Dropshipping on eBay, Amazon, TikTok Shop and OnBuy: the rules in 2026, policy by policy.

Four marketplaces at a glance

Here is the short version of each marketplace’s rules, and the sources at the end link to every policy page. The sections below quote the rules and explain what they mean day to day.

What counts as dropshipping, and what doesn’t

eBay describes dropshipping as “a way of selling items on eBay without ever handling the items yourself”¹. Your supplier holds the stock and ships the parcel. You list the product, take the sale and look after the buyer.

The policies turn on two questions. Who is your supplier: a wholesaler, or another retailer? And whose name reaches the customer: yours, or someone else’s? eBay’s policy answers the first, Amazon’s answers both, and TikTok Shop UK and OnBuy deal with the subject through their wider seller terms.

The set-up eBay and Amazon both rule out is listing a product, then buying it from another retailer or marketplace that ships it straight to your customer¹⁹. The rules quoted here are about the other retailer shipping direct.

eBay: wholesale suppliers yes, other retailers no

eBay UK’s policy draws one line. “Dropshipping, where you fulfil orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed on eBay”¹. What isn’t allowed is “listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace” that “ships directly to your customer”¹. The policy on eBay.com sets the same rules, in slightly different words¹⁰.

The buyer stays your responsibility. You are “still responsible for the safe delivery of the item within the time frame you stated in your listing” and for “the buyer’s overall satisfaction with their purchase”¹. If you break the policy, eBay lists “Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension” as possible actions¹.

Buying goods to resell also means registering as a business seller. eBay UK’s business seller policy gives that as an example of when you must register as a business². Business sellers must give full contact details for the business and have a returns policy².

In practice: check that your supplier is a wholesaler, not a shop, and set your dispatch time to what they can actually achieve. When there is tracking, eBay judges late delivery on carrier scans¹¹, so your supplier’s tracking is your proof. Our guide to listing on eBay and Amazon without overselling covers eBay’s seller standards in detail.

Amazon: you must be the seller of record

Amazon UK allows dropshipping “only when it’s clear to the customer that you are the seller of record”³. Its guidance, last updated on 27 January 2026, sets out what that means³:

• You are “the only seller of record”, named on packing slips, invoices and external packaging.
• The shipment carries no reference to any third party.
• You stay responsible for customer service and for accepting and processing returns.
• Dropshipping can’t be used to get around Amazon’s seller agreement.

Amazon calls it “strictly prohibited” to have another online retailer ship directly to your customers when the shipment doesn’t identify you as the seller of record³. Paperwork or packaging that shows another seller’s name or contact details is also prohibited³.

An earlier Amazon UK guide, last updated on 1 August 2025, puts it without that condition: “Purchasing products from other retailers and shipping them directly to customers is prohibited”⁹. It adds that “External packaging shouldn’t list the third-party supplier”⁹.

Amazon’s US guidance also ties dropshipping to being the seller of record: “you can generally use a dropshipping service to sell products, as long as you’re the seller of record”¹². Dropshipping there must also follow Amazon’s Drop Shipping Policy¹². Read the full policy in Seller Central before you start.

Gated categories need a check too. Some categories require approval before listing, and typical evidence includes “Invoices from an authorised distributor (dated within the last 180 days)” with “A minimum of 10 units per invoice”¹³. A supplier that bills you one unit per order may not produce invoices like that.

In practice: before you list, ask your supplier for a sample parcel. It should identify your business as the seller on any packing slip, invoice and outer packaging, with none of the supplier’s own details.

TikTok Shop UK: stock you hold, in the UK

We found no TikTok Shop UK policy that deals with dropshipping by name. The rules that bear on it sit in the seller terms, the registration policy and the shipping policy.

The UK seller terms, last updated on 30 September 2026, say: “You may only Offer Products where you have the requisite stock to fulfil any Orders placed”⁴. The registration policy, updated on 8 September 2026, requires sellers to store inventory in the country where they register, and to ship and accept returns domestically for Local to Local orders⁵. TikTok Shop may ask for evidence of where your inventory is, such as an address or a lease⁵.

If you ship orders yourself, you may use only TikTok Shop’s Approved Integrated Carriers, you pay all delivery costs, and you submit tracking through TikTok Shop⁴. Under Ship by Seller, you confirm the order, pack it and attach the label, each within 2 working days of receiving the order¹⁴. The order must be delivered within 4 working days of the date you receive it¹⁴. If it isn’t handed to a carrier within 7 working days, it is cancelled automatically¹⁴.

The cancellation policy adds that sellers must not ask customers to cancel because of the seller’s own stock problems⁶.

Sellers based outside the UK have a separate route: under the seller terms, a Cross-Border Seller can ship from outside the UK to UK customers, using TikTok’s cross-border logistics services⁴.

In practice: read together, these rules point to stock held in the UK and ready to ship within days. If you plan to list supplier-held stock on TikTok Shop UK, ask TikTok Shop how the rules apply to your set-up first.

OnBuy: your fulfilment, unbranded parcels

We found no dropshipping section in OnBuy’s Seller Terms (version 3.0.4) or on its Sell on OnBuy page⁷¹⁵. The terms deal with the subject through fulfilment instead.

“The Seller is solely responsible for fulfilment of Orders”, and you are responsible for “sourcing, storing, selling and delivering all the Products in an Order”⁷. Where someone else ships for you, the terms say: “If the Seller uses a third-party to fulfil an Order, the Seller shall select a non-branded packaging option if such option is available”⁷.

The sale is yours alone. OnBuy’s website terms say the contract “is made solely between the customer and the seller”¹⁶.

Dispatch is due within 24 hours unless you set a longer handling time, which can be up to 10 days⁷. An order not marked as dispatched within 30 days is cancelled and refunded automatically, and OnBuy may restrict an account for slow dispatch or a high rate of cancellations or refunds⁷.

Tracking isn’t expressly required⁷. But if an untracked parcel is late or can’t be proved delivered, OnBuy can require you to refund or replace it, at the customer’s choice⁷.

In practice: the terms leave room for a supplier to ship for you, provided the parcel is unbranded where that option exists and you meet the dispatch and returns rules. Ask for tracked delivery, because without it a lost parcel is your cost.

Your name on the parcel: what to agree with your supplier

Blind shipping means the parcel and its paperwork show your business, not your supplier’s. Amazon requires it, and OnBuy requires non-branded packaging when a third party fulfils, where that option exists³⁷. If you sell one supplier’s products on several marketplaces, setting every order up to Amazon’s standard gives you one parcel format to manage.

Agree these points in writing before your first order:

• Your business name on any packing slip or invoice, and none of the supplier’s.
• Outer packaging that identifies your business, with no supplier branding or return address.
• A daily cut-off time for dispatch, and the carriers they use.
• Tracking numbers sent to you as soon as each label is printed.
• How often their stock file updates, and how they flag lines they stop selling.
• Where returns go, and how quickly they are checked.

Returns when your supplier ships

Each marketplace expects you, not your supplier, to deal with returns:

• eBay UK: business sellers must have a returns policy².
• Amazon: respond to all return requests within 24 hours using Manage Returns, and in the UK provide a prepaid return label or a returnless refund¹⁷.
• TikTok Shop UK: customers can raise a return or refund request up to and including 30 calendar days from delivery⁶. Requests that aren’t approved automatically need your answer within 2 working days⁶.
• OnBuy: customers can cancel a non-faulty order up to 30 days after receiving it, and you give a returns address in the delivery country or an alternative such as a prepaid returns label⁸. The refund is due within 14 days of getting the goods back, or of the customer’s evidence that they sent them back, if that is earlier⁸.

OnBuy’s sign-up checklist also asks for a returns solution for each country you sell to¹⁵.

In practice: agree with your supplier who receives returned goods. OnBuy expects a returns address in the delivery country unless you use one of its alternatives⁸, and TikTok Shop’s local orders need returns accepted in the UK⁵. If returns go back to the supplier, agree how fast the supplier checks them, so you can refund within each marketplace’s deadline.

Stock and dispatch when someone else holds the goods

As a dropshipper, your stock figure is a copy of your supplier’s. Between updates, other resellers can buy the same units. When that leaves you short, the cancellation or late parcel counts against you, not the supplier¹⁷⁹.

Three habits keep that in check:

• Show fewer units than the supplier’s file for fast-moving lines.
• Collect the supplier’s stock file as often as it changes.
• Set handling times that include the supplier’s picking and collection.

TikTok Shop UK fixes the Ship by Seller timings in its policy¹⁴. On eBay, Amazon and OnBuy you state your own dispatch or handling time⁷¹¹¹⁷, so set it to what your supplier can keep.

Where invtri fits

invtri connects to your own eBay, Amazon, TikTok Shop and OnBuy seller accounts, lists your products and keeps stock and price up to date. It doesn’t sell on your behalf, and each marketplace sets its own approval rules and fees, including the dropshipping rules above.

For a dropship order with your own supplier, invtri imports the order from the marketplace, records it and updates your stock on every channel. Imports run every 15 minutes. You buy from your supplier as usual, then add the tracking number in invtri, and invtri sends it to the marketplace. Blind shipping is agreed between you and your supplier.

invtri also tracks each return on the order (requested, received, then refunded or replacement sent), and lets you cap the stock you show from each supplier. More on our Dropship page and in Fulfil a dropship order.

Before you list supplier stock

1. Read each marketplace’s current policy pages; the dates in this guide’s sources show when each was last updated or when we checked it.
2. Confirm your supplier is a wholesaler, not another retailer.
3. Order a sample parcel and check every label, slip and invoice.
4. Agree dispatch cut-offs and tracking, and set your handling time to match.
5. Agree where returns go and how quickly they are checked.
6. For TikTok Shop UK, ask TikTok Shop how its stock rules apply before you list supplier-held stock.