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Fatwa CenterDisplaying Goods on Site and Being a Mediator between Supplier and Customer
Question
السلام عليكم رحمة الله وبركاتهRegarding drop shipping , according to the fatwa 276988 and 161689 you said that it is permissible if I were the mediator/broker. However it weren't specified how can i be the mediator properly so here is my question. for it to be halal which of these scenarios is/are acceptable :1- writing in the "terms and services" that i am only a mediator and that i do not own the products and i need to order them right after someone paying so that I fulfill the order to the suppliers and that i would refund them 100% if the price is not as described or if it were damaged or if i werent able to deliver or if the supplier didnt have supplies ( which wont happen because I would contact the supplier before putting the products on my store to ensure that he has enough supplies for people .Lets say that he run out of supplies i would refund the seller directly in the same day)2- I can give the supplier a % of the profits along with the price of his products. Therefore we would be PARTNERS. So it would be my job to market the products and sell them on my shop and his job is to keep the inventory and sends them the address i give. In this case every time i receive an order from client and get the money for it- it is not the same case of were i sold something i didnt own bcz i am partner with the wholesaler - I would give the address to supplier to send the product and I would give him his share (which is the price of the product listed and after specified amount we agree upon I would give him his share of the profit , 1 week for example or after 1 day).3- the supplier would hire me for a commission for marketing his product. But in this case no supplier/wholesaler will ever hire me .So this might technically be 100% in my opinion halal but nor practical at allllllll .I am looking forward to know the fatwa to earn halal income and جزاكم الله خيرا
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
What you have mentioned can be summed into two cases:
1- To be an agent for the supplier in the sale of goods that you display on your site. This is what you mentioned in the second and third points of your question. Here there is no harm in you selling the goods on his behalf; whether the site gives you a commission for that, or that it determines the price of the product and you sell it with a profit; so you take the benefit for you and give the site the price that it had set for the goods.
2- You are not an agent for the site, in which case you can be an agent for the buyer who demands the product: so you agree with him to bring the product to him from the supplier for a known commission. You do not have to guarantee the product if it is damaged. It is the supplier who guarantees unless you transgress or are negligent because you are an entrusted agent.
Besides, you may also not be an agent of any of the parties and display the pictures of the goods on your site and you agree with the demander of the commodity to provide it to him in accordance with some characteristics within a given time-period, and he will give you the price directly and then you yourself buy the goods from the supplier and you ask him to ship it directly to the customer so that he will receive them in the agreed period of time between you and him. Here if there is any deficiency in the characteristics that are agreed upon, then, in this case, you guarantee (the product) because the product is a debt that you are liable for.
For more details, you may refer to some Fataawa on this topic on our website.
Allah knows best.
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