TL;DR. Dropshipping is legal in Turkey in 2026 — but it's regulated under standard Turkish commercial, tax, and consumer-protection law, which catches most beginners off-guard. You owe KDV (VAT, 20% in 2026), import duties on shipments coming through customs, and the same 14-day no-questions-asked return obligation as any retailer. Trendyol and Hepsiburada allow dropshipping but ban shipping directly from China to the customer (which is the entire AliExpress model). Practical playbook: source from Turkish or EU suppliers with 24–72h domestic shipping, register a şahıs şirketi from day one, and assume your effective margin will be 15–25% net after KDV, returns, and customer-acquisition cost.

Dropshipping is one of the most-asked-about e-commerce models in Turkey — and one of the most over-promised. This guide separates what works in 2026 from what gets you suspended on Trendyol or audited by the tax office.

Is dropshipping legal in Turkey?

Yes. Turkish law does not specifically regulate dropshipping; it regulates the commercial activity of selling goods. Whatever your fulfillment model, the obligations are the same as a regular retailer:

Register as a şahıs, Ltd, or A.Ş. and file taxes
Issue an invoice (e-fatura or e-arşiv) for every sale
Honor the 14-day no-questions-asked return right (Mesafeli Satış Sözleşmesi)
Comply with KVKK on customer data
Pay KDV (VAT) on Turkish sales
Pay customs duties + KDV on goods imported into Turkey

The model is legal. The mistake most beginners make is treating dropshipping as a "tax-free arbitrage" because the goods never physically pass through their hands. They do — for tax purposes. You're the merchant of record.

Tax obligations: KDV and income

KDV (VAT): Standard rate is 20% in 2026 (raised from 18% in 2023). Reduced rates (1%, 10%) apply to specific categories. You collect KDV from the buyer and remit it to GİB monthly. If you import goods, you also pay KDV at customs and can credit it against the KDV you collect — but only if you're properly registered.

Income / corporate tax: Şahıs pays personal income tax (15%–40% bracketed). Ltd pays 25% corporate tax + 15% withholding on dividends. See our Turkish company registration guide for which structure to pick.

Practical example: You sell a product for 500 TRY (KDV included). Cost from supplier including duty + KDV at customs is 250 TRY. Your gross profit is 250 TRY. From that, deduct:

Income tax (assume 25% bracket): 62 TRY
Marketplace commission (15% on Trendyol apparel): 75 TRY
Customer acquisition cost (Google Shopping average): 80 TRY
Returns reserve (assume 25% return rate, full refund): 125 TRY × 0.25 = ~30 TRY

Net profit: ~3 TRY per sale at this scale. That's why the apparel/commodity dropshipping model rarely works.

The merchants who make dropshipping work in Turkey have either (1) a niche with under 5% return rates, (2) margin above 60% gross, or (3) operational scale where they're paying lower marketplace commission tiers.

Customs: the AliExpress trap

Importing goods from China through standard postal channels (China Post, AliExpress Standard Shipping) attracts:

KDV (20%) on the customs-declared value
Customs duty: typically 8–18% depending on category (electronics 5–8%, apparel 12–18%, supplements 30%+)
KKDF (Resource Utilization Support Fund): 6% on imports from non-FX-bonded zones
Posta İşleme Ücreti (postal handling fee): ~50–200 TRY per parcel
Effective import cost: roughly 35–50% on top of the FOB China price for most categories

The 35–50% loaded import cost is what kills the AliExpress dropshipping economics. The product you bought for $5 lands in the customer's hands costing you $7.50–8.00 by the time customs is done with it. That's before marketplace commission and your acquisition cost.

There are workarounds:

Bonded warehouses (antrepo): import in bulk, pay duty per actual sale. Lower per-unit overhead but requires capital for inventory.
Local Turkish suppliers: sourcing from Turkish wholesalers eliminates customs entirely. Margin compresses but predictable.
EU suppliers under preferential agreement: some categories qualify for reduced duty under Turkey-EU customs union.

Marketplace policies (Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon TR)

This is where most dropshipping schemes die. As of 2026:

Trendyol:

Requires sellers to maintain Turkish-domestic stock or use Trendyol Express logistics. Direct-from-China shipping is banned.
Average shipping time must be < 5 business days from order. Direct-from-China parcels typically take 14–30 days. You'll fail the SLA and get suspended.
Sellers must accept returns to a Turkish return address.
Verdict: Dropshipping works only if your supplier ships from a Turkish warehouse (e.g., a Turkish wholesaler that fulfills under your label).

Hepsiburada:

Same SLA requirements (next-day or fast-day delivery via HepsiJet).
Sellers must have a Turkish return address.
Hepsiburada's category authority is stricter on counterfeits — selling unbranded goods sourced from AliExpress without permissions is a fast path to suspension.
Verdict: Same as Trendyol. Domestic stock or domestic 3PL only.

Amazon Turkey:

Marginally more flexible on supplier location, but still requires Turkish customer-return support.
FBA Turkey is available — you ship inventory in bulk to Amazon's Turkish warehouse, they fulfill.
Verdict: FBA-style works; pure direct-from-China dropshipping does not.

Payment processor pushback

iyzico, PayTR, and Stripe all have policies that can flag dropshipping merchants:

High dispute / chargeback rates from delivery delays
High refund rates from customs issues (customers refuse parcels stuck in customs)
Sudden volume spikes from viral TikTok-driven dropshipping campaigns

In practice, processors don't ban dropshipping. But they monitor for the signals of failing dropshipping:

Dispute rate above 1% triggers review
Refund rate above 15% triggers volume caps or settlement holds
Sudden traffic spikes without prior history can freeze accounts pending verification

Run a tight operation: same-day shipping from Turkish warehouses, sub-1% dispute rate, transparent shipping timelines on the product page, and you stay clean.

Operational realities

The merchants who profitably dropship in Turkey share three traits:

Niche specialization. Pet supplies, kids' educational toys, specialty kitchen tools, gaming accessories — under 8% return rate, predictable demand, and not commodified into oblivion on Trendyol's marketplace.
Domestic supplier relationships. Sourced from a Turkish wholesaler, sometimes white-labeled. Eliminates customs friction and reduces shipping time.
Logistics partner integration. Aras, Yurtiçi, or HepsiJet pickup from supplier warehouses with the merchant's branding on the label. Customer sees the merchant, not the supplier.

The merchants who lose money have one or more of these traits:

Sourced from AliExpress with 14–30 day shipping
Selling commoditized products already on Trendyol at lower prices
No customer-service operation; treats customer questions as someone else's problem
Underestimates return rate (assumes 5% — gets 25%)

A realistic 90-day playbook

If you genuinely want to test dropshipping in Turkey, the cheapest path is:

Days 1–14: Setup

Register şahıs şirketi (~5,000 TRY)
Open business bank account
Apply for iyzico / PayTR (3–5 day approval)
Set up storefront on FaStart Free plan (0 TRY)
Identify 2–3 Turkish wholesalers in your niche; sign white-label agreements
Test ship 5 sample products from supplier to your home address — measure actual delivery time

Days 15–45: Soft launch

List 20 SKUs, half on your storefront, half on Trendyol
Run 100–200 TRY/day Google Shopping
Track: order rate, refund rate, dispute rate, time-from-order-to-delivery
Goal: 50 orders, < 5% returns, < 2% disputes

Days 46–90: Scale or kill

If unit economics are positive (~25%+ net margin after returns), scale ad budget 2–3×
Add Hepsiburada listing
If unit economics are negative, kill — you've spent ~30,000 TRY and learned what doesn't work

The kill criterion is important. Most failed dropshipping operations are merchants who keep adding budget hoping volume fixes the unit economics. It doesn't. Either the niche works at 50 orders or it doesn't work at 5,000.

FAQ

Can I dropship from AliExpress to Trendyol customers? Technically yes, but operationally no — Trendyol's SLA bans 14–30 day delivery, and your seller account will be suspended within the first 50 orders. Use Turkish or EU-based suppliers.

Do I need to issue an invoice for dropshipped sales? Yes. e-Arşiv invoice for B2C, e-Fatura for B2B above certain thresholds. The supplier shipping to the customer doesn't change your invoice obligation.

Is the merchant or the supplier responsible for returns? The merchant of record (you). The supplier may have a return-handling agreement with you, but the customer-facing obligation is yours.

What about Etsy / digital goods? Different ballpark. Digital goods don't have customs friction. Etsy in Turkey is small but viable for handmade / niche sellers with strong brand stories.

How do I find white-label Turkish suppliers? B2B platforms (Sahibinden Pro, Tütün Eks, Toptan Türkiye), industry trade fairs (Anadolu Ayakkabı Fuarı, Gül-Kozmetik Fuarı), or direct outreach to Turkish manufacturers via LinkedIn. Start with 2–3 categories where you already understand demand.

What's the average dropshipper margin in Turkey? Net 10–20% after all costs is typical for category-leaders. 25%+ is achievable with niche specialization. Below 10% means the unit economics aren't working — kill or pivot.

If you want a storefront that ships day-one with pre-wired Turkish marketplace integrations, KVKK templates, and supplier connection tooling for dropshipping — see FaStart's dropshipping integrations. Free plan covers it; if dropshipping works for your niche, the platform comes with you to scale.