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Wei Linchao

Wei Linchao

Dropship and Logistics Specialist, the founder of Bestfulfill that help you with order fulfillment from product sourcing, shipping, branding, and customized package.

How to Find a Dropship Supplier on Alibaba

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For years now, Alibaba has been a great marketplace to source products in bulk. Despite being a popular e-commerce platform, Alibaba has not always been suited for dropshipping—at least not until June 2021 when the Alibaba Dropshipping Center was launched.

Since then, the platform has been one of the best places to find a dropshipping supplier for almost any product. The Alibaba Dropshipping Center allows you to view, search, and compare suppliers that drop ship to your desired location. Get to know how you can use this tool to find the best dropshipping supplier(s) on Alibaba.

Do Alibaba Suppliers Dropship?

Yes, a considerable number of suppliers on this platform support dropshipping of products at smaller MOQs to different parts of the globe. Even so, you need to remember that Alibaba was meant to be, and still is, a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace.

As such, a vast majority of the suppliers on Alibaba still sell their products in bulk to wholesalers and retailers. For this reason, the introduction of dropshipping center on Alibaba came as a relief to many e-commerce traders and drop shippers.

With this tool, it is much easier and more convenient to find dropship suppliers that require lower or no MOQs at all while offering faster and affordable shipping. Additionally, it allows you to import product lists from Alibaba to your dropshipping store.

How to Find the Best Dropship Supplier(s) on Alibaba

Though designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate, many drop shippers still do not know their way around the Alibaba dropshipping center. The following procedure will help you find, compare, and vet Alibaba suppliers for your dropshipping business:

Step 1: Search for Your Dropshipping Product(s)

Finding the right dropshipping supplier on Alibaba starts with a  conventional product(s) search on the platform. Simply launch your browser, navigate to the Alibaba homepage, and log into your Alibaba buyer account.

Once logged in, you may use any of the three supported search methods to look up your desired dropshipping products on the platform, as illustrated below:

Method 1: Keyword Search

Click on the search bar at the top of your Alibaba homepage and type in a keyword related to your dropshipping product(s). Once done, press the Enter key on your keyboard or click the orange “Search” button towards the right end of the search bar to run your search.

This should generate a list of Alibaba suppliers and products that are related to the keyword you searched.

Method 2: Submit a Request for Quotation (RFQ)

An RFQ is essentially a request that specifies the buyer’s sourcing needs. This request is open for Alibaba suppliers to bid on. In so doing different suppliers send the buyer their quotes in an effort to decide the contract. To open an RFQ on Alibaba, navigate to the Sourcing page or sign in to your Alibaba buyer’s account.

Next, click on the “My Alibaba” button at the top of the page—adjacent to the Alibaba logo towards the top-left corner.  Now select the “Buying Request Hub” tab from the left pane then choose the “RFQ markets” option as illustrated below:

Alibaba suppliers

From there, you could look for your preferred item under “recommended RFQs” or just search for it. Finally, click on the “Quote Now” and fill in the required details.

Alibaba suppliers

By submitting RFQs, Alibaba drop shippers can enjoy multiple benefits that are unique to this method, including:

  • Lets the suppliers find you to save you time and effort
  • Offers you custom quotes from different suppliers for the requested item
  • Allows you to close a drop sourcing deal in just a few clicks

Method 3: Image Search

You could also search for dropshipping suppliers on Alibaba using images of the desired product. From the Alibaba homepage, click on the “Camera” icon towards the right end of the search bar. Next, click on “Upload Image” and search for the product picture in the appropriate storage folder.

Image search on this platform only allows you to upload images smaller than 5MBs.

Step 2: Filter and Compare Your Search Results

As you can see from your search results, the suppliers of your product are just too many for you to go through each one of them. Instead, narrow the search results to include only the products and dropshipping suppliers that are relevant to your business.

This makes it easier for you to compare multiple dropshipping suppliers on Alibaba and choose the best one. To achieve this, you need to:

>: Apply Alibaba Search Filters

Alibaba offers multiple search filters, such as “Verified Supplier”, “Min Order”, and “Price”. You could apply these to narrow the search to just the suppliers and products that meet specific criteria. For instance, you could use the “Verified” or “Verified Supplier” filters to display only the authenticated products and suppliers—the ones that meet relevant industry standards and requirements.

After running a search for your desired product(s) on Alibaba, you can refine the results by clicking on the “Filter Results By” drop-down menu. You should then select the appropriate filter from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, select the “Product Type” just beneath the search bar on your search results page.

Now click on the “Customization” button to the left of the product type you chose—such as “Ready to Ship” in the example above. This will display a menu with all the filters applicable to that specific item as shown below:

Find a Dropship Supplier on Alibaba

>: Compare Dropshipping Suppliers/Products Under “My Favorites”

Alibaba also offers a more convenient way for you to compare multiple dropshipping suppliers at once. To do this, find the Alibaba dropship suppliers you wish to compare, select, and click on “Add to Compare”. This tool allows you to compare up to 6 items at a time.

Once done, you can see the comparison list towards the bottom-right corner of the page.

You could also view the “Product Page” for each product/supplier to check the important details like MOQs, pricing, delivery options, and locations.

Step 3: Shortlist the Best Dropship Suppliers on Alibaba 

Find the suppliers that best meet your dropshipping needs and budget from the search results. Among other things, the right dropshipping supplier(s) on Alibaba should:

  • Offer the type and quality of the product(s) you need
  • Meet verification requirements and industry standards
  • Offer acceptable pricing and payment terms
  • Have MOQ requirements of one item per order
  • Have enough stock and capacity to fulfill your customers’ orders adequately
  • Have good feedback and reviews from previous customers

Identify 5 to 10 of such Alibaba suppliers and list them down before proceeding to the next step.

Step 4: Get in Touch with the Supplier(s)

As you may have realized, not all Alibaba product pages display all the information you need to ascertain the supplier’s fitness. In this case, you should contact the supplier(s) you listed in step 3 above to get the information you need. When you first get in touch with a potential dropship supplier on Alibaba, express your readiness to do business. You should then proceed to ask them anything you would like them to clarify. Different methods may be used to contact a supplier on Alibaba, including:

a) From the Search List Page

Find the supplier you wish to contact from your Alibaba search results. Click on the “Contact Supplier” button towards the bottom to send an email to the supplier. Alternatively, you could chat with the supplier on Alibaba when they are online. To do this, click on the “Chat Now” button.

If the supplier happens to be offline, you may leave them a message and they will respond when they are back online.

b) From the Minisite Page

Click on your preferred supplier’s company name from the search list page to open its “minisite” on Alibaba. From this page, click on the “Contacts” button to reveal its contact information.

Find a Dropship Supplier on Alibaba

c) From the Product Details Page

Regardless of the method you use, be sure to leave the supplier a clear and concise message. For the initial message, you should seek to:

  • Demonstrate to the Alibaba dropshipping supplier that you are a serious buyer – introduce and describe your dropshipping business and try to complete your profile on Alibaba.
  • Explain what you intend to source in detail – give specific information like packaging, specs, photos, branding, and safety standards.
  • Ask relevant questions – as the most appropriate questions to ascertain the supplier’s suitability

When contacting potential suppliers, ask specific questions. This will help narrow your field of interest. For instance, you could enquire about the price per specific order volumes or ask for copies of certifications (CE/Europe, FDA, and China standards).

NOTE: You can keep track of your communications with an Alibaba dropship supplier from the Messages folder—Under “My Alibaba.”

Step 5: Vet Potential Alibaba Dropship Supplier(s)

Although there are plenty of quality suppliers out there, there are also a few unscrupulous ones. So, make sure to do plenty of due diligence before handing over your hard-earned cash.

Here are some dropshipping tips to help you vet suppliers before placing an order:

>: Select Verified Dropshipping Suppliers

A Verified Supplier is a supplier that has had certain aspects of its company profile, management system, production capabilities, and product and process controls assessed, certified, and/or inspected by an independent third-party institution(s).

This is done to guarantee reputable and consistent expertise on the platform. To save time and remain safe, it is highly advisable to only work with credible suppliers that have specialty tags on Alibaba. In this regard, go for the suppliers that have been verified by top global third-party inspection authorities like TUV Rhineland, SGS, and Intertek.

The following table illustrates the type of information that is verified during a supplier assessment on Alibaba:

>: Prioritize Suppliers Who Offer Trade Assurance

In addition to assessment and verification, you should consider working with Alibaba dropshipping suppliers that offer trade assurance. This is ideally a built-in payment protection system on Alibaba. Such an arrangement gives you peace of mind in the event that the Product Quality or Ship Date is different from what the supplier promised.

This cover will come in handy in such an eventuality—assisting you to get a satisfactory outcome, which includes getting your money back.

>: Work with Alibaba’s Premium OEM factories

Through the Premium OEM factories program, Alibaba gives you access to high-performing manufacturers. This way, you can avoid scams and work with dropshipping suppliers offering exponential customization capabilities.

>: Ask for Legitimate Documentation

Top-ranking suppliers have relevant certification and superior design services. Just to be safe, ask your preferred supplier to show you copies of certifications that are relevant for your product category. Again it helps to partner with a supplier(s) that feature innovative R&D staff.

>: Request for Alibaba Supplier Reports

Alibaba Supplier Reports help dropshipping business owners to know their supplier(s) even better. This has been proven to help e-commerce stores with strategic souring and achieving competitive advantage. These reports include public registered records as well as the supplier’s transactional behaviors on Alibaba.

Once you have potential dropshipping supplier on Alibaba, you may need to ask for their supplier report on Alibaba before ordering. Supplier reports on Alibaba can help you uncover important background information on a supplier that is not otherwise available.

To get a supplier reports for a dropshipping supplier on Alibaba, click here or just search for the supplier by name. By so doing, you will get verified data on the company to help you make informed dropship sourcing decisions.

>: Specific Criteria Modules

Try to single out suppliers that have BSCI/RoHS certification, quality management system, complete on-site materials inspection, qualified R&D staff/design device/design processes, and global after-sales service support. You can find such information on the Alibaba.com app front-page.

Conclusion

You may not know this, but a drop shipping business is as good as its dropshipping supplier(s). This is why you cannot afford to stake the reputation and success of your business on unproven Alibaba suppliers.

Due diligence is encouraged whenever you are looking for a dropship supplier on Alibaba because some are not what they claim to be. The steps illustrated on this guide may sound tedious and time-consuming, but are definitely worth your while.

Alternatively, you could work with the best dropshipping sourcing and fulfillment agents to find high-quality products at the best market rate.

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