Alibaba dropshipping: All you need to know

1. Plan out your eCommerce business

Store owners who write a business plan are more prone to make informed decisions, as it helps draw clear strategies for acquiring customers, partners, and resources. Businesses with a written plan have around 30% higher chances of success. 

• A business plan contains objectives, strategies, and timelines to accomplish them.
• During planning, you’ll become aware of document requirements. It’s also the moment to consider whether you need additional funding, like bank loans, and how to obtain it. 

You may prepare a simple, lean business plan if you intend to learn on the go while growing a small flexible business. Such a project requires only critical data, including unique selling propositions, target audience, sources of revenue, and partners.  

However, if you intend to receive funding, write a traditional business plan. Include a detailed business description, financial projections, market research, sources of income, and funding needs.

You can download templates from the United States Small Business Administration.

2. Select suppliers

Finding a suitable Alibaba dropshipping supplier is the hardest part. 

First, search Alibaba’s list of Verified Suppliers for certified vendors with dropshipping products aligned with your niche. Observe prices, overall quality, shipping options, and supplier credibility.

Verified suppliers should be capable of resolving issues that may arise while creating your dropshipping store, even in a multilingual capacity.

While searching for suppliers who best fit your criteria, experiment with different filters such as Alibaba Trade assurance, Ready-to-ship, or Fast dispatch. Suppliers who fulfill these requirements are likely to dropship. 

You could be wondering – is Alibaba safe? We recommend sticking with suppliers working with Trade Assurance, an Alibaba payment-protection system to safeguard orders – we’ll touch more on that later.

Once you select some prospective products, check their minimum order quantity – you’ll want a MOQ equal to one to dropship – you might need to search the page using keywords like “minimum” or “MOQ.”

Prices will vary considerably depending on the order amount – make sure the single-unit prices are competitive enough for your online business. 

In most cases, you’ll have to negotiate the shipment rates.

Check how trustworthy the supplier is and if they have good reviews. Also, look up their business address on Google Maps. 

3. Negotiate with suppliers

Once the suppliers tick all these boxes and meet your verification requirements, it’s time to contact them, especially if there’s no clear MOQ information. 

Alibaba has a messaging tool – try keeping to this channel for communication. Some suppliers may prefer other ways of communication, including phone calls, emails, or WeChat.

You might experience language barriers in this step and need to use tools like Google Translate. For clarity, communicate using simple, concise sentences and bullet points wherever possible. 

Some suppliers may refuse to fulfill single orders despite what they say on their storefront, while others may increase their prices or apply high shipping costs.

Here’s an email sample you may adapt to communicate with prospective suppliers:

After negotiations and finding the perfect supplier, you must choose an appropriate payment method. Alibaba’s suppliers usually work with bank transfers, credit and debit card payments, PayPal, and ESCROW. 

ESCROW is the safest payment method when dropshipping with Alibaba, but it’s slower than a bank transfer. This tool is a third-party solution that keeps the full payment from reaching the supplier’s account until the buyer confirms satisfactory delivery.

4. Create a store

Before creating an Alibaba dropshipping store, you need a buyer account. Go to alibaba.com and click on Sign up.

Check the confirmation email in your inbox and click on the link. You’ll be directed to a registration form, then to the Buyers Club form. 

Input all the required data – you can alter this later. 

5. Set Up integrations

Next, you’ll need to connect your Alibaba account to your eCommerce store. Go to the Alibaba dropshipping center and select where you created your shop. Access the integrations anytime in the banner on the front page or by clicking on My store on the left side menu. 

If you don’t have an eCommerce store, it’s time to create one. Alibaba integrates with the following platforms:

• Shopify and Ecwid are website builders focused on eCommerce. Shopify allows you to build a standalone website, but Ecwid requires an external site with hosting and a domain name.

• eBay is a marketplace and convenient option if you’re just starting with eCommerce.

• Squarespace is an all-in-one solution focused on content and curated aesthetics.

• WooCommerce is one of the most advanced eCommerce business platforms.

6. List products and start selling online

Go to the Alibaba dropshipping center and click on Search products on the left side menu – you can add products in this section. At this point, you’ll also benefit from researching potential merchandise and Alibaba’s suppliers. 

Observe filters like Ship to and Currency for selecting and importing products that can be shipped to your target audience. Also note the local US stock option, which helps to find suppliers based in the US. 

Use the Supplier types filter to locate Verified Suppliers and those working with Alibaba Trade Assurance.

Select the desired product and click on Add to Import List. The import list is a resource that allows you to add them to your online store later. Here, you can edit product descriptions, tiles, pricing, fulfillment, and images.

Publish the products to your shop by clicking Push to Store. You can publish them in bulk or one at a time. On the left-hand menu, in My Products, you’ll find all of your Alibaba products with product variants and supplier information.

When your customer places an order, Alibaba will sync it automatically to your dropshipping account. In the My Orders section, you can adjust fulfillment and payment terms with the suppliers.