Choosing a good supplier is crucial for any Dropshipping activity. A true co-driver of your business, he will be in charge of sending your product, the packaging of packages and the speed to ship so that your customers are delivered as quickly as possible. As stated in my article: what is dropshipping, your supplier can take off or sink your business. Thus, doing careful research will be essential for a serene business. How to choose a supplier on Aliexpress in Dropshipping, in this article, I explain all the important points to analyze to get your ideal supplier.
The consequences of a bad supplier
There is nothing better than exposing the problems involved in neglected choices. This will force you, I hope, to spend time on your research. Here’s what could happen if your supplier does not really care about your activity:
Your customers could find in their package the invoice of YOUR purchase Aliexpress with the initial price of the product. The SAV will become terrible for sure (story lived 😅).
The waybill may indicate the source (Aliexpress).
The product may be defective, put in bulk, do not match the description.
Bad communication with you, tracking numbers not provided for your customers.
Long shipping times that significantly lengthen Aliexpress deliveries already substantial.
Products not sent for large orders to scrape money (yes two-three orders in the mass, it is unnoticed.) History lived also 🙂
As you can see, choosing a fast-moving Aliexpress provider will inevitably lead to disaster for your Dropshipping business. Between customer complaints to manage, returns, closed advertising accounts because of a bad customer experience, bank accounts also because of refunds, it is a way to totally give up and lose a LOT of money!
Customer ratings, major indicator
Now that I have your attention, that you have understood the interest of searching carefully your partner, we will start with the first point to look at to choose your supplier: the customer reviews.
On Aliexpress, there are two types of customer ratings:
- Those left on each product.
- Those found directly in the seller’s shop.
- Reviews produced
They are found at the bottom of the product pages, left by buyers (not all) following a purchase. We usually see photos that allow to see the product in real life, it helps to get an idea of its quality. Clients often leave a few sentences to express their feelings. This is a very good indicator to analyze because we know directly if the object is viable.
Sometimes there is no evaluation, look for another provider, it is important to rely on the experience of others! As they say, a product that is not bought is a product that does not interest.
Positive ratings and score
I am particularly based on this one, it is an average of all the opinions left on each product which gives us a GLOBAL note. Just visit the shop of a supplier to see them!
There are several points to analyze in order to have a clear idea about the reliability of a supplier:
Seniority: This supplier has been open for 6 years, so it has been installed on Aliexpress for some time. A supplier who has been there for less than a year on Aliexpress is not privileged for me.
on Aliexpress is not privileged for me. The overall score (or feedback): Here 97.6%, the average rating, which is a very good score. I demand a strict minimum of 95% and I favor suppliers with an overall score greater than 97%.
and I favor suppliers with detailed evaluations: They provide insight into product compliance, supplier communication and delivery speed. 4.6 is for me the minimum to have on each, after it is too below the average.
to have on each, after it is too below the average. The number of subscribers: The more there is, the better! This shows that there are recurring buyers. I do not have a threshold for this indicator.
The Top Brands badge: Clearly optional, but when there is, you can go there with your eyes closed! It is awarded by Aliexpress itself when a supplier has a proven track record.
The more a supplier has elements seen above, the more reliable he will be. Do not stop at the first comer, try to find other similar ones or better! I advise you to create an excel or text file to establish a list of all the suppliers that offer your product.
Tip to find a recognized supplier on Aliexpress
When you search vendor I invite you to sort the products by the function “order”, this will display in descending order the number of purchases made by product.
It’s a rule of thumb, the more a product is ordered, the more you can get a clear idea about the supplier through the feedback from buyers. But be careful, that does not mean that it is a quality supplier. It really serves to build on the experience of others. It is also possible that with a new product on the market, there is almost no order 😉
You have established a list of suppliers? Great. The second step is to directly contact Aliexpress suppliers to ENSURE they agree to maintain a relationship with you for a business in Dropshipping. There will be many more points to clarify. I put you a template to send right after 😉
First, ask if they are able to make shipments for Dropshipping. That is to say, not to put bill, advertisements or any other prospectus that can make your customers doubt.
Then you have to make sure of the shipping time. Since an Aliexpress delivery lasts an average of 17 days, it would be a shame if your supplier sends the package after one week. Because, most suppliers do Dropshipping themselves, they are in direct contact with the manufacturing plant. Others on the other hand make the stock, it is the case for the products very sold!
It is also important to ensure delivery times to your target countries, even if you choose a delivery like Aliexpress Standard Shipping or ePacket, carriers can vary from one factory to another.
I do not advise you to put a product directly in your shop and start selling it. As I said, the evaluations are certainly significant but it does not completely ensure that your supplier is correct for Dropshipping. We will establish a first contact (in English of course) with them to have the missing information before starting sales. I like to be cordial in my exchanges to establish a friendly relationship. The first message should be concise, here is a message you can send:
Maintain a relationship with a supplier
Once everything is green, you have finally chosen your supplier Aliexpress, you just have to import the product on your shopify store and start selling!
Your goal now is to keep regular contact with him. If you are satisfied with his work, that there are no customer complaints about the parcels then this may be the right one! When sales are going to take off, you will have to negotiate with him to get a discount on the products to purchase via private links. Negotiation of shipping and delivery times will need to be reviewed to ensure long-term, safe dropshipping.
Transform your Aliexpress provider into an agent
Is your relationship going for the best? You and your provider earn money? So do not worry, he will be ready to work for you! If you want to launch a new product in dropshipping, you can ask him to source products. Imagine, he’s not available on his Aliexpress shop. You send him the link of a competitor and he will take care of contacting the factories in China to propose it to you at the best price!
Also, you can ask for products that are or are starting to be trendy so you can sell them before everyone else! You may not have to go through Aliexpress to fulfill your orders. So no more transaction fees for him or for you.
It’s a story of relationship, the more you communicate, the more money he earns, the more he will be inclined to make you win!
Also published on Medium.