DropShipping Experience with Alibaba?

[tommyvang]

Anyone here use Alibaba as supplier?.. Is their shipping faster than Aliexpress and do they allow ordering 1 item to ship to my customer instead of buying bulk orders?.. Also, do you guys recommend talking to the supplier to see if they can ship out one item at a time instead of bulk orders or just order it without sending them a message? since i know i'm not gonna have that many customers buying the same product at the same day...

 

[ScottyOfAus]

Alibaba is more for bulk buying. Aliexpress is more like the child of Alibaba. People in China buy in bulk from Alibaba and sell on aliexpress. You need to have a look at the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) from Alibaba. Then check their shipping costs and time.
You are better off going with aliexpress and finding a good supplier on there. Once you build up some capital look at buying in bulk from Alibaba and either ship from a warehouse in china or ship to whatever country you intend to sell to. With the latter option you will improve your postage time and can rebrand the items.
Generally the answer is no about shipping single items from Alibaba. you can always try and see how you go though

 

[dennisyu]

The shipping rates on Alibaba are some BS. Not ideal to drop ship unless you’re doing a bulk order.

 

[cindyrose888]

and do they allow ordering 1 item to ship to my customer instead of buying bulk orders?

99.99%

No way !

 

[tommyvang]

Alibaba is more for bulk buying. Aliexpress is more like the child of Alibaba. People in China buy in bulk from Alibaba and sell on aliexpress. You need to have a look at the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) from Alibaba. Then check their shipping costs and time.
You are better off going with aliexpress and finding a good supplier on there. Once you build up some capital look at buying in bulk from Alibaba and either ship from a warehouse in china or ship to whatever country you intend to sell to. With the latter option you will improve your postage time and can rebrand the items.
Generally the answer is no about shipping single items from Alibaba. you can always try and see how you go though

Ok

 

[tommyvang]

The shipping rates on Alibaba are some BS. Not ideal to drop ship unless you’re doing a bulk order.

Agree with you on their BS shipping cost

 

[yuuzokun]

Is their shipping faster than Aliexpress and do they allow ordering 1 item to ship to my customer instead of buying bulk orders?

No and no. Basically you look for Alibaba when you already tested a product and you want to brand it by ordering it in bulk and shipping it yourself.

Their shipping delays sucks; but that's not the case for all the suppliers there.

 

[nakamura]

Use Aliexpress for Dropshipping, not Alibaba.

Alibaba is the platform you order items in bulk directly from the manufactures. You can just order one item on demand. You will need to order hundreds/thousands of items at once.

 

[invictus1021]

Like others have mentioned, dropshipping with Aliexpress is the way to go. But also to test products/suppliers out. If you find products that work for you then it could be a good idea to negotiate with the supplier about bulk or find a supplier on Alibaba