Dropshipping glossary

41 terms you meet when dropshipping on marketplaces and in your own store — from the basics, through regulation (GPSR, KSeF, EU customs, consumer rights), to GAPLI panel concepts. Each entry is a short definition of 2–4 sentences; entries marked “GAPLI” describe how the thing works on this platform.

Updated: 8 October 2026

A

Allegro shipping rate table: The set of delivery methods and prices attached to an Allegro offer — without one the offer will not be listed. An Allegro account can hold a limited number of rate tables. At GAPLI shipping rate tables are set globally, and the platform assigns them to connected accounts and sends them to Allegro automatically.
Allegro Smart!: Allegro’s paid programme for buyers, giving free delivery on offers that meet its conditions, such as a minimum order value and selected delivery methods. The seller covers part of that delivery cost through a fee Allegro charges. Shipping rate tables that Allegro manages under Smart! are read-only in GAPLI.
API: A programming interface through which systems exchange data without human involvement — for example fetching orders or updating stock. GAPLI connects to marketplaces through their APIs and offers its own public API with an OpenAPI specification. See: GAPLI public API.

C

Category mapping: Assigning a product’s supplier category to a sales channel’s category — every marketplace has its own category tree and attributes. The category determines required offer attributes, commission and visibility in the marketplace’s search. GAPLI runs a shared category system with AI-assisted automatic categorisation.
Complaint (reklamacja): A buyer’s claim that goods are faulty or do not conform to the contract. In Poland a consumer has statutory rights for lack of conformity (formerly “rękojmia”) for 2 years from delivery, regardless of any guarantee. The seller must respond to a consumer’s complaint within 14 days, or it is deemed accepted.
Cross-border sales: Selling to customers in a country other than the seller’s. Offers on Polish Allegro can also appear on allegro.cz, allegro.sk and allegro.hu, priced in the local currency. At GAPLI foreign prices are converted at the NBP rate, and cross-border selling can be switched off per account.

D

De minimis (EU customs 2026): The customs duty exemption for parcels from outside the EU worth up to €150, widely used by shops shipping directly to customers from outside the Union. The EU decided to abolish it: from 1 July 2026 a temporary flat duty of €3 applies per item category in such a parcel, with full customs rules to follow. It does not affect goods shipped to the customer from a warehouse inside the EU, such as a Polish wholesaler’s.
Dropshipping: A selling model in which the seller keeps no stock. When a customer orders, the wholesaler or manufacturer ships the goods directly, while the seller looks after the offer and the buyer. There is no risk of unsold stock, but up-to-date stock levels and the supplier’s handling time become critical.

E

e-Wallet (Profit Centre)GAPLI: The operator’s wallet in the GAPLI panel, labelled Profit Centre in the menu, where sales commission accrues. Earnings move through stages: accrued, in the protection period and available for payout. Funds become available after delivery and a 14-day protection period for returns — then you request a payout.
EAN (GTIN): A GS1 product barcode, usually 13 digits, that identifies an item uniquely across all sellers. Marketplaces use it to link offers to a product card in their catalogue. At GAPLI, products without an EAN are skipped when listing on Allegro automatically.

F

Full dropshippingGAPLI: A form of dropshipping in which the platform takes over not only supply but also order handling, paperwork and settlements. At GAPLI, GAPLI is the seller towards the customer: it issues the invoice and is responsible for the goods, shipping, returns and complaints. The operator runs the sales channel and earns a commission on sales.

G

GPSR: EU Regulation 2023/988 on general product safety (General Product Safety Regulation), applicable since 13 December 2024. Online offers must show, among other things, the manufacturer’s details — and, for a manufacturer outside the EU, a responsible person in the EU — the product identifier, and warnings and safety information. At GAPLI, GPSR data is attached to Allegro offers automatically.
Guarantee (warranty): A voluntary promise by a manufacturer or seller to repair, replace or refund faulty goods on the terms of a guarantee document. It does not replace the seller’s statutory liability for lack of conformity — the buyer chooses which route to use. On Allegro and Erli, guarantee, complaint and return terms are attached to offers; GAPLI creates them for connected accounts automatically.

H

Handling time (shipping SLA): The time stated in an offer between payment and handing the parcel to the carrier. Marketplaces hold sellers to it, and delays hurt the seller’s quality rating. In dropshipping the handling time depends on the wholesaler, which is why GAPLI syncs it to Allegro offers automatically.

I

Inventory sync: Automatically carrying the supplier’s current quantities over to offers in sales channels, so you do not sell goods that are gone. At GAPLI an Allegro offer is ended when stock reaches zero and reactivated when it returns. A WooCommerce store pulls stock and price changes every 5 minutes by default.
IOSS: Import One-Stop Shop — the EU scheme, in place since 1 July 2021, for VAT on distance sales of imported goods in parcels worth up to €150. The seller or platform charges the buyer’s country VAT at checkout and reports it in a single return, so the parcel is not charged VAT at the border. It applies only to imports from outside the EU.

K

KSeF: Poland’s National e-Invoicing System (Krajowy System e-Faktur) — the state platform for issuing and receiving structured invoices. Mandatory KSeF invoicing started on 1 February 2026 for the largest companies and on 1 April 2026 for other taxpayers; the smallest businesses have a transition period until the end of 2026. At GAPLI, GAPLI issues the buyer’s invoice through KSeF after delivery.

L

Listing AutopilotGAPLI: A GAPLI module that lists offers on a marketplace gradually, at a pace close to a human seller’s, instead of publishing the whole selection at once. That pace is healthier for the account than a sudden jump in offers. It deliberately skips products without an EAN or below the profitability threshold.

M

Market (at GAPLI)GAPLI: A country GAPLI operates in, together with its operating company and that country’s wholesalers. A store’s market determines its currency, VAT rates and the entity that settles sales — for Poland, GAPLI eCommerce PSA. The country of sale is something else: from the Polish market, Allegro also sells to Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary.
Marketplace: A trading platform where many independent sellers list offers for a shared pool of buyers, e.g. Allegro, Erli or eMAG. The marketplace brings traffic and handles payments, and charges sellers a commission and other fees. Sellers must follow its rules, including on handling time and returns.
Marketplace commission: The fee a marketplace charges the seller per transaction — usually a percentage of the price, depending on the category. Allegro reports it with a delay, so it may only be known hours or days after the purchase. If a transaction falls through, the seller can claim the commission back.
Markup and margin: Markup is the amount or percentage added to the purchase cost; margin is the difference between selling price and cost, expressed as a percentage of the selling price. Example: an item bought for 80 and sold for 100 has a 25% markup and a 20% margin. In dropshipping the marketplace commission and delivery costs still come off the margin.

N

n8n: An open-source tool for building automations from ready-made blocks (nodes) that can also run on your own server. GAPLI has its own n8n node — the n8n-nodes-gapli package on npm — that connects the GAPLI panel to other systems. See: GAPLI node for n8n.

O

OAuth: An authorisation standard that lets you connect an outside app to your account without giving it your password — you log in on the service’s own page and approve the access scope. This is how GAPLI connects to Allegro accounts and Shopify stores, among others. Access can be revoked, but the integration then stops until you authorise it again.
OperatorGAPLI: A person or company that runs a sales channel on GAPLI — a marketplace account or an online store. The operator looks after the offer, prices within the platform’s rules and buyer service, and earns a commission on sales. Operators buy no stock in advance and do not sell on their own account.
Operator commissionGAPLI: What a GAPLI operator earns for sales in the channel they run. It has two parts: Part 1 equals the marketplace commission and is settled by offset, and Part 2 is paid by bank transfer after delivery and a 14-day protection period. Both parts are shown in the Profit Centre.
Order fulfilment: Everything that happens after a purchase: confirmation, picking, packing, shipping and status updates for the buyer. At GAPLI an order from a sales channel reaches the panel automatically, goes to the wholesaler once settled, and the wholesaler ships it straight to the customer.
Order Fulfilment Pool (Pula Realizacji Zamówień)GAPLI: An operator’s prepaid balance at GAPLI, from which an automated process pays for an order once the customer has paid on the marketplace. It exists because marketplaces pay the buyer’s money to the account owner, i.e. the operator. The pool charges the amount less the marketplace commission, or — while the commission is not yet known — the full amount, refunding the difference once it is. Without funds in the pool, an order waits and is not passed to the wholesaler.
OSS: One-Stop Shop — the EU scheme in which a seller reports VAT on distance sales to consumers in other EU countries in a single return filed at home. The buyer’s country VAT rate applies once such sales exceed a combined €10,000 a year, and OSS saves the seller from registering for VAT in each of those countries.

P

Price sync: Automatically updating offer prices when the supplier’s cost, an exchange rate or a commission changes. At GAPLI an Allegro offer price is built from the wholesale price, markup and marketplace commission, and foreign prices are converted at the NBP rate. Suspiciously large price drops from a wholesaler import are held for review.
Product card (Allegro catalogue): A shared product description in the Allegro catalogue that sellers attach their offers to — usually by EAN. This lets offers for the same item from different sellers be shown together. When GAPLI lists an offer, it matches it to the product card by EAN.
Product feed (XML): A file — usually XML or CSV — or a data stream listing products with prices, stock, descriptions and images, refreshed regularly by the supplier. Wholesalers share feeds with partners, and shops send them to comparison sites and Google Merchant Center. At GAPLI the platform imports wholesalers’ ranges, so operators do not handle feeds themselves.

R

Return: A customer sending goods back and getting their money refunded — usually under the right of withdrawal, sometimes after a complaint. Marketplaces require offers to state return terms: address, deadline and who pays for sending the item back. At GAPLI the platform handles returns and complaints, because GAPLI is the seller towards the customer.
Right of withdrawal: A consumer’s right to cancel an online purchase without giving a reason within 14 days of receiving the goods (under EU consumer law; in Poland the Consumer Rights Act). The seller refunds the payment, including the cheapest offered delivery, within 14 days of the notice, but may hold the refund until the goods or proof of return arrive. The buyer pays for sending the goods back if the seller said so in advance.

S

Sales channel: The place where a customer buys: a marketplace account or an online store. At GAPLI every channel is attached to a store in the panel, and one operator can run several channels on a shared catalogue and shared settlements. The current list of supported channels is on the Integrations page. See: GAPLI integrations.
Shop engine: The software an online store runs on, e.g. WooCommerce (a WordPress plugin) or Shopify (a cloud service). Unlike on a marketplace, you bring the traffic yourself, but you fully control the design, content and brand.
SKU: An internal product code assigned by a seller or wholesaler (stock keeping unit). Unlike an EAN, it is not globally unique. At GAPLI, product import into a WooCommerce store works by SKU, so sending a product again updates it instead of duplicating it.

T

Tracking (tracking number): Following a parcel by the number the carrier assigns. The buyer uses it to see where the parcel is, and the marketplace to check it shipped on time. At GAPLI the tracking number goes back to the sales channel automatically, including Allegro, Erli and WooCommerce.

V

Virtual storeGAPLI: A store in the GAPLI panel with no engine or domain of its own — a container for marketplace accounts such as Allegro or Erli. It does not sell anything by itself and needs no hosting. You choose it when you sell on marketplaces only.

W

Webhook: A notification a system sends automatically to a given address when something happens — such as a new order or a status change. It allows an immediate reaction without polling on a schedule. Erli and Shopify, among others, notify GAPLI of new orders through webhooks.
Wholesaler: A company that sells goods to other businesses. In dropshipping, a wholesaler shares its range — usually as a file or through an API — and ships single orders straight to the end customer. At GAPLI the platform imports partner wholesalers’ ranges, so operators neither negotiate with them nor maintain integrations.

Entries on regulation summarise the legal position as of October 2026 and are not legal or tax advice.

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