Dropshipping Finance: COGS-Tracking, Supplier-Payments, Profit-Margin-Optimization

Dropshipping Finance-Herausforderungen:

1. COGS-Tracking: Supplier-Preise ändern sich (AliExpress variiert ±10%)
2. Supplier-Payments: Manuell per PayPal/Alipay (zeitraubend)
3. Profit-Margins: Unknown until payment (keine Real-Time Visibility)
4. Cashflow-Gap: Bezahle Supplier bevor Kunde bezahlt (7-14 Tage Gap)

Without Automation:

• 30 Std./Monat Finance-Admin (COGS-Tracking, Payments, Margin-Calculations)
• 25% Profit-Margin (Durchschnitt) → aber keine Visibility per Product

With Automation:

• 3 Std./Monat (only review)
• 40% Profit-Margin (optimiert durch Real-Time Data)
• 15% Margin-Boost (durch bessere Pricing-Decisions)

In diesem Artikel:

1. COGS-Tracking Automation (AliExpress, CJ Dropshipping)
2. Supplier-Payments Automation (Wise API + Auto-Pay)
3. Real-Time Profit-Margins (per Product, per Order)
4. Cashflow-Management (7-14 Tage Gap überbrücken)
5. CH MWST für Dropshipping (Import-Regel bei > CHF 65)

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COGS-Tracking Automation

Problem: Variable Supplier-Preise

Example:

• Product: iPhone Case (AliExpress)
• Jan 2026: USD 2.50/unit
• Feb 2026: USD 2.80/unit (+12% Preiserhöhung)
• Selling Price: CHF 15/unit (fixed)

Impact on Margin:

• Jan: CHF 15 - CHF 2.62 (USD 2.50 × 1.05 FX) = CHF 12.38 Margin (83%)
• Feb: CHF 15 - CHF 2.94 (USD 2.80 × 1.05 FX) = CHF 12.06 Margin (80%)

Problem: If you don't track COGS in real-time, you might sell at below-cost (if supplier increases price unexpectedly).

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Solution: Auto-Sync COGS from Supplier API

Tool: Make.com + AliExpress API (or CJ Dropshipping API)

Workflow:

Daily (6am):
  AliExpress API: Get Product Prices (for all SKUs)
    ↓
  For each Product:
    - Extract: SKU, Supplier-Price (USD), FX-Rate (USD/CHF)
    - Calculate COGS (CHF): Supplier-Price × FX-Rate
    ↓
  Update Shopify:
    - Product → Custom Field "COGS" = {{cogs_chf}}
    ↓
  Update Bexio:
    - Product → Cost Price = {{cogs_chf}}

Frequency: Daily (to catch price changes)

Result: Real-Time COGS per Product (always up-to-date)

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Example:

Before Automation: | SKU | Selling Price | COGS (Estimated) | Margin (Est.) | |-----------|---------------|------------------|---------------| | IPHONE-CASE| CHF 15 | CHF 2.50 (Jan) | CHF 12.50 (83%)|

After Automation (Feb): | SKU | Selling Price | COGS (Real-Time) | Margin (Real) | |-----------|---------------|------------------|---------------| | IPHONE-CASE| CHF 15 | CHF 2.94 (Feb) | CHF 12.06 (80%)|

Action: Founder sees Margin drop (83% → 80%) → Increases Selling Price to CHF 16 → Maintains 83% Margin

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Supplier-Payments Automation

Problem: Manual Payments (PayPal, Alipay)

Current Process:

1. Order placed on Shopify (Customer pays CHF 15)
2. Founder manually places order on AliExpress (pays USD 2.80 via PayPal)
3. Repeat 100x/day → 30 Min./day = 15 Std./Monat

Problem: Time-consuming + Error-prone (forget to pay supplier → Order not shipped → Angry customer)

---

Solution: Auto-Pay via Wise API

Tool: Wise Business API + Make.com

Workflow:

Shopify: Order Placed
  ↓
Make.com: Parse Order
  - SKU: {{product.sku}}
  - Quantity: {{order.quantity}}
  ↓
AliExpress API: Create Order (via Dropshipping Program)
  - Supplier-Price: USD {{supplier_price}}
  - Shipping Address: {{customer.address}}
  ↓
Wise API: Create Payment
  - Recipient: AliExpress Supplier Account
  - Amount: USD {{supplier_price}}
  - Currency: USD
  - FX-Rate: Auto (Wise Mid-Market Rate)
  ↓
Payment Confirmation → Update Shopify Order Status: "Paid to Supplier"

Automation-Rate: 95% (only manual review bei Failed Payments)

Zeit gespart: 15 Std./Monat

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Wise API Example:

curl -X POST https://api.transferwise.com/v1/transfers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "targetAccount": "ALIEXPRESS_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "quoteUuid": "QUOTE_UUID",
    "customerTransactionId": "ORDER_12345",
    "details": {
      "reference": "Payment for Order 12345"
    }
  }'

Cost: Wise charges 0.5-1% FX-Fee (vs. PayPal 3-4%)

Savings: CHF 300/Monat (on CHF 10k supplier payments)

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Real-Time Profit-Margins per Product

Metric: Net Profit per Order

Formula:

Net Profit = Selling Price - COGS - Shopify Fees - Payment Fees - Shipping - Ads - MWST

Example:

• Selling Price: CHF 15
• COGS: CHF 2.94 (AliExpress)
• Shopify Fees: CHF 0.30 (2%)
• Payment Fees: CHF 0.45 (3%, Stripe)
• Shipping: CHF 0 (Free Shipping to Customer, included in COGS)
• Ads: CHF 3 (Facebook Ads, 20% of Revenue)
• MWST: CHF 1.11 (8.1% of CHF 13.89 Net)
• Net Profit: CHF 15 - CHF 2.94 - CHF 0.30 - CHF 0.45 - CHF 3 - CHF 1.11 = CHF 7.20 (48% Margin)

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Dashboard: Profit-Margins per Product (Power BI)

[Profit-Margin Dashboard - Feb 2026]

| Product       | Orders | Revenue  | COGS    | Fees   | Ads    | MWST   | Net Profit | Margin |
|---------------|--------|----------|---------|--------|--------|--------|------------|--------|
| iPhone Case   | 500    | CHF 7.5k | CHF 1.5k| CHF 0.4k| CHF 1.5k| CHF 0.6k| CHF 3.5k  | 47%    |
| Watch Strap   | 300    | CHF 6k   | CHF 1.8k| CHF 0.3k| CHF 1.2k| CHF 0.5k| CHF 2.2k  | 37%    |
| Phone Holder  | 200    | CHF 4k   | CHF 1.2k| CHF 0.2k| CHF 0.8k| CHF 0.3k| CHF 1.5k  | 38%    |
| **Total**     | **1,000**| **CHF 17.5k**| **CHF 4.5k**| **CHF 0.9k**| **CHF 3.5k**| **CHF 1.4k**| **CHF 7.2k**| **41%**|

Insight: iPhone Case is most profitable (47%) → Focus Ads on this product

Actionable Insights:

• ✅ iPhone Case: 47% Margin → Scale (increase Ad-Budget)
• ⚠️ Watch Strap: 37% Margin → Optimize (reduce COGS or increase Price)
• ❌ Phone Holder: 38% Margin → Consider discontinuing (low volume + low margin)

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Cashflow-Management: 7-14 Tage Gap

Problem: Payment Gap

Timeline:

• Day 0: Customer places order (Shopify), pays CHF 15
• Day 0: You pay Supplier USD 2.80 (via Wise)
• Day 1-3: Stripe holds payment (anti-fraud)
• Day 4: You receive CHF 15 from Stripe (to your bank)
• Day 7-14: Supplier ships product

Cash-Gap: You pay Supplier (Day 0), but receive Customer-Payment (Day 4) → 4 Tage Cashflow-Gap

Impact (at scale):

• 100 Orders/Day: CHF 1,500 Revenue/Day
• Supplier Payments: CHF 600/Day (COGS 40%)
• Cashflow-Gap (4 Days): CHF 2,400 tied up in payments

Problem: If you have CHF 10k in bank, but CHF 2,400 tied up in Gap → Only CHF 7,600 available for next orders

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Solution 1: Factoring (Invoice-Financing)

Service: Stripe Capital, Shopify Capital

How it works:

1. You sell CHF 15,000 in orders (Day 0-10)
2. Stripe advances CHF 12,000 (80%) immediately
3. You repay CHF 15,000 + CHF 1,500 Fee (10%) from future sales

Cost: 10% Fee (CHF 1,500 on CHF 15k)

Benefit: Immediate Cashflow (no 4-day wait)

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Solution 2: Line of Credit (Business-Loan)

Service: Swiss Bank (e.g. PostFinance Business-Kredit)

How it works:

1. Apply for CHF 50,000 Line of Credit (revolving)
2. Use it to pay Suppliers (Day 0)
3. Repay from Customer-Payments (Day 4)

Cost: 3-5% Interest/Jahr (CHF 1,500-2,500 on CHF 50k)

Benefit: Always have liquidity for Supplier-Payments

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CH MWST für Dropshipping

Import-Regel: > CHF 65/Order

Schwelle: Orders > CHF 65 require MWST-Payment at Swiss Customs

Example:

• Order: iPhone Case CHF 15 (< CHF 65) → No MWST at Customs (Seller declares MWST)
• Order: iPhone + Case Bundle CHF 80 (> CHF 65) → MWST 8.1% at Customs (Customer pays at delivery)

Problem: If Customer refuses to pay MWST at delivery → Product returned → You lose Sale + Return-Shipping-Cost

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Solution: Split Orders (< CHF 65)

Strategy: Keep all orders < CHF 65 (to avoid Customs-MWST)

Example:

• Customer wants: 5 iPhone Cases (CHF 75 total)
• Split into 2 Orders:
  • Order 1: 3 Cases (CHF 45)
  • Order 2: 2 Cases (CHF 30)
• Both < CHF 65 → No Customs-MWST

Implementation: Shopify Auto-Split-Plugin (or Make.com Workflow)

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MWST-Abrechnung (Quarterly)

Tool: Bexio MWST-Abrechnung

Process:

1. Bexio calculates MWST (8.1% on all sales)
2. Deduct Vorsteuer (MWST paid to Suppliers, if applicable)
3. Quarterly Submit to ESTV

Note: Dropshipping typically has no Vorsteuer-Deduction (because Supplier is in China, not CH)

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Tools-Stack for Dropshipping Finance

| Tool | Use Case | Cost/Monat | |-----------------------|-----------------------------------|------------| | Shopify | E-Commerce Store | CHF 30 | | Bexio | Accounting, MWST | CHF 50 | | Make.com | Workflow Automation | CHF 29 | | Wise Business | Supplier Payments (FX) | CHF 10 (+ 0.5% per tx)| | AliExpress API | COGS-Tracking | CHF 0 | | Power BI | Profit-Margin Dashboard | CHF 10 | | Stripe | Payment Processing | 2.9% + CHF 0.3| | Total | | CHF 129/Mo|

ROI: 30 Std./Monat gespart × CHF 80/Std. = CHF 2,400/Monat

Payback: 1 Monat

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Häufige Fragen (FAQ)

F: Brauche ich MWST-Registrierung für Dropshipping? A: Ja, ab CHF 100,000 Jahresumsatz (wie alle CH E-Commerce). Unter CHF 100k: Optional.

F: Wie tracke ich COGS bei mehreren Suppliern (AliExpress, CJ Dropshipping)? A: Separate API-Connections für jeden Supplier. Make.com unterstützt Multiple Connections (z. B. AliExpress-Connection-1, CJ-Connection-2).

F: Was ist besserer Supplier: AliExpress oder CJ Dropshipping? A: CJ Dropshipping: Schnellerer Versand (7-14 Tage vs. 20-40 Tage bei AliExpress), aber 10-20% teurer. AliExpress: Günstiger, aber langsamerer Versand. Empfehlung: Nutze beide (CJ für Premium-Produkte, AliExpress für Budget-Produkte).

F: Wie optimiere ich Profit-Margins? A: 1. Reduce COGS: Negotiate with Supplier (bulk orders). 2. Increase Prices: Test A/B (CHF 15 vs. CHF 17). 3. Reduce Ads: Optimize Facebook Ads (lower CPC).

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Fazit: Dropshipping Finance braucht Real-Time Data

Without Automation:

• 30 Std./Monat Finance-Admin
• Unknown Profit-Margins (until end of month)
• Manual Supplier-Payments (fehleranfällig)
• Cashflow-Gap (2-4 Tage)

With Automation:

• 3 Std./Monat (only review)
• Real-Time Profit-Margins (per Product, per Order)
• Auto-Pay Suppliers (Wise API)
• Cashflow-Optimization (15% mehr Liquidität)

ROI: 27 Std./Monat gespart + 15% Margin-Boost

Action: Implement COGS-Tracking + Supplier-Payments Automation (see above).

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Letzte Aktualisierung: 21. Januar 2026 Autor: Lukas Huber, SwissFinanceAI