I know this is an old thread, but I feel it needs to be answered as many new people to dropshipping ask these same questions, especially when using overseas suppliers.
I have not yet sold dropshipped items from China yet but I have been selling dropshipped items from the USA off and on for about a decade now. It's not easy no matter where you supplier is located, but China/overseas drop shipping does have challenges above what is already inherent with dropshipping in general.
I am going to tell you somethings you don't want to hear, but it's reality.
You are right to wonder about product questions, but unfortunately, there is no magic solution to this problem. It is as you say, you would have to relay the question to your Chinese retailer and hope they answer you and in a timely manner. And if a customer asks a question that is very difficult that you know you are not going to get an answer for form your Chinese partner, you just have to do your best and answer the question yourself or just don't answer and lose the customer. This won't likely happen much. Not every prospective customer is going to be able to be turned into a buying customer. It's something you have to deal with and accept.
Some customers will ask questions that are outlandish. That is the way it is. Some of them just have to be ignored because many times they are problem customers. I'm not saying aht people who ask questions are problem customers. But it depends on how "anal" they are. For instance, if you are selling cute cat socks for $5/pair USD and someone sends you a question about "is it organic cotton?" Well, the fact is. 99.9% of your target market for that product could not care less if the cotton is organic or now. You can just ignore that person. Not getting sales from these customers is not going to make you poor and getting their sale isn't going to make you rich either. They are few and far between. Now, if you are targeting people like this, then you obviously cannot ignore them. But I would advise you look for a different product and a different target market quickly LOL
There are a TON of people out there that like buying cheap products from China even if they are not perfect, both in the USA and around the world. It; skind of like a novelty thing for them. People who want perfection are going to waste you time. Of course, this is case-by-case and does not pertain to all business models.
As far as returns, here is something you are not going to like to hear FOR SURE but....
It is very likely that you, the retailer, are the one who is going to lose out on the return. Make it worth your while. For low cost items, (you set your own threshold), just have them ship it to your home and sell it on ebay at a low price for a quick sale. For really cheap items, you can always tell the customer to keep it and refund him or send him another (you have to make that call on a case-by-case basis). Even if it is a broken item, if you think someone might want it for parts, then list it on ebay as "non-working, for parts only". And if it's really worhtless...throw it in the trash. But if you think or know it's junk when your customer is demanding the refund, just have him throw it away and save yourself the shipping cost of having it return it to you at your expense. There's no sense in paying your customer to return something you are just going to throw away. It'll just piss him off anyhow because even if you are paying for the return shipping, it still is a hassle for him to have to return it to you. You have to use you best judgement and understand there is a cost to doing business.
As long as the supplier is not making mistakes all the time or is sending junk, you will have a better relationshipp with your suppliers if you just handle your own returns...within reason. If things get out of hand, then your supplier isn't really a good fit for a dropshipping business. Time to find another supplier...if you can.
You have to understand, in business, there are losses. You will have many of them. They are the cost of doing business. The way to avoid these losses is to not go into business at all. But then you lose the positive opportunities available to you as well.
