9 Best AliExpress Alternatives For Your Dropshipping Business
In this guide, I will share some of the best AliExpress alternatives for your dropshipping store.
As you know, eCommerce businesses are on the rise, and multiple Shopify stores are selling the same product that you are.
So, how do you differentiate yourself from other Shopify sellers?
I’d say fast shipping and good quality products are the two things that can help you not just get an edge over your competitors but generate repeat sales as well.
If you are a beginner in Shopify dropshipping, let me tell you: AliExpress is not the most sustainable way to scale your online business. The reason is AliExpress’ long shipping time of 30 to 60 days.
If you are an experienced dropshipper, you already know this! 😉
So, if you are looking for better suppliers than AliExpress, here are some AliExpress alternatives that deliver faster and provide high-quality products.
Why Do You Need AliExpress Alternatives?
AliExpress is one of the most popular B2C and B2B eCommerce platform. AliExpress differs slightly from Alibaba as the latter focuses more on B2B selling. However, both companies are owned by Alibaba Group.
There are a lot of suppliers on AliExpress, which means a lot of products to sell. If you discover a winning Shopify product, you can almost always find the same product on AliExpress.
Another advantage of using AliExpress is its integration with multiple eCommerce software. For example, you can connect your Shopify store to AliExpress using a dropshipping app like AutoDS and automate the entire product import and order fulfillment process.
Most AliExpress suppliers have high stock quantities, so you don’t have to worry about your vendors running out of inventory and your customers not receiving the products.
So, if AliExpress is that beginner-friendly, why should you look for AliExpress alternatives?
Here are a few major reasons:
#1. Long Shipping Times
Most AliExpress vendors and their warehouses are in China, so your products will be shipped from China. You do have fast shipping options with AliExpress, but in most cases, the shipping cost will exceed the product cost.
For example, if I am selling this watch at my dropshipping store, then this $23 watch will cost me $30 shipping cost for a faster delivery (within 10 days). Otherwise, my customer will have to wait 20 days to receive the product.
In some cases, the shipping time can be between 30 to 60 days, which is way too long for getting your product in your hand.
(As a customer, I won’t wait that long. Will you? 😕)
Also, various vendors have various quality products. Thousands of suppliers list their products on AliExpress, just like on Amazon or eBay. So, you have to put in a lot of work in finding the right supplier with a good quality product.
#2. Limited Local Warehouse Options
You do not have many options to use local warehouses, like in the US or UK. You need to remember that most of the AliExpress suppliers have warehouses in China and ship from China.
This is not necessarily bad, but it will affect your shipping time. Long shipping times are not good for any eCommerce business. Also, since the supplier is based in a different region and timezone, you might face communication problems, too.
#3. No Option for Customization
You will not be able to customize the product packaging or, in some cases, the invoice details either.
As you scale your business, you won’t be able to carve a niche for your brand with customized packaging or branding.
In my opinion, one of the only benefits of using AliExpress for dropshipping is when you are testing a product. There are tons of sellers with products to test and see if they work on your store.
Now, let’s see some of the best alternatives for AliExpress and grow your online business.
Once you have found the product that’s selling well for you, it’s time to move to good suppliers with faster shipping times to grow and scale your business.
CJ Dropshipping
CJ Dropshipping is undoubtedly one of the best AliExpress alternatives for its wide range of suppliers, myriad product categories, premium features for dropshippers, and cheaper prices than AliExpress – all with faster shipping times.
The platform lists products from multiple sellers and has warehouses located in major countries all over the world. CJ has warehouses in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, and even more across Europe.
Due to the warehouse locations, CJ Dropshipping can help you deliver your products to your customers in 3 to 7 days. You get multiple shipping options to choose from, so choose the one that aligns with your profit margin.
Key Features 😍
- Ability to one-click import the products from Taobao, AliExpress, and 1688 via a Google Extension.
- Some products are a LOT cheaper on CJ Dropshipping than on AliExpress
- CJ Dropshipping offers a DIY-bundle product combination
- Recommended products for popular platforms
CJDropshipping also gives you a collection of trending products on social media platforms like TikTok and even eCommerce platforms like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and more.
Zendrop
Zendrop can take your dropshipping business to the next level with expedited shipping, US fulfillment centers, private labeling, automated dropshipping, and much more – with no minimum order requirements.
Zendrop is a US-based company that gives you all the tools you need for your dropshipping business. It directly deals with the suppliers and manufacturers to provide you with quality products at lower prices. This gives you a lot of profit margin to work with.
Zendrop’s suppliers process your orders within 1-2 days, while AliExpress’s suppliers take 5-10 days to process your orders. This faster processing by Zendrop ensures faster shipping times.
The Zendrop dashboard is super-clean and beginner-friendly. It shows you all the revenue from all the products. Zendrop’s marketplace offers 1M+ products to import and sell.
Zendrop Pro members can do custom branding and even create custom thank-you cards for their customers. So, no more generic packaging and invoices sent from Chinese warehouses.
Key Features 😍
- Ability to create subscription boxes and earn recurring revenues
- Clean and beginner-friendly UI and reports
- Custom branding and auto-fulfillment options
- Custom-tailored experience and a dedicated team for high-volume sellers
With Zendrop Pro, you get access to Zendrop Academy, where they have compiled all the best tips, tricks, and secrets about running a profitable marketing campaign – at no additional cost.
Spocket
If your dropshipping customers mostly hail from the US and UK, Spocket can be a great dropshipping partner to deliver your products within 1 to 7 days – mostly in 1 to 3 days.
They have warehouses globally, but most are in Europe and the United States.
Spocket not only offers fast US shipping, but its suppliers are thoroughly vetted by Spocket’s quality control team. Some suppliers offer up to 25% discounts, allowing you to play with your final product price and shipping options.
When you log in to your Spocket dashboard, you see the trending US and EU suppliers and their products. You can even see trending products of a particular category, like Bath and Beauty, Toys, Footwear, Tech Accessories, and more.
Sprocket helps you scale your business with its premium features at affordable prices. You get branded invoicing and private labeling to help you build trust with your customers.
One feature that I really liked about Spocket is its Image Search feature. With the help of image recognition, Spocket helps you discover products that look similar to the one in the image.
Key Features 😍
- Image Search technology to find similar products quickly
- Winning Products section for country-wise proven bestsellers
- Custom branding and auto-fulfillment options
- Deep discounts from reliable suppliers
Also, the suppliers give huge discounts that are Spocket-exclusive. This means you won’t find the same discount even if you find the same supplier on any other dropshipping platform.
USAdrop
USAdrop is a beginner dropshippers if your customer base is in the United States. It is a dropshipping platform that offers all the services that dropshippers need for their business.
USAdrop can source products, fulfill orders, store inventory, deliver products, and even do quality control – an all-in-one solution for dropshippers.
Key Features 😍
- US-based warehouses for faster shipping
- 10 years in the industry and has a daily order capacity of 60,000+
- Winners, Super Deals, US Warehouse sections for best deals
- Ability to source from China if the product is unavailable in the US warehouse
- Lower prices than AliExpress products
USAdrop has free as well as premium plans. However, the free plan has limitations – 3 quotes/month, no access to winning products, etc. The premium plans offer unlimited orders, and the custom branding feature – includes custom packaging, thank-you cards, logo stickers, and more.
In the Winners section, you get past and current winning products for making more sales. You can even search for a specific product if you have a product-specific Shopify store, for example, shoes.
USAdrop has been in the dropshipping business for more than 10 years and has a typical shipping time of 2 to 5 days for products shipped from their US warehouses. If the product is sourced from China, the delivery time extends to 7 to 15 days.
In the Super Deals section, you can find some products lower than $1/piece. However, this does not include the shipping costs.
SourcinBox
One of the reasons why most dropshippers opt for China-based manufacturers is the cheap product price. SourcinBox is a dropshipping agent for sellers who want to source products affordably from Chinese suppliers and are willing to compromise a little on the shipping time.
SourcinBox manages the whole supply chain – from sourcing and purchasing to storing and shipping. They provide additional services like product customization, private labeling, and even product photography. The company is based in Hangzhou, China.
You also get separate sections for a Dropshipper and a Wholesaler.
So, once you find a winning dropshipping product and are ready to scale your business, you can buy your inventory upfront for even faster shipping time. Storing your inventory in SourcinBox warehouses is free for eCommerce sellers.
Just like CJ Dropshipping, you get multiple shipping options, and each option will cost you as per the delivery time, which means the sooner the delivery, the higher the shipping price.
Key Features 😍
- Global warehouses for shipping worldwide
- 1-on-1 customer manager service
- Low prices and multiple fast shipping options
- Ability to source from suppliers if the product is unavailable on the SourcinBox marketplace
- Custom packaging, private labeling, and product photography services
You can even get 5 to 10 days shipping time with DHL and JS_DHL, but these options will cost you much more than others.
Ship To The Moon
If you are looking for an AliExpress alternative with a reliable supplier base, 24/7 customer service, and a lot of products in the marketplace, Ship To The Moon is your go-to solution.
With Ship To The Moon, you get various shipping methods and 24-hour delivery service – provided that the product is in their warehouse. Otherwise, the shipping time can vary from country to country.
However, if your customers are near their warehouses, the shipping time is 5-9 days. Ship To The Moon has warehouses in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Ship To The Moon has special contracts with popular shipping companies to enable world-class logistics with tracked and insured shipments. Their shipping partners include DHL, USPS, UPS, YunExpress, and more.
Key Features 😍
- Global warehouses for shipping worldwide
- If you already have your favorite supplier, you can still use STTM’s warehouse and delivery services
- 24/7 customer service
- Seamless integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and more
Ship To The Moon offers a product branding service that allows personal branding and product customization without a minimum purchase quantity. Also, you can request a product photography service.
DHgate
DHgate connects small businesses in China to online dropshippers worldwide. It is a direct competitor to AliExpress and offers products in various categories like smartwatches, apparel, shoes, jewelry, home and garden, etc.
DHgate offers various shipping methods at various prices. Their fastest shipping methods will often cost you more than the product itself. Look at this $11 Manchester United jersey costing $31 for their fastest shipping.
Key Features 😍
- Smooth user experience for dropshippers
- Under the buyer protection program, the money is only released to the seller after the customer has received their goods.
- Deep discounts are always available.
Like AliExpress, most products in DHgate do not have minimum order requirements, so you can pay as you make the sale. However, most sellers on DHgate are resellers and not manufacturers so you won’t find many private labels or product customization options.
Banggood
Banggood is a well-known eCommerce marketplace that offers a wide range of products at competitive prices. It has a global supplier network, offers a variety of shipping options, supports multiple payment gateways, and sells unique items.
Banggood is based in Hong Kong, China. They have multiple warehouses in Asia, Europe, America, Australia, and the Middle East. Specifically, they have warehouses in China, the US, the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, England, France, Italy, Japan, and more.
Banggood has partnered with international shipping companies, such as DHL, EMS, UPS, GLS, DPD, TOLL, and more. These players offer a delivery time of 2 days (from local warehouses) to 8 days from Chinese warehouses. However, the specific delivery time varies from country to country.
Key Features 😍
- Variety of product categories
- Multiple shipping options
- Warehouses are available all over the world
Banggood also has a self-operated air cargo line called the Banggood Express to provide customers with faster and one-stop logistics services.
Salehoo
Salehoo is an online directory of global wholesalers and dropshippers. Over 8,000 pre-vetted suppliers sell over 1.6M products on Salehoo’s marketplace.
Key Features 😍
- Always find trendy and in-demand products
- Helpful customer service and easy onboarding
- Salehoo’s plans come with a money-back guarantee. Full refund in the first 60 days, no questions asked
One thing to note is that Salehoo is an online directory service, so it does not pack or ship your products, but Salehoo has a dropship plan that allows you to import AliExpress products to your Shopify store with just one click.
Final Thoughts
So, here is the list of best AliExpress alternatives that can cut down your shipping time without increasing your costs.
Most of these alternatives provide you with pre-vetted suppliers with multiple products spread across various categories. I recommend you test a product on your Shopify store with suppliers from CJ Dropshipping or DHgate.
Once you are ready to scale your eCommerce business, you can choose any premium plans from Zendrop, Spocket, or CJ Dropshipping.
Next, check out Shopify affiliate apps to monetize your Shopify store.
