Dropshipping can be a very lucrative business if done right.
Building your dropshipping store correctly, choosing the right product niches, and finding the best dropshipping suppliers all factor in heavily towards your success. So popular is this method of order fulfillment that makes up almost a third of online stores.
Matching the best dropshipping products with your niche comes through research and experimentation, but how will you decide which is the best supplier for your dropshipping business? Thankfully, this is a line where you don’t necessarily have to choose – you can work with more than one supplier.
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Here are some of the best dropshipping suppliers you should not miss.
1. Spocket
Price: From $12/month
While Spocket may have a more limited number of products and suppliers available, it makes a departure from reliance on China-based suppliers. Technically, Spocket suppliers are available in 28 countries but by their own admission focus remains on a handful, namely the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany.
This makes them a bit of a hit-and-miss for many drop shippers who might be hoping for a global reach. However, if your intention is to pick and serve very specific markets then Spocket might be a good choice for you.
Spocket has a very limited starter plan which you can try out for free over a period of 14 days. After that you must pay $12 per month to remain on the same plan – or more for a better plan to sell more products. This platform is designed for use with WooCommerce.
2. ShipBob
Price from: $5.38
Unlike most others on this list, ShipBob is purely a fulfillment service. It specializes in helping customers move their products from point A to point B anywhere in the world. Think of it as a postal service assisting drop shippers to improve their workflow.
One of the biggest challenges drop shippers face is getting their products to customers on time. Relying on shipping from source locations can be iffy. That’s where ShipBob comes into play. They'll manage your entire fulfillment process.
Moving products across the US can be done within two days, with variable timeframes for the rest of the world. It’s not just shipping either. ShipBob will also pick up items, package them, and even provides storage space for things to be shipped.
How much you pay for fulfillment with ShipBob depends on several factors, including dimensions, weight, locations, and storage requirements.
2. SaleHoo
Price: From $67/year
SaleHoo is one of the more unique offerings on this list since it’s specially designed for drop shippers by a former drop shipper himself. It has its own marketplace of suppliers who support both dropshipping as well as wholesalers. Each of these is reviewed directly by SaleHoo’s own staff so they are more likely to be reliable than those on platforms that handle a massive number of retailers.
The SaleHoo platform works like a search engine, allowing you to quickly drill down general searches to specific categories and then products for you to choose from. You can also talk to suppliers directly through their site – a great way to get more information and build trust.
Unfortunately, SaleHoo does not have a free version and there are only two plans available – annual or lifetime. For the serious drop shipper, the lifetime plan does present a good value-for-money offer though. Both plans are backed by a money-back guarantee.
4. AliExpress
Starting Price: Free
AliExpress needs no introduction in Asia since it’s the brainchild of Alibaba, the China-based eCommerce company. The key difference is that Alibaba usually does wholesale, while AliExpress caters to retail customers. Consider it the Amazon of the East.
Available since 2010, it has the distinct advantage of being based in the region that many consider the world’s factory. This means quick access to almost all manner of consumer goods at reasonable prices. If your visitors are in the US or EU regions though, shipping may take some time and add slightly more overhead to orders.
Dropshipping with AliExpress can be one in a couple of ways. The first is the traditional method, meaning that once you get an order, you need to manually enter the details of the purchaser and transaction into the AliExpress system.
5. DHgate
Starting Price: Free
DHgate is another China-based online marketplace but isn’t quite as large as Alibaba. Because of that, the site does both wholesale and retail on a single platform. Today, it not only connects people to suppliers in China but also sources from Vietnam, Japan, and Turkey.
One of the unique features of DHgate is that it has Digital Trade Centers (DTCs) in several countries around the world. These are physical outlets where sellers can inspect products before making partnership decisions. It currently has DTCs in the United States, Hungary, Australia, Spain, Russia, Turkey, the UAE, and Peru.
You can either work with DHgate directly or make use of an app if you’re on the Shopify platform. They don’t have their own app but work through one called ShopMaster.
6. BrandsGateway
Price: From $360/mo
BrandsGateway is a B2B online marketplace for designer clothing and accessories. Based in Europe, this dropshipping supplier provides fast and secure 5-day delivery to any location around the globe. One of the characteristics that make BrandGateway the ideal choice for drop shippers interested in selling clothing and accessories it’s its portfolio of over 90,000 designer items from luxury brands offered at discounts up to 90%.
BrandsGateway’s all-in-one drop shipping packages include three types of subscription – A monthly package at $360/mo, Start-up package at $720/3 months, and an Annual package at $2,070/year.
By choosing BrandsGateway as your supplier of luxury clothing you'll get plenty of benefits. To guarantee a seamless drop shipping experience, they ensure no minimum order, real-time inventory synchronization, and automated integration with Shopify and WooCommerce.
In addition, for drop shippers that sell on Amazon or eBay, or have a store based on other platforms such as BigCommerce and Prestashop, BrandsGateway ensures simple and easy integration of CSV/XLSX files.
7. Doba
Price: From $29/month
Doba is another product marketplace and lays claim to hosting suppliers with a total of over two million products on offer. The system here allows you to source products and then export them together for listing on your store.
This source is obviously not as extensive as AliExpress or even DHgate and is less integrated than apps like Oberlo. Features in place are useful but ultimately serve more as a convenience for drop shippers that will still need to take considerable action on their ends.
Doba subscriptions don’t vary by volume but more expensive plans have more advanced features. While that may be the norm, even the number of products available is more limited on their starter plans – which go from $29 per month.
8. Dropified
Pricing: From $47/month
Dropified is an integrator platform that lets you access dropshipping products on both AliExpress and eBay. This is a good combination of East meets West and offers drop shippers a good range of products from across the globe.
Features included here are geared towards seamless operations and include product selection and loading, order management, and product upkeep-related automation (e.g. pricing updates, inventory, etc). Besides eCommerce sites, you can also work with Dropified on Facebook so there’s actually no need to create a dropshipping store to start selling.
Dropified segregates its plans both by product volume and features, so newbies on their lower plan can get accustomed to basic features before moving on to better things. Prices aren’t cheap though and range from $47 per month to $167 per month.
9. Worldwide Brands
Pricing: $299/year
Worldwide Brands claims to offer access to not just the largest selection of wholesale products but also to offer the best quality of suppliers. While the latter may be possible, the prior is a highly dubious claim. Still, having been in the market since 1999 it is entirely possible.
The site is entirely geared towards being a product and supplier gallery so there aren’t many bells and whistles here. It’s simply a massive resource pool that you can use to find stuff you can add to your dropship product portfolio.
Worldwide Brands says it's good for eBay and Amazon stores, but since it’s a directory, it will work with any dropshipping medium such as your own eCommerce site. For access to their supplier base, they charge a one-time fee of $299.
10. Wholesale2b
Pricing: From $29.99/month
Wholesale2b is a different beast from most of the brands listed here so far. While it does act as a marketplace to connect suppliers with drop shippers, it offers users so much more if they are willing to pay the price.
Basic users who simply want to access a dropshipping supplier database can do that here and simply manually transfer the products they want over to their own sales channels. However, Wholesale2b has made its database so much more accessible thanks to integration possibilities for a wide range of platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, ECWID, and WooCommerce.
It also has plans in place for those who only want to sell on eBay, Amazon, or their own sites. Each of these plans is siloed though, so if you’re intending to use more than one sales channel you will have to sign up for multiple plans on Wholesale2b – which can stack up in cost significantly.
11. MegaGoods
Pricing: From $14.99/month
Of all the sources we’ve listed here, MegaGoods is the only one which has a more focused niche of products rather than listing everything under the sun. Its key areas of interest are in consumer electronics and you’ll be able to find everything related from car audio to gaming gear.
Also, instead of acting as an intermediary, MegaGoods has actual possession of all the products it lists so everything comes from the same source. Dropshipping with them is like working with a single, massive company that is designed to ship out for drop shippers alone.
Here you get a 30-day trial access to their database, followed by which a monthly service fee of $14.99 becomes payable. This is one of the most no-fuss, no-muss dropshipping systems around but certainly won’t provide you with much in the way of automation tools.
Conclusion: Choice a-plenty for Dropshippers
As you can probably tell from this list, there isn't any one-size-fits-all solution for drop shippers. In this case, it’s a good thing since you can choose the dropshipping suppliers you want that best fits the way you carry out your business.
Prices vary greatly as well and if you’re running a decently profitable dropshipping business, in most cases the fees become negligible. Some of these suppliers are also quite well-established, so there should be no worries about working with any of them.
The ones that do work with Shopify though seem to show a much higher tendency towards automation and for what they have to offer, charge a very modest fee. Still, the point is that you will have choices – many choices.
FAQs on Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an eCommerce business model in which an online store sells products without maintaining inventory or handling the shipping process. When a customer places an order, the retailer forwards the order details to the supplier, who then ships the product directly to the customer. This allows the retailer to focus on marketing and customer service without worrying about inventory management or fulfillment logistics.
To start a dropshipping business, you'll need to follow these steps: choose a niche, research potential suppliers, create an online store using a platform like Shopify or WooCommerce, add products from your suppliers, set up payment gateways, and start marketing your store through various channels such as social media, search engine optimization, and paid advertising. Read our step-by-step guide on how to start a successful dropshipping business for more.
Advantages of dropshipping include low startup costs, minimal risk, flexibility in product offerings, and reduced operational responsibilities. Disadvantages include low-profit margins, potential supplier issues, limited control over shipping and product quality, and potential difficulty in building brand identity.
To find reliable dropshipping suppliers, research using web articles (like this one), attend trade shows, join industry forums, or use supplier marketplaces like AliExpress and Spocket. For best business performance and the least operation headaches – make sure thatyour chosen suppliers have a solid reputation, fast shipping times, and high-quality products.
Pricing products in your dropshipping store involves considering factors such as product cost, shipping fees, taxes, platform fees, and desired profit margin. A common approach is to use the keystone pricing method – where you double the wholesale price of the product. However, ensure your pricing remains competitive while still allowing for a reasonable profit margin.
Employ a mix of marketing strategies to drive traffic and sales to your dropshipping store – this includes search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, as well as paid advertising. Continuously analyze your marketing efforts, optimizing for better results, and engaging with customers to build trust and brand loyalty.
