commence Dropshipping on AliExpress: 2024 Playbook

Dropshipping with AliExpress is an accessible way to commence an ecommerce business. With no inventory or shipping to manage, dropshippers can focus on building an online store and selecting popular products to sell.

While starting a dropshipping business is a great way to enter the globe of ecommerce, finding reliable suppliers can be tough. That’s why so many entrepreneurs choose to dropship with AliExpress, using automation tools like DSers to simplify order processing.

What is AliExpress?

AliExpress is an enormous marketplace with millions of products available for sale. It was founded in 2010 and is owned by China-based Alibaba, one of the globe’s largest ecommerce companies.

Most AliExpress sellers are overseas manufacturers, which is why you can often discover trending products at a lower worth. AliExpress products range from clothing and jewelry to electronics and home décor.

Unlike Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces, AliExpress’s infrastructure is designed to connect sellers with dropshipping suppliers.

Does AliExpress allow dropshipping?

AliExpress allows dropshipping and includes features to assist dropshippers discover products to sell. You can commence dropshipping for free on Aliexpress with the assist of a dropshipping app, such as DSers, which imports products from the marketplace to your Shopify store in a few clicks.

Here’s how Aliexpress dropshipping apps work:

1. Browse Aliexpress for items you’d like to sell.
2. Select a product using your dropshipping app.
3. Set your sale worth.
4. Import the product to your Shopify store and edit the product listing.
5. When you receive an order, your dropshipping app notifies the AliExpress seller.
6. The AliExpress seller ships the product to the customer.

How much does it expense to dropship on AliExpress?

It’s free to dropship through AliExpress. Competitor marketplaces like Doba and Worldwide Brands expense monthly fees to access their suppliers. If you’re starting a dropshipping business with no money, it’s straightforward to discover products to sell on AliExpress with zero enterprise costs.

What are the benefits of dropshipping on AliExpress?

While AliExpress may position itself as an online retailer, most AliExpress sellers comprehend that a large number of their customers are interested in dropshipping.

Many sellers on AliExpress have existing product photos you can use in your store, as well as basic product information. However, it’s usually worth your period to invest in better photos and product descriptions.

Essentially, dropshipping through AliExpress is as straightforward as buying a product from the site on behalf of your customer, inputting their name and address when you make the order.

Why would someone buy from your store if they can buy the same products on AliExpress?

With an AliExpress dropshipping business, your competitive advantage won’t be your worth or distinctive products.

Instead, your business will achieve by reaching and serving customers faster than your competition. In other words, successful dropshipping is all about marketing, operations, and customer back.

excellent marketing alone is a competitive advantage. Marketing is how you assist customers discover, assess, and buy your products. It’s also the umbrella of activities you complete to construct your brand, such as creating content that’s helpful and entertaining.

Customer back is another key dropshipping differentiator, especially if your competition provides lackluster service or a frustrating shopping encounter. You can maintain a high level of service by answering customer questions promptly and making it a priority to assist them solve any issues they run into when buying from your store.

Can you dropship products from AliExpress to Amazon?

You can dropship on Amazon using AliExpress by connecting both marketplaces to a Shopify store. Here’s how:

1. Use Shopify to make an online store.
2. Add a dropshipping app to your store that sources inventory from AliExpress.
3. Import AliExpress products to your Shopify store.
4. Add an Amazon integration to your Shopify store.
5. Use the integration to make and manage Amazon listings from your Shopify admin.

Once you set up your store, you can also make Amazon listings out of existing products in your catalog, or make offers for existing Amazon products if you’re already selling on the platform. Shopify will automatically update your Amazon listings to match your inventory.

Setting up your AliExpress dropshipping store with Shopify: step-by-step

receive these steps to get your AliExpress dropshipping store set up:

1. Choose the correct AliExpress dropshipping products to sell
2. Select a reliable supplier
3. construct your Shopify dropshipping store
4. Add AliExpress products to your Shopify store

1. Choose the correct AliExpress dropshipping products to sell

The first part of setting up your store is selecting a niche, or the selection of dropshipping products you’re going to sell.

If you don’t recognize where to commence, receive a look at AliExpress’s product categories and ponder about what interests you the most or what you’d feel the most confident selling.

Once you have a niche in mind, it’s period to commence choosing products to resell in your store. With such a large range of products and suppliers to pick from, making selections can be overwhelming.

To assist, here are five criteria to consider when choosing a product from AliExpress to dropship:

No brands, fakes, or knockoffs

Skip products with existing branding to avoid accidentally reselling fakes and knockoffs. Since you won’t be a licensed reseller (unless you specifically associate with brands), the hazard of selling a branded product is not worth it, even if it’s legitimate.

While this may limit your product choices, it also keeps your store legal. You may decide to stick with product categories where a recognizable logo isn’t so significant, such as electronic accessories.

ePacket delivery with free shipping

Wherever feasible, focus on dropshipping products that propose free ePacket shipping. A majority of product listings on AliExpress arrive from China or Hong Kong, therefore ePacket delivery is not only the most economical but also one of the quickest options to ship tiny goods to the United States.

Even if a seller doesn’t propose free ePacket shipping, it’s still likely to be the most expense-effective and reliable shipping alternative for delivering AliExpress products from China to the Americas and Europe.

Over 300 orders

Products with lots of previous orders recommend a consistent demand, and display that a supplier is reliable (a high volume of orders means it’s likely at least a few are repeat purchases). You can use the filter options to sort products by the highest number of orders.

More than a 4.5-star rating

A high product rating (over 4.5 stars) confirms that the AliExpress seller has mostly positive feedback. For a second view on product sellers, you can use third-event tools such as AliExpress Seller Check, which may be more objective than AliExpress’ rating structure.

Low worth with a high spread potential

Many dropshippers look for products with a wholesale worth of $1 to $20. These can then be sold for $20 to $50, which provides room for marketing spending to acquire customers, as well as a profits spread.

2. Select a reliable supplier

As a dropshipper, you’ll connect customers with suppliers through your website and marketing. To ensure a excellent customer encounter, those suppliers must have accurate product listings, dispatch products quickly, and maintain high standard-assurance standards.

That means you’ll require a schedule for selecting reputable suppliers that goes beyond simply picking the wholesaler with the cheapest prices.

Here are some signals that recommend a more reliable AliExpress supplier.

Check the supplier’s stats

Next to a seller’s name, AliExpress shows a percentage representing their feedback rating. Try to work with suppliers who achieve at least a 95% satisfaction level.

Click the seller’s name to get a detailed breakdown of feedback. You’ll also view how long a supplier has been energetic on AliExpress. Look for established suppliers with years of encounter and excellent shipping reputations.

Lots of great product photos

Do your assessment to ensure product photos are from the manufacturer and not from another retailer. A Google image search will assist you view if the product photos are original.

Communicative and helpful

Don’t be afraid to inquire a supplier questions before placing an order. A reliable seller will respond all of your questions quickly. If a supplier doesn’t respond to messages, that’s a large red flag.

Make a test order

Do a test order before committing to a supplier. This will assist you assess the customer encounter, including shipping times and product standard.

3. construct your Shopify dropshipping store

Set up your store using Shopify’s intuitive store builder. If you don’t have a Shopify account, you can sign up for a free trial.

Don’t worry too much about branding and design at this stage. You can customize your store and add more complicated features later on.

4. Add AliExpress products to your Shopify store

Once you’ve set up your Shopify store and have a product category and supplier in mind, it’s period to commence adding products.

Write your own product descriptions

The product descriptions for many of the products on AliExpress were not written by copywriters—or with the intention of explaining a product’s benefits to customers. Creating distinctive product content for your store will assist you convert customers and avoid duplicate content risks.

To make the procedure easier, use Shopify’s built-in AI to generate product descriptions that talk to your target spectators.

Let customers recognize about delivery times

It’s a excellent concept to include delivery estimates on product pages (or elsewhere in your store). Since most suppliers on AliExpress are located in China, shipping times can be longer than average—customers may require to wait up to 20 days, depending on the supplier, for their order to arrive.

Use an order tracking app

With longer shipping times, you may receive emails from customers asking where their purchase is. Use an order tracking app to keep your customers up to date on the position of their purchase.

propose free shipping

Low shipping prices can become one of your competitive advantages. If you’re able to discover AliExpress sellers who propose free or low-expense shipping, you can advertise free shipping to your customers.

worth products appropriately

Consider pricing your products at approximately twice their wholesale expense. A 50% spread will make running the business worthwhile, as well as cover essential costs like marketing and back.

How to dropship with AliExpress

Once your store is filled with products ready to dropship, what do you do when you get your first order?

Dropshipping with AliExpress works similarly to any regular dropshipping procedure. When you receive an order, purchase the item on AliExpress and provide the supplier with your customer’s name and shipping address. The seller handles the rest.

You can order items manually, or automate the procedure with a tool.

Manual ordering

If you desire to purchase items manually, it might be a excellent concept to keep a spreadsheet with a list of products on your site, the amount you’re selling them for, the amount they expense on AliExpress, and a link to the AliExpress listing.

That way, whenever you get an order, it will be easier for you to discover the supplier on AliExpress, as well as keep track of worth changes.

Automated ordering

Alternatively, you can use a dropshipping app to purchase orders on AliExpress. An automated way sets you up for growth, as you don’t require to worry about manually ordering large numbers of products.

Once you add products, the app does the rest. It will buy the product from AliExpress for you and insert your customer’s details. Here’s how it looks on the DSers app:

DSers will even let you recognize when a supplier on AliExpress has changed their worth or run out of distribute, and recommend other dropshipping suppliers.

Ordering tips

Let the seller recognize that you’re dropshipping

When ordering on AliExpress, it’s a excellent concept to let the seller recognize you’re dropshipping. This way, the supplier won’t include invoices or promotions in the package being sent to your customer.

On checkout, you can leave a communication for the seller. Write something straightforward, like, “This item is for dropshipping. No promotions or invoices.”

Monitor delivery advancement

After customers receive their orders, provide them period to contact you in case of any issues with the product or delivery. This way, you can bring up the issue with the supplier through AliExpress, encouraging them to correct it and hopefully solve the issue for upcoming orders.

Refunds and returns

Many AliExpress suppliers don’t propose returns, so you may require to develop your own returns and refunds policy.

When there’s an issue with an order a customer placed in your store, it’s often because the order never arrived. In these cases, you’ll require to bring up the issue with your supplier. Contact the supplier, and if a resolution isn’t feasible, use AliExpress Buyer Protection.

If your customer is simply not joyful with the product, it’s usually a matter of expectations—what they received wasn’t what they expected. Most dropshippers will receive refunds in cases of dissatisfaction, as a way of building depend with customers.

If a product is damaged, inquire your customer to receive photos and send them to the AliExpress seller.

What are some of the best AliExpress dropshipping products?

Here are the best dropshipping products to sell for profits:

1. T-shirts
2. Yoga socks
3. Sweatsuits
4. Sandals
5. Water shoes
6. Quick-arid running shorts
7. LED face masks
8. Face rollers
9. Makeup remover facial wipes
10. Cruelty-free mascara
11. Pimple patches
12. Sunscreen
13. Insulated mugs
14. Air fryers
15. Electric kettles
16. Portable blenders
17. Coffee pods
18. Latte mixers
19. Organic baby clothing
20. Teething toys
21. Hypoallergenic baby diaper wipes
22. Water-based wipes
23. Diapers
24. Stroller fans
25. Linen bed sheets
26. Microfiber bedsheets
27. Pillows
28. Blackout curtains
29. Non-slip hangers
30. Printer document
31. Note pads
32. Heavy-responsibility packaging tape
33. Ink cartridges
34. File folders
35. Ring lights
36. USB-C power adapters
37. Screen protectors
38. Outdoor intelligent plugs
39. Video doorbells
40. Motion sensors

Growing your AliExpress dropshipping business

Once you’ve made your first few sales, it’s period to ponder about growing your online business.

construct supplier relationships

Eventually, you’ll commence to identify the standard suppliers in your niche. Among the most repeated dropshipping tips is to construct relationships with these reliable suppliers. This will assist you get better prices and priority order processing.

Most of the suppliers on AliExpress use WeChat or WhatsApp to communicate. If you view yourself frequently ordering from the same seller, it’s a excellent concept to set up a conference to establish a business connection. Once you’ve demonstrated you can bring in recurring sales, some sellers will allow you to place your logo on products or include custom invoices and branded inserts into shipping packages.

economy your business

Marketing any online business is challenging. Fortunately, there are many different marketing strategies to test and apply to your dropshipping store.

Top tactics include:

• SEO
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Social media marketing
• Referral programs
• Google Ads

commence your AliExpress dropshipping business

The best part about AliExpress dropshipping is that it allows store owners to quickly test and validate product ideas. Unsure if you’re capable of selling a sure product? Add it to your store and test it! And if it doesn’t work out, you can simply remove the item and commence testing something else.

Because you’re not carrying or managing inventory and there’s no upfront expense, there’s little hazard to setting up an AliExpress dropshipping business. Use a Shopify free trial to construct your dropshipping store today.