This is a brief guide to AliExpress dropshipping to South Africa. A lot more people are looking for ways to make money online in South Africa and dropshipping is currently one of the most viable options. Generally, AliExpress and eBay are the go-to places for dropshipping in South Africa. AliExpress tends to be cheaper and is used by most dropshippers around the world. After having used AliExpress on my dropshipping business, this is the experience I have got. This article will answer most questions that you aspiring drop shippers might have.
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Is it worth it?
Using AliExpress to dropship to South Africa has its pros and cons just like anything. It’s way cheaper to dropship from AliExpress compared to other platforms like eBay and Amazon. There is a huge selection of products, you can setup your whole dropshipping store using AliExpress products. They have very strong buyer protection measures. The disadvantages are that you will not find a lot of the popular brands on AliExpress, unlike eBay. Good luck trying to find Nike, Adidas or other recognisable brands, not to say that they don’t have these brands, they do but the selection is not wide.
The other disadvantage is the delivery time, AliExpress sucks when it comes delivery time. Most products get delivered within 30 days but there are products that can stretch to over 45 days. That’s a real disadvantage to someone who is looking to run an efficient business.
All in all, AliExpress is a very good dropshipping platform but I don’t use it as much as I use eBay, mainly because of the delivery time. Most customers are not that patient, waiting for over 40 days for something they bought online from a “South African” store doesn’t make sense to them. That’s because most customers have no idea what dropshipping is, they expect a product they bought within South Africa to be delivered quickly.
Where can you find dropshipping suppliers with reasonable delivery time?
Any business looking to be profitable while providing value to their customers has to be efficient. With AliExpress you don’t get to be very efficient, someone might buy from your site and wait for 40 days but I am quite certain that they won’t be coming back. You might want to look at Ebay and other dropshipping platforms, don’t go to Amazon, just don’t. There are some dropshipping companies in South Africa as well.
How can you decrease the delivery time for AliExpress dropshipping?
It’s not worth it, the delivery fees are so ridiculous that they sometimes cost more than the product itself. No one would like to pay over R1 500 in delivery fees for a R700 product. If you are going to use AliExpress for sourcing products for your eCommerce store then you have to be prepared to wait for a long time. Try investing your time in searching for alternatives.
