Quick answer: A resilient ecommerce supply chain connects demand planning, supplier selection, quality control, inventory, and fulfillment. Measure each handoff so a low product price does not hide downstream risk.
We have talked about how to decide on a niche product in a previous article. After selecting the products, you will face the problem of how to find the right suppliers and arrange the shipping.
This article will help those new sellers who do not have their own stable supply chain, how to find suppliers and solve the problem of dropshipping. You may already have your own suppliers, then this article is also helpful for you to develop a new category.
First of all, how to look for good suppliers who can also arrange your shipping depends on the number of orders you have for a single product. Different numbers of orders require to use of different programs. Here we are divided into 3 scenarios.
0-20 orders per day
20-200 orders per day
200 orders per day
1: 0-20 orders per day
At this stage, it is not recommended to stock up and send the goods to overseas warehouses. For the time being, there is no need to find a supplier agent or direct manufacturer. For this quantity, it’s difficult to get the best price and get the cooperation of suppliers.
More suitable ways are.
AliExpress or use Dsers App
Advantages:
1) There are a large number of products available.
2) Easy to do aggregation and automation with the website
3) In the case of 20 orders per day or less, the order process is not very troublesome
Disadvantages.
1) Price is not particularly cheap in comparison.
2) Long shipping time, usually takes 20-30days or even longer.
3) May encounter bad vendors, do not ship packages or send fake tracking number
4) If you order more quantities, the order process will take you a lot of time and energy.
5) Other sellers will be easier to detect your pop-up products because the speed sellers will show the number of orders for the product. When you place a lot of orders from AliExpress, easy to be noticed on the site and attract the attention of competitors.
If you want to choose a supplier on AliExpress, it is recommended that the following criteria: (1) If there are many suppliers for you to choose from, you can look at the store’s established date. Normally the stores that have been in operation for more than 2-3 years, means they are a real businessman. (2) store rating of 4.5 points or more (3) shipping, currently the main choice is AliExpress Standard Shipping (4) If necessary, you can choose Ship From the USA or other countries, so that the logistics will be faster, of course, the cost will also be more expensive.
You can also take a look at the video below about how to use Dsers app.
Oberlo Suppliers
Advantages
(1) Oberlo-verified suppliers will be more reliable overall, but you have to look at the selection of suppliers, the other party is the Oberlo certified suppliers or just ordinary AliExpress suppliers.
(2) logistics will be a little faster, about 2 weeks.
(3) the process of placing orders is more automated, convenient, and fast
Disadvantages:
(1) the price will be a little more expensive than AliExpress
(2) the variety of products available is not as much as the AliExpress and some products may not be in stock for sale
Eprolo
The overall price is appropriate, compared with AliExpress, mostly are higher and some may be lower. You can compare before ordering. The shipping time is almost 2 weeks. The variety of the products is not as much as AliExpress but includes most big categories. The order process is relatively smooth and easy to operate.
CJ Dropshipping
(1) The logistics speed is not bad, almost 2 – 3 weeks, some products from USA overseas warehouse, can be shipped from the United States.
(2) The overall price is slightly higher than AliExpress.
(3) As the company grew in size, logistics, and customer service gradually improved.
(4)The first time the order process will be a little complicated to operate. But according to the guide, step by step it is also can be get started.
(5) Can provide personalized services such as brand packaging, hangtags, cards, photo shoots, etc.
Wioo.io
(1) In the early days of the establishment, the service was poor, after expanding, the overall service is much better.
(2) The price is moderate, compared with AliExpress.
(3) The logistics time is about 2 weeks.
(4) After the daily orders exceed 20, the price will be more cost-effective.
(5) Can provide customized brand packaging, cards, tags, photography, and other personalized services.
2. 20-200 orders per day
When you have a product with more than 20 orders per day, it will take too much time and effort if still use the above methods.
Searching for a fixed supplier from AliExpress
Ask if you can get a better price and can provide personalized service if can order more than 20 orders per day from them. The process of communication and selection is more time-consuming and exhausting, especially at the beginning of cooperation, which may have some problems. But in the long run, all the efforts are worth it. Once you have a deal, you can get a better price and also save your workload on operating.
1688 site is the largest and most comprehensive wholesale platform in China. If you can purchase from 1688, the price will be much more favorable than from AliExpress. But 1688 is a Chinese platform, and suppliers do not know English, so it is difficult to communicate with them as a seller, here you need the assistance of a sourcing agent.
Work with a sourcing agent
Cooperating with a reliable sourcing agent is also a smart idea. They can help you source better quality suppliers and help handle the shipping.
(1) They take advantage of being familiar with the supply chain in China and can find verified manufacturers to get a better product.
(2) Sellers who do drop shipping have no actual contact with the goods from start to finish, so they cannot control the quality of the product. If the consumer receives a product with defects, they will come to the seller directly and leave negative comments on the store.
One obvious advantage of working with a purchasing agent is that they will inspect the products before shipping, so in this case, can ensure that the products sent out are of good quality.
(3) Agents can provide personalized services, such as private labeling and hangtag, and other value-added services.
(4) The agent will help you compare prices and find a more suitable logistics provider, such as 4PX, YunExpress, and Yanwen Express.
The cooperation process is:
1. Export the order from your website background
2. Provide the products and customer’s address to the agent
3. Sourcing agent quotes you according to your order situation and requirements.
4. After the price and shipping costs are communicated, you can pay through Paypal, Aliexpress, or Alipay and other official channels.
5. Sourcing agent orders the products and do the inspection. Repack and arrange the shipping. Then they send back to you the file with tracking numbers.
3. More than 200 orders per day
When you have more than 200 orders a day, you can find a third-party drop shipping service provider, some sourcing agents also provide this service. You can also consider setting up your own warehouse in China for packing and shipping, but this requires you have someone you trust in China who can help you rent a warehouse, recruit employees and supervise the whole process. Also, most of the sellers will prefer to work with an overseas fulfillment center.
Third-party drop shipping agent
Third-party drop shipping agent charges are closely related to warehouse rent, product type, daily shipping volume, delivery, and value-added services.
The main fee components are storage fee, packing material fee, and warehouse operation fee. In addition, if the seller has special requirements, such as custom labels, placing gift cards, etc., additional value-added services are charged.
Packaging material fees, depend on the size and weight of the package. Generally according to the specific products need to use, courier bags, cardboard boxes, bubble envelope bag sizes and charge different fees.
For example:
Express bag:17*30cm charge 0.02usd/pcs, 32*45cm 0.04usd/pcs, 40*45cm 0.05usd/pcs
Bubble envelope: 14.5*17cm charge 0.06usd/pcs, 16*24cm charge 0.08usd/pcs
Carton: 26*15*18cm 0.25usd/pcs, 30 *20*15cm 0.32usd/pcs, 55*20*30cm 0.7usd/pcs
Warehouse operation fee, inbound (unloading/accounting/sorting/shelf), storage, sorting, packing, labeling, outbound, and other service processes. Product type (SKU, volume size, weight) can operate the degree of difficulty and the number of daily orders issued, are the main factors affecting the cost of operation in the library, with the general cost of about 0.5-1usd.
To sum up, the general third-party drop shipping charges are mostly in the range of 1-2usd. In the process of choosing a drop shipping agent, you may see the gimmick of ultra-low prices to attract customers, which we must pay attention to, below-market prices in the stability and service standards there are risks.
Overseas fulfillment center
The conventional fulfillment center model is a third-party logistics warehousing service provider (such as ShipBob, Shiphero, etc.). You order large goods from Chinese suppliers, shipping by sea to overseas warehouses.
When the customer places an order on your website, the product will be sent directly from the warehouse of the 3PL provider. The advantage of this is that the products will be cheaper and the logistics will be faster (from the fulfillment center to the user in maybe a week or so, but of course it still takes time to get from China to the fulfillment center).
There is a need to make a forecast of the sales volume of the product over a while, as well as a forecast of sales in different regions, which requires stocking up and stocking in advance and will generate a certain amount of inventory.
Costs involved
1、 First-haul transportation cost
The cost of transporting goods from domestic to the U.S. overseas warehouse, depending on the weight of the goods, type, destination, and logistics company hood factors, the cost is also different.
2、 Product warehousing/release fee
After the goods arrive at the U.S. overseas warehouse, the overseas warehouse personnel will count, enter and shelve the products, as well as after the buyer’s place orders, the products out of the warehouse and other operations are required management fees.
3、Sku measurement fee
Because the cost of an overseas warehouse is mainly charged according to the cubic meters of goods, so each SKU will be measured and the cost will be generated, which is a one-time cost, that is, only once.
4、 Storage fee
It refers to the cost of storing the goods in the overseas warehouse, which is generally calculated in different periods, and the cost will be higher if the period is long.
5、 Tail-haul delivery fee
Overseas warehouse arrangements for product delivery, whether own team delivery or to the local logistics company delivery, sellers need to pay a certain amount of delivery costs.
I hope this article is helpful to the sellers, especially new sellers. If you have other questions, welcome to contact us.
Related Post:
How Can Agents Help Amazon Sellers?
How To Buy From 1688.Com: Complete Guide 2023
How To Start A Dropshipping Business By AliExpress?
Make handoffs measurable
Use a responsibility matrix for warehouse receiving and release when orders involve multiple suppliers.
