availability on product pages
  • Manually create purchase orders and send to NRC for direct customer shipping
  • Handle customer communication regarding tracking and delivery expectations
  • Use estimated or flat-rate shipping charges

Suggested Solutions:

  • Upgrade to Shopify Advanced (or annual subscription) and implement a B2B wholesale app with custom developer assistance for the purchase flow
  • If NRC maintains Shopify inventory, use the Syncerize app to automatically sync inventory and forward orders with flat-rate shipping

Key Consideration: While the manual process seems time-consuming, the high-value nature of these specialty items makes even low-volume sales worthwhile. The discussion remains open regarding which technical approach best balances automation with the business’s current capabilities.

Summarized with AI on November 3. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

We build tow trucks and wreckers and also sell parts and we are an authorized NRC dealer. They sell a bunch of parts that we don’t keep an inventory of but I want to create a way to offer them on the store. I know this will be a clunky way to sell online, but they sell a ton of niche parts that are difficult, if not impossible to find online… which means I could capitalize if we offered them. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make this work?

Here is how I see it working: I would have to be explicit with lead times and availability on the products page to make sure they are aware that it isn’t coming from us. Once a customer places the order, I would manually create a P.O. and send it to NRC with directions to ship it to the customer. I would have to send an email to the customer letting them know when they should expect to see it, and any tracking information i can get. I’m not sure how to do shipping yet but I could just give them an estimate or charge a flat rate. I know it sounds time consuming but they are big ticket items so even if we only sell a few products it would be well worth the time and effort.

2

Hi @Parts2 ,

You will have to be on Shopify Advanced or pay the annual subscription. Use a B2B wholesale app and have a developer assist in creating the purchase flow. You might not be expecting a lot of orders although realistically the demand could be much higher.

3

Hi,

If they are on Shopify and keep inventory there, you can use Syncerize to sync the inventory and forward orders, you can use a flat shipping rate for it as well