What is drop surfing?

Drop surfing is a specific supply analysis technique used by most dropshipping e-commerce businesses. The strategy of drop surfing involves constantly evaluating all your vendor options. The goal is to increase profit margins per sale by selecting the cheapest vendor each time. The lower price could be a result of a cheaper product or cheaper shipping costs.

Quick Definition
Drop Surfing: A strategy where e-commerce sellers continuously switch between different suppliers to find the lowest product or shipping cost for each sale, in order to increase profit margins.

How does drop surfing work?

Business owners review — or “surf” — several potential suppliers for each individual product. Then they select whichever supplier is offering a lower price at that time.

The next time a customer buys the exact same product, the business owner may “surf” again and choose a different supplier who’s offering a deal, a discounted price, or a cheaper shipping option.

Benefits of drop surfing

The benefits of drop surfing are:

• More money! Higher profit margins, which are notoriously low in dropshipping business models.
• Flexibility in choosing a supplier that best fits the sale. You aren’t tied to a single vendor.

Drawbacks of drop surfing

Potential drawbacks of drop surfing include:

• Poor quality of products. Switching up your supplier frequently holds the risk that you may encounter poorer quality products than you’re used to.
• Complicated to track shipments. When various suppliers use various shipping methods, managing your orders in real-time gets confusing.
• Risking poor customer experience for your buyers. Wonky products or delayed delivery leaves you with disappointed customers and perhaps disappointing reviews!
• Consumes a lot of time. Scanning multiple vendors is a time-consuming manual process unless you use a tool.
• International tax such as sales tax, VAT or GST. You must comply with them on every sale.

How is drop surfing different from drop shipping?

Drop surfing is a variation of the traditional dropshipping model, not a completely separate concept. In both models, the business doesn’t hold inventory but relies on third-party suppliers to fulfill customer orders.

The key difference lies in the supplier strategy:

• Dropshipping usually involves partnering with one reliable supplier per product. Once a vendor is chosen, they’re consistently used for all future sales of that product. The focus is often on reliability, ease of integration, and predictable service. \

• Drop surfing, as mentioned above, involves constantly re-evaluating and switching suppliers based on price and shipping cost at the time of each sale. The goal is to maximize profit margins by always sourcing the product from the cheapest available option, even if that means using a different supplier every time.