Identifying and selecting the best products for your dropshipping business is an important step towards achieving continuous sales and attracting new potential buyers to your website. According to the data available on Wikipedia and other trusted sources the AliExpress website, an eCommerce service based in China, is one of the most visited websites all over the world after Amazon and eBay. Nevertheless, AliExpress is used by dropshippers to sell cheap products, offered by small scale businesses, for a profit. Hence, the question dropshippers ask us most of the time is “How to identify and select good products on this eCommerce giant for dropshipping?”

In this blog, you will learn nine useful strategies for selecting products for your dropshipping business. Selecting a product that you want to sell to your customers depends on three factors ie. the relevancy of product, quality of the product and, the reliability of the seller on the AliExpress website. The reason AliExpress is used among dropshippers is due to the following four facts:

1. AliExpress offers competitive prices because all the manufacturers and sellers are based in China, who provide products at a wholesale price. This gives you the advantage of making high profits by selling cheap products at a higher price.
2. There are no hidden or upfront costs, you can start dropshipping products without any financial commitment because there is no stock keeping or stock handling.
3. All the products on AliExpress are available with great images, reviews, and descriptions that you can edit later on before adding them to your website.
4. There are 28 categories and 364 subcategories available on the AliExpress website which makes it easy to find anything and everything related to your niche.

Nine Strategies for dropshippers to find the best products on AliExpress:

Import products from reliable and trusted sellers who have good feedback and a high number of followers

Feedback score is the average calculated by the number of positive, negative, and neutral ratings that a seller receives over a time period under his account. Having positive feedback such as 98% or higher means the buyers rarely experienced issues with seller’s products and shipping service. So, if the seller has a good feedback score and a high number of followers, then the seller is reliable.

Don’t always go for the lowest-priced items

When browsing for a product on AliExpress, consider multiple factors for selecting the right product. There are plenty of similar products available but from different sellers. Although products may look similar, there might be a difference in the quality and features. Study the pros and cons of similar products and the extra features available with each one of them. Therefore, reaching a final decision about your product should be considered keeping all factors in mind.

If possible, choose products that have ePacket shipping available

e-Packet is one of the most popular and affordable shipping methods for dropshippers to deliver products fast and cheap. Dropshippers can be more competitive in the market if they sell products faster and provide parcel tracking. Shipping products on time with less delivery charges adds value, builds trust, and long term relationships with the customers.

Avoid suppliers with low response and high delivery time

A good response time helps in situations of emergency. As a business you also need to consider the worst-case scenario, to protect your business and assist customers whenever something goes wrong. Check a seller’s response time by contacting them through emails and messages on the AliExpress website. Also, analyze how frequently the seller replies to the comments or questions of the buyers on the website. This will give you enough information, whether to trust your seller or not, for returns, refunds or handling.

Avoid selling fake brands, copyrighted, and trademarked products

All businesses depend on reputation and social acceptance. If you are intentionally or unintentionally caught selling counterfeit goods then it won’t take long to lose the reputation and trust of your customers. To protect the integrity of your business avoid dealing with sellers who are not authorized to sell genuine products. Always choose your supplier carefully which will eventually avoid any legal troubles.

Avoid products that have low stock quantities

AliExpress is a huge marketplace for sellers and buyers all over the world. The stock on AliExpress runs out quickly as it has a massive customer base. You can avoid giving your customers a bad experience when they are not able to order the items on your website because you did not keep the stock quantities in check while importing that specific product.

Don’t forget to read customer Reviews and the Buyer Questions and Answers section

You will find this section at the bottom of the product page on AliExpress. The reviews and questions answered by buyers on AliExpress offer a great amount of detail regarding the reliability and trustworthiness of the suppliers. You can use this information to quickly assimilate the quality, ease of use of the product, and service provided by the seller. A good supplier will have mostly positive feedback.

Order a sample to check the quality of the products

If you feel that all the above methods are not enough to satisfy your product research then order one item for yourself to check for the quality and durability of the product. This will also help you check the delivery time and perform all quality checks before you send that product to the hands of your customers. Remember, that you are building your customer’s trust in your brand and delighted customers mean more sales and more profit in the long run.

Using paid services like theive.co

Theive is an online service designed by creative professionals that offers a curated list of best products on the AliExpress website. You can find products sorted by price, trending currently, or the latest products in store. It also lets you filter products through categories and the ‘Theive Swipe’ feature. There are two plans available on a monthly subscription for filtering products that you can choose for your dropshipping needs. The basic plan is for dropshippers which costs $29/month and the Pro plan costs $99/month.

Product research, if done properly, with the strategies listed above will help you in holding a firm place in the market. This task may seem tedious at first but I assure you that the fruits will be sweet in the long run.