Aliexpress Dropshipping – What they don’t want you to know

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Hi guys, Neil Waterhouse. I received a question from Jordan Lennox asking why we don’t use AliExpress as one of our dropship suppliers. A great question Jordan. There three parts to this answer which most dropship beginners don’t realize. And also I’ll cover what we use instead of AliExpress at the end of this short video blog.

The first big problem with using AliExpress for dropshipping

Now the first big problem with using AliExpress for dropshipping of course especially these days is the slow delivery times from China and Asia. Yes, in a perfect world companies like FedEx, DHL, et cetera, can deliver a parcel to your customer from say China in three business days. You know, however, we don’t live in a perfect world. Even before COVID-19, delivery times from Asia there were random at best.

Why our shipments over the last 30 odd years have been delayed

I’ve been importing from China for over 30 years as well as Malaysia, Vietnam, USA, Europe. And I could literally write a book about all the reasons why our shipments over the last 30 odd years have been delayed. And the reasons there’s so many variables. If your supplier is in say China, how long does it take for a courier to pick up the parcel and get it booked into the network? How far away is your supplier from the courier depot?

Depot from the airport

How far is the depot from the airport? How many times does the package need to change hands before it gets to the airport? And How long does it take for customs in say China to clear the parcel before it can leave the country? Now the other things is, you know, when is the next flight? When the flight arrives to buyer’s country what is the delay in local customs? Then when it’s released from customs are there any delays with local deliveries?

You can throw in things like volcanic ash and the multitude of other things

And then you can throw in things like volcanic ash and the multitude of other things that can go or that can delay international shipments. And that was before COVID-19. Now, since COVID-19 of course there are far fewer passenger flights to or from Asia and those missing passenger flights every day but used to also carry cargo before COVID-19. If you dropshipping on eBay or Amazon and on your own website like a Shopify store, buyers will not tolerate deliveries that take weeks to arrive.

First reason why we only use local suppliers for dropshipping and not AliExpress

This is the first reason why we only use local suppliers for dropshipping and not AliExpress. Now don’t get me wrong we still do importing. We’ve been importing for over 30 years but for dropshipping whether it’s in Australia, USA, Canada, UK, et cetera we only use local suppliers. And what I mean by local suppliers, you know, if you dropship inside the UK, using suppliers in the UK.

If you’re dropshipping in Australia use only Australian-based suppliers

If you’re dropshipping in Australia use only Australian-based suppliers. Now, if you’re stuck finding local suppliers I’ll also put a link at the end of this video to a previous week’s video showing step-by-step how to find local suppliers in virtually any country or certainly all the first world countries that’s for sure and all the 37 different countries companies like eBay and Amazon are in.

Now, the second reason we did not use AliExpress as a dropship supplier is that shipping by air is horrendously expensive

The second reason we did not use AliExpress as a dropship supplier is that shipping by air is horrendously expensive which is why you can normally only use companies like DHL and FedEx to ship small items. Now, as an example, a box the size say of a, you know, a shoe box will cost you around $100 US to ship from say China to Australia. This is why most dropship sellers only ship small items by air. And this leads to the third big issue.

Most dropship beginners all focus on small, cheap, lightweight items

Most dropship beginners all focus on small, cheap, lightweight items. I’ve been selling online for over 20 years and teaching people how to sell online for over 15 years now. And the one thing that I hear all the time over and over from beginners is that they only want to sell small cheap items and also lightweight items. Items like, you know iPhone cases, U.S.B cables, et cetera. But here’s the big problem with that, not only are you competing with all the other beginners selling small, cheap lightweight items, but you’re also competing with all the Chinese suppliers who could also ship these items from China using DHL and FedEx.

Now the good news is, the Chinese and AliExpress sellers can only dropship small items by air

Now the good news is, the Chinese and AliExpress sellers can only dropship small items by air. They can not dropship larger items, you know as the cost of air freight is so simply too prohibitive. This is why we stay clear of these small, lightweight, cheap items from AliExpress. A lot of people think that you know, it’s much harder to dropship a large item but with dropshipping, your dropship supplier does all the shipping for you. So it does not make any difference if the items are as small as a pair of, you know reading glasses or as large as a canoe.

Your supplier does all the shipping not you

Your supplier does all the shipping not you. It also makes more sense to sell more expensive items soon as you get paid first with dropshipping before you purchase the item from your supplier. You know, why not sell something where you can make you know, $40 or $100 profit on a sale as opposed to two dollars. Another big advantage of using local suppliers is you get local support if you have any warranty issues. A thing to note though is some people like the business model of selling huge amount of cheap items, you know that makes more profits and that’s fine. You know, we’re all different and that’s okay.

I prefer to sell high margin items

Personally, I prefer to sell high margin items. You can achieve exactly the same amount of profit by selling many small, lightweight, cheap items from AliExpress as you can with selling a much smaller quantity of larger locally supplied items. Let’s say your goal is to make say $4,000 profit per month after all expenses. If you want to sell items that make say two dollars profit per sale you’ll need to sell around 2000 items per month or around 66 items per day to make the $4,000 profit per month.

Selling larger items that make say $40 profit per sale

If you’re selling larger items that make say $40 profit per sale, you only need to sell a 100 items per month to make the same $4,000 which is just over three times or three items per day. Now, as I said before, there’s no right or wrong here. Both strategies generate the same amount of profit. Some people prefer the high volume, low profit items like iPhone cases, and that’s fine. Others prefer to sell items that weigh 500 grams or more and make higher profits. I always try to figure out where the beginners are and go the other direction.

The big difference when using local suppliers is you have much more control of delivery times

However, the big difference when using local suppliers is you have much more control of delivery times. If you use local suppliers, you can repeatedly give you buyers a much better experience over and over. Now if you’re having any problems finding local dropship suppliers again I’ll put a link on the screen below to a previous week’s video showing how to find local dropship suppliers. That’s it. I hope this video helped you with showing you why we don’t use AliExpress for dropshipping. That’s all for this week. Please scroll down and leave your comment below. And while you’re there make sure you hit the subscribe button for more no fluff, hints and tips and automation strategies to make money on eBay and Amazon without leaving the comfort of your own home. Until next week, stay safe, list more, sell more. This is Neil Waterhouse.

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