You’ll find plenty of stories about fake AliExpress suppliers circulating around the web. Recently, AliExpress.com have spent a lot of resources into combatting this, so it’s quite rare that you would find an stories about dropshipping suppliers who scam.
Although the platform is taking care of fraudulent dropshipping suppliers itself, we still suggest that you perform a background check on your drop shipping suppliers. Not only will this help you to ensure that your customers will receive a high-quality service, but also to ensure that they will enjoy product satisfaction.
We’ve put this article together to show you how to find dropshippers on AliExpress, and show you the types of dropshipping suppliers you should avoid.
Don’t Always Go For the Lowest Price
Don’t get overly excited when you find the same product at a fraction of the price. Typically, the price of a product on AliExpress.com is comparative with the product’s quality. If you’re looking for dropshipping suppliers who offer high-quality goods for your store, you may need to spend a little more money when you’re sourcing products.
When you’re sourcing products, you’ll find that there are a lot of AliExpress suppliers offering similar products. It’s a great idea to compare the prices which various different dropshipping suppliers have set. If a number of sellers have similar prices for the same product, but you find that one supplier has a drastically lower price, this could indicate that the product is of a lower quality. Another key point is to check out the AliExpress supplier’s reviews to determine if there has been any negative reviews about their quality — this will help you to find the best dropshipping suppliers for your store.
Although a lower price does not necessarily mean that the dropshipping supplier’s products are of a lower quality and vice versa, we highly recommend that you avoid the following situation:
Remember that drop shipping suppliers on AliExpress.com have very tight margins and understand them well, which is why a higher price normally means a better quality product.
Buy From AliExpress Dropshipping Suppliers Which Have 95%+ Positive Feedback
Two of the most important factors while evaluating AliExpress dropshipping suppliers are their Feedback Score and Positive Feedback Rate. The Feedback Score indicates the seller’s sales volume, while the Positive Feedback Rate represents the feedback rate which the dropshipping supplier has received. When you’re choosing AliExpress dropshipping suppliers you should always aim for 95% and higher positive feedback rate and at least a 2,000 feedback score. Always try to bare this in mind when you’re searching for dropshipping suppliers.
When you’re running your ecommerce business you’ll need to build up a foundation of reliable dropshipping suppliers. Take note that this doesn’t automatically mean that dropshipping suppliers with a lower feedback score can’t be trusted, but it’s a good general measure to go by.
Next, you should consider their individual product feedback and their order counts. It’s much safer to buy a product that has been ordered a few thousand times with a 90% positive feedback score, than a product that has only been sold twice but has a 100% positive feedback score. Look for any unhappy customers. Usually, the unhappy customers help identify possible products defects and issues. You’ll also be able to view customer reviews for individual products, which will likely include images for said item — it’s another great way to validate a dropshipping supplier.
However, if a certain product doesn’t yet have any feedback, look up the other products that the dropshipping supplier carries and check the feedback. If you notice that the other products which the drop shipping supplier is selling have good feedback then you’re good to go, it not then you may want to stay away from that supplier.
Be Careful With Dropshipping Suppliers Selling Brand Products
As a dropshipper, it’s imperative that you avoid dropshipping suppliers on AliExpress who are selling counterfeit or knockoff goods. Genuine designer products are rarely found on AliExpress.com — it’s always best to avoid popular brand name products in your store, as they’re likely fake.
If you find that a drop shipping supplier which you’re sourcing products from is selling counterfeit goods then you should avoid using them and report that seller to AliExpress. You could end up in legal trouble if you’re found to be selling copyrighted products, so it’s always best to avoid anything that looks suspicious.
Pay Attention to the Responsiveness of Drop Shipping Suppliers
Let’s say you have an emergency situation — a customer files a dispute on your PayPal account and insists on a reshipment for their order. In this situation, you’d want your drop shipping supplier to respond to you immediately, right?
In order to protect yourself against such situations, always check the responsiveness of AliExpress suppliers before importing any of their products to your ecommerce store. You can simply write them a message via AliExpress.com and see how quickly you receive an appropriate response. You can even create a fictional scenario where you say you haven’t received your order. Note how long it takes for your seller to reply and how they handle the situation.
A great dropshipping supplier will respond to you quickly, be understanding of your problem, and act fast to rectify it. Thankfully, you’ll be able to find lots of great dropshipping suppliers on AliExpress.
When you’re asking the question: ‘how to find dropshippers on AliExpress?’, it’s imperative that you keep the responsiveness of your drop shipping suppliers in mind. Combine their responsiveness with the quality and price of the products that they’re selling, and you’ll have a strong idea about the type of drop shipping supplier that you’re dealing with.
How to Find Dropshippers on AliExpress by Ordering Samples
When the primary due diligence of the drop shipping supplier is over and you’ve imported their products to your store you should place a couple of test orders to determine their quality. If your funds allow it, we suggest that you order 3–5 samples from different sellers.
Product samples are a great tool when you’re determining how to find dropshippers on AliExpress. Review your product samples and check which items have the highest quality — this will allow you to understand how reliable the dropshipping supplier is. You’ll also be putting yourself in the customers shoes, which will further help you to understand which are the best dropshipping suppliers.
It’s likely that you won’t be able to order samples of all the products which you’re planning to sell, but try ordering from as many sellers in your store as possible to see how long the delivery actually takes, the quality of the product, and the packaging which they use for shipping.
While it makes perfect sense to order samples before selling them in your store, it may also be useful to wait until you have already imported their products. If you’ve researched the dropshipping supplier carefully before you decided to import any of their products into your store, your first sale could be the final step for validating them as a supplier for your ecommerce business. There are plenty of drop shipping suppliers on AliExpress which you can test products from, so don’t be discouraged if your first drop shipping supplier doesn’t work out perfectly.
General Safety Tips — Buyers’ Safety Program
AliExpress.com guarantees a full refund if a customer doesn’t receive the order and a partial refund if the item which you receive is not as described. So, if the order hasn’t arrived within the promised time, or if the product differs from what was described, simply contact the seller or submit a refund request by clicking ‘Open Dispute’ on AliExpress. From this page you can formally discuss possible solutions with the dropshipping supplier. If you’re not satisfied with the seller’s suggestions, you can escalate the dispute to AliExpress.com. They will then mediate between both you and the seller to resolve the issue.
For more information on this, go to the AliExpress Buyer Protection page.
Choose the Right Drop Shipping Supplier for Your Business
Now that you’re armed with plenty of top tips for finding the best drop shipping suppliers on AliExpress, it’s time to start sourcing great products for your own ecommerce store. Here’s a quick recap just before you start sourcing your own products:
- Always try to use AliExpress products with 95%+ positive feedback.
- When dropshipping from AliExpress, low-priced products aren’t always the best option.
- Try to avoid branded products, they may be counterfeit.
- Check the responsiveness of the drop shipping supplier.
- Test orders are a great way to check the quality of the dropshipping products.