My Dropshipping Journey with AliExpress

Thank you very much for all information.
I dont understand how to add items in my website and how to collect data from buyers, like as payment, cards number, addresses etc.

 

It all depends on what kind of solution and platform you use for your website.

 

I have got my first refund recently The customer did not like the quality of a t-shirt he got. He sent me the picture of this t-shirt and I must admit that the quality of this item is really poor.



As a result I sent him a full refund, opened a dispute with AliExpress seller and got a refund the next day!

I suppose, if you are selling not expensive products your AliExpress suppliers usually refund you quickly without having to return the items because they don't want the headache of disputes and receiving returns for relatively low value items. May be I could even give a partial refund to my customer.

 

No, I guess you shouldn't. It's only a few bucks, but customer will be back to your store if they got full refund. I am not sure if they will be back to your store if they only got partial refund, even if they can keep the items.

 

Yes, I agree with you, that's why I sent a full refund and will do the same way in future.

 

I decided to try video ads on Facebook. Not sure if there is a sense to send traffic from such ads directly to a website. May be I should use some landing page... Any thoughts?

 

Last week I started testing Craiglist and other similar services and have already got several sales from this source. I think many of you are familiar with Craiglist, but for those who have not tried Craiglist yet, this small and easy to follow guide could be helpful.

1. Before starting posting ads on craigslist.org I recommend using HideMe software. It allows choosing the IP address of the region where you want to post your ads.

2. Go to Craiglist.org and select a geographical location. In order to choose the best country or region I strongly recommend that you check Google Trends first to find out where your products (look by keywords) are mostly popular and demanded.

3. Then you should sign up or create a new account.



4. You can see the status of ads you have already published on your account page. Here you can also select a region for posting your next ads.



5. Choose the type of your ad on the next page.

6. Select category.

7. Enter contact and product information.

8. Insert image and publish.

Now your ad is ready. After publishing, it will be shown on Craiglist for the next 45 days. You can check your post following the link that will appear on the next page.



Here is how the post looks like:



Don’t forget to place a link to your site. It will be not an active link; however people use it to visit your site or product page.

It should be also noted that Craiglist is not the only service suited for posting such ads. I found another 4 good services that can give good traffic and sales. Besides, these services allow posting active links to your webstore.

Here is a full list:

1 Craiglist.com

2 http://www.locanto.com

3 Free Classifieds - Hoobly Classifieds

4 Free classifieds - backpage.com

5 UsedVictoria.com - Classifieds for Jobs, Rentals, Cars, Furniture and Free Stuff

If you are using Craiglist or similar services in your marketing strategy, please share your ideas and experience here!

 

I would like to try this too! Do you recommend any script for the actual store? Also is it easy to import products from Ali?

Cheers! You have a nice little store going

 

I created my little store using my own plugin and theme developed from scratch. So I don't know and I can't recommend any other solutions that make it easy to import and update products from AliExpress.

 

Maybe you want to give TaoBao a try. I went to a seminar held by Alibaba executive and they did mentioned that TaoBao or 1688.com is for the "advanced" buyer rather than Alibaba (for US market in general) and AliExpress (for US market with small quantity). Most of the TaoBao sellers buy their goods from TaoBao or 1688.com itself. These same group of buyers then resell their goods in AliExpress for a quick profit...Just sharing what I know.Thanks.

 

I find TaoBao very interesting! When I checked its API I was amazed by its functionality and possibilities. But as far as I know the problem is that TaoBao is still not oriented on global market. Most sellers do not speak English and there are problems with shipping items worlwide. People who want to buy from TaoBao usually go to agents that help to place orders. The TaoBao site itself is in Chinese only.

 

Yes,there are quite a few forwarding agency that speak English and able to buy for you on bulk order and ship almost anywhere in the world.Some just charge a min. handling and agent fee with added value like checking your purchased items quantity and quality in China itself before shipping to you.

 

Hi Yaros
I have just created an account with this forum after reading your posts.. you did an amazing work!
I was searching for a way of dropshipping from aliexpress for almost 2 weaks.. but always get stucked at some point.
are you considering selling the theme and pluging(most important) at themeforest.net or any other way?
actually I'd be the first to buy.. i really need it asap..
Thanks

 

I have not prepared the plugin for a big market yet. Feel free to contact me on Skype: yarosnevsky and leave your email address.

 

My stats for October:

TRAFFIC



I got around 40% increase in traffic comparing to September stats.

INCOME

Total income: $933,25
Supplier costs: $389,11
Affiliate commission: $26,39
Net profit: $570,53 (+22% comparing to September)

Most of my sales were generated with the help of organic search and social media (not paid ads).

Top 3 countries people purchased from:
- United States
- India
- Mexico

In October I made two refunds. One of them is because of a poor quality of the item and another one because of long delivery time.

 

Thanks for sharing mate.. I Really appreciate you for sharing some private insights like order details etc Only thing i hate about aliexpress is their delivery time for free shipping items.. Some products take more than 45 days to arrive and the registered air mail is not the right choice for tracking. Of course there are sellers who offer Fast EMS / DHL shipping options but when you compare the prices it is not worth it.. Eg:- Even a 50g item costs over $55 to ship via EMS/DHL.. So far i have seen only few sellers giving DHL shipping for reasonable prices like $2x (in Electronics/Gadgets section) but even those sellers try to rip off customers with a premium price tag.

I wish you all the best for your business. Please keep us informed.. Thanks again

 

Have you got your commission in your "Account Balance" on aliexpress?

I am doing dropship like you, not redirecting traffic to Aliexpress. I have many completed orders, (not completed payments, I mean the buyer confirmed they received item and money is sent to sellers) but my Account Balance is still 0. Is yours the same or you see them in your "Account Balance" ?

 

The account balance is updated between 2 and 4 weeks, which will then refresh the system, and you will be able to view your correct account balance.

 

I am often asked what niche is better to choose for a dropshipping site. In my opinion it is better to find and choose a narrow niche. A broad niche might sound like a good idea and I do understand people who are dreaming about an authority website where you can put all products, but in practice, it can be very tough to get traffic and orders.

Some reasons to go narrow:

1. When you make a research going narrow you get a better understanding about what you are going to sell.
2. It’s easier to be a big fish in a small pond and it’s the fastest way to grow your business and credibility.
3. It’s easier to rank higher in a web search for particular search terms.
4. Due to your specialty people will be ready to come to you again and again because you are “the one” in their minds.
5. It is always easier to focus on one audience and plan your marketing strategies.

To get an idea about what I mean by a narrow niche, take look at this website I have created recently for my friend:

 

Recently I have tried a marketing strategy that I had not used before and found it very effective.

This strategy is called Instagram Shoutouts.

If you want your Instagram page to grow, then you need to gain exposure.

The quickest and most efficient way to do this is by collaborating with other your niche related pages, posting one of their pictures in return for them posting one of yours. This is what is called a Shoutout.

But I have a bit different strategy.

I go to Instagram and search for popular pages related to Harry Potter niche. After finding such pages I send a message to the owners asking them about the price for adding my post to their pages. If the prce is fair enough I send the materials I want to publish. As a result I gain exposure, my Instagram page is growing and what is more important, I get sales! (just got another one from these shoutouts)

So, I can definitely recommend this strategy, especially for such fan nichies like Harry Potter.

Below are screenshots of recently published shoutouts.