Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Practical
Answers To Your
Dropshipping
Questions
15 store owners share their first-hand experience
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Contents
Introduction
Conclusion
Introduction
Found out how 15 actual store owners deal with the same issues
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Introduction
Some of these entrepreneurs have just started their dropshipping journeys, and
others have already achieved huge milestones.
But anyway, all of them have a first-hand experience in this online business, and you
can learn from their stories a lot!
Interested in someone’s full story? Click on the link under this entrepreneur’s
name, and read the whole interview!
We’re excited to team up with Ginke, a supplier working on the other side
of dropshipping business process who kindly shares his knowledge and
experience through our forum!
Are you already thrilled to find out the expert answers to major dropshipping
questions?
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Introduction
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#1 What kind of an official registration do I need to start a business?
AliDropship’s insight:
It’s not strictly necessary to register a business before launching a dropshipping
store. Many entrepreneurs do it only after their stores start bringing them higher
profits. Every particular country has its own laws on registering online businesses,
and most typically, entrepreneurs choose some form of a sole proprietorship. Plus,
it’s not unusual to register the business outside of one’s actual country of residence!
Rahul, India
Alan, China
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#1 What kind of an official registration do I need to start a business?
Tony, Mexico
Sofia, Greece
Alex, Russia
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#1 What kind of an official registration do I need to start a business?
Mihai, Spain
Mousslim, France
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#1 What kind of an official registration do I need to start a business?
Seller’s commentary:
To launch the business, you don’t need any licence or registration. Just create a
store and drive traffic to it.
AliExpress sellers will send items to you in any case. It doesn’t matter if you are
registered as a company or not. Even if you are an individual, we will gladly work
with you anyway.
At the same time, check the laws of your own country! If there are local
regulations, follow them and stay safe.
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Introduction
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#2 How do I choose the best niche?
AliDropship’s insight:
What makes you really passionate and enthusiastic? Write all your ideas down! This
hobby or area of interest is your starting point.
Now, think of 2-3 words long phrases that describe this field. One of them will be
your niche keyword. Check it with our free niche research tool to be sure you’re
making the right choice!
No ideas at all? Go to our list of already analysed most profitable dropshipping
niches, or order an individual niche research!
Mousslim, France
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#2 How do I choose the best niche?
Chanong, Philippines
Felix, Germany
Victoria, Russia
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#2 How do I choose the best niche?
Seller’s commentary:
Remember that customers have different expectations for different niches. For
some skin care or hygiene items, customers really want them the other day after
they placed the order! They want to start using them instantly, and they will be
disappointed with long waiting.
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Introduction
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#3 How to pick products to dropship?
AliDropship’s insight:
Make sure the product has a high rating, enough orders and positive reviews, and
some emotional ‘drive’ that makes customers excited and willing to buy.
You’re welcome to use our free database of the most demanded (and already
edited!) AliExpress products, and import them to your store to start selling right
away!
I’m choosing the products with good reviews and suppliers with
good ratings with at least 95% in feedback score. I’m adding
new products a couple of times per month. Products tend to
become unavailable now and then, so you need to add new
and more dropshipping products from time to time.
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#3 How to pick products to dropship?
Rahul, India
Chanong, Philippines
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#3 How to pick products to dropship?
I have enough data to analyze and see if the products are good
enough to add
them in my store. There are reviews from customers who
already ordered them, lots of images, real-life photos from
buyers, and other details to rely on.
I read most of customer feedback, customers’ rating has to be
5* on more than 80% of the reviews. Also, the supplier’s store
has to have at least a 95% rating.
To select and add new products, I do Google Trends analysis
and check posts from Facebook groups and Instagram
accounts related to my niche.
Sofia, Greece
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#3 How to pick products to dropship?
Alan, China
Mihai, Spain
Alex, Russia
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#3 How to pick products to dropship?
Seller’s commentary:
If you are selling cheap products, the quality can be poor. Generally, when your
customers purchase something at a low price, they don’t expect these items to
last a long time.
But, if the customer satisfaction is your first priority, or customer retention is
your first priority, avoid cheap products.
Concentrate on higher priced products, or stores with 4.7 above description
rate. These items will not cost much more, but this strategy will solve a lot of
problems.
If you’re dropshipping a product from a known brand, even if you changed its
name, it’s still illegal with copyright and pattern, and is forbidden by global rules.
It’s almost impossible to profit from copyrighted products without getting into
trouble. AliExpress is getting more and more strict with copyright. My suggestion
is: you can start with it, but stop when your business is on the right track.
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Introduction
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#4 Is it even safe to deal with AliExpress sellers? How to make it right?
AliDropship’s insight:
AliExpress sellers view dropshipping store owners as reliable business partners.
Ordering from them regularly, you help them earn money - and win their trust.
Tony, Mexico
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#4 Is it even safe to deal with AliExpress sellers? How to make it right?
Alan, China
Seller’s commentary:
It’s better not touch the store with the rating under 95%. To make sure you’re
making the right choice, focus on the Detailed seller rating in the store Feedback
section.
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Introduction
#5 How do I set
product prices to make
dropshipping profits?
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#5 How do I set product prices to make dropshipping profits?
AliDropship’s insight:
To make profits from dropshipping, you need your buyers to pay the price that is
higher than the original AliExpress product cost. But how much should you increase
the price?
We’ve calculated the most buyer-friendly (and profit-making!) markup formula that
you can apply to all your product prices automatically. You can easily change it in
any way you like, or even assign every new product’s price manually - it’s totally up
to you to decide.
Sofia, Greece
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#5 How do I set product prices to make dropshipping profits?
I normally aim for a 60-70% profit margin, but I also got “bait”
products in my store which have around 20% profit margin.
Felix, Germany
Rahul, India
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#5 How do I set product prices to make dropshipping profits?
Seller’s commentary:
AliExpress doesn’t collect any taxes. Still, every country has its own local laws
about import tax.
These taxes are collected from buyers by the government bodies. After people
buy something from abroad, they receive a bill for import duty tax.
As an owner of a dropshipping store, you don’t need to know the exact taxation
rules of every country. Your buyers can come from any place on the globe, so it is
really difficult to learn everything about taxes in every possible country!
Instead, you need to notify your clients that they may have some additional
costs. Write it in your online store information. Your buyers must know that there
may be import duty taxes applied on goods into their country and (rightly) you
are NOT responsible for. That’s all you do.
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Introduction
#6 Do I need to advertise
the store? How?
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
AliDropship’s insight:
If you don’t advertise your store, it’s unlikely that someone can find it and make a
purchase! There are over 1.5 billion websites in the world - can you stand out from
this competition without marketing?
It’s a great strategy to promote your store on social media through running catchy
accounts and launching paid ads campaigns. Also, it’s really helpful to invest in
search engine optimization to make your store rank higher on Google. If you need a
professional help with any of these activities, just ask!
Even if you have a limited budget (and most likely, that’s the
exact reason why you’re looking for an additional source of
income), you can choose a working combination of affordable
promotional methods.
After the technical works in the store were over, I spent about
2 weeks on editing single product pages to make them look
appealing for visitors. I think this is an absolutely necessary
part of the pre-sales preparation because it increases the trust
level and helps you improve the conversions.
Also, I spent a lot of time to prepare the promotional tools:
I created store accounts in major social networks, and then
installed and set up the Social Rabbit plugin to make sure I can
promote my website automatically.
And finally, after all these steps were over, I started with paid
promotion. I placed an ad in Google Adwords, and it worked!
The first sale I got was the result of this ad.
Victoria, Russia
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
Mousslim, France
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
Rahul, India
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
Flo, Australia
Felix, Germany
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
Mihai, Spain
Alex, Russia
I think that this first sale happened because the team that
handled the project of setting up my store has activated Social
Rabbit plugin on a very early stage. I’d say that Social Rabbit
is a blessing. Also, I had all those social media channels
activated with some posts, even before being able to receive an
order.
I use Google Ads, Facebook ads and Instagram ads. For the
right audience targeting and reach, I describe my demographics
and then let FB pixel do its job.
Sofia, Greece
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#6 Do I need to advertise the store? How?
Chanong, Philippines
Seller’s commentary:
You can leave a note in the order telling you’re dropshipping and don’t want us
to put invoices or promotions into the package. It is a common procedure if you
don’t want your buyers to receive Chinese flyers, stickers, other promotional
materials etc. with their order. You can ask for a customized invoice and your
own business promotion card, but the customized package material should be
prepaid by you.
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Introduction
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#7 Whom should I sell the products to?
AliDropship’s insight:
You’re not limited by your country of residence!
When you’re dropshipping, you can target any audience in any place on the globe,
and not necessarily sell products to your fellow citizens.
Whatever country you’re targeting, you need to know your customer audience -
these tips will come in handy!
I don’t sell here a lot. Mostly outside the EU. As the market
in the Netherlands is over saturated and everyone wants
their goods the same or the next day. I find Google Analytics
& Facebook page analyzer good enough to checkup my
audiences.
My customers come from all over the globe, really. I just kind
of read more about the product I’m trying to promote and from
there, I just find the interests that are related to the product on
Facebook.
I usually just find medias, icons, influencers, brands, hobbies,
groups, Successful Drop Shipping Businesses In Detail: 4,100+
EUR In 30 Days magazines, etc. that are related to the product.
Chanong, Philippines
Alex, Russia
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#7 Whom should I sell the products to?
Flo, Australia
Seller’s commentary:
Wherever your target customers live, make sure you’ve let them know: Chinese
writing on the package is normal. The best way to explain it (and the estimated
shipping time) to them is to tell that the package will be shipped to them from
your Chinese warehouse. They will find it out anyway eventually when they check
the tracking number!
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Introduction
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#8 What if something goes wrong with an order? How do I explain it to my buyer?
AliDropship’s insight:
First of all, before you process any order, make sure the buyer gave all the details
properly. Don’t be shy to email the buyer and ask for clarification if necessary!
Stay professional and polite in any situation: these proven tips will help you make
peace with angry customers. But even if you can’t find a common ground no matter
what, don’t take it to heart: simply refund the client, learn your lesson, and keep
going.
Chanong, Philippines
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#8 What if something goes wrong with an order? How do I explain it to my buyer?
Felix, Germany
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#8 What if something goes wrong with an order? How do I explain it to my buyer?
Alan, China
Tony, Mexico
Seller’s commentary:
Don’t forget about holidays and seasonal flows of customers! For example,
Chinese New Year holiday, much like Christmas, Black Friday, etc. typically
lead to a big jam in shipping package and restock. Always remember about
sales and festive seasons – they may lead to delays in shipment, so warn
your buyers about it.
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Conclusion
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