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.
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
Related terms: Bill of Lading (BOL), FCL.
