Do you need a credit card to sell on eBay?

Technically, you don’t need to have a credit card to sell on eBay. However, you need some sort of funding source if eBay has to deduct money from your account for fees, chargebacks, returns, or other expenses. A credit card can prevent overdrafts. You can use a credit card, debit card, or bank account for these purposes.

How do credit cards work with drop-shipping?

It’s actually pretty straightforward. Set up your payments and subscriptions and link them to your credit card. Remember, you should avoid putting these purchases on a debit card or paying for them with a checking account so that you can maximize your rewards. Then, you can continue to build your drop-shipping store and start selling!

How do you set up a drop-shipping business?

You can set up a drop-shipping business the same way you might set up any other business. First, find a niche. Then, look for competitors to see what they’re doing. Then, find suppliers. After that, build your website and channels. Then, sell and promote your items and brands!

Do I need a credit card for drop-shipping?

You need some sort of payment method to start drop-shipping. When you start building your store, you have to pay for software, equipment, marketing, and more. You can use a debit card, but credit cards offer superior rewards as well as fraud protection, extended warranty, and purchase protection.

The 7 Best Business Credit Cards for Drop-shipping [2023]

Q: What are the best credit cards for drop-shipping?

The best cards for drop-shipping are the Amex Business Gold card, Amex Business Platinum card, and Ink Business Preferred card because they can offer lots of bonus points for common drop-shipping expenses like shipping, advertising, and website costs. Some other options include the Ink Business Unlimited card, Amex Blue Business Plus card, Capital One Spark Miles card, and Marriott Bonvoy Business card.

Drop-shipping is one of the hottest businesses around right now. With the explosion of e-commerce and the growth of technology software within the drop-shipping sector, it’s easy to see why starting a drop-shipping business is easier than ever.

Long story short, drop-shipping effectively breaks down the barriers to entry that e-commerce poses. With e-commerce, you have to pay for inventory and storage, while drop-shipping removes these costs entirely.

So, what are the best credit cards for drop-shipping entrepreneurs? We’ll show you right here in our complete guide. We put ourselves in the shoes of a drop-shipping business owner to learn about the common expenses and benefits that could be valuable.

Let’s dive in!

Table of contents

What To Look For in a Business Credit Card for Drop-shipping
The 7 Best Business Cards for Drop-shipping — Summary
The 3 Best Overall Business Cards for Drop-shipping
The 4 Best Alternative Business Credit Cards for Drop-shipping
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

What To Look For in a Business Credit Card for Drop-shipping
The 7 Best Business Cards for Drop-shipping — Summary
The 3 Best Overall Business Cards for Drop-shipping
The 4 Best Alternative Business Credit Cards for Drop-shipping
Final Thoughts

What To Look For in a Business Credit Card for Drop-shipping

Wouldn’t it be nice to find a credit card that offers you tons of rewards and benefits for your business? Drop-shipping business models vary from company to company, but it’s possible to figure out some of the most common expenses that are almost universal to all drop-shipping businesses.

First of all, a drop-shipping store must be online. So one of the major expenses you’ll have will be related to getting a website up and running. Whether you’re talking about internet service costs or software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions, these expenses will stay with you forever.

Other costs include marketing and advertising — you’ll have to invest in building your online presence for your company to be discovered.

Of course, you’ll likely have to pay out of pocket to ship your products, at least initially, before charging the customer for that same shipping fee.

Other expenses include supplies, office space (not to be confused with warehouse space), and more.

These top expenses are pretty universal, regardless of the specific products you’re drop-shipping, so the best cards for drop-shipping are those that offer bonus rewards on most of the expenses we described above.

The 7 Best Business Cards for Drop-shipping — Summary

Card	Welcome Bonus and Annual Fee	Benefits for Drop-shipping
American Express® Business Gold Card	Earn 70,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $295 (rates and fees)	4x points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month, up to the first $150,000 in combined purchases every each calendar year No preset spending limit Purchase protection and extended warranty No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees)
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 120,000 points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $695 (rates and fees)	1.5x points on key business categories and on large purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million per year) No preset spending limit Purchase protection and extended warranty No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees) Access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass (upon enrollment), Plaza Premium Lounges, and more
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $95	3x points on select business categories (up to $150,000 in combined purchases every year) Purchase protection and extended warranty No foreign transaction fees Cell phone protection
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card	Earn $750 cash-back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months Annual fee of $0	1.5% cash-back on all purchases 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months; variable 17.74% – 23.74% thereafter Purchase protection and extended warranty
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express	Earn 15,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months. Annual fee of $0 (rates and fees)	2x points on everyday business purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year) Purchase protection and extended warranty
Capital One Spark Miles for Business	Earn 50,000 miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months. Annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, $95 after that	5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2x miles on other purchases Extended warranty No foreign transaction fees
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card	Limited Time Offer: Earn 125,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Offer ends 5/3/23. Annual fee of $125 (rates and fees)	4x points on U.S. purchases for shipping and other business categories (terms apply) Purchase protection and extended warranty Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status 1 Free Night Award every cardmember anniversary (up to 35,000 points)

The 3 Best Overall Business Cards for Drop-shipping

If you’re looking for the absolute best credit cards for drop-shipping, you’ll want to focus your efforts on finding a card that rewards you for your biggest purchases.

Your biggest purchases are most likely going to be advertising and shipping.

In addition, you need to find a card that offers a lot of protections for your business — you want to have at least a degree of coverage in the event that you deal with a fraudulent vendor or end up with a damaged shipment of equipment or merchandise.

The ideal credit card you use should be business-friendly, offer plenty of rewards, and confer numerous benefits.

We’ve narrowed down the field to the best choices only — let’s take a look!

1. American Express® Business Gold Card

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 110,000 points with the Amex Business Gold card! The current public offer is 70,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Our favorite business credit card for drop-shipping is the Amex Business Gold card.

The Amex Business Gold card suits those who are making a lot of purchases and who want to take advantage of automatically adjusted bonus categories so you don’t have to worry about your points strategy.

You can earn 4x Membership Rewards points on combined purchases up to $150,000 per calendar year on your top 2 categories in this list:

Airfare purchased from airlines
U.S. purchases at gas stations
U.S. purchases at restaurants
U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
U.S. purchases for shipping
U.S. purchases made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions

The biggest upside to this card is the fact that you don’t need to select a bonus category — Amex will automatically calculate which categories you spent the most in so that you can earn as many points as possible.

If you maxed out the $150,000 in a year, you’d earn a total of 600,000 Amex points, which would be worth around $13,200 according to our valuations. On top of this, you could earn a 1-time welcome bonus after being approved for the card and meeting minimum spending thresholds.

Though this card doesn’t offer major travel perks like lounge access or a Global Entry application fee credit, it does offer some of the most important business card perks out there. They include purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, car rental and travel insurance, business management tools, and the ability to add up to 99 total employee cards with no annual fee after the first employee card ($50 annual fee total; rates and fees).

In terms of travel perks, you’ll notice that the Amex Business Gold card offers access to The Hotel Collection where you can enjoy a room upgrade and $100 property credit on eligible stays. This card also has a 25% airline bonus on eligible airfare booked using Pay With Points through Amex Travel.

Lastly, this card does not have a preset spending limit, which means that your credit limit can fluctuate from month to month to accommodate for larger, unexpected purchases that might exceed a traditional credit card’s limit.

Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points

The Amex Business Gold card earns Amex Membership Rewards points, which means that you’ll have access to Amex’s prized Membership Rewards program.

You can redeem Membership Rewards points in a number of different ways, including travel bookings through Amex Travel, gift cards, statement credits, merchandise, goods, and charity.

But, the best way to get outsized benefits from the most valuable flexible rewards currency is to transfer your Amex points to airline and hotel partners for business and first class flights.

This is an incredible way to book travel worth tens of thousands of dollars using relatively few points.

2. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 150,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum card! The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Our runner-up card is the Amex Business Platinum card, which offers a different — but also great — value proposition.

You’ll also get the best travel perks from a single card, including access to over 1,400 of the following airport lounges in the American Express Global Lounge Collection:

Centurion Lounges in the U.S. and abroad
Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta the same day)
Escape Lounges — The Centurion Studio Partner
Select Lufthansa Lounges (when flying Lufthansa the same day)
Plaza Premium Lounges
Priority Pass lounges (upon enrollment)
Select Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses

For comparison’s sake, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® only offers access to Priority Pass lounges, Chase Sapphire Terrace, and Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club!

If you ever take business trips, you’ll also find tremendous value in the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, up to $200 annual airline fee credit, access to the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits program, 35% points rebate on select flights, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status upon enrollment, and up to $189 in CLEAR credit.

For your office expenses, you’ll find good value in the up to $400 Dell credits, up to $360 in Indeed credits, up to $120 in wireless credits, and up to $150 in Adobe credits.

The Amex Business Platinum card also has a unique earning structure: you’ll earn 1.5x on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million in purchases per calendar year). In addition, get 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel.

Hot Tip: Drop-shippers who make large purchases will love the 1.5x points you can earn on purchases of $5,000 or more!

Other benefits include extended warranty coverage, purchase protection, cell phone protection, return protection, travel insurance, business tools like QuickBooks integrations, and more.

3. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Our third-place finisher is the Ink Business Preferred card, issued by Chase. This card is arguably the most popular business credit card Chase offers, and it offers awesome perks to drop-shipping business owners.

This card comes jam-packed with perks, all for a reasonable annual fee. One of our favorites is the gigantic welcome bonus, which is one of the quickest ways to earn a ton of points.

Also, the Ink Business Preferred card will enable you to earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on your first $150,000 spent in the following business categories every cardmember year:

Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines
Internet, cable, and phone services
Shipping purchases
Travel

In theory, you could earn 450,000 Chase points every cardmember year, which would be worth around $9,000, according to our valuations. When you couple that with the 5x points on Lyft purchases through March 2025, you begin to see how the points will add up over time.

Some of the other perks include the ability to redeem your points for 1.25 cents per point (25% bonus) on travel purchases when booked through the Chase travel portal. You can also access the valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards program and transfer your points to airline and hotel partners.

You can spend with ease knowing that you have purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, and no foreign transaction fees. And don’t forget that you’ll enjoy top-of-the-line cell phone protection insurance, travel insurance including primary rental car collision insurance, and much more.

Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

We love Chase Ultimate Rewards points because they’re valuable and the program makes it incredibly easy to redeem your points.

Sure, it might not have as many transfer partners as Amex, but it’s easy to redeem your points for solid value, whether it’s via the Chase travel portal, gift cards, cash-back, goods, services, or for charity.

The 4 Best Alternative Business Credit Cards for Drop-shipping

Now that you know our top picks for drop-shipping businesses, let’s take a look at some of the best alternatives available.

1. Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Don’t have time to worry about bonus categories or to figure out which merchants fall under which categories? We understand!

The Ink Business Unlimited card offers a worry-free way to take advantage of a lucrative rewards structure. This card will earn you a flat 1.5% cash-back on all your business purchases with no caps and no category restrictions, in addition to a hefty welcome bonus.

If you have a qualifying Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you could convert your cash-back to Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Other benefits include unlimited employee cards for no additional fee, primary rental car insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and zero liability fraud protection.

Bottom Line: The Ink Business Unlimited card earns fixed rewards on most purchases, and these rewards are convertible to 1.5x points, which is equal to a 3% return on spend. With no caps, this is a great option for drop-shippers!

2. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

One of our favorite cards is the Amex Blue Business Plus card, which offers you 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases, up to $50,000 in purchases per year. After that, you’ll earn 1x.

If you don’t anticipate exceeding that $50,000 figure each year, it makes a ton of sense to put your business spending on this card.

Other benefits include purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, employee cards for no additional cost, and, of course, the ability to earn and redeem American Express Membership Rewards points (rates and fees).

3. Capital One Spark Miles for Business

Another awesome card for drop-shippers is the Capital One Spark Miles card, which has a welcome bonus when you meet the minimum spending requirement. But what we really love about this card is the ability to earn at least 2x miles on all your purchases:

5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
2x miles on other purchases

The Capital One Spark Miles card allows you to earn 2x miles on all purchases, which is worth a return on spending of 3.6%. This credit card also has a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit every 4 years, 2 free visits to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges per year, extended warranty, no foreign transaction fees, zero fraud liability, and fee-free employee cards.

Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles

Capital One Miles happens to be a transferrable rewards currency, and the miles are worth 1.8 cents each by our valuations.

It’s possible to get even more value when your miles are used to book luxury award travel through Capital One’s airline and hotel partners.

Other than that, you can use Capital One miles for Capital One Travel bookings, gift cards, statement credits, online shopping, and Amazon.com purchases, though these come with a lower redemption value.

4. Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Business card is perhaps one of the most unexpected credit cards for drop-shipping, but we’ll show you why you shouldn’t write it off.

This business credit card is a great choice for those who spend big on shipping and wireless telephone services.

Specifically, you can earn 4x Marriott Bonvoy points at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping. You can also earn 6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program.

This card makes a ton of sense if you stay often with Marriott, as you’ll also receive:

1 Free Night Award each cardmember anniversary (up to 35,000 points)
15 Elite Night Credits (useful to qualify for elite status)
Baggage insurance
Extended warranty coverage
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees)
Purchase protection and return protection
Secondary car rental collision damage coverage

Why We Like Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points

Marriott Bonvoy points are incredibly flexible when redeemed for travel. In addition to getting free nights at Marriott properties, you can transfer your points to even more partners than American Express and Chase!

These points are useful for business and first class flight redemptions, as they can be transferred to numerous airlines, including Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot of promise in drop-shipping. Don’t miss out on opportunities to get easy rewards by setting yourself up with the right (and best!) cards for your needs. With any of the cards listed above, you’ll rack up points on purchases made in the categories most relevant to running your drop-shipping business. And, these cards offer a range of perks not necessarily related to points that will help you deal with unforeseen situations that may arise as a business owner.

The information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For the car rental loss & damage insurance benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the trip delay insurance benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. For the purchase protection benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the car rental collision damage coverage benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental loss or damage coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. For the trip cancellation and interruption insurance and trip delay insurance benefits of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. For the baggage insurance plan benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the Cell Phone Protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. For the Return Protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. For the Premium Global Assist Hotline benefit of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. If approved and coordinated by Premium Global Assist Hotline, emergency medical transportation assistance may be provided at no cost. In any other circumstance, card members may be responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.

For the car rental collision damage coverage benefit of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental loss or damage coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the return protection benefit of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, click here.

2 comments

Samuel May 26, 2022

@Stephen—

Do items shipped/processed through Shopify or ShipStation trigger the 3x and 4x points bonus on Chase/AMEX? Or is it just limited to traditional shippers such as UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.?

- Stephen Au May 27, 2022
  
  Hi Samuel,
  
  It is generally limited to the actual shipping provider like UPS or FedEx. Thanks for your question!

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The 7 Best Business Credit Cards for Drop-shipping [2023]

What To Look For in a Business Credit Card for Drop-shipping

The 7 Best Business Cards for Drop-shipping — Summary