US-based dropshipping suppliers, how do you vet them?

Ask them for the warehouse address and look it up on maps. If it's a house or a freight forwarder's unit, they're a middleman, which isn't fatal but changes your margins and your timeline. Also ask how they handle sales tax and whether they want a resale certificate from you. A real US supplier will know straight away.

order from them yourself as a customer, to a US address. that one test tells you most of it: - how long it actually took vs what they claim - whether the tracking shows it shipped from inside the US or it's China with a US relabel - whether the parcel has their branding, invoice or prices in it (you want blind shipping) - packaging quality then ask about returns before you need them. where does a return go, who pays, how long until you're refunded. a supplier who goes vague on that will be vague when it's a real customer.