Dropshipping in Turkey: Which Rules Apply to Your Shop
Dropshipping from or to Türkiye: which tax, ETBİS, customs and consumer rules apply, by seller, parcel and buyer.
Table of Contents
A dropshipping shop sells goods that its supplier posts straight to the buyer. Turkish rules attach to three things: who sells to the buyer, whether the parcel crosses Türkiye’s border, and where the buyer lives. The light table shows which rules light up for your set-up.
Follow one parcel. A buyer orders a ceramic mug from an online shop. The shop holds no stock. Its supplier packs the mug and hands it to a carrier, and the carrier brings it to the buyer.
Three questions sort the rules. Who sold the mug? The shop, because the buyer dealt with the shop and not with the supplier; in the rules the seller is whoever offers the goods to a consumer for trade or business, not whoever holds the stock. Did the parcel cross a border? Perhaps not, perhaps out of Türkiye, perhaps into it. Where does the buyer live? In Türkiye or abroad.
Each answer switches on a different set of rules: tax and registration for the seller, a customs declaration for the parcel, consumer protection for the buyer.
In short · checked 22 October 2026
Three things decide
which rules apply.
- Who sells: the rules follow the seller the buyer deals with, not who holds the stock. In Türkiye that means the tax office, an e-archive invoice and, for your own website, the Ministry of Trade’s e-commerce registry (ETBİS).
- Where the parcel crosses a border: a parcel leaving Türkiye by post or express carrier goes out on a simplified customs declaration. Since 6 February 2026 it may weigh up to 600 kg and be worth up to 30,000 euro.
- Since 1 February 2026: goods that foreign e-commerce platforms sell to individuals in Türkiye go through normal import whatever the value.
- Who buys: a supplier running out of stock is not a reason to cancel an order from a buyer in Türkiye.
- The e-commerce, tax and customs rules do not name dropshipping. They ask who sells, where the parcel goes and who buys.
- For your own case, ask an accountant (mali müşavir) or the tax office.
Light table · checked 22 October 2026
Which Turkish rules light up for your shop?
Three colour gels lie on the light table: the seller, the parcel and the buyer. A gel lights up when its condition is true for your set-up. Choose a set-up, or move the levers, and read the rules that light up, from offices such as the Ministry of Trade (its e-commerce registry is called ETBİS). Each setting ends in a question you can send, written in Turkish.
Shop
Parcel
Buyer
You sell through
You run it as
Your rule sheet
Rules 13Agencies 3
Ministry of Trade
- Register in the Ministry of Trade’s e-commerce registry (ETBİS) before you start selling. It is free, runs online through e-Devlet, the state’s online portal, and needs no paper. S1 · 04.2023 S2 · 01.2024
- You need the trade-registry or ID number, the tax number, the web address or app, and a registered e-mail address that is valid for legal notices. Traders need a trade-registry record first, sole artisans a craftsmen-registry record. S1 · 04.2023 S2 · 01.2024
- The home page shows the registered e-mail address, e-mail, phone, the business or brand name, the trade chamber and, for traders, the trade name, trade-registry number and head-office address (sole artisans: name, tax number, address). An order guide explains the steps to an order, whether the contract is stored, how the buyer fixes input errors, the privacy rules and any way to settle disputes. S2 · 01.2024
- With no warehouse of your own, the registry has an “outsourced service” choice where you enter the business name of the warehouse you use. S2 · 01.2024
- Changes go in within 30 days. If you sell across borders, report last year’s cross-border sales by country and payment method by the end of March. A fine exists for not registering. S2 · 01.2024
- Sellers on marketplaces in Türkiye have no duty to register in ETBİS. Your details go in the seller space the marketplace gives you: a trade or business name, the registered e-mail address, the tax or registry number and the head-office address. S2 · 01.2024
- Sellers on social-media sites have no duty to register in ETBİS. S2 · 01.2024
- A person living in Türkiye who takes orders through a marketplace abroad, and does not sell inside Türkiye, registers in ETBİS before starting. S2 · 01.2024
Revenue Administration
- A sole trader tells the tax office about the start of work within 10 days, online and without a visit, and about changes or closing within one month. The guide is from 2020, so ask the tax office about today’s practice. S11 · 06.2020
- Limited and joint-stock companies get their tax record from the trade-registry entry, and tell the tax office about changes or closing within one month. The guide is from 2020, so ask the tax office about today’s practice. S11 · 06.2020
- An online seller in the e-archive invoice system sends the invoice electronically. It shows the web address of the sale, the payment method and date, the carrier’s name and ID number, the date sent and a return section, and carries the sentence «Bu satış internet üzerinden yapılmıştır.», “This sale was made over the internet.” From 1 January 2026 a taxpayer outside the system issues e-archive invoices whatever the amount; for taxpayers on the simple method or the business account book the date is 1 January 2027. S10 · 12.2025
- The sole-trader exemption for home-made goods covers goods you make at home with your own hands. Goods bought for resale do not fit it. S12 · 2026
Customs General Directorate
- Paid, final sales that leave by post or express carrier go out on the e-commerce export declaration. The authorised post or express operator files it electronically for sender and recipient. No customs broker, power of attorney or exporters’ association approval is needed. S8 · 11.2023 S6 · 05.2025
- The simplified route covers parcels up to 600 kg gross weight and 30,000 euro in value since 6 February 2026. S5 · 02.2026
- For a first-time sender, the sender’s ID or tax number in the first declaration sets up the record automatically. S7 · 09.2024
- When the operator knows the marketplace where the sale was made, its name goes on the declaration. Data from completed micro-export declarations goes to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, which uses it for VAT refunds. S6 · 05.2025
- Returned goods come in duty-free within 3 years if they left as micro-export, with the same declared contents, any VAT refund repaid, through licensed operators only. S8 · 11.2023
- These rules put no step on a seller abroad. The export declaration names the sender, so ask the supplier or carrier who is named. S7 · 09.2024
- For a personal-use parcel to a person in Türkiye by post or express carrier, up to 30 kg gross and 1,500 euro, the express operator can file a detailed customs declaration in the buyer’s name. Import duties and taxes must be paid, and the operator may charge storage or broker fees after notifying the buyer. Over 1,500 euro the normal import rates apply. S3 · 03.2026
- Since 1 February 2026 goods that foreign e-commerce platforms sell to individuals go through normal import whatever the value. S4 · 01.2026
- Samples and models, books and printed matter, and medicines or supplements backed by a report or prescription still use the simplified route. S4 · 01.2026
Consumer Protection directorate
- The regulation defines the seller as whoever offers goods to a consumer for trade or business, or acts for someone who does. Holding stock is not part of the definition. S14 · 08.2022
- Before payment the buyer must receive the pre-sale information: the goods’ main features, the seller’s and the platform’s name, address, phone and tax or registry number, the total price with all taxes, the delivery cost and time, the withdrawal terms with the named return carrier, a notice address, and the consumer court and arbitration board. Key items appear again right before payment. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- The seller and the platform must be able to prove this was done, and the platform is jointly responsible. Costs the buyer was not told about are not paid by the buyer. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- Goods arrive in the promised time and never later than 30 days (made-to-order goods excepted). Otherwise the buyer can cancel and gets all payments back within 14 days with legal interest. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- Out of stock is not an impossibility to deliver. If delivery truly is impossible, tell the buyer within 3 days and refund within 14 days. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- The seller carries loss and damage until delivery, through the carrier named in the pre-sale information. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- The buyer can withdraw within 14 days without a reason or a penalty, counted from receiving the goods. Handing the goods to a carrier is not delivery. If the buyer was never told about withdrawal, the 14-day limit does not apply; the right to withdraw ends one year after the 14 days would have ended. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- The seller refunds all payments, delivery cost included, within 14 days of the goods being handed to the return carrier named in the pre-sale information, to the same payment method in one go. The buyer sends the goods back within 14 days. No return cost falls on the buyer when the named carrier is used or none was named. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- No withdrawal for goods whose price moves with markets (gold), made-to-order goods, quickly spoiling goods, opened hygiene goods (underwear, earrings), periodicals, dated leisure and travel bookings, instant remote services and downloads, and, once opened, discs and other digital-content goods, software, computer supplies such as toner and cartridges, and books. Phones, smart watches, tablets and computers can be withdrawn; normal use does not remove the right. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
- A platform keeps a request and notice system open at all times, a withdrawal form with instant confirmation, and records for three years. It is jointly liable for the refund when it holds the money. S13 · 08.2026 S14 · 08.2022
No rule on the light table lights up for this set-up.
The buyer’s own country sets its duties, VAT and consumer rules.
The question to ask
To the tax office or an accountant
Merhaba, şahıs şirketi olarak çevrimiçi satış yapmayı planlıyorum. Satışları kendi web sitemden yapacağım. Ürünler tedarikçiden doğrudan alıcıya gönderilecek, stok tutmayacağım. Alıcılarım yurt dışında yaşıyor. Kargo Türkiye’den yurt dışına gidecek. Vergi dairesine işe başlama bildirimi ve e-Arşiv fatura için ne yapmam gerekiyor? Satıştan önce ETBİS kaydını nasıl yapacağım ve internet sitemde hangi bilgilerin yer alması gerekiyor? Mikro ihracat için e-ticaret gümrük beyanını (ETGB) kim yapacak ve KDV iadesi için nelere dikkat etmeliyim? Hangi belgeleri hangi sırayla hazırlamalıyım?
Hello, as a sole trader I plan to sell online. I will sell from my own website. The products will go from the supplier straight to the buyer; I will hold no stock. My buyers live abroad. The parcel will go from Türkiye to another country. What do I have to do for the start-of-work notice to the tax office and for the e-archive invoice? How do I register in ETBİS before the first sale, and what must my website show? Who files the e-commerce export declaration (ETGB) for micro-export, and what should I watch for with VAT refunds? Which documents should I prepare, and in what order?
If the parcel leaves Türkiye
Small parcels that leave Türkiye by post or express carrier as paid, final sales are called micro-export. They go out on the e-commerce export declaration (ETGB, short for Elektronik Ticaret Gümrük Beyanı), an electronic form with no printed papers that has been in use since 20 July 2011. The authorised post or express operator files it for sender and recipient, so no customs broker, power of attorney or exporters’ association approval is needed.
The parcel can travel with the state post (PTT) or with an express carrier, by road or by air. For customs the two work alike: the same electronic declaration is used, and the operator files it.
Waybill · checked 22 October 2026
Follow the parcel out of Türkiye
Tap a stamp to ink it and open the step.
- SaleWho: the seller
A buyer abroad pays and the sale is final. That is what makes it micro-export. Since 6 February 2026 the limit is 600 kg gross weight and 30,000 euro in value; before that date the limits were lower.
- HandoverWho: the post or express operator
The parcel goes to an authorised post or express operator. From here the operator deals with customs.
- DeclarationWho: the operator
The operator files the e-commerce export declaration on screen, for sender and recipient. No customs broker, no power of attorney, no exporters’ association approval. A first-time sender’s ID or tax number in the first declaration sets up the sender’s record. If the operator knows the marketplace where the sale was made, its name goes on the declaration.
- DepartureWho: the carrier
The parcel leaves by road or by air. The data of the finished declaration goes to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, which uses it for VAT refunds.
- ReturnWho: an operator the Ministry of Trade has licensed for this declaration
A parcel that comes back enters duty-free within 3 years if it left as micro-export, with the same declared contents and any VAT refund repaid.
If your shop is abroad
These rules put no step on a seller abroad. The export declaration names the sender, so ask the supplier or carrier who is named. Duties and VAT in the buyer’s country are set there.
If the shop is in Türkiye
A shop in Türkiye deals with two offices before the first sale: the tax office and, for an own website or app, the Ministry of Trade’s registry.
- Tax office: a sole trader tells the tax office within 10 days of starting work. This can be done online through the Revenue Administration’s Interactive Tax Office (İnteraktif Vergi Dairesi) or its mobile app, with no visit. A company’s tax record comes from the trade-registry entry. The guide is from 2020, so ask the tax office about today’s practice.
- Invoice: an online seller in the e-archive invoice system sends the invoice electronically, with the web address of the sale, the carrier’s name and ID number, a return section and the sentence «Bu satış internet üzerinden yapılmıştır.» (“This sale was made over the internet.”). From 1 January 2026 a taxpayer outside the system issues e-archive invoices whatever the amount (for some small taxpayers from 1 January 2027; the light table names them).
- Home-made goods: the sole-trader exemption for online sales covers goods you make at home with your own hands. Goods bought for resale do not fit it.
Whether you register in ETBİS depends on where you sell:
| Where you sell | ETBİS registration | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Your own website or app | Yes, before you start selling | Free, online through e-Devlet. You need the trade-registry or ID number, the tax number, the web address or app, and a registered electronic mail (KEP) address that is valid for legal notices. |
| A marketplace in Türkiye | No | Sellers on marketplaces in Türkiye have no duty to register or report. |
| Social-media sites | No | Sellers on social-media sites have no duty to register or report. |
| A marketplace abroad | Yes, if you live in Türkiye and do not sell inside Türkiye | A person living in Türkiye who takes orders through a marketplace abroad registers before starting. |
An own website must show set details on its home page and in its order guide; the light table has the list. Changes go in within 30 days, and a fine exists for not registering. If you sell across borders, last year’s cross-border sales go in by country and payment method by the end of March. With no warehouse of your own, the registry has an “outsourced service” choice where you enter the business name of the warehouse you use.
Ledger · checked 22 October 2026
How the e-commerce rules grew
Rules for selling online in Türkiye came in steps. Each stamp is the day a rule started or was published.
Customs steps for post and express parcels go electronic. S8 · 11.2023
Law no. 6563 on e-commerce comes into force, the first rules written for the field. S2 · 01.2024
The rules on the e-commerce trust mark come into force. S2 · 01.2024
The rules on the e-commerce registry (ETBİS) and reporting duties come into force. S2 · 01.2024
Law no. 7416 changes the e-commerce law and is published. S2 · 01.2024
The regulation on marketplaces and e-commerce providers comes into force. S2 · 01.2024
If the parcel comes into Türkiye
A parcel by post or express carrier to a person in Türkiye can go through a detailed customs declaration that the express operator files in the buyer’s name. This covers personal-use goods up to 30 kg gross and 1,500 euro. Import duties and taxes must be paid, and storage or broker fees may follow a notice. Over 1,500 euro the normal import rates apply.
- Since 1 February 2026: goods sold through foreign e-commerce platforms to individuals go through normal import whatever the value, up to 30 euro included.
Why the rule changed: in its statement of 7 January 2026 the Ministry of Trade gave its reasons. It had checked 182 products from cross-border platforms and found 81 percent of them unsuitable. Toys, shoes and leather goods had already left the simplified declaration with a circular of 20 October 2025, whatever the value. The EU was adding duties for a transition period and planned to end its simplified customs in 2026. The US had ended its simplified handling of orders under 800 dollars.
- Still on the simplified route: samples and models, books and printed matter, and medicines or supplements backed by a report or prescription.
What cannot come in as an exempt parcel
- The gift-goods limit for things a traveller brings along does not apply to goods that arrive by post.
- Cosmetic products covered by the Cosmetics Law cannot come in as exempt goods by post or express cargo.
- Shoes, toys and leather goods (bags and suitcases of real or artificial leather) cannot be declared under the exemption.
The rules for small parcels changed several times, which is why older pages show other numbers:
| Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| End of 2016 | The 30-euro limit for post and express parcels takes effect. Before: 75 euro. | Ministry of Trade, 4 January 2017 |
| 20 October 2025 | Toys, shoes and leather goods leave the simplified declaration, whatever the value. | Ministry of Trade, 7 January 2026 |
| 7 January 2026 | The Ministry announces that from 1 February all goods sold through foreign e-commerce platforms to individuals go through normal import. | Ministry of Trade, 7 January 2026 |
| 1 February 2026 | The rule starts: normal import for those goods, whatever the value. | Ministry of Trade, 7 January 2026 |
| 6 February 2026 | The Customs General Directorate’s circular takes effect and raises the micro-export limits. Before: 300 kg, 15,000 euro. Now: 600 kg, 30,000 euro. | Customs General Directorate, circular in force 6 February 2026 |
If the buyer lives in Türkiye
The Distance Contracts Regulation and the Consumer Protection directorate’s guide of 17 August 2026 set what a buyer in Türkiye must be told, how fast the goods must arrive and when the buyer can send them back.
The buyer rules apply to a distance contract: buyer and seller do not meet face to face, the sale runs through a system built for remote selling, and every step up to the contract is made remotely. A sale through social media or text messages falls under them only when all three hold.
- Before payment: the seller and the platform give the pre-sale information: what the goods are, who sells and who runs the platform, the total price with all taxes, the delivery cost and time, the withdrawal terms with the named return carrier, and where to complain. They must be able to prove it, and the platform is jointly responsible. Costs the buyer was not told about are not paid by the buyer.
- Delivery: in the promised time and never later than 30 days (made-to-order goods excepted), or the buyer cancels and gets all payments back within 14 days with legal interest. Out of stock is not an impossibility: if delivery truly is impossible, tell the buyer within 3 days and refund within 14.
- Loss and damage: the seller carries them until delivery, through the carrier named in the pre-sale information.
Withdrawal and refund
The buyer can withdraw within 14 days without a reason or a penalty, counted from receiving the goods. The seller refunds all payments, delivery cost included, within 14 days of the goods being handed to the return carrier named in the pre-sale information. The buyer sends the goods back within 14 days, at no cost when the named carrier is used or none was named.
If the buyer was never told about withdrawal, the 14-day limit does not apply, and the right to withdraw ends one year after the 14 days would have ended.
Some goods cannot be withdrawn: made-to-order goods, quickly spoiling goods, opened hygiene goods (underwear, earrings), goods whose price moves with markets (gold), periodicals, dated leisure and travel bookings, instant services and downloads, and, once opened, discs and other digital-content goods, software, computer supplies such as toner and cartridges, and books. Phones, smart watches, tablets and computers can be withdrawn.
“My supplier ships the parcel, so my supplier is the seller.”
The regulation defines the seller as whoever offers goods to a consumer for trade or business, or acts for someone who does. Holding stock or posting the parcel is not part of the definition.
“If my supplier is out of stock, I can cancel the order.”
Out of stock is not an impossibility to deliver. If delivery truly is impossible, the buyer is told within 3 days and refunded within 14 days.
Outside these rules
- What to sell, and which supplier or marketplace to use.
- How to take payments.
- Prices and fees.
- The buyer’s country: its duties, VAT and consumer law are set there.
How to set up a company has its own page: starting a company in Türkiye.
Quick answers
Do Turkish rules mention dropshipping by name?
The rules do not use the word. They sort by seller, parcel and buyer: who sells to the buyer, whether the parcel crosses the border, and where the buyer lives.
Do I need to register in ETBİS if I sell on a marketplace?
Sellers on a marketplace in Türkiye have no duty to register or report. On your own website or app, yes, before you start selling.
Who is the seller if my supplier posts the parcel?
The regulation defines the seller by offering the goods to the consumer for trade or business, not by holding stock or posting the parcel.
How long does a buyer in Türkiye have to withdraw?
14 days from receiving the goods, with no reason and no penalty.
Sources and dates checked
Checked on 22 October 2026. The tags in the light table, such as S5 · 02.2026, are the numbers of these sources and the month each is dated.
- Elektronik Ticaret Bilgi Sistemi (ETBİS) —
Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Domestic Trade: how an online business registers in the e-commerce information system, through e-Devlet, page dated 18 April 2023, checked 22 October 2026 - Elektronik Ticaret (sıkça sorulan sorular) — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Domestic Trade: frequently asked questions on e-commerce (who registers, what the home page and the order guide show, changes and yearly reports). It applies Law no. 6563 and the regulation on e-commerce intermediary service providers and e-commerce service providers (29 December 2022), FAQ dated 22 January 2024, checked 22 October 2026
- Posta ve Hızlı Kargo Muafiyeti — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Customs: frequently asked questions on parcels by post and express carrier to a person in Türkiye (including the answers on the traveller’s gift-goods limit, cosmetics, and shoes, toys and leather goods, which cite article 126 of decision 2009/15481), FAQ dated 5 March 2026, checked 22 October 2026
- E-ithalatta Basitleştirilmiş Gümrük Beyannamesi kapsamının değiştirilmesine ilişkin yeni düzenleme hakkında basın açıklaması — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), press office: statement on goods sold through foreign e-commerce platforms (the circular of 20 October 2025 and the change from 1 February 2026), statement dated 7 January 2026, checked 22 October 2026
- 2022/9 Sayılı Genelgede Değişiklik (Genelge) — Customs General Directorate (Gümrükler Genel Müdürlüğü), circular amending circular 2022/9 on post and express carrier customs procedures: the micro-export limits and the import wording, in force 6 February 2026, checked 22 October 2026
- Basitleştirilmiş Gümrük Beyannamesi Yükümlü Beyan Kılavuzu — Customs General Directorate: guide for those who declare on the simplified customs declaration (how the operator declares, the marketplace name, VAT-refund data). Its numbers are older than source 5 and are not used, guide announced 26 May 2025, checked 22 October 2026
- Ticaret Bakanlığından Mikro İhracat Yapmak İsteyenlere Kolaylaştırıcı Adım — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı): news on first-time micro-exporters (the sender’s ID or tax number in the first declaration sets up the record), news dated 16 September 2024, checked 22 October 2026
- Modül 16: İade Süreçleri ve Müşteri Hizmetleri — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), e-export course, module 16: what micro-export is, who files the declaration, no broker or power of attorney, returned goods. Its limits are older than source 5 and are not used, course of 10 November 2023, checked 22 October 2026
- 2009/15481 sayılı Bakanlar Kurulu Kararının 45. maddesinde … 75 Avro’luk muafiyet sınırının 30 Avro olarak değiştirilmesi — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), press office: the 30-euro limit for post and express parcels, in force since the end of December 2016 (before: 75 euro), announcement dated 4 January 2017, checked 22 October 2026
- Vergi Usul Kanunu Genel Tebliği (Sıra No: 509), güncel hali —
Revenue Administration (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı), consolidated tax procedure communiqué no. 509, amended up to no. 589: the e-archive invoice for online sales, its contents and sentence, the 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2027 dates, consolidated text, in force 31 December 2025, checked 22 October 2026 - İşe başlayan ve işi terk eden mükellefler için temel bilgiler — Revenue Administration, taxpayer services: guide for people who start or stop work (start notice within 10 days, companies’ tax record from the trade registry, changes and closing within one month). Today’s practice is for the tax office to say, guide of June 2020, checked 22 October 2026
- Evlerde üretilen ürünlerin satışında esnaf muaflığı — Revenue Administration infographic: the sole-trader exemption for goods made at home and sold online, infographic with 2026 values, checked 22 October 2026
- Mesafeli sözleşmeler hakkında bilgilendirme — Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance directorate general: the consumer guide to distance contracts, page dated 17 August 2026, checked 22 October 2026
- Mesafeli Sözleşmeler Yönetmeliği — Distance Contracts Regulation, as the Consumer Protection directorate general hosts it (published 27 November 2014, amended 23 August 2022; the amendments in force since 1 January 2024 are in its footnotes): articles 4 (seller), 5 (pre-sale information), 9–10 (withdrawal), 12 (refund), 15 (exceptions), 16 (delivery), 17 (loss and damage), amended 23 August 2022, checked 22 October 2026
Ministry of Trade logo and Revenue Administration logo: public domain; Wikimedia Commons, file page, file page.
