How to DropShip with AliExpress

What is DropShipping?

DropShipping is a retail method where sellers sell products that they don’t own. If you’re not sure how that can happen, essentially, when a customer buys a product that the seller has listed for sale (either on their own website, or on a marketplace like eBay or Amazon) the seller immediately pays a supplier for the item – plus a fee. The supplier then picks, packs and dispatches the order directly to the customer. The seller never owns, sees or touches the product – they’re just marketing the product, making a sale and taking a profit. It’s incredibly popular amongst people who want to start their own business, and amongst business owners who want to increase the income they’re making.

We did a massive deep-dive into the world of DropShipping on our post here, including on whether it is legal, the pros and cons and so on.If you’re a beginner and want to learn all about the world of eCommerce and DropShipping, head there before you get stuck into whether AliExpress is right for you. AliExpress is just one option for DropShipping, and some other options might suit your business (or the one you hope to create!) more.

What is AliExpress?

AliExpress is a China-based eCommerce marketplace. Sellers and suppliers can sell low priced items to customers across the world, and the platform is available in multiple languages.

The AliExpress platform is an incredible powerhouse of an eCommerce platform. It’s full of sellers and suppliers that are generally based in China and countries in Europe. There’s categories for almost everything, and items are usually lower than on other marketplaces. AliExpress is open to customers worldwide, but you can use products from AliExpress for DropShipping because the products on the platform are listed and sold at wholesale prices. Many sellers are aware that you’ll be using their service for DropShipping, so don’t worry that by doing so, that you’ll get into trouble. You won’t, as long as you’re doing it right.

The AliExpress platform is owned and managed by the Alibaba Group, founded by Jack Ma.

Who is Jack Ma?

Jack Ma is a former English teacher, who co-founded the Alibaba Group. From modest roots, he’s amassed an estimated net worth of $42 billion. He’s number 1 on Forbes China Rich List 2019 andnumber 21 on the Billionaires 2019 list. He’s also a great example of how you don’t need a degree from a prestigious university to get ahead in life – he revealed in 2016 that his application to study at Harvard has been rejected 10 times!

In September 2019, he stepped down as chairman of the Alibaba Group, aged 55, and was succeeded by Daniel Zhang.

What else does the Alibaba Group do?

The Alibaba group, much like Amazon, has evolved from eCommerce and branched out into other sectors, such as film making and technology companies. Companies owned by the Alibaba Group include:

There’s so much more we could say about the Alibaba Group, but let’s get on with what you want to know – about how to DropShip on AliExpress.

If products are so cheap, how does AliExpress make money?

Like many other marketplaces, AliExpress makes their profits by charging the seller commission. Each seller pays a percentage of the transaction, but there’s also a fixed administrative fee to start, or make changes to stores on the platform. It’s a pretty steep cost, but it’s designed to deter suppliers that provide bad service, and those who want to escape bad reviews.

Sellers listing their products on AliExpress make their money because they’re able to produce their items at super-low prices, and they can take advantage of cheap shipping using ePacket.

What’s the difference between AliExpress and Alibaba?

The Alibaba eCommerce platform (also owned by the Alibaba Group) is for retailers who want to buy wholesale. It’s B2B, (Business to Business) and typically that means businesses who are purchasing a lot of products, in order to sell them in retail outlets or online.

Advantages of DropShipping using AliExpress

Like most things in business, DropShipping has advantages and disadvantages, and so does DropShipping with AliExpress. As you’re doing your research, you’ll be able to figure out whether it’s right for your business – but here are a few things that DropShippers using AliExpress like about the platform.

No money required upfront

There’s no cost to get your business up and running on AliExpress. You simply list the item on your website, and then when you receive an order, you place the order with, and pay a supplier on the marketplace. This is in contrast with other services, as we covered in our blog post about DropShipping platforms – some services like Doba and Dropified charge to use their platform, and they can be too expensive for first-time sellers. Where that is the case, first-time sellers might not enter eCommerce – and since the industry is worth billions, that’s a shame. DropShipping with AliExpress can be a way to get a foot on the ladder in the eCommerce industry.

Millions of products available

With a population of almost 1.4 billion, you would expect there to be a large section of the population who are involved in eCommerce – and you’d be right. That means there are plenty of sellers and suppliers who are listing the items they have available on AliExpress, and you have a huge choice of products you can list for sale.

You control your product margins

Many of the items for sale on AliExpress are made, and sourced in China, and products made in China are typically very inexpensive. That means you have the opportunity to sell the items with a decent profit margin – which is how you’re going to be making your business grow, and ultimately, your living. Bigger profit margins mean bigger success for you!

Trending products are available quickly

Remember when fidget spinners became a big thing for a moment in 2017 and shops across the UK were selling out? When that kind of trend pops up, those products will be available on AliExpress almost overnight, meaning that as a seller, you can take advantage and make more sales by starting to list those items instantly. You don’t have to work with trending products, of course – you might opt for a different strategy – but there is the potential for additional sales!

Disadvantages of DropShipping with AliExpress

Although there are some good reasons to DropShip items from AliExpress, there are some down sides you might encounter. If you find some of these put you off using the AliExpress marketplace, you don’t have to be put off DropShipping completely! We’ll talk about some potential alternatives you can use for DropShipping rather than AliExpress later on.

You’re not buying from a manufacturer

This is a major disadvantage when it comes to comparing DropShipping on AliExpress with DropShipping on platforms like Avasam. Many sellers on AliExpress are actually third-parties, either individuals or companies who are reselling those products to you. That means they’re buying the products from the supplier or manufacturer, and making their profit by selling to you – and so your margins can be much, much thinner than when DropShipping products directly from suppliers, or using other DropShipping platforms.

Longer delivery times

When you’re DropShipping products from AliExpress, they’re coming from China. Even with express shipping, there’s going to be a wait for their order to be delivered. That means that you need to manage your customer’s expectations carefully – they can’t expect to buy from you and have their items delivered the next day like they do with their Amazon Prime orders. If you don’t, you’re going to be putting yourself at risk of cancelled orders, complaints and potential negative reviews.

No options for product bundles

If a customer orders more than one product from you, there’s no way for the parcel to arrive together. That’s because the items are likely to have been dispatched from different suppliers across China – there’s no central warehouse unlike Fulfilled by Amazon orders that can be sent from a central location.

Short wait for your credit card to be verified

It can take a few days for your credit card to be verified by AliExpress. That means that you can’t start selling items from AliExpress immediately, unlike on some of the DropShipping platforms that can enable you to start your business the same day. If you want to start your business with no money upfront, and start making sales today, then a platform like Avasam might be a better option for you.

Communication issues

If there’s a problem with an order and you need to speak to the supplier about it, you need to be certain that you can communicate with them well enough to resolve the issue. Assuming that you don’t speak Standard Chinese or Mandarin, your supplier needs to be able to communicate well enough in English by email. Many sellers on AliExpress make their Skype address available publicly, which will give you an idea of how good their English is, but you can potentially use this to build a positive working relationship with them.

You might encounter problems when it comes to the time thatsellers communicate too. Unless you’re based in China, you’ll need to take into account delays in communications due to time zone differences.

Is AliExpress safe and reliable?

It is, although as you’ve seen above, it is not without a number of challenges. AliExpress has a lot of protection for buyers, and like Amazon, is designed to be customer-centric at every point of the sales process. That also means that AliExpress (like Amazon!) work with customers in mind when allowing new sellers onto the platform – so that the sellers are trustworthy and dispatch items that they’re selling.

When you’re selecting who you’re going to work with on AliExpress, you’ll want to consider their rating and the number of items they’ve sold. If a seller is the cheapest, but they don’t have many sales – or they have negative reviews – we’d recommend avoiding them until they start to get that feedback. Do your research, check what customers are saying in their feedback, and use only the best sellers.

Once you’ve established who you’d like to sell items from, contact them directly. Ask questions about the items, delivery times and so on. That way, you can minimise the worries that you might have, and be reassured that they’re going to be reliable. If you don’t get a reply, or they don’t respond the same working day, then it might be worth using a different supplier.

Why customers would buy from your store rather than AliExpress

Many customers – certainly in the UK, but also worldwide – don’t actually know about AliExpress. If they come across it as a marketplace, they may assume it’s a scam, because the items are so cheap. Customers who do know about AliExpress know that items for sale on AliExpress are going to be coming from China (in most cases), but may still not trust that they’re going to actually receive their items, so will look for the product they want elsewhere. There’s a good chance they’re willing to pay a bit more for a superior service too, so you can capitalise on that to push your profit margins a little.

If the customer contacts a supplier from China, and they receive a reply from a non-native speaker of their language, it may deter them from completing their purchase. There’s evidence to show that customers will gravitate towards items listed in their own language, and from a seller who is clearly native – which is why many Chinese sellers will use English-sounding names such as John Smith. Even sellers in countries that use English widely for business find that they make more sales on their listings if they are in the local language. That’s because there’s an implied trust that is projected when the seller speaks their own language, even if the item is being produced and dispatched from another country.

All this applies to marketing and after-purchase support too. So, people will purchase from you not because your prices are necessarily the cheapest that can be found online, but because you’re speaking their language, and that means they have much more trust that they will receive their order, and that you will resolve any issues much more quickly, if there are any.

How to set up an AliExpress store

If you think you’re ready to get on with setting up your store, great! Don’t run before you can walk, though – there are a few things you’ll need to do first.

What to do before setting up a store selling items from AliExpress

Before you set up a DropShipping store using items from AliExpress, there’s a few things we recommend doing – and as always, our first recommendation is to lay a good foundation for your business by doing your research. Make sure you have identified your niche, that you know your target customers (‘everyone’ is not a group of target customers, and will not help you refine the tone of voice you’re going to be writing in, or who you are targeting on your social media marketing and so on!).

Choose which type of store you’re going to use

You can use almost any eCommerce website provider to set up your AliExpress store – it depends what works for you. Magento and WooCommerce are popular, as is Shopify, but there are loads of others you can use. Make sure whichever one you choose feels right for you, and has any integrations you think you might need, and has a realistic pricing plan. If you’re going to use Shopify and ONLY want to list items from AliExpress, you might consider using DSers to list your products directly from AliExpress – but bear in mind, this might restrict your ability to expand your DropShipping business in the future.

What products to choose from AliExpress

When it comes to choosing which products you’re going to sell from AliExpress, it will pretty much depend on your niche and who your target customers are. Selling a wide range of random stuff won’t inspire customers, so curate your choice of products carefully. Here’s our advice about what to choose and list on your website.

Bestselling products of 2019 on AliExpress

If your DropShipping strategy is to sell the most popular products, then you’ll need to know what is trending. You can find out what is selling best right now by using the filters on the platform, but here’s a list of what were the big hitters in 2019.

No brands, fakes, knockoffs

Tempting as it might be to list popular brands, or items that are lookalikes because you think they will inspire a lot of sales… trust us, it simply isn’t worth the hassle. If you don’t legally have permission to sell a branded item, you’re likely to run into a cease and desist letter from the brand at best, and legal action at worst. Not only that, if you find your customer has been sent a fake item where they expected a genuine item, you’re setting yourself up for negative reviews that can undermine your whole business. Just one review that states a customer received a fake will put doubt into the mind of potential future customers, and they will look to find the item they want from another seller instead.

Choose products with ePacket shipping

Choosing products that offer free ePacket shipping means that your customers will receive their order much quicker, it’s much cheaper and much more reliable. ePacket shipping can be delivered in 39 countries, with most of Europe, the USA and Australia and New Zealand covered. Generally ePacket items are delivered in less than two weeks, so opt for ePacket items where you can for better reviews.

Find items with 300+ orders and more than a 4.5 star rating

You’re looking for reliability when it comes to deciding who to list products from. By choosing a product that has more than 300 orders, you know customers want the product. If the number of orders is high, there’s likely to have been repeat custom, so the product is likely to be high quality. On top of that, with a 4.5 star rating, you can be assured there have been few disputes or problems with the seller.

Low price, high margin potential

Finding products that are cheap enough to give you a decent profit margin is the key to your DropShipping business on AliExpress. Don’t forget, when you’re marketing your products, you may need to spend on adverts, so your profits need to not just pay you, but for your marketing efforts too.

Plenty of good quality product photos

When you’re listing your item, make sure your photos have come from the manufacturer. If you end up using another seller’s images because you didn’t take a moment to do a quick Google image search, you put yourself at risk of getting into trouble with copyright laws. Not only that, if you accidentally use the wrong image, you’re risking negative reviews and hassle when the customer receives something different to what they were expecting. It’s worth taking those few moments to get it right.

Communicative supplier

We’ve mentioned this already, but make sure your intended seller is going to serve you well by asking them questions about the product. If they reply quickly and reliably, you’re unlikely to encounter issues when it comes to them sending orders to customers. If there’s a long wait for a reply (or none at all!) it’s a wide decision to avoid them.

Add products to your store

When you’re listing items on your store, you need to improve your customer’s experience over shopping directly on AliExpress. Don’t just copy product listing information word for word – you can do better than that, and you need to convince your customers that shopping with you is going to be a good experience. Here’s our advice about what to do when you’re listing products in your store.

Use your own product descriptions

If you decide to simply use the product description that the original seller has written, you’re at risk of replicating typos and clumsy translation errors. You want customers to complete their purchase with you – so your information needs to be high quality, and by writing your own product description, you’re setting the bar higher. Customers will choose your item, even if your price is a little higher, because there’s that implied trust we spoke about earlier, through your use of language. They’ll be reassured that if there is an issue with their order, you will be able to sort it out for them, because you’re able to understand them.

Be transparent about delivery times

When DropShipping items from China, managing customer expectations about the length of time their delivery will take is absolutely critical. Many customers will know that when they head to AliExpress, their item isn’t going to be delivered the next working day. Being clear on your listings about when they can expect their items will keep any negative reviews at bay – especially when you’re providing quality service.

Use an order tracking app

Talking about that high level of service…! Customer orders are going to take a while to reach them (it is coming from China, after all!) so providing them with updates, using an order tracking app will help to increase their satisfaction without causing you additional work.When customers know where their parcel is, their trust is increased. Not only that, they won’t be contacting you to find out why they haven’t received their order yet – or worse still, asking for a refund or leaving negative feedback because they didn’t receive their order when they expected to.

There are plenty of ePacket tracking apps that can automate sending updates to your customers, so this is an easy way to do this effectively – you just need to find one that works with your website provider.

Offer free shipping

Customers who are used to shopping on Amazon, where postage is generally included in the price (especially with Prime orders) will tend to gravitate towards free shipping listings. That’s partly because of the frustration that is felt when they see an item at a low price – say, a t-shirt for a few pounds – and then they click the listing and the seller has whacked on £10 for shipping, in order to ensure they maintain their profit margins. The customer gets annoyed, and finds a better option, usually with free shipping. By you offering free shipping (included in the price you set), you’ll avoid those frustrations and customers going elsewhere.

Price sensibly

This is completely logical when you think about it. As a customer yourself, whenever you’re shopping for something, you’re almost certainly looking for the best price. If you find the exact same product from a different seller, on a known marketplace such as Amazon or eBay for less, what do you do? You buy from the cheaper seller, on the marketplace – because it doesn’t make sense to spend more unless there’s a reason to, and you’ll have the support of the marketplace if something goes wrong.

So, while you need to price your items sensibly, if you’re going to charge more than other sellers (and you’ll probably have to, in order to make a profit) then you have to give customers a reason to buy from you, rather than a cheaper alternative – and you’ll be doing that by offering that gold star service.

How do payments work on AliExpress?

Customers order from AliExpress from many countries worldwide, and sellers DropShipping from AliExpress are based all over the world too. While it’s pretty safe to assume that many customers will use a credit card for their purchase, it isn’t the preferred method of payment in every country worldwide, so you might need to use a credit card to get the order under way. AliExpress accepts all major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and American Express.

If you prefer other payment methods, AliExpress also accepts:

Remember though, you won’t have to pay your AliExpress seller until you’ve received your customer’s orders. Using a credit card means that if there are any problems, you can request a chargeback, and avoid being out of pocket. If you’re using a different type of payment method, you might not have the same kind of protection, so use caution.

How does shipping work on AliExpress?

There’s a range of shipping options available on AliExpress. If you’ve taken our advice, you’ll be looking to add items to your AliExpress store that sellers will send using ePacket. If there’s a particular product you want to sell that only ships with standard shipping, make sure you’re absolutely clear on your listing how long the expected wait is.

Using ePacket, items are generally delivered in around 14-21 days, but it’s only available as an option for smaller packages, so take this into account when you’re choosing what to list in your store.

There are some sellers on AliExpress that are based in Europe – and considering how fast Amazon shipping is (and customers are likely to want their goods sooner than later!), the faster you can make shipping for your store, the better. If your products are coming from China, opt for ePacket – it is not worth saving pennies on shipping, especially when customer satisfaction is key to your success when DropShipping from AliExpress.

How do refunds and returns work?

Refunds and returns tend not to be offered by AliExpress suppliers. That unfortunately means that you’re going to need to handle refunds, and you’ll need to account for additional costs that might be incurred. Keep some cash available, to ensure that if you end up with a run of refunds, you can still keep processing orders.

Typical problems with orders from AliExpress are that the order didn’t actually arrive. If the order didn’t arrive, you’ll need to contact your supplier. The supplier might resolve the issue by resending the order, but it might mean you need to use AliExpress Buyer Protection. In that case, AliExpress will refund the purchase, but you’ll need to wait for the delivery period to finish – around 45 days – to get your money back.

Sometimes the customer simply might not be happy with what they received. If this is the case, it might be a problem with your images, or product description, so ask the customer to send you photos if they’re saying it wasn’t representative of the description. In this case, you might suggest the customer return the item (so you get a full refund) or offer them a partial refund and allow them to keep the item.

Ultimately, you’re looking to keep your customers happy, so you’re not risking customers leaving damaging negative reviews.

Is there anything I need to do legally?

The main thing you’ll need to do when it comes to your DropShipping business is to make sure you’ve paid your business taxes. There are plenty of different ways you can keep track of your income and your expenditures, such as QuickBooks and Xero. In the UK, there’s been a huge campaign about making tax digital – and making sure you’re on top of this as you start out will mean less of a headache at the end of the tax year, and will help you avoid a huge fine from HMRC if you haven’t paid. There are different rules in different countries too, so if you have the means, working with an accounting professional is a good idea. Look locally, or check websites such as Fiverr.

How else can I improve AliExpress sales?

Once you’re making sales, there are a few things you can do to keep customers leaving good reviews and happy.

Ask your supplier not to include anything with your orders.

Alongside packing slips, invoices, pricing and so on, suppliers might include promotional materials that reveals that you’re not the original seller. While many customers won’t care where their item comes from, it’s better to be less obvious that you’re DropShipping, as it will help you avoid negative reviews. All you need to do when you’re placing your order with your supplier is to add a short note asking that the supplier doesn’t add promotional, or packing information to the parcel. A simple ‘We’re DropShipping this item – please don’t include promotional or packing material’ will do the job on the note for the order.

Sign up for the AliExpress affiliate programme.

As well as simply DropShipping from the AliExpress marketplace, you can extend your business further. All you need to do is set up a website to promote your items on. When a customer clicks a link to an item on your website, they then get redirected to AliExpress, and if they complete the purchase, the seller pays you an affiliate fee.

This is great additional marketing and income for you, and because you’re not selling the item, you’re not DropShipping these sales so there’s no potential hassle if there’s a problem with the order or anything like that. You’re just directing customers towards the products.

So why is it worthwhile doing this, you might ask? Well, AliExpress affiliates get a minimum of 8.5% commission on each sale. Some items make up to 50% commission – so if you’re able to make a few sales there, that’s a nice little earner! It’s also way, way more than other affiliate rewards – it’s over double what Amazon offer, and some of the top sellers earn up to $20,000 a month. Sounds like a nice little earner, doesn’t it?!

Increase your marketing.

This doesn’t have to cost you a fortune – you can use social media to increase the visibility of your store. Refer back to your target customer list, and figure out which social media channels they are likely to be using, then start to grow your followers. Visual social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest are likely to work well, but don’t just drop images of your products on a post with a caption stating the price and call it done. Give your followers a reason that you’re posting it, and get creative! You don’t need to be a super-talented designer either – there are tonnes of tools that can help you create social media posts such as Canva.

You can further diversify your business and attract customers by creating YouTube videos. They don’t have to be long, or have expensive production budgets – just talking about a product, a reason that it’s great and why customers should buy it can be all you need. To start with, you can probably do what you need to with your smartphone, if it’s up to date! If you need to edit your videos, you can find free video editing software, and we talked about how to get more views on YouTube previously.

Diversify your business.

There’s loads of other ways you can increase the flow of traffic to your store, and your offerings. Once you’re up and making money DropShipping, you could add print on demand items such as clothing, mugs, posters, phone cases and so on.

You could also consider adding a blog to your website. Obviously, you’ll need time to create your blog content, but it’s another way you can build trust with your customers – especially new customers. Look to your competitors – or the more established companies that you would like to be your competitors – and create blog content that is of a similar standard.

We’re only touching on a few ideas here, and what you’re selling might influence how else your business can diversify. We previously wrote an article about low investment business ideas, and many of them can help you diversify your income stream in addition to DropShipping. You might find that over time, your business might become something much bigger than you ever imagined – all from selling that first item from China!

Future problems with DropShipping on AliExpress

In the USA, ePacket shipping being so cheap has meant that buying from China is significantly less expensive than buying domestically. Unfortunately, the conclusion of the Universal Postal Union negotiations is that the US can now add ‘self-declared rates’ on items being shipped from overseas. That means it is extremely likely that the price of shipping from China to the US will increase significantly. That’s a huge problem if you’re hoping to make sales to customers in mainland America, because with increased shipping comes smaller profits for you.

What are the alternatives to DropShipping with AliExpress?

With some of the issues we’ve talked about on this post, you might have decided that AliExpress DropShipping isn’t right for your business. DropShipping items from AliExpress on your own store can be lucrative, but it isn’t right for all businesses. If you don’t have the technical knowledge, or inclination to set up your own store and do processes manually, you might consider a DSers and Shopify combination. It’s an easy approach that is trusted by thousands of sellers, but many DSers suppliers are AliExpress sellers – meaning you’ll encounter the same problems.

If you find working with international suppliers isn’t right for you and your business, then DropShipping with domestic suppliers can be a way to proceed. You can contact your suppliers individually, and implement their solutions separately, but there might be manual processes or you might need to use a developer to help you, especially if you’re working with more than one supplier.

Alternatively, you can use the far easier method of using a DropShipping platform to work with multiple suppliers, with the bonus that you can sell to customers on multiple marketplaces and on your own website. When you’re selecting a DropShipping platform, you’ve got a few options. You can work with a platform that enables you to sell products from AliExpress on other marketplaces or websites – such as Dropified – but that problem with US postal prices increasing we talked about is going to affect your sales when it kicks in on July 1st, 2020, and all the other problems you might encounter, such as slow shipping, are still going to be an issue for you.

The answer to that then, is to choose a platform that enables you to work with different suppliers, like Doba. As we established on our post here though, Doba is a good option if you’re DropShipping to the States, but doesn’t ship worldwide, and there are fees that need to be paidafter the trial period.

If you want even more control and automation so you can DropShip on far more places, including marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, with domestic suppliers that mean your customers don’t need to wait for their items, then you’ll need to find the right platform. Avasam does all those things – and there are over 40 direct integrations that mean you can start listing items for sale in just a few clicks. Not only that, we have verified suppliers across the UK and Europe, meaning that your customers will receive their items much quicker – generally inside the same kind of time period that Amazon demands for Prime orders.