Category: Dropshipping

Dropshipping

Is Dropshipping Legal?

is dropshipping legal?

Is dropshipping legal, indeed? This question is commonly asked by dropshipping newcomers: they can’t believe that the business model of selling the items you don’t physically own is not a fraud. Let’s find the answer together!

After learning about the dropshipping business model and understanding how exactly it works, many beginners usually open their eyes wide and say – “Gosh! This way of making money is too easy and good to be true. Is that even legal?”

If you are reading this article, I guess you had the same thoughts at some point of your life, and you want to know for sure whether dropshipping is a legal or a lawbreaking activity.

In this article, I will cover the possible legal issues related to dropshipping, and explain how to stay away from the dark side.

Can I legally dropship from my own website?

To find out whether it is legal to create a dedicated dropshipping store, process orders and accept payments on it, let’s start with the basics.

Dropshipping is a retail business model that allows you not to buy any products in advance. Instead, you only ask the original suppliers to ship the necessary products directly to your customers.

So, simply speaking, you create a webstore, research the offers of suppliers to fill your store with the best possible goods, attract clients, and offer them your products. After completing their orders, your buyers receive the packages with the purchased items, and you get your money – everybody is happy! Your profit here is the difference between the original price set by the product supplier, and the increased price you’ve set in your store.

This is how dropshipping works. Is there something wrong or illegal with this scheme? Obviously not.

That’s why there are so many websites on the Internet related to dropshipping and nobody blocks them. If this kind of business was illegal, it would be definitely hard to find any valuable information about dropshipping, make any websites, or create special dropshipping software.

Thus, it is absolutely legal to build your own websites to run dropshipping business.  

What about other online platforms and websites? Is it legal to use them for dropshipping?

I can answer this question from several different points of view, so let’s now talk about the most popular online retailers.

Is it legal to use AliExpress for dropshipping?

AliExpress is one of the most popular online shopping platforms with a unique infrastructure that is highly suitable for  both the buyers and for the sellers. This is why it is widely used for dropshipping: interestingly, there are 2 ways to run this type of business with the use of AliExpress. Let’s research them separately.

Is it legal to dropship on AliExpress?

In this scenario, the business owner creates a store on AliExpress, and uses it as the distribution point to sell the desired items.

If you are not a Chinese citizen, it will be impossible for you to use this selling method, so, instead, you need to create your own dedicated website, and carry out all the transactions there.

Is it legal to dropship from AliExpress?

Yes! And this is exactly the business model that we use to run our own stores and to research the mechanics of dropshipping: this is how we improve our own practices to offer our clients the most advanced technical solutions to run their businesses in a semi-automated way.

In this case, an entrepreneur creates a self-owned online store (as we have already figured it out, it is perfectly legal), and uses AliExpresss as the supplying platform. AliExpress items get imported to the store, and the owner simply contacts the relevant seller to arrange products delivery on the buyers’ addresses.

Most of AliExpress suppliers are familiar with this business model and are glad to facilitate it – here, you an read an interview with  real AliExpress seller who works by dropshipping model.

So, if you are planning to to use AliExpress as a source of products for your dropshipping store, it is a great decision that is convenient both for you and for your supplying partners.

Is it legal to use Amazon for dropshipping?

Again, let’s consider both of the options of running a dropshipping business with the help of a large online retail platform.

Is it legal to dropship on Amazon?

I bet many newcomers to dropshipping would like to open a store on Amazon and sell products there. No wonder! Amazon is one of the largest ecommerce platforms that make it easy for you to reach hundreds of millions of customers.

However, Amazon has a very strict shipping policy.

According to the platform’s terms of use, you are not allowed to buy products from another online retailer and ask this supplier to send these products directly to your customers. So, you cannot use the classical dropshipping model in this case – you can read more about it in our detailed Amazon research.  

Is it legal to dropship from Amazon?

Theoretically, you can use Amazon as your supply source, but most likely, you will face some challenges. Again, feel free to refer to this article to learn what are the downsides of using Amazon in this case, and find out what are the best ways for your dropshipping business to indirectly benefit from Amazon features and functions.  

Is it legal to use eBay for dropshipping?

The short answer is yes. eBay is a dropshipping friendly ecommerce platform which gives different opportunities for this type of business. So, you can use eBay for dropshipping. It is absolutely legal.

Is it legal to dropship on eBay?

I guess you know the answer. There are no explicit laws or policies prohibiting this type of business model. You just need to register on the platform, find reliable suppliers and sell their goods through your own eBay account.

At first glance, that’s as easy as ABC. However, dropshipping on eBay has some significant disadvantages that are fully elaborated in our previous article.   

Is it legal to dropship from eBay?

Dropshipping from eBay represents the classical dropshipping model, so it is 100% legal. Use eBay as a source of suppliers and dropship products with the help of your own website or an account in social media.

In general, dropshipping from eBay is ok, but experts say it is more trouble than it’s worth. There is always a high chance of getting banned or meeting unscrupulous suppliers, for example. To learn more about drawbacks of dropshipping from eBay, click here.   

Is dropshipping legal in my country?

There is no answer except yes. No matter where you are, %username%, when you’re running a dropshipping business, your location is irrelevant.

However, before starting dropshipping business, it is better to google the laws in your country to make sure that you stay away from the items prohibited for import, and follow the local tax policy.

Sometimes, country’s laws are not good for startups and small businesses.  This is exactly what our friend Mousslim describes: his homeland has an unfavorable tax policy, which is why he preferred to officially register his business abroad. If is this your case, too, you can follow his lead and register your business in another country. In Singapore, for example, a foreigner can start his or her business without facing any problems and have different benefits available for local companies.

In addition, remember, that the laws can change, so you should usually stay informed about them to protect your business.

So, is dropshipping legal? I believe that by now, you know the right answer. Dropshipping is a completely legal business model. All you need to do is deal with reliable suppliers and be aware of the local laws, and your wonderful enterprise will thrive!

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Dropshipping

Best Side Hustle Ideas To Make Money While Working 9 To 5

side hustle ideas to make money

Do you want to monetize your hobbies?

Are you willing to find an additional source of income?

No matter what your motivation is, you, first of all, are probably considering side hustle ideas to make money: these business types let you earn extra cash without abandoning your core 9-to-5 job. Let’s talk about the most promising ones!

What can be classified as the best side hustle ideas?

Let’s start with the definition: what are we talking about?

A side hustle is a part-time job with a flexible working schedule, or any business that is not related to your current employment, but still, brings you some additional income.

It may be an enjoyable hobby that allows you to make some cash, or an alternative occupation that can go along with your full-time job.

Ultimately, your choice will depend on how much time and efforts you want to devote to this activity, and on your personal preferences. Most likely, for this purpose, you will consider the types of ventures that:

  • Don’t require massive startup investments
  • Don’t mean a large-scale manufacturing and product stocking
  • Are easy for a newcomer to understand and manage
  • Can be started without an official registration
  • Can be run at any flexible time with no damage to your full-time job
  • Are available and legal in your country of residence
  • Don’t tie you to an office or any other facility, and allow working from any destination that is convenient for you

As you can guess, in this case, online businesses should be your #1 priority.

Here are some of the most popular ideas to consider – let’s rank them, and start with the least demanding options!

#1. Online garage sale

Time and effort input:    ☹☹

Potential financial outcome: 🙂🙂🙂

Nowadays, there’s nothing you can’t sell online. There’s demand for any product if you can find someone who wants to buy. Fortunately, that’s what the Internet is good for.

Many people start with selling something they don’t need anymore on popular online platforms like Craigslist, eBay Classifieds, etc.

Even though they deal with products and items shipping in this case, they don’t need to manufacture anything, or keep a warehouse, which means their startup expenses are close to zero.

Also, this type of venture provides them with humble yet comforting returns that can later be used as initial investments into a larger-scale business.

#2. Affiliate programs

Time and effort input:   

Potential financial outcome:    

If you wish to share your passion with others, you might want to try various affiliate partnership programs.

Affiliate business model is based on promoting someone else’s goods or services by placing web links (leading to your partner’s site) on resources with related content.

For example, if you run a blog devoted to fitness, you can place affiliate links leading to an online store selling fitness stuff. Each time your visitors buy something, you get paid. Still, you will only earn a lot if the program is chosen correctly and its terms are generous enough. As an affiliate, you can do the following:

#3. Online services ☹☹☹

Time and effort input:    🙂🙂🙂🙂

Potential financial outcome:     

You can sell almost anything online, so who said you can’t sell your skills as well? Be it a hobby or your profession, as long as there’s demand for these services, there’s a chance to sell them on the Internet.

For example, if you can draw (working as a designer or just for fun), you might try offering your services to a variety of potential clients – large social media groups, publishing houses requiring illustrations for books, individual clients who want drawings for private purposes but unable to draw them on their own.

Hundreds of other paid online activities are demanded by customers worldwide on Fiverr (online marketplace for freelance services), for example:

  • Administrating and promoting a social media community
  • Translating
  • Web design
  • Programming
  • Video design

By the way, many of the demanded part-time activities don’t require you to have advanced professional skills: for example, you can easily write paid reviews or leave paid comments, or something like that. In this case, you will get your money quickly, and won’t get emotionally involved into the whole working project.

#4. Copywriting

Time and effort input:     ☹☹☹☹

Potential financial outcome:    🙂🙂🙂

If you enjoy writing and you’re not afraid of learning something new, you can try writing texts for all kinds of websites requiring search engine optimization (SEO). Some companies have full-time employees who do it, but others prefer to hire freelancers to write SEO-friendly texts.

All you need to do is write texts on certain topics using the specified keywords. So, it’s a nice source of additional income to use whenever you have time. Your professional duties can include:

  • Composing original, unique texts
  • Rewriting the already existing texts into unique, optimized ones
  • Checking the accuracy and literacy of the texts submitted by other authors
  • Creating advertising messages of a specified length and format
  • Writing video scripts and any other promotional materials

#5. Crafting stuff

Time and effort input:      ☹☹☹☹☹

Potential financial outcome:      🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

A good way to capitalize on your practical skills is to craft stuff for selling. This type of occupation is quite similar to offering services except that in this case you sell actual products. If you own a 3D printer, you’ve got almost infinite possibilities.

The most important thing here (which makes it possible to sell such stuff to people) is your products’ unique design. What makes people buy your goods is the fact that no other shop in the world has such products. People typically craft the following things:

  • Clothes
  • Accessories
  • Plush toys
  • Art objects
  • Decorative dishware
  • Figurines

Note that as soon as you start accepting orders, this venture can quickly turn into your main source of money, and eventually, into a full-scale business.

#6. Tutoring

Time and effort input:       ☹☹☹☹☹☹

Potential financial outcome:      🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

If you have valuable skills and knowledge and you are ready for an emotionally demanding person-to-person communication, why not consider tutoring as your side hustle? If you’re good with kids or even used to work as a teacher, you can easily train children for exams after work. But, depending on the subject you’re teaching, adults can become your clients, too.

You might find it surprising how many adults want to learn something new, gain new skills in various arts or crafts. And there’s like thousands of people who want to play musical instruments! The most common online tutoring fields are:

  • Playing musical instruments or singing
  • Foreign languages
  • Arts (drawing, working with clay, wood, etc.)
  • School and college subjects
  • Narrow professional skills
  • Fashion, beauty & makeup skills
  • Lifestyle & motivational coaching

#7. Dropshipping

Time and effort input:       ☹☹☹☹☹☹

Potential financial outcome:        🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

If you want to make more money than just a couple of bucks, dropshipping is certainly one of the best solutions for you.

Unlike the traditional commerce, the dropshipping model implies selling goods on your behalf by sending them to your buyer by the effort of your supplier. You don’t have to pay money for producing products or storing them. Besides, you get paid even before you place the order at your supplier. So, since you spend no money until you get an order, your risks of going bankrupt are really low.

This business requires choosing a niche, creating your own website, finding and importing high quality products from trustworthy suppliers, and promoting your venture.

Depending on your skills and the amount of free time, you can:

Even though dropshipping might seem to be a demanding activity, its results are totally worth the effort. There are numerous examples of inexperienced entrepreneurs building highly successful businesses, and for some of them, the profits of dropshipping even outweigh the benefits of a full-time job.

And, with due dedication and passion, you can even become the next Jeff Bezos –  do you know that Amazon was initially built by a dropshipping-like business model?

So, what side hustle ideas to make money are the best for you?

Surely, there are tons of other good ideas for additional income. All of them require different level of personal engagement, amount of the invested time, and financial expenses. Your choice largely depends on what you actually want.

If your purpose is to make some money on what you do as a hobby that you enjoy anyway, a freelance job or a hobby-related affiliate program is probably the wisest choice.

But, if you’re thinking about the radical change of your occupation and are looking for substantial money sources, you might want to start something that can turn into a full-scale business.

Now, knowing how to choose between the best side hustle ideas to make money, you can plan your next steps and start changing your life for the better. Go for it!

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Dropshipping

How To Become A Dropshipper: A Guide For Total Beginners

how to become a dropshipper

Interestingly, the term ‘dropshipper’ can refer to two different types of an entrepreneurial activity. Sometimes, a supplier involved in product stocking and shipment is called a dropshipper, and sometimes, the same word is used to describe a person who simply runs a drop shipping store and never deals with product issues. In this article, we stick to the second meaning of this term, and talk about the newcomers who would love to sell someone else’s products through a self-owned online store.

If you have analyzed different eCommerce options and found out that drop shipping is the perfect choice for you, you are probably wondering how to become a dropshipper. We have prepared this detailed manual for those who have no idea where to start.

Going into drop shipping business is not as difficult as it may seem, but eCommerce newcomers often make mistakes of choosing a risky niche, conducting no market research, focusing on the wrong things and whatnot. Want to have a smooth start? Here’s what you should do step by step.

How to become a dropshipper: find your niche

The first step you should take before launching your store is to find a suitable niche.

Your perfect niche should be:

  • Promising
  • Interesting to you
  • Neither too broad nor too narrow
  • Popular enough, but not too competitive

Where can you find the ideas for an online store? Brainstorming, web and social media surfing, visiting popular online retail platforms will help you a lot. Your hobbies and interests can inspire you as well. Use such online tools as Google Trends and various tools for keyword selection – you can get lots of valuable ideas there. Keep in mind that your offer should be unique, otherwise you’ll be selling ice to the Eskimos.

To evaluate the chosen niche, follow these simple steps:

  • Check the relevant products quantity and the number of orders placed on AliExpress to understand if it is available and popular.
  • Check if the niche demonstrates an ascending (rising) trend in Google Trends on your potential target markets.
  • Check the search volume in Keyword Planner: the optimal results range from 5000 to 50000.
  • Check the popularity of the niche in social media: a sufficient amount of groups and communities with more than 30000 followers on Facebook and Instagram means the niche has a nice potential in terms of promotion.

You can use our specialized tool that checks the potential of any drop shipping niche in 11 steps.

Besides, you can take advantage of DropshipMe plugin which allows importing nice products from an awesome dropshipping database. DropshipMe product database includes thousands of best selling products in dozens of trending categories. Experienced dropshipping team has made thorough niche research and picked out best selling items in promising niches. So, you can greatly save your time and start importing products to your store without preliminary niche and product research.

How to become a dropshipper: define your target audience

Now when you know what you are going to sell, your task is to understand who will buy it.

Why do you need to picture your average customer?

Now it’s time to find out who are all these people that are most likely to buy your products – to define your target audience. When you focus your marketing efforts on those who are interested in your offer, you have much better chances to convert them into actual buyers. So, answer the following questions:

  • Who are your customers?

Use Google Trends to make a customer avatar – an average client profile. Here you can find lots of helpful information about your potential customers: region, language, age, gender, marital status and other social and cultural indicators. Try to understand what matters much for them, where can you meet them (what social networks and online platforms do they prefer, etc.). You can use this information to address to this “average customer” in your future promotional campaigns.

  • What do they need?

Any product should solve some customer’s problem. So, your task is to determine customer’s demand – and meet it. What do your customers need, what are they looking for? And how can your offer help them?

  • How much money can they spend?

Your profit is the money that your customers spend in your store. Think about the financial reliability of your customers. Will they be able to make impulse purchases in your store? And try not to target too young audience – they are not always able to pay much.

When you know the answers to these questions, you can to attract the attention of your audience more efficiently, and choose the right tone of communication. Talking to your clients in their language is the cornerstone of effective promotion that lets you increase customers’ loyalty in the future.

How to become a dropshipper: build your store

You can try selling products on various online platforms such as a social network account, or a blog, or an online auction, etc. But if you want to dropship like a pro, you need your own drop shipping online store. Why?

To begin with it gives you a great independence. You will not have to obey someone’s rules and policies. You will not lose your store if your account is banned. No one can suspend you (if your store sells nothing illegal, of course).

In the next place, a specialized site looks more trustworthy and inspires a greater confidence.

For another thing, it is easier to promote a standalone website and optimize it for search engines.

And the last, but not the least – your own website is a good asset which can be sold any time you want and bring you a pretty penny.

To launch a store, you need to choose and buy domain and hosting. There are some points to consider when picking a domain name – study this guide to learn the answers to the most vital questions about it.

Then, you need to select a content management system: it forms the core of your website and lets it operate smoothly. The best solution for an online store is WordPress – an open-source multipurpose content management system. It is safe, easy to install and user-friendly. And what is more – it is free!

How to become a dropshipper: set up the management processes

You cannot imagine how much time you can save if you automate your routine work. Product import, reviews, email marketing, SEO, customer support – all these and many other aspects can be managed in few clicks instead of long hours.

This is another reason to choose WordPress for your eCommerce business: it easily integrates with different services and applications. There are numerous useful plugins and add-ons that can extend functionality of your drop shipping site and boost its performance.

Marketing add-ons are your best helpers to provide stable organic traffic from social networks, stimulate impulse buying, simplify email marketing and solve a pile of other tasks.

And if your use WooCommerce, you can upgrade your store with this selection of smart extensions for any purposes.

Of course, there are more things you will have to deal with – search engine optimization, promotion, customer support… But these are the next steps of your drop shipping journey. And well begun – half done!

And if you want to save your time and efforts, there is another brilliant idea how to become a dropshipper – start your own online business with a ready-made custom store and focus your energy on what you do best!

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Dropshipping

Drop Shipping For Dummies: From Newbie To Ninja In 15 Steps

drop shipping for dummies

No matter whether you’ve got sick of working full time in the office or just decided to earn some extra money, the easiest and fastest way to solve these problems is selling goods online. Many online ecommerce platforms such as eBay and Amazon open up such an opportunity for you. But if you really want to make a decent profit, you need to start your own ecommerce business. And drop shipping is definitely the most affordable and least energy-consuming way to pull it off.

So, you’ve decided to get your own drop shipping store, and even purchased our plugin for this purpose – now what? Let’s explore the step-by-step process of launching your awesome moneymaking business!

We have already written tons of tips on how to start a drop shipping business, attract buyers and promote your store in the way that would make your competitors turn green just like Hulk.

However, we regularly receive one simple question from the beginners: “What’s my next step after getting theplugin?”

In this article, we want to answer this and many other newcomers’ questions in detail. Meet our “drop shipping for dummies” guide and learn what to do if you are just starting out.

Drop shipping for dummies: technical issues

First things first: to make the most of AliDropship plugin, you need to install it on the website where your store will be located. Here’s what you need to do if you don’t have the necessary site yet.

1. Buy a domain

When creating a website for the first time in their life, most of the people have no idea what a domain is, and why they need to get it.   

In simple terms, a domain name is the address of your website. If you imagine that your website is a house, a domain name will be its address. All domain names are unique just like fingertips. It means you will not find 2 identical domain names on the Internet. For example, the domain name (address) of our website is alidropship.com and it is only one of its kind.

In order to get a domain name, visit such website as GoDaddy, for example. Type a desired domain name in the search box and click the search button.  

If your domain name is already taken, you will get a list of available ones. For example, I want to register the domain name “acooldomainname.com”, but it is already used. As you see, the service offers me some alternatives. I can choose a domain name from this list or look for another one.

If you want to learn more about how to choose the perfect domain name for your drop shipping store, feel free to read our article. And we come to the next step.    

2. Find a hosting provider

Let’s say you have chosen and bought a domain name. Now it’s high time to find a hosting provider and place your website on the Internet.

I guess you have ever heard the word “server”. In simple terms, a server is a very powerful computer that keeps working 24 hours a day and stores a lot of information. Any information on the Internet is placed on one server or another and can be easily accessible from other devices such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, etc.

In order to make your drop shipping website accessible to other people on the Internet, you need to buy some place on a server. This place is called hosting. A company that offers you a hosting is a hosting provider.

You can find a hosting provider on the Internet or use our services. AliDropship hosting solution guarantees high technical performance and provides you with 24/7 customer service and support.

Please note, before buying a hosting, make sure it meets the system requirements!   

3. Install WordPress

When you have found a hosting provider and got a domain name, it’s time to build your website. For this purpose, you need to install WordPress on your hosting.

WordPress is software that allows you to build and manage your website without any knowledge about programming. WordPress is free and can be easily downloaded from the official website (WordPress.org).

You may ask: “Why should I set up WordPress, not another content management system?” The answer is simple, and you can find it right here. So, if you want to use the best solution for AliExpress drop shipping, setting up WordPress is a must.  

As a rule, there are 2 ways to install WordPress – automatic and manual. And each of them doesn’t pose any serious problem. In our knowledge base, we have a detailed plan on how to install WordPress, so feel free to read it.

If you do everything right, your WordPress admin panel will look something like this.

4. Install AliDropship Plugin

Well, the hardest part is over. It’s high time to install AliDropship Plugin and start making money.

Go to your WP account, choose the Plugins tab, click the “add new” button, upload the plugin from your computer and install it.

My congratulations! Your plugin is installed successfully.

5. Activate your AliDropship license key

After installing the plugin, you have to activate it so that it could start working. For that purpose, you need your key license.

You can find the key in two places – on the Thank You page that you see right after purchasing AliDropship plugin or in the confirmation email that you can find in your e-mail account.

Copy the license key, paste it in the plugin settings and click the “Activate” button.

Well done! Your AliDropship Plugin is good to go.

Please note that the key license is unique and valid for one domain name only! So if you want to share it with your friends, it won’t do the trick.

Drop shipping for dummies: creative part

I hope you have successfully completed all these annoying technical things and are ready to demonstrate your creative potential.

Please note, if you still have some difficulties with any technical issues, visit our help center or contact our support team. They are always glad to help you.  

6. Choose the theme for your store

A theme determines your website appearance. In other words, when you choose a theme, you choose the design of your website.

We offer you 4 beautiful themes that have great opportunities for customization. All themes are free and you can easily download them from our website.

We have put all the themes to the test and can safely say that each of them is perfect for customizing a drop shipping store. So choose the one that you like the most and download it.

After that, go to your WordPress panel, find the Appearance button and click Themes. In the opened window, find the Add new button, choose the downloaded theme and install it. Don’t forget to activate the chosen theme! 

Let’s say, you’ve installed the Da Vinci theme. In this case, your store will look something like this. Now you need to make your website unique and memorable.

7. Customize your website

Before you get started your ecommerce business, you need to create the store design elements such as your own store logo, favicon, main page images and banners. You can do it on your own or with the help of professional designers. Of course, it is not necessary to appeal to the big design studios and pay them a lot of money! You can turn to freelancers to get it, for example.

After getting all the pictures, go to the customization section and change all the things related to your website appearance. Feel free to play around with colors and pictures to achieve the website design you like!  

In addition, don’t forget to create product categories and menus. Think of your website structure carefully and evaluate whether it is easy to use or not. If you have some doubts, ask your family and friends to test your website, think over their opinions and make all the necessary changes.

Drop shipping for dummies: the financial side

A nice profit margin was your ultimate reason to start this business, right? Let’s figure out how to deal with the money-related issues!

8. Choose the currency

Now, it’s time to start configuring the AliDropship plugin settings. Let’s begin with choosing the currency.

Click the orange button at the top of the menu, select the settings tab and open the general section. Here you can choose your website currency.

The default currency is US dollars, but the plugin supports many other currencies as well. Choose the currency you need and activate it. In case you want to let your customers view your prices in different currencies, don’t forget to select the additional ones.

9. Set up your markup formula

The currency is selected, so it’s time to take care of setting prices so that ensure the best profit margin.

When you import products from AliExpress into your store, they are transferred with their original prices. In order to get profit, you need to determine pricing rules and set margins. AliDropship plugin has an effective system for that. You can create as many formulas as you need and set any kind of price you’d like.

However, we highly recommend you to get familiar with our pricing tips and follow them in the early stages of your business development.  

Besides that, make a point of activating the rounding option. With this feature, such prices like $9.71 and $5.48 will be automatically changed to $10 and $5, respectively. In terms of buyers’ psychology and level of trust, it is a good decision.

10. Set up your payment gateways

After setting up the prices, you need to choose a payment gateway. In simple terms, a payment gateway is an online equivalent of a credit card terminal that one uses when buying goods at a brick and mortar store. AliDropship plugin supports many payment gateways, beginning with such giants as PayPal and ending with not very popular ones. Click the link and choose what you like the most.

Drop shipping for dummies: product pages

We’re getting close to the final! There are only 5 steps left! Let’s go!  

11. Import products to your store

Now when almost everything is ready to start your ecommerce business, you have to fill your online store with goods.

To start importing products from AliExpress, you need to install AliDropship Google Chrome Extension. This tool allows you to import products in bulk, edit product descriptions and manage all the things related to delivery.  

Once the extension is installed, click the AliExpress button and choose the Import products tab. Select the Use Direct Import button.

You will be redirected to AliExpress.com. Enter your search request in the search box and start selecting products with the lowest prices, free shipping option and the highest ratings – you can read more about the hunt for the perfect products here.

When the items are selected, you have 2 options of products import – single product import and bulk import.

If you need to import only one item, click the orange AliDropship logo near it. If the item is imported successfully, you will see a tick near the logo.

In case you need to import products in bulk, write the keywords in the search bar, select a category and click the import items button on the main panel. All the products will be imported into your Import list.  

12. Edit your product pages

Every ecommerce entrepreneurs understand the importance of their product pages looking appealing to the customers.

There are 2 ways to edit product pages – you can do it before importing products or after that. Actually, it doesn’t make much difference.

First, edit your product titles and descriptions and make them more readable and compact. It’s recommended to delete all the images from your product descriptions in order not to look like a copy of AliExpress. In addition, don’t forget to edit your permalinks and remove everything you do not need!

Secondly, you need to make changes in the pictures of your products. For that purpose, use the built-in Image Editor. Delete all AliExpress logos in the picture, change the size, add your own labels, etc.

13. Import reviews to your store

The next step is importing reviews to your store directly from AliExpress.

Feedback is a powerful tool to build trust with your visitors and turn them into paying customers. Most of the conducted researches point out that feedback is very motivating and help people make decisions faster. Customers tend to trust each other more than any advertisement.

When importing reviews from AliExpress, you have many options – choose the number of reviews per product, add reviews only in your language, import reviews with images only, etc.    

14. Set up shipping options

Decide on shipping methods your store will offer your clients. The plugin has a special section where you can enable or disable different shipping options and select the countries that you want to deliver to.

You can add up to four different shipping options such as free shipping, super savings shipping, standard shipping and expedited shipping. However, we highly recommend you to use free shipping options because it encourages customers to buy more or do it at all. A study found that 62% of all online consumers would not have bought products online if they had not received free shipping.

15. Set up SEO

Your drop shipping store is almost ready. The last point is your website promotion. We recommend you to use SEO tools available with AliDropship plugin.

SEO is a very important thing for ecommerce business because it allows you to drive more traffic to your website and improve your website performance. We have a great article about how to create a great SEO campaign, so feel free to use it.     

That was the last point in our “Drop shipping for dummies” guide that allows you to create your drop shipping store from scratch. Of course, there is still much work to be done, but these steps are the basis.

As a bonus, we have prepared for you a set of questions from our support team that all beginners usually ask.

Top 5 frequently asked drop shipping questions of all time

1. Do you ship to…?  How long is the delivery time to…?

AliDropship is not a drop shipping store. We develop and sell software for drop shipping and create ready-to-go drop shipping stores for our clients. That’s all. We do not ship any products.

If you’re asking about our plugins or add-ons, you will get them immediately after making a purchase.

2. Could you send me a list of the best AliExpress suppliers?

Sorry, we couldn’t, because we haven’t got it. You can read the tips on the best suppliers’ choice here.

3. Which plugin is the best – WooCommerce AliDropship plugin or AliDropship plugin?

Both plugins are perfect for drop shipping. If you want to run drop shipping business on the WooCommerce platform, choose WooCommerce Drop shipping plugin. If you want to create your own WordPress website, pay your attention to AliDropship Plugin. To learn more about the difference between the plugins, feel free to read this article.      

4. Can I import products from other websites?

No, you can’t. AliDropship Plugin is developed to dropship products from AliExpress only.

5. What kind of profit can I get with AliDropship?

Your profits depend on your effort. To get a general idea about the possible financial outcome of running drop shipping business with AliDropship, feel free to read real-life success stories of our clients.

Congratulations! The ‘drop shipping for dummies’ guide is over, and you’ve learned the inside out of the store development process. Now you know how to set up your business, so you can easily follow our tips to start making really good money! Good luck!

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Dropshipping

“What’s The Cheapest Way To Ship Internationally?” And Other Shipping-Related Issues

The cheapest way to ship internationally

For drop shipping entrepreneurs, the questions of shipping and delivery are the matters of a really high importance – and sometimes, of a deep concern. Both the newcomers and the established store owners are on the lookout for the easiest and cheapest ways to ship internationally, which is why they carefully research and evaluate the available options.

Of course, the cost of the delivery is not the only aspect that matters: the entrepreneurs also care about the shipping time, the reliability of the shipping service, and some other details.

Let’s talk about them today!

How to find the cheapest international shipping options on AliExpress?

To begin with, all the AliExpress suppliers offer a different range of the available shipping methods.

To find out what shipping services are supported by a particular seller, you can do the following:

  • Write a direct message to the seller and ask him or her to show you the list of the available shipping companies;
  • Or, go to any product page within this seller’s store, and check the alternative shipping methods shown in the dropdown menu in the ‘Shipping’ section – look at the screenshot below.

I would like to draw your attention to some of the elements of this picture.

  • In the top right corner of the screenshot, you can see the settings for the shipping destination and the national currency (in this case, it is the US and the US dollar.) It is really important to choose the necessary country of delivery and its currency before you start your research: every shipping service has varying fees that depend on the region of delivery. Plus, not every courier can arrange a shipping to any of the 195 countries on the globe!
  • In the lower part of the picture, you can see the name, the price, and the estimated delivery time for the default shipping method offered by this specific seller for this exact product (in this case, it is ePacket, free of charge, 12-20 days delivery). But, normally, AliExpress sellers work with more than one courier, so, if you don’t like the default shipping method, you can check out the alternatives. Next to this Shipping line, there is a small arrow – click on it to view the list of the alternative shipping services available.
  • In the central part of the screenshot, you can see the list of the additional shipping services – this pop-up window appears when you click the tiny arrow. In this list, you can specify the necessary destination again: it’s really convenient if your target audience members live across several countries on the globe, and you want to check whether all these countries can be reached by a particular shipping company. So, in this list of the shipping methods available, you can see the couriers working with the seller, the estimated delivery time and the cost of delivery for the specified destination, and the availability of the tracking information.

That’s more than enough data for your research, right?

So, what are the priciest and the cheapest ways to ship a package internationally from AliExpress?

Generally speaking, the shipping methods supported by AliExpress sellers fall into 3 broad categories:

  • Costly services of well-reputed international couriers that deliver the packages in a shorter period of time.

Here, we talk about such renowned companies as DHL, UPS, EMS, FedEx, etc. They are able to arrange a relatively prompt delivery (the exact time depends on the country of destination), but their shipping costs are really high – sometimes, the delivery fee is several times higher than the price of the product itself.

Obviously, it makes them unsuitable for the drop shipping stores selling regular low-cost consumer goods – it’s more reasonable to use them if you’re selling complex tech equipment, electronics, premium clothing and other types of more or less expensive items.

  • Services of local shipping companies that are provided for a low cost or even free of charge, but may require up to 1 month to deliver.

Here, we talk about the usual national postal services and the local companies working as middlemen between the senders and the postal agencies. China Post Air Mail, China Post Small Packet Plus, Yanwen Economic Air Mail, SunYou Economic Air Mail, Hong Kong Post – this is an incomplete list of all the shipping options offered in this category.

You can even come across some ‘exotic’ options like Posti Finland (the main Finnish postal service) – quite interestingly, it is widely believed to arrange an even more prompt delivery than China-based services to some specific territories (such as northwestern regions of Russia, for example).

  • Delivery arranged by AliExpress itself through its own logistical partners.

There are 2 types of this delivery: AliExpress Standard Shipping and AliExpress Premium Shipping. Both of them mean that the original supplier has handed the products over to AliExpress Shipping Center, and delegated the shipping responsibilities to AliExpress itself. So, in a way, it is a more reliable shipping method than the service of local postal offices.

Normally, AliExpress Standard Shipping is one of the cheapest options available on the platform, but again, it depends on the country of destination. AliExpress Premium Shipping is a more expensive alternative, but its average delivery time is relatively low: it is comparable to DHL and FedEx shipping time.

What makes ePacket the best type of all the cheapest ways to ship overseas supported by AliExpress?

Obviously, drop shipping store owners want to focus on the AliExpress products with the free shipping option – or, at least, with a very low delivery cost.

Still, most of these shipping options have one significant disadvantage.

By the disadvantage, I don’t mean a long shipping time (it’s not a problem at all, remember?) – here, I mean the impossibility to track the package.

As a rule, the tracking codes provided by all these low-cost local shipping services become unresponsive as soon as the package arrives to the country of destination. In other words, you will be able to track the package’s route while it’s being dispatched and transferred abroad, but as soon as the order crosses the border and comes to your country, you won’t find out where it is, exactly. The local country postal service will assign its own tracking to this package, and you won’t know anything about its whereabouts and the expected delivery time until you suddenly find the usual local post notification in your mailbox.

Surely, it is hugely inconvenient for an end user; but imagine how bad it is for a drop shipping store owner who can’t provide a high quality customer service to the buyers!

We, as the managers of our self-owned drop shipping stores, know about this issue – and we have a solution.

We are fans of the ePacket shipping method which is:

  • As reliable as AliExpress Premium
  • As affordable as AliExpress Standard
  • As prompt as DHL and UPS
  • Eligible for tracking throughout the whole delivery period

So, basically, ePacket is a specific shipping method designed to facilitate eCommerce – it can only be applied to particular types of packages (maximum 60 cm x 90 cm in size and 2 kg in weight), which makes it the perfect solution to ship regular customer goods.

With ePacket, the sellers in China and Hong Kong can ship their products to the residents of 38 countries across the globe (see the full list here). On the average, it takes the package from 7 to 15 days to arrive (the shipping period is slightly longer for Brazil and Mexico).

It doesn’t cost much, and, what’s the most important, it goes with a proper tracking! At any moment of the package’s journey, you can use the provided tracking code to learn more about your order’s fate.

Understanding that ePacket is so convenient for drop shipping store owners, we have designed our own solutions in the way that helps you benefit from this service.

So, if your drop shipping store works on our AliDropship plugin, you can use our Google Chrome extension to instantly check which of the AliExpress products have the ePacket shipping option available.

And, our orders tracking system supports ePacket, too! It means that in a couple of clicks, you can retrieve the correct tracking ID from your AliExpress supplier, and email it to the relevant customer.

It’s simple. It’s affordable. And it’s super convenient.

Now, you know much more about the cheapest ways to ship internationally, and you understand how to pick the best ones for your drop shipping store. Use the knowledge for the benefit of your business, and enjoy your entrepreneurial journey!

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