hertwill-sourcing

Hertwill Sourcing Playbook

This Skill gives you the domain knowledge needed to source winning dropshipping products from the Hertwill catalog. It covers five areas: winner heuristics, EU shipping guidance, markup strategy, category-to-niche mapping with seasonal timing, and hard guardrails. Use the Hertwill MCP tools referenced throughout to execute each step.

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1. Winner Heuristics

A "winner" is a product worth importing into a store. Apply these filters in order.

Margin Floor

The minimum gross margin after EU VAT and estimated ad spend is 60%.

• EU VAT ranges from 20% to 27% depending on the member state. Always use the target country's actual rate.
• Estimated ad spend (Meta/Google) typically runs 15-25% of retail price for cold-traffic dropshipping.
• Never do mental math. Use calculate_margin with the product's cost, your intended retail price, the target VAT rate, and your ad-spend estimate. If the result is below 60%, the product fails the margin test -- raise the retail price or skip it.

Stock State

• Never recommend out_of_stock products. Check via evaluate_product or get_product. If stock is out_of_stock, skip the product entirely.
• Flag low stock with an explicit warning. The product may sell out before the store gains traction. Tell the user the risk.
• Only in_stock products should be presented as confident winners.

Variant Count

• Prefer products with 3 or more variants (size, color, style). More variants means more SKU surface on a listing, more keyword coverage, and higher average order value potential.
• Single-variant products are acceptable but note the limitation: fewer upsell angles and less listing richness.

Seasonal Fit

• Cross-reference the seasonal calendar in Section 5 before calling a product a winner. A summer product evaluated in October is a losing pick regardless of margin.
• If the product is seasonal, confirm you are within or approaching the relevant season before recommending it.