drop ship

Verb

drop ship (third-person singular simple present drop ships, present participle drop shipping, simple past and past participle drop shipped)

1. (transitive) To deliver goods for a business directly to its customers, as though the business owned a relevant inventory, but with the manufacturer as the real source of the delivery.
   • If you drop ship the orders, then you don't need to own the products; thus, fewer of your customers suspect you're acting as a middle man.
   • Rowan also experimented with dropshipping. This entails setting up an online storefront that ships products from third-party retailers to customers, profiting on the difference.2019 November 29, Taylor Lorenz, “Here’s What’s Happening in the American Teenage Bedroom”, in New York Times