Dropshippers primarily use AliExpress for product sourcing. Because AliExpress is like Amazon, it was never really built for dropshipping. Instead, it was built or online shopping.
The target market of AliExpress were consumers, but things took a turn and many businesspersons use the site to source their products.
Because of this, many companies developed dropship supplier tools like Oberlo and Spocket. These companies get products from mostly from AliExpress. There are only a few sellers in Oberlo or Spocket who are not selling in AliExpress.
As a response to this, AliExpress made its own dropship supplier tool. And they called it AliExpress Dropshipping Center. It is a website that allows you to search for products in the same way that you do it with Oberlo or Spocket.
Today I will give you an in-depth review of what it is. By the end of this tutorial, you can decide if you want to shift from your current product tool to this one.
What's The AliExpress Dropshipping Center?
The AliExpress Dropshipping Center is an online tool built to do two things:
- Find products to sell
- Analyze product performance
Now, just to be clear. The dropshipping center is not a dropship supplier plug-in. It is an independent website that lists the performance of products sold on AliExpress, all products that dropshippers can sell.
The problem with the AliExpress main website is that it is an online retail website. There are many sellers on AliExpress who do not dropship. If you are a dropshipper, you would be spending hours on end just looking for products to sell.
In AliExpress, you have to:
- Use the search bar or category to look for products
- List each product you want
- Open each product to see if the supplier ships to your market countries
- Check the feedback rating of each product
- Check the shipping costs and shipping timelines
You do not need to do all of this in the AliExpress Dropshipping Center. The tool was specifically designed to pull information from the AliExpress retail website. However, it only pulls products that are available for dropshipping.
So, it pretty much functions like Oberlo or Spocket. However, you cannot install this tool to your Shopify or WooCommerce store. You need to integrate this tool with another plug in, and your only options are DSers and ShopMaster.
AliExpress Dropshipping Center Features
Now, let us take a look at the things you can do with this tool. In this section, I will walk you through each feature and also show you how they work.
Dashboard
After logging in, the first thing that you will see is your dashboard. This area shows several important things about your business.
These are:
- Payment amount – this is the total amount of money you used to pay for your orders.
- Paid orders – this is the number of orders that you have placed, including those that you have not yet paid.
- Paid products – these are the products that you already paid. These products will be processed by the supplier.
- Products ready for shipment – these are items you have already ordered but have not been shipped. The products are now ready for shipping, and shall be sent to your customer shortly.
Discounts
In the AliExpress Dropshipping Center, you can get discounts as you grow your business. The discount is based on membership level. It is not something you can buy.
There are four levels in the system, and all people who join will start at the Normal Level. This level has no discount. As you accumulate orders, you will reach a higher level.
Here are the levels, the discount, and the amount of money you need to spend:
- Normal – 6% discount with less than $1,000 spent
- Level C – 2% discount with $1,000 spent
- Level B – 4% discount with $2,000 spent
- Level A – 6% discount with $5,000 spent
The money shown on the list above refers to the money you used to order products. The AliExpress system records all your purchases, so the system will automatically upgrade your level once you have reached the minimum sending amount.
Take note that you can't game this system. If you refunded your order or cancelled them, the cost will not be included in the calculation of your levels.
Once you have reached a certain level, the discount shall be automatically applied to your purchases. What’s not clear in the system is if the discount applies to all sellers, or if it is on a per seller basis.
It seems that this is only a per seller basis because AliExpress said that sellers can adjust their own discount rates if they want to.
Finding Products by Country
In the tool, you can find products based on where they are located. Once you click on the Find Products tab on the left, you will see the product dashboard like the one below.
As you can see, you can choose products per country of origin. As a dropshipper, this will help you choose products that are going to have a faster shipping rate than if they came from China. For example, you want to ship to Ukraine. Naturally, you want products that come from Russia because they will have faster shipping times.
Finding Products by “ships to”
You can also find products according to where they ship. If you only want to ship to the United Kingdom, just choose that country and the system will only show you products that ship to the UK.
This is great. In AliExpress, you will have a hard time filtering this thing out. You need to open each product just to see if the supplier ships to the country of your choice. With this tool, you can even search for products that specifically comes from one country and ships to a specific country.
Search by Image
If you have a product you want to sell but you do not know how it is called, you can search the product by uploading an image. Just click on the Search by Image tab and you will be taken to a new screen. From there, click on the Upload Image button.
I did a test to see if it works. I uploaded a photo of a scooter, and this is what I got.
The highlighted image above is the photo that was uploaded, and the images of scooters below are the results.
Related: 21 Best Dropshipping Suppliers For Shopify/Amazon/eBay (Safe Worldwide)
Product Statistics
Whenever you search for a product, you will see several columns like the one on the screenshot below:
With these number, you will see how many times the product has been ordered, what the product rating is, and what the sales performance is compared to others.
Analysis
On the right side of each product is a link that says Analyze. If you click this, you will be taken to this page.
The graph you see here is a sales trend. However, the numbers do not refer to the actual number of sales made. Instead, it is an index from number 0 to 100. As the index score gets higher, it also shows that the demand for the product gets higher.
If you want, you can also search for products from the AliExpress website and then do the analysis from this tool. To do this, go to AliExpress and copy the first part of the link like shown below:
Next, past that in the Product URL space in the Product Analysis page, then hit analyze.
What you will see is the same statistics that we have seen earlier.
Sponsored Products
There is a section right beside the search by image tab. If you click this, you will see products that suppliers paid to advertise. This area is mostly empty for now, as the suppliers are not yet spending that much time and money advertising. Once this tool grows in the number of users, it is going to have more content.
So far, these are all the features you will get from the tool. To help you understand the benefits, let me go through each one:
- Save time – you no longer need to look at each product to see of the supplier ships your destination country
- Analyze products – you can analyze products based in the sales index trend, not based on total sales.
- Save money – you do not have to spend money on anther tool to be able to search for products, analyze them, or even order them.
The only drawback of this tool is that it is not something you can install in your store. You need to integrate it with another tool like Dsers or ShopMaster.
If you do not want to use Dsers and ShopMaster, you can still continue using Oberlo. After all, you can install Oberlo in your Google Chrome browser as an extension.
If this is the approach you want to take, you need to open the product you found in the AliExpress Dropshipping Center, and then open that in Chrome, then import it to your store through the Oberlo app.
Whos Is AliExpress Dropshipping Center For?
The tool was specifically built for dropshippers. Generally speaking, you should only use this tool if you are an online retailer.
You should you the tool if:
- You are a dropshipper and you mainly source items from AliExpress
- You are an online retailer and you are looking for affordable goods for your inventory
- You are already using Spocket and Oberlo but you want to use something for free
- You want a better product analysis tool—something that really takes data from the AliExpress back-end, not the front end.
As you can see, the tool’s main function is to give you the benefits of:
- Data accuracy – the numbers you get here are taken from suppliers’ account
- Ease of use – the tool makes it easy to search for products because you can analyze the product sale.
Because the developer of the tool is AliExpress itself, the AliExpress Dropshipping Center is integrated with the systems of the main AliExpress website.
Most tools like Spocket and Oberlo only “scrape” data from the front-end. What this means is that they are robots that only see what you see, but they gather they gather the data so you can search easier.
Should you decide to shift from Spocket to the AliExpress Dropshipping Center, you have to understand that you cannot sync this with your store. If you want to be able to import products you found here, you need to sync the AliExpress Dropshipping Center with either:
- DSers
- Shopmaster
These are the tools that work like Oberlo and Spocket once they are integrated in your store. Your other option is to use the AliDropship plug-in, which costs a one-time fee of $89.
Should you choose the AliDropship plug-in, you will search the product in that tool before you can import it to your store—the syncing is not automatic. If you want to work aster, use the DSers app as it is the official dropship plug-in of the AliExpress Dropshipping Center.
AliExpress Dropshipping Center pricing: how much does it cost?
The Dropshipping Center is completely free. All you need to do is to sign-up for an account, agree with the terms and conditions, and you are all set.
Unlike Oberlo and Spocket, you do not have to upgrade to use all of its features. In the AliExpress Center, you can even access all your transactions in your personal AliExpress account.
Yes, these two accounts are merged. What this means is that all your personal purchases from AliExpress will show in your order tab in your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get an account?
To sign-up for an account, just go there and register. If you already have an account with AliExpress, the credentials are the same, there is no need to sign up for a different account unless you want your personal and business purchases separate.
Is this really free or do I have to upgrade?
It is 100% free. You do not need to pay anything to be able to use the tool. If you want to use this with your AliDropship plug-in, you have to pay $89 for the plug-in, but not for the AliExpress Dropshipping Center.
If it is free, why do I see a Rules to Upgrade link?
This upgrade is for your account type. It has nothing to do with the functionality of the tool. Instead, your level will determine how much discount you will get from the suppliers. The upgrade depends on the amount of money you have spent on AliExpress. Once you have reached $5,000 in orders, you will get 6% discount on all your orders.
Can I install this on my Shopify and WooCommerce store?
No, you cannot install this on any store. If you want to be able to import products to your store from AliExpress Dropshipping Center, you need to sync this app with Dsers or ShopMaster. Both of these are dropship plugins that you can install on your online store.
AliExpress Dropshipping Center: Summary
The center is a great tool because the developer is AliExpress itself. Recently, the company has taken a stab at the dropshipping industry, after realizing that it can also make money by adding more value to dropshippers.
Today, you can even upload an AliExpress plug-in to your website—both for Shopify and WooCommerce. You no longer need other tools like Oberlo and Spocket or SaleHoo to find products in AliExpress. This plug-in is called AliDropship.
Just take note: the Dropshipping Center is a separate tool to find wining products. However, it is not a dropship tool. You cannot sync it with your store. You can still order items from this too, but you cannot import the products you want to your store. You need AliDropship to do that for you.