With the advent of e-commerce in recent years, an increasing number of companies have been formed with a business model based on e-commerce principles, with the goal of bringing the product closer to its consumers. Drop shipping is one of these new forms of commerce that is both effective and controversial.

A Small Investment for a Big Profit

Drop shipping or "direct delivery" is an online sale in which the seller is only responsible for the marketing and sale of the product. It is the seller's supplier who ships the goods to the end consumer. The end consumer is generally not aware of the existence of the suppliers or their role. Drop shipping therefore makes it possible to embark on e-commerce with a low initial investment, since the seller does not manage the stock or the logistics. Its only expenses are related to the creation of the online store and the promotion of its products on the web. It provides a very interesting opportunity for self-employed entrepreneurs with limited financial resources who cannot invest in stockpiling, renting storage warehouses, or even managing large logistics operations.

Misleading Information and Involuntary Complicity of Social Networks

Even if the seller is not responsible for delivery, he or she is fully responsible for the proper execution of the end customers' orders. As a result, the seller must ensure that they are working with a reliable supplier who can ensure the delivery times stated, the management of returns, and the availability of the products in relation to their description on the website. Regrettably, this verification is not always carried out. Some sellers simply copy and paste information from the manufacturer without checking its accuracy.

Profit drives sellers to ignore standard checks and, in some cases, to use misleading information to sell their products because even if the seller is not responsible for the logistics part of the transaction, he or she still has to attract customers to the online store, which is difficult in an extremely competitive environment.

Social networks are unwittingly complicit in these fraudulent practices because it is through this channel that sellers reach their targets. With a simple sponsorship, sellers can reach thousands of potential customers who will visit their online store. How many times when opening Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat do we come across advertisements for products that are clearly imitations or even counterfeits of well-known products but with a solid argumentation that aims to reassure the customer? This kind of practice should be banned, but social networks can't do much about it. Fortunately, there are a few ways to identify drop shipping scams.

However, we should not put all e-merchants in the same basket. The vast majority of them strive to do their job with ethics and respect for the consumer.

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