Dropshipping Perfume: Products, Suppliers, & Risks

Yes, it does. Over the years I have been in the dropshipping business, I have had some experience shipping liquids. I have learned things hard, but you do not have to. 

Here are the things I will share: 

• The global market size of perfume
• Market projection of the perfume industry
• What perfumes not to dropship 
• Where to find the best perfume dropship suppliers

Key Takeaways

• Dropship to destinations where the products are 
• Choose land-based shipping if possible
• Do not sell counterfeit items

Ultimately, I hope the things you learned today will give you a head start to succeed in dropshipping perfumes. Let us begin!

Is Perfume a Good Dropshipping Niche?

Yes, very much so. The perfume industry in the US is worth $8.7 billion. The market projection is a growth rate of 1.7% annually until 2027. Globally, fragrances sell more in the US than in other countries. The sales revenue of perfumes in the US is worth $870 million [1].

IMAGE SOURCE 

The global projection of the fragrance industry is at $9.32 billion by 2026, which means there is room to get a small chunk of that pie. In addition to that, I must tell you that offline sales beat online ones. By 2025, roughly 55.5% of perfume sales will happen offline, and the rest will be online.

This projection should not worry you at all. Online perfume sales will rise to 44.5% by 2025, coming from a measly 15.6% in 2017. 

So, overall, there is a good market for perfume dropshipping, but only if you concentrate on the US market. 

What Are the Risks of Dropshipping Perfumes? 

There are several risks of dropshipping perfumes. These are: 

• Breakage
• Fake or Counterfeit
• Supplier Competition

Let me explain each and offer some remedies to help you mitigate these issues.  

1. Breakage

Perfumes come in bottles. The expensive ones are in glass bottles, while others come in plastic. Regardless of the type of packaging, these items are fragile. If these bottles break while in transit, you have two problems: 

• Unhappy customer
• Financial loss

An unhappy customer is not likely to order again, even if you give a full refund. This customer knows you do not have a reliable shipping process to ship fragile items. 

SOLUTION: Only ship from reliable suppliers 

A key aspect of a successful dropshipping business is the supplier’s product quality and shipping reliability. It is one of the factors to consider when choosing a supplier. 

The best way to mitigate this is to order a sample item from the supplier. It is the only way to know how the supplier packs the item. If the supplier charges insurance, then go with it. At least you get some form of reimbursement.

2. Fake or Counterfeit

When people buy expensive perfumes, they expect the real deal. Do not sell counterfeit items and market them as “on sale.” One day, someone will shut you down. If the legitimate brand finds out, you will get into legal trouble. 

SOLUTION: Deal with licensed suppliers only

You will find so many websites selling branded perfumes. The thing is that many of these are fake. They sell counterfeit items. The sad thing is that if one of them shuts down, they open another. 

If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. In addition, you must order a sample to see if it is the real deal. Finally, I would not recommend selling branded perfumes if you do not know what a fake one is.

3. Supplier Competition

The last problem is direct competition with the manufacturer or supplier. As you know, many companies now have online stores where customers can purchase directly. So, how will you compete against them? 

If you think about it, the manufacturer’s website has more credibility than yours. If you compete against them, you may not stand a chance. 

SOLUTION: Offer more value

You can offer your goods at better prices. You can also give customers something they will never get from the manufacturer. 

Here are some examples: 

• Discounted price for bulk purchases (different perfumes bundled together)
• Free perfume bags
• Buy two and get one free

You can compete against a supplier or brand entity in many ways. Think of what your target customer wants, and you should be able to create a marketing plan.

Best Perfumes to Dropship

Using our product database, I took my time to study which perfumes have the most sales. Below is a quick list of products you should consider when dropshipping perfumes. 

1. Home Perfume Diffuser – 8,700 sales a month
2. Luxury Perfume – 4,800 sales a month; this one is not a popular brand
3. Perfume Mists – 3,900 sales a month
4. Perfume Oil – 3,600 sales a month
5. Perfume Samplers – 3,100 ales a month
6. Perfume Shampoo – 2,800 sales a month
7. Luxury Perfume Trial Packs – 2,700 sales a month

As you can see, there are many types of perfumes that you can dropship. You do not have to li m it yourself to branded ones like Davidoff, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. 

Which Perfumes Should I Avoid Dropshipping?

Generally speaking, shipping perfume is a tad problematic. The issue with perfume dropshipping is the perfume itself. There is a restriction on shipping perfumes.

Why? It is because 90% of perfumes contain ethyl alcohol. These products are highly flammable. As such, they are risky to ship. 

Here are some things to consider: 

• Alcohol content – do not dropship perfumes with ethyl or any alcohol. There is a restriction to these items, and many shipping companies have a special requirement before shipping them.
• Fake Perfumes – never sell or dropship fake or counterfeit items. This rule does not only apply to perfumes but other branded goods, too. 
• Poor Labels – you must dropship perfumes whose labels contain the chemicals in the product. Do not dropship fragrances that have no adequate product information. 

What is the lesson here? Do not ship perfumes that contain alcohol. You would do well if you shipped pure perfumes. 

As a beginner, you do not want to risk your perfumes staying in a customs office. If the government decides not to allow its delivery, you will never get that perfume back. Worse, you must refund your customer. 

However, the source of the perfume will not refund you. Usually, the recipient has to know if the product is not within the classification of dangerous materials in his country. 

Where to Find the Best Dropshipping Suppliers for Perfumes

There are two best places to find dropship suppliers for perfumes. The first one is a product database like ours. The second one is the common dropship supplier tools. 

1. Product Databases

A product database allows you to find products, not suppliers. Although I may sound prejudiced here, I can say that ours is the best. 

Why? Because with our product database, you can see if a particular product type has sales. You do not even need to do research manually. All it takes is to type a keyword. I will show you screenshots of these in another section later. 

Here are the things you will see in the Dropship.IO database: 

• Number of sold units
• Revenue amount
• The website that sells it

In addition, you can even track the sales of a website from our sales tracker. Our system can show you the number of sales a website makes in a day, yesterday, today, and the month. With our system, you can eliminate guesswork.

Most dropshippers fail because they see a product, like to post it in their store, and nobody buys. With our tool, you know immediately if a product has sales or not from other dropshippers.  

2. Dropship Supplier Tools 

These are the most common websites and systems that dropshippers use. Here are some examples: 

• Spocket
• Printful
• Salehoo
• Printify
• Dropified
• HyperSKU
• AppScenic
• AudoDS
• Importify

These are marketplaces where the supplier and the dropshipper meet. As a dropshipper, you will look for suppliers in these tools. 

The main benefit of these tools is that you can import the supplier’s product to your store straight from the system. It takes only a few clicks to do so. You no longer need to manually copy and paste the items to display the products in your store.

The only caveat is that most of these are not free. In addition, many of these take their products directly from AliExpress, which other dropshippers use. You are competing with many dropshippers that offer the same thing. 

I am not saying that these tools are useless. The truth is that you need them. Coupled with our product database and sales tracker, you can accurately pinpoint which products you must sell, provided that they are available in the dropship supplier database of your choice.

Best Perfume Suppliers

1. FragranceX – best overall for original perfume dropshipping

The first on our list is a wholesaler and retail dropshipper of original branded perfumes. I recommend them because you get a discount as a dropshipper, and they only sell legit goods. FragranceX has been in this business for a long while—they know the ins and outs of shipping fragrances and perfumes. 

FragranceX Features

• Same-Day Shipping – they ship the items on the same day you ordered. The shipping time is much faster because there is no prolonged handling process. 
• Original Items – this shop offers perfumes from renowned brands like Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier, and many more.
• Big Discounts – if you chance upon a sale, you can buy their fragrances for as much as 80% off. Your customer will never know, and you will profit much more. 
• International Shipping – they ship to more than 220 countries. They know the importation laws and how to pack the goods acceptably.  

FragranceX Pros

• Lots of original items to choose from
• They offer international shipping
• You can get huge discounts during the sale period 
• They offer free shopping for huge orders

FragranceX Cons

• The customer will pay import taxes

If you want to sell high-end perfumes, the best choice is FragranceX. No company or perfume dropshipping supplier comes close. You can pay them in several ways, like Mastercard, JCB, PayPal, Klarna, and other credit cards.

Please note that they only accept US dollars. As such, you will have to make adjustments to your finances.  

2. SaleHoo – best for non-branded perfumes

SaleHoo is a dropship supplier database and tool. I recommend it only if you want to sell perfumes that are not original. These are not counterfeit items—they are merely unknown brands. 

SaleHoo Features

• Market Research Lab – the company has a system that tells you whether or not an item is profitable. You will also see in the product database if the supplier ships internationally or not. 
• Lots of Products – there are many perfume products in SaleHoo. They even have a list of the best products that you can sell from their suppliers. It is up to you to decide which perfumes fit your niche. 
• Integration – you can integrate SaleHoo with Shopify and import products directly. Currently, the system does not work with other platforms but with Shopify. 

SaleHoo Pros

• You have access to millions of products
• You can integrate the SaleHoo system with Shopify
• SaleHoo offers training classes or modules about dropshipping

SaleHoo Cons

• Beware of some counterfeit products

About the counterfeit, I saw one perfume called “Farenight,” a knockoff of the Fahrenheit brand. Counterfeiting does not often happen here. This one is merely a fluke. 

Use SaleHoo if you build your store on the Shopify platform. They have two types of products, both of which have a cost. The first is a stand-alone product and supplier database. The second is the system that you can integrate with your store. If you buy the latter, you can access the supplier database.  

3. AppScenic – best for handmade or craft perfumes

AppScenic is one of the biggest dropship supplier tools in the world. I recommend this system because they have warehouses and suppliers in the US, the UK, Canada, and the EU. Because of this, you can target specific perfume markets for dropshipping without worrying about shipping. 

AppScenic Features

• Automation – with AppScenic, you can enable automation where the system will process the orders even if you don’t. If an order comes in while you are out somewhere, the supplier will get a notification and process the order. You do not have to go to your dashboard to place it yourself. 
• Tracking – you can track the orders of your customers after the shipment; you can tell your customers the shipping status
• Integration – you can integrate AppScenic with Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and eBay. 

AppScenic Pros

• They have warehouses in top markets
• There is an automation system
• There is a learning academy for dropshipping
• All product prices will sync if there is a change 

AppScenic Cons

• The free account only allows you to browse products

Use AppScenic if you want a reliable supplier database, particularly if you want the perfume products to be in the same location as the destination. To use the system, however, you must pay a monthly subscription. 

The free account AppScenic only allows you to browse and import products. The limit is 500 products. You cannot process orders with the free account. I suggest that you register for a free account. Then, check the perfume products they offer. 

4. Dropified – best for unique perfumes for dropshipping 

Dropified has a reputation for choosing only the best products for their dropshippers. I recommend the system because it has many unique perfume products. In addition, you can even import products from eBay to your online store. As such, you do not limit yourself to Chinese suppliers from AliExpress or Alibaba.

Dropified Features

• Automation – the system has an automation process like AppScenic, where orders get to the supplier even if you don’t do it yourself. 
• Inventory – Dropified offers millions of products. They do not keep the merchandise. However, they give you a system where you can import products from another website to yours. 
• Facebook – you can list your items in the Facebook marketplace for free. 
• Multi-Orders – the system can process hundreds of orders at a time. You can do bulk order fulfillment if need be. 

Dropified Pros

• There are many high-quality perfumes here for dripping
• You work out a deal with supplies for white-label perfumes
• The system has a complete suite of tools for dropshipping like product importing
• You can track and manage orders

Dropified Cons

• There is no transparency on the price

While it is free to join Dropified, there is no telling how much you must pay to use the system. With Dropified, however, there is a guarantee that your products have a demand. The company also provides adequate support for its dropshippers. 

Successful Dropshipping Perfume Store Examples

There are two stores that I want to show you, both of which sell perfumes and are successful. The first one is Sol de Janeiro, which sells perfumes and creams. The other one is Bellavita, a seller of perfumes. 

1. Sol de Janeiro

This store is a multi-niche Shopify online store. Their products are:

• Body products
• Hair products
• Perfumes and fragrances

What makes them different is that they offer a program called “Build Your Trial Set.” In this program, they allow the customer to choose four products. They will ship these items in mini sizes.

The screenshot above shows that this store sold over $16,000 worth of products on the day I searched about it. In seven days, they can make close to half a million dollars. 

2. Bellavita

Bellavita sells perfumes, skincare, and cosmetics. Like the previous store, they offer combos and gifts. They also have a permanent offer called “Crazy Deals,” where customers get a significant discount. 

For perfumes, here is a breakdown of their categories:

• Perfumes for males
• Perfumes for females
• Gift sets and body mists 
• Unisex perfumes
• Body parfum
• Combos 

Now, if we look at their sales, one cannot help but feel amazed at their revenue.

As you can see from the screenshot, they made 1,166 sales for the day. Then, they made 58,000 sales in 30 days. If you think about it, this company has a specific market—the organic market. From the website name itself, they mention that their business sells organic products. 

I searched for these successful stores in our product database. With our tool, you can type a keyword and then see the sales of stores selling that product.

Once the system returns a search, you can look at the particular product of interest, the price, the monthly sales count, and the monthly revenue. 

So, why use it? The Dropship.IO product database shows you what products are in demand. With it, you can decide which products to put in your dropshipping store. The system can also tell you which dropshipping niches are the best. 

Dropshipping Perfume Throughout the World

Let us look at some of the biggest markets and how they treat perfumes.

• Dropshipping Perfumes in the UK – if the perfume is alcohol-free, you can dropship to the UK. The volume per item must not exceed 150 ml. In addition, you cannot ship more than four bottles in one parcel.  

• Dropshipping Perfumes in Australia – the country classifies these as dangerous goods. Transport is only possible by road. You cannot ship it via plane. You can dropship perfumes to Australia if the perfume is already in Australia. If your perfume contains alcohol, you cannot send it from another country to Australia. 

• Dropshipping Perfumes in the USA – you can ship perfumes to the United States only if it is a domestic shipment. International shipments have restrictions and special permits. In addition, freight is only via ground, not by air. Major carriers like DHL and FedEx have special rules that you must follow for packaging. 

• Dropshipping Perfumes in Malaysia – you cannot make international shipments of perfumes to Malaysia. Perfumes are under the dangerous goods classification. 

• Dropshipping Perfumes in South Africa – you can import perfumes to South Africa, but the item must be no more than 50 ml for perfume and 250 ml of eau de toilette. Generally, perfumes are okay to import into South Africa.

The best thing to do is find a supplier whose goods are in the destination country. These suppliers already took it upon themselves to clear customs requirements. For example, if you want to dropship perfumes in the US, you must find a supplier who is in the US.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you dropship perfumes?

Yes, you can dropship perfumes and make good money. However, there are many shipping restrictions, so you must research better. 

Is perfume a hazardous cargo?

Yes, it is hazardous cargo. Most perfumes contain alcohol. What you can do is look for perfumes that are pure, such as oil perfumes that do not have alcohol. 

How do you pack perfume for shipping?

It depends. You must consult the shipping carrier for their perfume packing standards. As a dropshipper, this is not your concern. It is your supplier who must know this. 

Summary

The next step now is to visit the dropship suppliers I mentioned here. In addition, it would help if you listed the types of products you want to sell (after visiting g the sites). You may also want to decide which markets to target. If you do this, you will drill down the product sources and where you can ideally ship them.

Finally, I suggest that you register for an account with us. We offer our product database tool free for seven days. Explore it, and I guarantee you that you will not be sorry!