Before jumping into ordering from the first supplier you bump into on AliExpress, here are some steps to choosing the right one.
Why do you need a good supplier?
When you are dropshipping, you are not making your own products, but that does not mean that you should not worry about its quality. Moreover, you have to rely on your supplier and quality of the products they offer. But do not worry, there are ways to find a trusted and reliable supplier.
Check the reviews
First thing you should look for is testimonials from their customers. If the reviews on the products page are not good, why do you think that your customers will like it? Check the rating itself, and the content of the reviews. What are the bad and the good sides of the product presented there? Think, are you okay with that. If any pictures are provided check them to get a better and more real idea of the product. Also, remember that when you decide to add that product to your store, you will import those reviews there. If they are bad, how will you prove to your customers that it is worth buying. Besides reviews, there is a Positive Feedback rate for every store on AliExpress, showing how reputable this store is. If it is over 90% you can have more trust in it.
Too good to be true
AliExpress is a gigantic online shop, meaning that apart from selling anything you can think of, there are multiple sellers for every product. Mostly, their product pages are almost the same. However, some have a drastically lower price, while all others do not differentiate much from one another. Sounds good? Too good? Well probably because it is. One of the reasons to have such a low price is if they are a new shop. They are just starting, have very little, if any reviews, and want to establish their store. This does not necessarily mean their product is bad, but there is also no evidence it is good. Another reason to have such low prices is that the product is of very low quality. So, if you decide to pay this impossibly low price, you will be paying for a lack of quality, which is everything but good for your store. Best way to spot prices that are off is to look at AliExpress feature that shows the percentage of customers that purchased that item in a certain price range.
Product description
You should not forget to check this one, too. What pictures show does not always have to be real, but description tends to be more truthful. Description can tell you a lot about what you get from this product. It may also contain information on the quality of the product. For example, by saying whether it is original or what material it is made of.
How to know if they are shipping after COVID-19 outbreak?
One of the easiest ways to find this out is to contact your supplier. Every shop on AliExpress has a Contact Now button that shows up in a drop menu when you move your cursor over the shop’s name. Write a polite message to check if they are able to ship out of the country currently. Use this opportunity to also find out the estimated shipping time to better inform your customers. Another way to check this is to see the recent reviews. Sort them by date, and see what the customers say about the recent shipping. Another useful information you can find there is the shipping method they used, because not all of them have the same delivery time that depends mostly on the means of transport they use. It is stated as Logistics below rating stars. Have in mind that the shipping time depends on the country, and not the shipping services alone.
Epacket is probably your shipping service of choice, but there many reported delays regarding it in during COVID-19 lockdown. There is a reason behind all of this. Epacket uses passenger flights to transport packages, that are scarce at the time due to travel restrictions. This means that your package is going to wait a long time to even start this journey waiting for airplane to get full therefore profitable to be shipped. Now, primarily services like AliExpress standard shipping is faster because it mostly uses land and sea transportation. Other more costly service might be more beneficial now as well.
