Dropshipper & Reseller Policy

Effective date: 5 November 2026

This policy applies to any business that buys from Essential Online Traders Ltd ("EOTrader", "we", "us") to resell goods, or to have us send goods directly to its own customers (dropshipping). It applies to orders placed on our trade store (b2b.eotrader.co.uk) and on our retail store (eotrader.co.uk). It sits alongside our Terms of Service, Shipping Policy and Refund & Returns Policy. Where they differ on a dropship or resale order, this policy applies.

1. Our role

Every dropship or resale order is a business-to-business contract between EOTrader and you, the business that places and pays for the order. We act only as your supplier and fulfilment partner.

  • Your customer buys from you, not from us. Your customer has no contract with us, and the consumer rights they have against you are your responsibility.
  • We have no obligations to your customers. We are not responsible for your listings, sales, customer service, consumer-law duties, marketplace rules or guarantees.
  • You are your customer's only point of contact. We do not deal with your customers about their orders, including by phone or email, and we do not act on extra delivery instructions passed on from them.

2. Who can dropship

  • Any business may dropship with us. There is no account, application, approval, subscription, per-order fee or minimum order, and single units are fine.
  • You must have a UK billing address, which we need for VAT and tax purposes.
  • The billing details on each order must be yours. The shipping address is your customer's. If the billing details are your customer's, the order and the VAT invoice will be in their name, and the order may be flagged by our fraud checks.

3. Placing orders

  • Orders are placed on our trade store, or through Shopify Collective where eligible. You may use third-party tools (for example Syncee) at your own cost. We do not currently offer API or CSV ordering.
  • Each order has one delivery address and its own shipping charge. You may combine orders yourself to reach discount tiers.
  • Payment is taken in full when you place the order. We do not offer credit terms.
  • You can cancel an order up until it is dispatched. Once it has been dispatched, it cannot be cancelled.

4. Prices and discounts

  • Trade prices exclude VAT and shipping.
  • Automatic volume discounts are 5% over £50, 10% over £250 and 15% over £1,000. They are calculated on stock value only, excluding VAT and shipping.
  • We do not offer bespoke discounts to new resellers. Pricing for regular, high-volume resellers may be reviewed case by case.
  • Price lists, CSV files and stock exports we send are snapshots for information only. Our store is always the current price and stock. Prices can change without notice, but changes never apply to orders already paid for.

5. Stock

  • Stock shown on single-pack listings is capped at 50 units.
  • Different pack sizes of the same product share the same stock, so don't add their quantities together.
  • Check stock on our store before accepting an order from your customer. Product lines are sometimes discontinued without notice, so keep alternative suppliers for important lines.

6. Packing and dispatch

  • Dropship orders are sent in plain outer packaging, with no EOTrader invoice, pricing or marketing material inside. We sometimes reuse boxes that may carry other brands' markings. Manufacturer labelling on products cannot be removed.
  • Orders paid before 1:00pm on a working day are dispatched the same working day. Oversized shipments may need one extra working day to book.
  • We use a tracked service of our choice. Delivery typically takes 3–5 working days, but delivery dates are not guaranteed. Tracking is available on your order.
  • We ship to UK mainland addresses only. Delivery to other UK areas (for example the Isle of Man or the Highlands and Islands) may be possible on a custom shipping quote, agreed before dispatch. If you decline the quote, we will cancel and refund the order.
  • Age-restricted items. We stock very few age-restricted products. Those we do stock are always sent by Royal Mail's age-verified tracked service, and the carrier checks age on delivery. You remain responsible for complying with the law on age-restricted sales to your own customers.

7. Using our photos and descriptions

You may use our product photos and descriptions to sell goods you buy from us, on your own website and on marketplaces. On these conditions:

  • No clones. Don't copy our website, listings or catalogue word for word. Descriptions must be edited and reworded to fit your own brand and style.
  • Use our content only for goods bought from us.
  • We may withdraw this permission if it is misused.

This permission is an exception to the general content restrictions in our Terms of Service.

8. Brands

  • Unbranded and white-label products may be sold under your own brand, but not on listings that use the EOTRADER name.
  • Branded products must be sold under their own brand. We cannot give you permission to use third-party brands or trademarks.
  • You are responsible for your own listings and product claims, and for complying with marketplace rules.

Your product claims. Our product listing is the only description we give of a product. If your listing describes a product differently from ours (for example, as brass when our listing says plastic), or makes claims we do not make, that is your responsibility. We are not liable for complaints, returns, refunds, chargebacks or claims that result from it.

9. Delivery problems

  • Not delivered (lost in transit). We remain responsible for the shipment arriving. A shipment counts as lost only once tracking has shown no new scan for 14 days. We then investigate with the carrier and replace or refund the order.
    • While tracking is still showing new scans, the shipment is in transit, even if delivery is late.
    • A shipment whose tracking shows it being returned to sender is also still in transit. It is not eligible for a refund until it reaches us, when the failed-delivery terms below apply.
  • Damaged, missing or incorrect items. Report these to us within 10 working days of delivery, with photographs of all items received within the packaging, the packaging the items arrived in, and the postage label and packing slip if present. Keep the goods and packaging until we have finished investigating. We compare your report with our dispatch records and make any carrier claim. Reports made after this deadline, or without this evidence, may not be accepted. This does not affect your rights where goods are faulty.
  • Failed, refused or undeliverable shipments (for example, wrong address, no one available or a refused delivery). The order is treated as cancelled under our Shipping Policy:
    • the original shipping charge is not refunded;
    • the return-to-sender charge invoiced by our carrier, usually the same as the original shipping charge, is deducted from the goods refund;
    • the charge never exceeds the value of the goods.

10. Returns

Before anything is sent back, contact us first. We will give you a return reference (RMA).

  • Your customer may send the return directly to our returns address, or you may return it yourself.
  • Every return parcel must be clearly identifiable. Include our RMA number together with at least one of: your own reference, your order number with us, or the return's order number.
  • Unidentifiable returns may not be processed. A parcel we cannot match to an order will be delayed, and in the worst case may not be processed at all, even if tracking shows it as delivered to our warehouse.
  • Returns must be sent by a tracked service. You remain responsible for the parcel until it reaches us.

Deadlines. Returns must be requested within 14 days of delivery, and the goods returned within a further 14 days. Requests outside this window (for example, under a marketplace's 30-day return policy) are not approved automatically. We consider them case by case.

Change of mind / unwanted goods
- Accepted at our discretion only, and normally for whole orders.
- Return postage is at your cost.
- The refund covers the stock value only. Shipping is not refunded.
- A 10% restocking fee is deducted, plus a fair further deduction if the goods are not in resalable condition.
- If we agree to accept part of an order, volume discounts are recalculated on the goods kept.

Our error, faulty or damaged goods
- You arrange the return using a tracked service.
- We refund the goods price, the original shipping charge, and your return postage up to the amount of the original shipping charge. The total is never more than the goods price plus twice the original shipping charge.
- You pay for the return first, as we cannot arrange returns with your customers directly. Marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon often issue return labels automatically.
- The goods price and original shipping are refunded to your original payment method. The return-postage allowance, which is more than you originally paid, is given as store credit, or by bank transfer if you give us your bank details.

11. Warranty and liability

  • Products carry a 6-month warranty against manufacturing defects unless the product page states otherwise. Claims need evidence. Any longer warranty or guarantee you give your customers is at your own cost.
  • We are not liable for your losses arising from your resale. This includes lost profit, marketplace penalties or account restrictions, chargebacks raised by your customers, and the cost of any guarantees you offer.
  • Our total liability for any order is limited to the price you paid for it, as set out in our Terms of Service.
  • Our contract is with your business only. We have no liability for the sale between you and your customer, or for what is done with the goods after they are delivered.
  • Your indemnity to us. If a claim, penalty or cost is brought against us because of your listings, product claims, or sales and dealings with your customers, you will reimburse us for it, including our reasonable legal costs. This does not apply where the claim is caused by our own breach of these terms or by a fault in the goods we supplied.

12. Suspension

We may suspend dropship service to you, or cancel unpaid or undispatched orders, where we reasonably believe it is being abused. Examples include:

  • an excessive rate of returns or failed deliveries;
  • chargebacks;
  • misuse of our content;
  • misleading listings;
  • conduct towards our staff.

Paid orders we cancel under this section are refunded in full.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy at any time without prior notice. Each order is a separate contract, and the version in force when your order is placed (or, for pro-forma orders, when the pro-forma invoice is issued) applies to that order. The effective date at the top shows which version is current. Later changes never apply to orders already placed.

14. Contact

Dropship and reseller enquiries: b2b@eotrader.co.uk