Dropshipping without extra apps

What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a way to sell products you don't stock. You list a supplier's product in your store at your own price. When a customer orders, the supplier ships the item directly to them, and you keep the difference between your price and the supplier's cost.

You don't need a warehouse, bulk purchases or packaging. That makes dropshipping a fast way to test products and niches before committing money to inventory.

Built into Cartva, no app to install

On most store builders, dropshipping means adding a third-party app, with its own subscription and its own dashboard. On Cartva it is part of the platform. Connect your CJ Dropshipping or Doba account once from Integrations, then search the supplier catalog and import products from your dashboard. Images, descriptions and variants come pre-filled, and you set your own retail price.

Card payments in your store are handled by Cartva as Merchant of Record, so you can start dropshipping without a company or a payment account of your own. See how selling without a company works.

How orders are fulfilled

1. A customer orders a dropshipped product in your store and pays.
2. When the order is confirmed, Cartva sends the supplier's items to the supplier with your customer's shipping address. Nothing to copy and paste.
3. The supplier charges the product and shipping cost to your account balance with them.
4. Once the parcel ships, the tracking number and carrier are saved on the order, so your customer can follow the delivery.

Keep a balance with your supplier so orders are not held. If an order doesn't go through, you can re-confirm it from your Orders page once the issue is fixed.

Stock and cost sync

Products imported from CJ Dropshipping stay in sync. When the supplier's stock changes, your store is updated, and a product that runs out is hidden automatically until it is back in stock. When a supplier cost changes, Cartva updates the cost on your side but never changes your selling price for you, so your margin stays your decision. You can also run a manual sync at any time.

Combine it with print on demand

Dropshipping pairs well with print on demand. Use dropshipped products for range and trending items, and print-on-demand products for designs that only your store sells. Both live in the same catalog, with one checkout, and each order line follows its own fulfillment path.

Pricing your products

Your margin is your retail price minus the supplier cost, minus shipping if you don't charge it to the customer, minus the Cartva fee per sale. That fee already includes card processing: 9% on Solo, 7% on Grow and 6% on Enterprise. Dropshipping is included in every plan. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.

Is dropshipping right for you?

Dropshipping is a good fit if you want to:

• Validate product demand before buying any stock.
• Offer a wide catalog without a warehouse.
• Run a store as a side project, with fulfillment handled by suppliers.

Plan for the trade-offs too:

• Delivery takes longer than shipping from your own stock.
• You have less control over packaging and product quality, so order samples.
• Your customers contact you, not the supplier, when something goes wrong.

The help center has step-by-step guides to connect CJ Dropshipping and fulfill dropship orders. Your store is free for 30 days without a card, and dropshipping unlocks with any plan for $1 the first month.

Frequently asked questions