3 mistakes new dropshippers keep making, from a sourcing agent in China

I still remember a seller I worked with a while back. He found a product doing really well on TikTok, the numbers looked amazing, so he found a supplier in China, checked the price, did the math and thought: "If I can sell this for $29.99, I'm going to make a killing."

He launched. Orders came in. And then the problems started. The supplier didn't have enough stock. Shipping wasn't as cheap as he expected. And when he asked to put his own logo on the product, the MOQ jumped from a few pieces to hundreds.

He wasn't doing anything unusual. These are probably the three most common mistakes I see. Full disclosure: I'm a sourcing and dropshipping agent based in China and I've worked with hundreds of sellers, especially in Europe. These are the lessons I wish more new sellers knew before they scale.

1. "MOQ 10" doesn't mean you can customize 10 pieces

You find a product on 1688. The listing says MOQ: 10 pieces. Great. So you ask the supplier: can you put my logo on it, change the packaging, change the color, modify the formula? And suddenly the answer is "MOQ: 500."

Nothing went wrong. You changed the deal. The first MOQ was for ready-made stock. When you ask the factory to customize the product, the packaging or the formula, you're asking for a different production process, which usually means a higher MOQ, higher setup costs and a longer lead time.

So before you get excited about a low MOQ, ask yourself: am I buying something that already exists, or asking the factory to make something specifically for me? That one question saves a lot of trouble.

2. The cheapest shipping can be the most expensive mistake

One seller told me, "I found a shipping line that's $2 cheaper per order." The problem came later. The parcels arrived in Europe and suddenly there were questions about VAT, customs clearance and extra fees. Some orders were delayed, customers started asking where their packages were, and the $2 saving stopped looking attractive.

Don't calculate your business on product cost alone. You need the real landed cost: product + shipping + taxes + customs + handling + everything else needed to get the product into your customer's hands.

For many EU destinations, a properly arranged DDP solution makes the process much more predictable, and delivery is often around 7–14 business days depending on route and destination. There are exceptions: remote islands and some destinations are far more complicated. What matters is to understand the shipping solution before you scale, not after customers complain.

3. Going viral doesn't mean your supplier is ready

This is my favorite, because I understand the temptation. You open TikTok, a product is everywhere, one video has 5 million views, people are commenting "where can I buy this?" and you think "I need to sell this NOW."

So you find a supplier and run ads. 20 orders, 50, 100. Then you ask your supplier, "Can you ship another 200 tomorrow?" and the reply is "Sorry, out of stock."

A product can go viral overnight. A factory usually can't increase production overnight. Before you scale a trending product, check the supply side:

• How much stock is actually available?
• Is this really a factory?
• What is their daily production capacity?
• How quickly can they restock?
• Can they keep the same quality?
• Have they handled dropshipping orders before?
• What happens if your volume suddenly becomes 10x?

A winning product with an unstable supplier isn't a winning business. It's a problem waiting to happen.

None of this is really about dropshipping

It's about assuming everything works the way it looks on the screen. A listing says MOQ 10, so you assume you can customize 10. A shipping quote says $X, so you assume that's your final cost. A product gets 5 million views, so you assume the factory can supply 5,000 orders.

But behind every listing there's a real factory, behind every quote a real logistics route and behind every viral product a real supply chain. That's the part I see every day from the China side.

So don't just take my word for it. Verify the supplier. Order samples. Check the quality. Test the shipping. And start small before you put serious money behind a product. That's how you turn something that looks like a winner into a business that can survive.

What's your biggest challenge right now: finding reliable suppliers, shipping, customs, product quality, or products with stable supply? Tell us. We'd genuinely like to hear it.