> somebody read about drop-shipping and thought "How can we do something like this, but make it even more pointless and wasteful?"
...what's pointless and wasteful about dropshiping? In an ideal case the manufacturer has no interest/skills to do online presence and stuff, and the product is shipped directly from manufacturer to client which coordinate delivery, the dropshipper only operates website and handles customer support etc.
What's wasteful about that, since the same merchandise is transported the same route as it would in a direct shipping case, and the coordination around custom labeling and delivery doesn't produce any waste and is not pointless.