A blind shipment is a shipping arrangement where one party’s identity, address, or supplier details are hidden from another party on the shipment paperwork. It is often used by distributors, brokers, retailers, or ecommerce sellers who want goods to move directly from a supplier to a customer without revealing the supplier relationship. In a blind shipment, bills of lading, labels, packing slips, or delivery documents may show the intermediary’s information instead of the true origin or supplier.
A blind shipment conceals the shipper’s or consignee’s identity on shipping documents to protect supply chain relationships or distribution arrangements.
Types
- Single blind: consignee does not see the original shipper
- Double blind: both parties are concealed from each other
Common Uses
- Drop shipping where a supplier ships directly to a retailer’s customer
- Distributors protecting supplier relationships from customers
- Importers concealing source country from competitors
For related logistics context, see glossary entries on Drop Shipping, Bill of Lading (BOL), Consignee, and FCL.
