There's no inventory listed on Zendrop. Our team in China has relationships with thousands of warehouses and factories, so there's a very high chance your products can be fulfilled. However, it's virtually impossible to know what inventory is available at any given time for a particular product. This is due to our 1 million-plus product catalog and the fact that factories don't have sophisticated ERPs for real-time inventory management.
Store inventory requirement
Some platforms require an inventory number when importing products, so the default is set at 50,000. This is an arbitrary number to prevent the system from triggering an out-of-stock warning. Here's what actually happens behind the scenes once an order is placed through Zendrop.
Order information check
Once your order is placed in Zendrop, the order information is sent to our sourcing team through our system. Then, the order is double-checked to confirm that there is nothing wrong with the information submitted (product information, shipping location, etc).
Factory stock communication
Our team in China works with a network of factories to source your products. It's rare for factories to hold large pre-built stock. They supply dropshipping stores, which means holding inventory for products that may not be selling yet doesn't make financial sense for them. Any supplier claiming to carry large standing stock isn't telling you the full picture.
Factory out of stock delay
If a product isn't immediately available, the factory needs to order or manufacture it first. This adds time before goods arrive at our warehouse for packaging and shipping.
In some cases, a factory no longer carries a product at all. Production may have stopped due to low demand, they could be mid-manufacturing run (which takes up to 15 days), or supply has dried up for other reasons. When that happens, we'll notify you that the product is out of stock and give you an expected lead time.
Order fulfillment, behind the scenes
The video below walks through the full fulfillment process step by step.
Check the shipping and processing times on any product listing page in Zendrop before you start selling, this sets accurate delivery expectations for your customers.