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AyRojgar

Dropshipping and reselling

Selling online without holding stock, shipping by courier and collecting cash on delivery. Courier is Tk 60-180 plus 1 percent COD, and a returned parcel adds 50 percent of the delivery charge - which is where the profit goes.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Dropshipping and reselling

Dropshipping and reselling

Starting capital
৳20,000 – ৳2,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 4 people
First sale
3 – 30 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
2 – 6 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Online · Hard

About the business

Taking orders on a Facebook page or website without holding stock, then buying from a wholesaler, shipping by courier and collecting the money on delivery. It is the most heavily promoted idea in Bangladeshi Facebook groups right now. Look first at where the arithmetic breaks. On Pathao Courier's published rates a 500-gram parcel costs Tk 60 inside Dhaka, Tk 110 to a destination outside Dhaka, and up to Tk 180 for a 2-kilogram parcel between two places outside Dhaka - plus a 1 percent cash-on-delivery charge, and all of it before VAT. Now the part that matters: if the parcel comes back, a return charge of 50 percent of the delivery charge is added on top of the delivery charge. So a parcel outside Dhaka that the customer refuses costs Tk 110 to send and Tk 55 to bring back - Tk 165 gone, zero revenue, and the goods on your hands again. Nobody should enter this business without first working out how many successful deliveries it takes to cover one refused parcel. One more thing: a DBID number is compulsory for digital businesses. Since it launched in February 2022, only 1,870 businesses had obtained one by 19 November 2025, with roughly 12,000 applications stuck in the queue.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳33,000 – ৳54,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳500 – ৳2,000 / unitEditorial estimate
Variable cost৳60 – ৳180 / unitMarket quote
Gross margin8% – 37%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue3 – 30 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time2 – 6 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle3 – 15 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss10% – 25%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity10 – 80Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • A phone or computer, internet, packing materials, and a scale - courier rates step up by weight band, so you cannot price without knowing the weight.Equipment
  • True dropshipping holds no stock, but delivering fast on cash on delivery in Bangladesh usually means keeping some fast-moving items in hand. Returned goods accumulate too, so storage becomes necessary.Starting stock
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
  • DBID (Digital Business Identification) from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) under the Ministry of Commerce. An e-commerce or f-commerce business cannot operate without it. Launched 6 February 2022; by 19 November 2025 only 1,870 businesses had one and about 12,000 applications were pending.Licence
  • Running Facebook ads, producing product photos and descriptions, and keeping the cost and revenue of every single parcel. The last is the most important skill here and the most neglected.Skill
  • A wholesaler for the goods, with a written agreement that they take returns back. Without it, the stock from every refused parcel piles up with you.Supplier
  • Merchant registration with a courier. Pathao Courier lists more than 200,000 online merchants and covers 64 districts; Steadfast Courier has 300,000 registered merchants covering 8 divisions, 495 upazilas and 330 municipal areas. A bank account or a personal bKash account is needed to receive the money.Supplier

How the work is done

  1. 1Work out the courier cost before choosing the product. A 500-gram parcel outside Dhaka costs Tk 110; any product whose margin is under Tk 110 is not worth sending.
  2. 2Fix the wholesaler and get it in writing whether they take returned goods back. If not, every refused parcel's stock stays around your neck.
  3. 3Register as a merchant with the courier. After signing up with the business name, owner's name, mobile and email you provide store and payment details; a bank account or a personal bKash account is needed to receive the money.
  4. 4Apply for DBID registration through RJSC, under the Ministry of Commerce. Without a DBID an e-commerce or f-commerce business cannot legally operate, and applications can sit for a long time.
  5. 5Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality - it is also needed when applying for DBID.
  6. 6Record the cost of every parcel separately: goods, courier charge, the 1 percent COD charge, VAT, packaging and its share of the advertising. Without all six the profit figure is false.
  7. 7Take only a few orders in the first month and see how many come back. Do not pour money into advertising before you know your own return rate - that one number decides whether you are in profit or in loss.
  8. 8Cut returns by phoning to confirm every order. Inside Dhaka metro there is no return charge, but outside Dhaka every return costs an extra 50 percent of the delivery charge.
  9. 9Track the ad spend daily - how much money brought how many orders. The moment spend rises without orders rising, stop.
  10. 10Keep the description and photographs honest. If the item does not match the picture the customer refuses it, and the full cost of the return is yours.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitDhaka · Inside Dhaka the courier is cheapest (Tk 60 for 500 g), delivery is within 24 hours, and orders inside Dhaka metro carry no return charge - the risk is lowest here.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Falls in the Dhaka-adjacent rate band (Tk 80 for 500 g), with dense settlement and factory workers as buyers.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · Counted as a Dhaka-adjacent area, so courier rates are lower (Tk 80 for 500 g), and the wholesale markets are close.
  • PossibleBogura · A northern trading centre with good courier coverage, though shipping between two places outside Dhaka starts at Tk 120.
  • PossibleChattogram · A large city where same-city shipping is cheap, but sending from Dhaka starts at Tk 110 and the return charge applies.
  • PossibleCumilla · A district on Pathao Courier's list and easy to reach by highway, but both the outside-Dhaka rate and the return charge apply.
  • PossibleKhulna · Courier service is available, but distance from Dhaka makes the per-parcel cost higher.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A divisional city with courier service, though distance raises both cost and return risk.
  • PossibleSylhet · Relatively good purchasing power, but distance raises the courier cost and makes a return more expensive.
  • Weak fitRangpur · Far away, so both courier cost and return risk are high, and average purchasing power is lower - low-priced goods do not leave a margin here.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: Returned parcels are what actually kills this business. Under Pathao Courier's terms a return costs the delivery charge plus another 50 percent of it as a return charge (no return charge inside Dhaka metro, though partial and exchange deliveries are charged even there). A Tk 110 parcel outside Dhaka that comes back costs Tk 165 in total against zero revenue. On a product earning you Tk 100, covering one refused parcel takes roughly two successful deliveries - so a small rise in the return rate turns the whole month into a loss.
  • HighDependency: The whole business stands on Facebook advertising, over which you have no control. The Ministry of Commerce's draft Cross-Border Digital Trade Policy 2026 (25 July 2026) says foreign firms such as Meta and Google may not run digital advertising in Bangladesh without DBID registration and must comply with VAT and tax rules on advertising. If it takes effect, both the cost and the mechanics of advertising could change. And when Facebook is down for a few days, orders go to zero.
  • HighCompliance: An e-commerce or f-commerce business cannot legally run without a DBID, yet the registration itself is stuck. Since launching in February 2022, only 1,870 businesses had one by 19 November 2025 with about 12,000 applications pending. RJSC says budget, staffing and technical problems prevent it from delivering the service. Thousands of online sellers are therefore trading without the licence the law demands, and they will be the first hit if enforcement tightens.
  • HighDemand: With cash on delivery the buyer sees the goods before paying and is under no obligation to take them. If the item does not match the photograph, if the price feels high, or if they simply change their mind over three days, the parcel goes back. The seller controls none of that and pays all of it. This is why the money never matches the order count.
  • MediumLate payment: The wholesaler is paid first, but the cash collected on delivery reaches you only after delivery, through the courier. Pathao's published delivery time alone is 72 hours outside Dhaka, and when the courier releases the money is not published. The gap widens as orders grow, and with no cash in hand the next lot cannot be bought.

Sources

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