[nprateem]

> then I can call the NFT's index to get real-time inventory

Do you mean you're selling as an intermediary and aren't holding stock yourself? What sort of industries does that happen in? I'd have thought for most B2C sales you'd hold inventory yourself (that's always been one thing putting me off starting an online shop).

[thewataccount]

> I'd have thought for most B2C sales you'd hold inventory yourself (that's always been one thing putting me off starting an online shop).

Not sure if this is what you're talking about, but drop shipping (you're a proxy store) and Print-On-Demand (you sell t-shirts but they're made and shipped to the customer by the order from a different company - again you're just a proxy) are very popular.

There's less margin but you remove all of the cost/risk of logistics and inventory

[thwayunion]

> There's less margin but you remove all of the cost/risk of logistics and inventory

Risk isn't removed, only externalized. In this case you externalize it to the manufacturer. They know this and are happy to take on the risk... for a price.

That's why the kind of post-facto bulk rebates pitched in GP make no sense.

The Big Big bulk discount the big guys get is the "real" price, and drop shippers get smaller/no discount because they have to pay at least part of the risk premium induced by the drop shipping business model.

[swalsh]

Some people buy and hold inventory, but it's pretty common to do a process called "drop shipping" where you have a relationship with the manufacturer, and have them ship it to the customer. The benefit for them is YOU deal with the customers, and YOU do the marketing.