Have you ever seen your favorite influencers come out with a new product out of the blue? When you got it, did it feel cheap, mass-produced, or even that you could make something better? Dropshipping might be a crucial factor in this problem. Its impact could raise critical concerns about the authenticity and viability of real or small businesses. Unlike traditional businesses where time, effort, and thought go into making a product, dropshipping operations prioritize profit and quantity over product, quality, and integrity. This disparity often undermines genuine businesses, erodes consumer trust, and dilutes the marketplace with subpar offerings.
Small businesses rely on authenticity and creativity to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. These businesses invest time and effort into creating unique products. Whether sourcing from ethical materials or reusing items, they typically try to make a bond and create a narrative with their consumers. In contrast, dropshipping uses mass-produced items for cheap through third-party suppliers. This mass production of a straightforward item can be seen in multiple products across the market. The lack of personal involvement in the product design and manufacturing process makes it difficult for people who dropship to establish a genuine connection with their audience. Authentic businesses thrive on reliability, consistency in quality, and transparency throughout their operations. Dropshipping, however, has shown us what happens when greed overtakes ethical practices.
Dropshipping has also been known to advertise generic items as “luxury,” and claim that they are handcrafted when they are actually mass-produced. These practices blur the lines between authentic small businesses and opportunistic resellers, making it challenging for consumers to distinguish between them. Platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify are now flooded with sellers offering nearly identical items sourced from the same manufacturer. This ‘new’ technique for sellers makes it difficult for genuine businesses to stand out and get noticed. Also, the lack of quality control when it comes to production of these products can harm the perception of specific product categories; for example, if a customer buys a “handcrafted” leather bag from an influencer that promoted it, the bag might come broken or even made of plastic. This causes skepticism and can hurt the credibility of original, legitimate sellers.Â
Many local businesses focus on their heritage, culture, and community in their products. Alternatively, people commodify cultural elements when dropshipping by reinterpreting and reproducing them without respect for their roots or context. Such behavior diminishes the cultural meaning of those objects and takes away the proper income that small-sized firms would have made with the care of such cultures. Also, dropshipping is a source of uneven practices and has extremely harmful environmental effects. Manufacturers with poor labor practices produce most products imported via dropshipping, adding to the abuse of the labor workers. On the other hand, smaller companies embed responsible business practices in their culture, and many of them are ethical and sustainable.
Although dropshipping sounds fun and easy since it allows quick profits, it comes at the expense of authenticity, ethics, and quality. It promotes unfair advantages and competition among small businesses, leading such companies to become weak. To ensure the integrity of an honest business, consumers should research where the products are coming from, whether the products are manufactured ethically, and support brands that prioritize craftsmanship. Ultimately, the choice lies with the consumers and their willingness to value authenticity over convenience.Â