Sell Online with Drop Shipping

Updated June 21, 2021

Many consumers are unaware how products are made and sold, and you might be surprised how many things you buy online are sold through drop shipping partnerships. If you look on Amazon, there are thousands of drop ship products sourced from around the world and automatically fulfilled by Amazon or another fulfillment service.

What is Drop Shipping?

When a customer places an order online, a drop shipping partner is notified, usually automatically by email for example, that they need to ship an order. The term drop shipping means a product is shipped from a vendor directly to a customer who didn’t necessarily order directly from that vendor. For example, when you order this wine label from Zazzle, you pay Zazzle for it, even though it is made and shipped by Origami Prints in Austin, TX. Zazzle has a drop shipping agreement with Origami prints and likely pays a negotiated rate for the product and shipping when you place your order. Drop shipping is at the heart of eCommerce, as vertically integrated sellers that market, produce and ship their product are rare.

AliExpress is a popular online superstore for drop ship products.

How to Start a Drop Shipping Store

Start an Online Store

If you want to start selling drop ship products online, the first step is to get an online store. Shopify is an eCommerce platform built for large catalogs and drop shipping integrations, and you can get a free Shopify store trial and assistance in getting started here.

Find Products to Drop Ship

Once you have your online store, the next step is finding products to sell. The most popular place to source products for drop shipping is AliExpress because they have a large selection and wholesale prices. We recommend getting samples of products before selling them, as packaging and the actual product can vary from what you see online.

Automate the Online Drop Shipping Process

Shopify store owners have an advantage when it comes to dropshipping from AliExpress because there is an app for it. In the Shopify App store, search for the Oberlo App. Oberlo allows you to sync products and orders between your Shopify store and AliExpress.