Can a customer return a product bought from a dropshipping store?

Yes, the same way as any online purchase: fourteen days from delivery, no reason needed, against the store that sold the product. If the store fails to properly inform the customer of this right, the deadline stretches to twelve months from its natural expiry.

What happens if the dropshipping supplier doesn't deliver on time?

It stays a problem between the store and the customer. If no specific date was agreed, delivery must happen within thirty days of the order; once that deadline passes, the customer can set a further deadline and then cancel the contract for a refund, regardless of why the supplier was late.

Does the store have to charge VAT even on a single product shipped from China?

Yes. Since 1 July 2021 the VAT exemption for low-value shipments has been abolished, so even a purchase worth a few euros is subject to it. Since 1 July 2026 a flat customs duty of three euros per tariff line also applies to extra-EU shipments under 150 euros.

Does an agreement between the store and the supplier reduce what's owed to the final customer?

No. That agreement only governs the relationship between the two businesses. Toward the customer, whoever concluded the sales contract, meaning the store, stays liable: it can later seek compensation from the supplier under their own agreement, but it cannot use that agreement against the customer.

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Dropshipping: what the store stays liable for

Q: Who is responsible if a product bought through dropshipping arrives broken or different from what was promised?

The store that sold the product, not the supplier that shipped it. Article 133 of Italy's Consumer Code holds the seller liable for any lack of conformity that exists at delivery and shows up within two years, regardless of who physically holds the goods.

13 November 2026

Warehouse worker in a beanie and vest scanning a shelf with a handheld scanner while holding a tablet, pallets of goods in the background

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A dropshipping store answers to the customer exactly like any other online shop: a two-year conformity warranty, delivery deadlines, transport risk and the fourteen-day right of withdrawal all stay with whoever sold the product, not with the supplier that ships it. Italy's Consumer Code sets no different regime for a seller who never touches the goods, and a private agreement with the supplier changes nothing toward the customer.

The seller is whoever concluded the contract, not whoever ships

Italy has no special rules for dropshipping: the same rules apply as for any distance sale between a business and a consumer, set out in Italy's Consumer Code (legislative decree 206/2005, checked on 13 November 2026). The law identifies the responsible party as the "trader", meaning whoever concluded the contract with the customer and collects the payment: it doesn't matter whether the goods ship from the seller's own warehouse or from a wholesaler's, one the customer will never see. An agreement between the store and the supplier only governs the relationship between the two businesses: it does nothing to reduce what the store owes the final customer.

The conformity warranty runs for two years, regardless of who holds the stock

Since 10 December 2021 Italy's Consumer Code has been rewritten by legislative decree 170/2021, which transposed EU Directive 2019/771 on the sale of goods (source: Normattiva, checked on 13 November 2026). Article 133 holds the seller liable for any lack of conformity that exists at the time of delivery and becomes apparent within two years of that date; article 135 adds that if the defect appears within one year, it's presumed to have already existed at delivery, and it's the seller who has to prove otherwise. Neither article makes any distinction based on who physically packed the product: the seller is whoever sold it.

Delivery deadlines and transport risk stay with the store

If the site hasn't agreed a specific date with the customer, article 61 of the Consumer Code requires delivery without undue delay and in any case within thirty days of the contract being concluded, meaning from the order. Once that deadline passes, the customer can set a further, reasonable deadline and, if that one also expires, cancel the contract and get a refund. Article 63 adds a point that matters twice over in dropshipping: the risk of loss or damage during transport stays with the seller until the customer physically receives the goods. A parcel lost by the supplier's own courier, or arriving damaged because a warehouse abroad packed it badly, stays a problem between the store and the customer, not a case to shrug off.

The fourteen-day right of withdrawal, and the case that made it concrete

The right of withdrawal follows the same rules as for any online shop, with the details on timing and refunds explained in right of withdrawal: the fourteen days seen from the shop's side. What dropshipping adds is a real example of what happens when a store tries to pass a problem born with the supplier on to the customer. In 2018 Italy's competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, opened proceedings PS10403B against Tecnomaster.Biz S.p.A., an electronics seller that told the Authority it "operates exclusively through dropshipping" and marked as "available" products that only existed in the warehouses of wholesalers and suppliers, never in its own (source: AGCM's interim order of 24 April 2018, checked on 13 November 2026). Between January 2017 and February 2018 the company had received 5,579 orders: 2,728 fulfilled, 1,243 cancelled and 1,608 left pending without a refund. On 1 August 2018 the Authority closed the case with two fines, 200,000 € and 20,000 €, for the unfair commercial practice and for missing or incomplete information on the right of withdrawal (source: AGCM's final sanctioning order, checked on 13 November 2026).

When the supplier sits outside the European Union

Two dates change the arithmetic when goods come from a non-EU supplier, typically a Chinese one. Since 1 July 2021 the EU's e-commerce VAT reform abolished the exemption that used to apply to low-value shipments, under 22 euros: today even a few-euro accessory is subject to VAT from the first cent. Since 1 July 2026, and until 2028, a flat customs duty of three euros per tariff line also applies to extra-EU shipments worth up to 150 euros, introduced by EU Regulation 2026/382. Neither rule depends on the business model: both apply to any distance import, dropshipping included. When a store doesn't handle these costs at checkout, for instance through the IOSS scheme under 150 euros, it's the customer who ends up paying VAT and customs charges to the courier on delivery, a cost that article 49 of the Consumer Code requires to be disclosed before the order, not discovered with the parcel in hand.

What actually changes for whoever runs the store

None of these rules ask a dropshipping store to keep its own warehouse: they ask for terms of sale that tell the truth about real delivery times, customs costs when they apply, and the withdrawal procedure, plus a way to refund a customer even when the problem started with the supplier. It's the same logic behind the total price including shipping having to appear before the customer sends the order: whatever the site doesn't say beforehand becomes the store's problem afterward. If you want to check whether your terms of sale actually cover these points, before the first dispute lands, it can be part of the digital check-up; otherwise, get in touch.