Choosing a dropshipping agent is one of the most consequential supply-chain decisions a scaling ecommerce brand will make. The wrong choice locks you into hidden mark-ups, opaque factory access, and a customer-service backlog that quietly destroys your reviews. The right choice gives you operational leverage — a partner that compounds value across every order.
Here are the seven questions every founder should ask before signing.
1. Will you write factory names into my contract?
Every dropshipping agent works with factories. The question is whether they’re willing to name them in writing. Agents who refuse are protecting their margin via opacity — the moment you have direct factory access, their leverage disappears.
ASG writes factory names and contact details into every signed agreement on Day 1. We compete on operational quality, not on hidden mark-ups.
2. What’s your written response-time SLA?
“WhatsApp me anytime” is not a service-level agreement — it’s a fingers-crossed promise. Real partners commit hours, in writing.
- Routine questions: response in < 4 business hours
- Order exceptions: < 20 minutes during business hours
- Critical issues: 24/7 founder line
3. How does QC actually work — with photo evidence?
Many agents claim “4-stage QC” but produce no evidence. The standard you want:
- Supplier audit at engagement
- Production monitoring with 48h photo updates
- Inbound inspection (10% sample or 100% full, your call)
- Pre-dispatch photo of every parcel, archived 30 days
Without photo evidence, QC is a checkbox, not a system.
If your agent can’t show you a photo of every parcel shipped last week, your QC isn’t a process — it’s a wish.
4. Can I see the full cost breakdown?
Demand a per-order ledger: product cost + freight + packaging + service fee, line by line. Agents who quote only “all-in” pricing are hiding their margin in one of those buckets.
5. What happens if you fail?
Service agreements should specify exactly: who pays for reships, what triggers an automatic refund, what the escalation path looks like when something goes catastrophically wrong. “We’ll figure it out” is not an SLA.
6. What’s the migration plan if I want to leave?
Counter-intuitive but essential: ask before you sign how you’d exit. Will your supplier contacts transfer? Your tooling? Your packaging files? Healthy partners answer this calmly. Hostage situations answer it with friction.
7. Who, by name, will manage my account?
“You’ll get a dedicated team” is corporate-speak. Get a name. Get a face. Know who answers your WhatsApp at 9pm on a Tuesday when a customer claims their order is missing.
Use these seven questions as a written checklist on every discovery call. Most agents will fail at least three. The ones who pass all seven — in writing, in the contract — are the ones worth scaling with.
If you’d like the printable PDF version with comparison columns for three agents side-by-side, join the partner program or just email us.