[Nesskissabe]

Assalamu alaikum,

Dropshipping is completely permissible according to fatwa on AskImam.

This business model is permissible. However the transaction a person would be doing is not a normal sale but rather a bay-salam - i.e. a forward sale.

People have misunderstood "selling something one does not own". Whenever this is mentioned in fiqh books it is referring to (i) either a specific item like a specific car (with unique VIN number) which cannot be sold if one does not own it, or (ii) where there is gharar involved (i.e. the common example given in books - one sells the fish in the ocean - whatever one will catch).

This case is different if it is done according to bay as-salam. In bay as-salam one will have to describe the general item up for sale. This refers to the the type of item in general and not a specific item. For example Honda Civic, with model number and the specific features in the model. In this case the brother will post the detailed description of the various models of hard drives he will sell.

When an order comes he must collect the money in full in order for this to be a valid bay as-salam. Thereafter he will buy the hard drive and deliver it to the person who placed the order or bought it (however you look at it).

All the conditions for bay as-salam need to be followed. One will have to also mention that this is a bay as-salam or forward sale.

If you want to go the order route then you will have to mention that the money they will be paying is only a deposit (which has to be refundable if they don't go through with the contract). Then once you acquire you will have to undertake the actual transaction to "seal the deal" which will transfer the deposited money to your ownership and the item to the ownership of the buyer. While the money is in deposit it is still the property of the person who intends to buy.

Note: the above is not a fatwa or an answer from a qualified scholar.