AliExpress Sellers have lots of queries that result in delay or dropping off the idea to start AliExpress dropshipping business. It can be related to a shipping delay, price negotiation, return & refund, best platform, niche vs general store, finding a trusted supplier or any other concern. This post goes into details about it and shares insights to help you make the best decision. Moreover, the popular dropshipping myths will be debunked to ensure dropshipper kickstarts AliExpress dropshipping with full confidence.
If you have the passion for scaling business with AliExpress Dropshipping, We have Answers to Every Query that is Stopping You.
We have covered all the burning questions related to AliExpress dropshipping so if you haven’t figured out what to do and when to do then still it is no problem.
What’s Inside
- How to Differentiate Trusted Seller from others?
- What to expect from a Professional Supplier from China?
- How to Negotiate Price with suppliers in China?
- What is Smart Way of Handling Return & Refund In AliExpress Dropshipping Business
- Which Platform is Best for Dropshipping?
- Which is the Best Dropshipping Model for Me – Niche Vs General Store?
- Should I Start a Single or Multiple Product Dropshipping Store?
- Which are the most favorable locations and audience interest to target for AliExpress Dropshipping
- How Many Ad Sets to Run to Test New products?
- Can I Start a Dropshipping Store with a budget as low as $500?
- Is AliExpress Dropshipping worth in 2020?
- How to List Products on AliExpress?
- I am a newbie
- Will the Order reach to Customer in Time?
- How to improve my store conversion rate
- Should I sell products with more than 1000 orders only
- Should I sell products that cost over $5 or less
- Which is better to sell a product that solves a problem or one that evokes an emotional connection
- What to do? I have High Traffic on store but almost No Sales
- How to get Traffic without Paying for Traffic? (I am a beginner in AliExpress Dropshipping)
- How to use Instagram for Hike in Sales like Top Dropshipper ?
- Do I have to take precautions before working with suppliers?
How to Differentiate Trusted Seller from Others?
A good seller will be able to produce products in bulk that you want. He must be an experienced guy too.
Find out are they involved in a scam or not? It is necessary and won’t take much of your time. Enter (company name) + scam, (Product name) + dropshipper in Google, and it will reveal all sorts of bad experiences associated with the supplier.
Image Credit: Google
It will be better if you search for suppliers in Google Maps and confirm their physical location. Mostly when the site of a physical store is missing, then it’s a red flag, and you should immediately drop the idea to partner with him.
Go through the Reviews B2B directories are a great place to browse other sellers’ experiences. It gives a fair idea about what you are going to deal with. Alibaba, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Global Sources are few popular directories. Browsing more directories gives better insights about whom to prefer or not.
Even if reviews are excellent, avoid choosing those with less than 2-3 year of experience.
Select a few suppliers and google them to find out if they recently participated in trade shows like the Canton Fair
and the East China Fair. Trusted suppliers don’t miss opportunities to connect with new customers.
Crosscheck Supplier Financial Claims It is absolutely okay to ask for bank records to prove their financial stability. Another option is to contact his previous customers. They will share a detailed experience of pros and cons.
Request a Sample Nothing beats checking the product on your own. You can review it and put forward the changes that are necessary for smooth customer experience.
Production Capacity Sellers might claim production capacity beyond their actual limit to convince you. But better be upfront and ask them for a factory visit displaying your curiosity to know more about him and his business. Now you can personally check the production capacity.
What to expect from a Professional Supplier from China
- Variety of logistics channels to ensure international delivery as fast as 3 to 5 days.
- They will without wasting any time contact the corresponding factory and ensure to give you the cheapest price
- Being experts, they process orders really quick and are equipped with processing hundreds of orders in a day
- They provide a logistics tracking number within 24 hours
- Product is first checked by the quality inspection team before being delivered to the customer.
How to Negotiate Price with Suppliers in China
Price negotiation is an unconditionally important parameter but never negotiate unpleasantly.
The profit margin for Chinese suppliers is relatively very low per product. Even if they agree to provide extremely low prices, there will be very low product quality. Hence it might hurt your customer experience.
Negotiate to an extent it doesn’t result in compromising quality. But, Never Over-Negotiate..!!
What is Smart Way of Handling Returns And Refunds In AliExpress Dropshipping Business?
Despite how profesional suppliers you choose for shipping, once in a blue moon there might be a chance to return/ refund the product. Now, don’t see it as a sign of customers being unhappy with your product.
Consider it as phase 2nd of the opportunity to cement your relationship with customers (selling product being the phase 1st)
Have a customer-friendly return/refund policy. It helps in sparking trust between customers and you.
So, never forget to cross check below things.
- How long after the sale can you return the product?
- Is there any provision to accept mistake orders?
- Under which scenarios does your supplier accept returns?
- What process is followed to handle the overall return process?
- Is the return shipping fee to be paid by the supplier or customer?
Next step is not to mention the policy in just one para. Take time to elaborate it and mention under a specific page dedicated to return/refund.
If the supplier accepts the product within 40 days, it is wiser to stick to a 30-day return policy. Exclusively describe under what all conditions the products are acceptable for return/refund..
Which Platform is Best for Dropshipping?
Among the top three choices are Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Let’s find out what each of them has to offer.
WooCommerce – Endless customisation means numerous options for the design of the store and making it highly personal. But it comes at the cost of purchasing the right plugins and templates.
| Pros | The plugin is free of cost; all you have is to invest in hosting and the other plugins. |
| Well suited for content marketing | |
| Cons | There is a little learning curve for those who are a newbie in technology |
| Pricing | Free of cost to cost of the plugin you purchase |
Shopify – The sole purpose of Shopify was to provide a flawless platform that streamlines hosting for e-commerce stores. It is packed with easy to use advanced features that help you scale dropshipping from scratch to sky. These features are multiple payment gateway options, options to sell on social media, and discounts or coupon codes options.
| Pros | User-oriented interface |
| No need of skills to turn the store into a professional looking site | |
| Cons | Customization is not as much possible as in WooCommerce |
| Pricing | $9 – $40,000 |
BigCommerce – This platform has a lot to leverage functionality will benefit both newbie and experienced players of e-commerce
| Pros | Suitable for all type of stores |
| Cons | It is a bit technical to use in comparison to the other two platforms. |
| Pricing | $29.95 – $249.95 |
Which is the Best Dropshipping Model for Me – Niche Vs General Store?
The tussle to choose between a niche or general dropshipping store is quite a confusing topic among dropshippers. Let’s discuss which one will work for you.
Why Niche Dropshipping Store?
Well, Niches store attracts an audience that is very passionate about products and have an emotional bond with products. Also, you will sell what you are interested in and selling something you know is better than selling a whole bunch of items.
Why General Dropshipping Store?
If you find both equally good, then start with a general store to test which products will bring more business. Upon finding the right product, start a niche store around it and build your brand.
Should I Start a Single Product or Multiple Product Dropshipping Store
Another query that bothers most of dropshippers right before they are ready to dive into AliExpress dropshipping business.
Why Start a Single Product Store Single product stores cut through the hassle of spending several weeks setting up the store. You have the opportunity to set up the dropshipping store and kick start selling in relatively less time.
Why Start a Multiple Product Store If the thought of having single products makes you restless. You find it quite scary that one product might become oversaturated or a better and affordable alternative could arrive due to technological innovation. In either case, multiple product store is the right and risk-free choice.
Having few products that open up the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell products (mainly belonging to a niche) will never disappoint you.
Which are the most favourable locations and audience interest to target for AliExpress Dropshipping?
The USA, Canada, UK, and Australia are the most prominent e-commerce markets. It is very necessary to not miss on any of these core markets. You can target all countries in single ad sets or different ad sets. The latter option will be better as the USA is amazingly big than the other three combined. Different ad sets will enable you to gather and analyse insights specific to the USA.
Always choose “people who live in this location” under the location option while setting up the ad campaign. Therefore you will target the audience interested in your products and speak the language in which the ad is displayed. Also, you don’t pay for ads that appear in front of those who are either only travelling in the target country and don’t understand the language in which the ad is displayed.
How Many Ad Sets to Run to Test New Products?
It is good to start with one ad set but keep on increasing it based on how many you can afford.
Can I Start a Dropshipping Store with a budget as low as $500?
The minimum investment required to kickstart AliExpress dropshipping is determined by the cost associated with domain name, order fulfilment, minimum basic plan of e-commerce platform (for Shopify $29 and WooCommerce it is Free), facebook ads, Instagram shoutouts.
In a few countries, it is required to register a company and have a GST Number for tax purposes. So, considering all these the bare minimum cost will be around $750.
Expert dropshipper suggest keeping an extra budget of $100 for Facebook ads. It can be used to find which are the winning products.
Is AliExpress dropshipping worth it in 2020?
I am amused to see this on the list. Anyways, if you have a passion for the product, you are selling then undoubtedly go for it. Making it a profitable affair becomes easy as you will be able to advertise your product in a much more convincing way.
Moreover, you won’t find it a burden to post several times a week on social media about how good a product is in terms of problem-solving and what makes it unique in respect to other products in the same category.
Do you know products that are real problem solvers and unique in some aspects then it becomes easy to promote them and hike the sales. Therefore, Aliexpress dropshipping or any business model will work wonders for you provided you prove the product is worth buying due to these two smart attributes.
How to List Products on AliExpress? I am a newbie.
- Product Image is undoubtedly, the most convincing part of the product. Keep your images sharp, detailed, and preferably white background. Hence your image appears trustworthy and neat.
- Using an image that shows the product in its intended environment is more convincing than the product’s only image. If you sell the product under the luggage category, then provide a minimum of 2 images and 3 if the product falls under the footwear category.
- If your business category requires branding, then fill the trademark name with full accuracy. Choose none if your product category does not require a trademark.
- AliExpress audits your trademark qualification application. If your account fails twice within 30 days means you won’t be able to submit another application in the next 90 days.
- For an existing seller, who wants to add the new trademark, then upload and submit the product list as per the brand you want to add.
- When you re-apply for the trademark qualification application, then the product list is required to be resubmitted. It is important to ensure the brand, product name, and other factors are the same.
Will the order reach the customer in time? (The all-time #1 concern of AliExpress Dropshipping)
Most sellers are based in China, and different shipping methods are following.
- AliExpress Standard Shipping
- ePacket
- SunYou Economic Air Mail
- FedEx
Among the above, the AliExpress Standard Shipping is an affordable option. Different products that are shipped to the USA normally take different days to arrive. A general pattern one can decode is products ranging from $4 to $5 arrives within 13 -16 days.
ePacket delivery is a popular AliExpress shipping method. It claims to reach customers before the obvious shipping methods in the same price range. Using the ePackets different products take different amounts of time.
- Women’s watch – 18 days
- Bracelet Set – 15 days
One can opt ePacket provided the product weighs upto 2kg (applicable to be shipped in all countries except Israel). Dimension wise maximum length should be 60 cm with total height and thickness not exceeding 90cm.
ePacket also allows you to track packages and inform customers that order will be reaching them soon.
SunYou Economic Air Mail
They are a good one to consider. Moreover, they have a reputation of delivering before the estimated time range and sometimes free of cost.
FedEx
It is one of those premium shipping methods that can be relied on for the shortest shipping times but comes at a cost. It is capable of delivering the item within 3 days with the average delivery time to be between 7-15 days.
The EMS and DHL are the expensive ones considering $24 shipping for products worth $1.
Which one is the best? AliExpress Standard Shipping and ePacket are best in terms of both cost and delivery time. The product will reach before scheduled time without burning a hole in your pocket.
How to improve my store conversion rate?
Well, this question comes as a challenge. Facing it with the right approach helps you stay competitive. There are several techniques. Let’s take a dig into it one by one.
Product Title: AliExpress auto translates titles into regional language, but it is not user-friendly. You should keep your title crisp (3 -5 words) and put keywords in it. Hence, your product will rank higher upon the buyer query.
Include the differentiating feature (colour, fabric, and more) in the product title if you are offering multiple similar type products. This way, the buyer can quickly identify the difference between products.
After changing the title when you import products from AliExpress to the store, the permalink gets updated with the product title as well. It is necessary to ensure the link has also changed. Simply delete old permalink to generate the new permalink.
Product Description: It is another important area to improve your conversion rate. Follow the below points for user-friendly product descriptions.
- The description content should have a balance between benefits and features. It should not feel you are merely advertising your product.
- Keep the font readable. The lesser time it takes to convey your product purpose means easier; it is to convince.
- Short sentences without complicated vocabulary avoid the hassle of a buyer to look into the dictionary.
- Add a size chart with the metric system to help the buyer find out which size is best.
- Avoid images with watermarks.
Customer Reviews: Add customer reviews on the product page. Give preference to those reviews with real photos of the product in use.
Should I sell products with more than 1000 orders only?
This is an interesting question that bothers everyone about to start aliexpress dropshipping so let’s consider both perspective one by one
Selling products with more than 1000 Order It is wise to sell products with more than 1000 orders because it shows the product is really in demand. Another thing to consider is possessing good marketing skills will ensure even during product saturation, the sales won’t decrease.
Also, you must be able to ship products in huge quantities because popular products are ordered in huge quantities.
Selling products with less than 1000 Order
If you find a reliable supplier, it is a profitable deal to sell products with less than 1000 orders. It also means low competition.
Should I sell products that cost over $5 or less?
Why Sell products that cost less than $5 As long as the quality is good enough to please the customer, there is no downside to selling products with cost under $5. If you have products that have good chances for upselling and cross-selling then even under $5 products will bring you good profit.
Returning an under $5 product will never be a burden.
Why Not Sell products that cost more than $5 if you are very finicky about ensuring nothing but best reach the customer, then stay away from products that cost not even $5. Moreover, the profit margin is not very high.
Which is better to sell a product that solves a problem or one that evokes an emotional connection.
Products that Evoke Emotional Connection Customers are more likely to fall for products that they love and are emotional about it. Therefore, it results in impulse buying.
Products that Solves Problem Going with products that solve problems will help you write convincing ad copies and product descriptions. Even it becomes easier to come up with videos that depict how products can solve problems and make life easier.
The Interesting Third Option if you are planning to pitch products over Facebook and Instagram better go with products that spark an emotional connection. As product simply pop up in their timeline, so they are not looking after it
In the case of google ads where customers are more inclined towards products that are real problem solvers. After all, searching for a product is a sign of being keenly interested in something that solves a problem.
What to do ? I have High Traffic on Store But Almost No Sales
Well, it is one of the few common situations that must not be overlooked for a long time. The possible reason could be missing out on the target audience. Let’s dig why?
- Customers have a really low attention span. Therefore, if you don’t capture it as soon as possible, then the customer arrives but leaves without buying. Hence, grab the attention with HD product image in banner or image should show how the product is helping a person
- No need to be a professional photographer, find niche-specific high-quality pics on BURST.
- Make sure your menu has links to 4 most important pages. These are Shipping,About, Return, and Contact. These pages avail the right information fast enough to help customers make purchase decisions at the spot.
- These four pages should not be hidden as subcategories. Make them get noticed the very moment customers arrive by placing them in the top menu.
- Free Shipping will instantly boost your sales. After all, the majority of the customers consider free shipping as an important criterion to make a purchase.
- Highlight the most important product that you believe is most value-driven on the store homepage. Hence customers will never miss on a product that they are highly likely to buy which they would otherwise have skipped.
How to get Traffic without Paying for Traffic? (I am a beginner in AliExpress Dropshipping)
Quality traffic without paying is possible, engage with online communities to get connected with your audience through multiple channels.
Reddit, Facebook groups, and Pinterest groups are an excellent source of huge exposure that boost visibility for dropshipping products.
Reddit – There are 150,000 active communities and you have to naturally introduce your products without being promotional. Hence, interested audiences will dig about where to get it. You share with them links to your store and get sales very soon.
Facebook -One of the favourable spots online to catch and convince your customers. Create a group but don’t directly advertise the products. Respond to queries of group members with best solutions. Moreover, it will make you an expert in the niche. As a result you will develop good understanding and it will be easy to get honest feedback and sales for your products.
Share a discount coupon with facebook group members and see your sales skyrocketing. Moreover share with all seeling group admin position will fetch you sales even faster
Pinterest – 9 in 10 pinterest users find it helpful in making better shopping decisions. Create pins as they never expire and will never stop bringing organic traffic to your e-commerce site.
How to use Instagram for Hike in Sales like Top Dropshipper ?
1 billion active monthly users make it a perfect platform for free organic traffic. Therefore, keep posting quality content using the 80/20 rule. 8 in 10 posts should be inspirational, aesthetically pleasing, and helpful to the audience. Rest 2 posts can be used for products promotion. This will not bore out your audience.
Instagram influencer is another effective way to hike sales for dropshipping stores. This strategy is simply growing. There are two ways to go about it. The paid method where you have to pay the influencer for reposting your ads in their feed. Discuss about affiliate partnership with the influencer and it will provide them an income opportunity.
Therefore, though you will make a bit less in revenue, it is better not to pay unless you make a sale.
The affiliate partnership model is comparatively more effective because influencer profit is linked to your profit. Hence, it will push them to put forth their best and continuous efforts for promoting your products.
It is more fruitful to partner with micro-influencers unlike extremely popular ones as they are more likely to work with new companies.
4 influencers with 20000 followers will be more beneficial then a single influencer with 100,000 influencers.
Do I have to take Precautions Before Working with Suppliers?
Worried about choosing a supplier that is overpriced or one who might send poor quality products that result in customers asking for refund ? well considering below parameters will vanish your worries.
A genuine supplier will never hesitate showing off his products at trade shows. Only those who have high quality products promote the products in a trade show. In order to participate in trade shows is an expensive affair. This is an indication of a financially stable supplier.
How to find suppliers who have been to trade shows? Click on the company profile option at the top next to home option on alibaba.com. If they have been to trade shows then it will be reflected under additional information on the left side.
Image via alibaba.com
Avoid going with sellers who use models in their products well chances are they might end up caught up with copyright infringement. After all, Copyright is a serious issue.
Consider these figures
As revealed by a professional supplier from China. The logistics time to the UK is 7-15 days, the United States will be a little delayed by about 18 days.
Conclusion
Hope now you are well versed with how to handle the common concerns discouraging you from starting Aliexpress dropshipping and how to bring a lot of quality traffic to your store despite being a beginner. Moreover, if you have any doubt do share it in comment section.