Becoming a successful dropshipper is an ecommerce dream come true, as it offers a largely hands-off business model that has massive potential for scale, and the ability to launch and test multiple stores at once with little upfront investment.
One of the most critical pieces to the puzzle of building a winning dropshipping store is finding a good supplier.
This guide will help you become a pro at finding and vetting good dropshipping suppliers. Learn which qualities to look for when seeking a supplier, get a list of seven proven methods to find them, a list of some of the best suppliers out there, and how to start and grow your dropshipping business with the help of experts.
Jump ahead to:
- How do I Prepare Myself Before Contacting Dropshipping Suppliers?
- 7 Proven Methods to Find Good Dropshipping Suppliers
- What Makes a Good Dropshipping Supplier?
- How to Tell if a Dropshipping Supplier is Legit
- 7 of the Best Dropshipping Suppliers
- Grow your Dropshipping Business With Whop
How do I Prepare Myself Before Contacting Dropshipping Suppliers?
Before you get started with contacting dropshipping suppliers, it’s crucial to be prepared so you enjoy minimal back and forth and get your business launched ASAP.
Here are some key action points to carry out to make sure you are well prepared to contact suppliers:
Set up a proper business entity
While some suppliers will work with anyone who has the money and access to buy products from their store, you might find that some won’t work with you unless you are registered as an actual business.
To prevent any potential limitations in this area, take the time to properly set up a business entity and any associated essentials like a dedicated business bank account and tax ID that you can use to open up your store and contact suppliers as an official business.
Consult with a professional if you’re unsure at any step in this process as it’s important to do this correctly.
Evaluate your supply chain and fulfillment needs
While dropshipping offers hands-off fulfillment, you’ll still need to have a good understanding of what your needs are and if your dropshipping supplier can meet them.
For example, you might want to have a supplier that provides real-time stock updates to prevent any fulfillment delays for top-selling products. You might also need to add on special packaging or branding requirements that can help to foster brand loyalty and help you stand out against the competition.
Choose and set up platform to sell on
Picking the right platform to sell on is important for both you and your customer. Ideally, you want to use a platform that is easy to set up a nice-looking storefront so that it has good potential to convert visitors into customers with as little time and effort for setup as possible.
Another important consideration when picking an ecommerce platform to sell with is the possibility of integrating with apps or plugins that connect to your supplier and help to automate orders. Be sure to check with both your platform and supplier to ensure that this connection is possible as this will make selling and inventory management seamless.
A good platform will also have a selection of free and premium themes that make your brand appear professional and trustworthy, which is especially important in the realm of dropshipping.
Once you’ve reviewed the options for platforms that fit your needs and budget, make sure to also secure a domain that fits your brand name so you can solidify your online presence and brand.
Prepare a list of products and qualifications
Before reaching out to suppliers, compile a detailed list of products you want to sell. This list can be sourced manually by figuring out what competition is selling, or if you’re in an elite dropshipping group you can get a head start with a curated list of winning products.
Your qualifications for these products, apart from their quality and relevance, should be centered around pricing and fulfillment. Make sure to take note of what the competition is doing successfully in these areas to create realistic expectations. One qualification you can consider is whether or not the supplier is domestic, as some sellers prefer to work with these due to reduced fulfillment time and the possibility of greater quality control despite generally higher prices.
It’s also important to familiarize yourself with industry standards and what to expect in terms of the ability to negotiate with potential volume discounts or if you’re able to customize something like packaging or branding.
7 Proven Methods to Find Good Dropshipping Suppliers
Now that you know what you need to prepare yourself like a pro, you’re ready to reach out to find your supplier.
Here are seven effective strategies that you can use to pick the right supplier that suits your needs and goals:
1. Contact manufacturers directly
The best types of suppliers are often those that aren’t easily discoverable by the public, and sometimes, these are hidden in plain sight. Some manufacturers of popular items that are already being sold on other online storefronts are open to dropshipping arrangements, so it doesn’t hurt to reach out directly and ask.
Look out for manufacturers that allow for authorized distributors as this is a good sign that they could be open to dropshipping as well. When reaching out, make sure you have a business plan in addition to a formal structure as this will give you a higher chance of these manufacturers working with you.
2. Attend trade shows
Another gold mine for finding unique relationships with profitable suppliers is trade shows. The best of these events will bring together manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and brand representatives all in one concentrated area, offering insane networking potential and negotiation.
At trade shows you’ll have the additional benefit of being able to inspect and test products in person and have questions answered in real time with a supplier that you meet in person.
Most of the best trade shows happen in China with Shenzen being a major hub for the latest products in the tech and gadget realm, so although you may have to spend on both the flight and event tickets, your odds of finding a hot trending product early and at a highly profitable price point are quite high if you make the effort to get out there.
However, don’t overlook smaller, regional shows as well as they can still offer opportunities to network with domestic suppliers to find a good product to dropship.
3. Search engines
Finding your dropshipping supplier can be as simple as a Google search for a relevant term. Start with targeted keywords that relate to what you’re looking for such as “wholesale dropshipping suppliers” or “domestic dropshippers” combined with your target product or its category.
Look for suppliers with professional websites, clear contact information through multiple channels, and detailed product catalogs.
Take the time to review the qualities of good dropshipping suppliers that we describe in depth in this article to create a qualification system that you can use to determine which suppliers are worth engaging with.
4. Research the competition
With a bit of detective work, analyzing your competitors can provide valuable insights into dropshipping suppliers. Start by acting like a potential customer on social media, searching for the latest cool gadgets or using search terms like “TikTok made me buy it”. Soon enough, you’ll run across accounts that are promoting various products, many of which are dropshipped.
Take note of the product offerings, shipping times, and packaging. You can also simply search for the product they’re selling on a website like Aliexpress and check to see if you find a match, making note of the price they’re selling it for and their potential profit margin.
Some software spy tools like Spy Crew can give you clues for what winning products and suppliers the most successful dropshippers are using, along with their ad strategies, even potentially revealing how much money they’re making.
5. Use dropshipping apps
Some apps have been created to directly serve dropshippers in all their needs, including linking you up with suppliers that have already been vetted.
One specific example with many options is Shopify. Their store has several apps that integrate with their platform and provide multiple benefits for dropshipping, including a more streamlined process of finding dropshippers and an increased ease for inventory management and order fulfillment.
Popular examples of these apps include DSers and Spocket–we’ll get to more later.
6. Dropshipping directories
High-quality dropshipping directories can present a comprehensive database of pre-screened suppliers, saving you time and reducing the risk of working with a low-quality company.
In order to keep their standards high and to lower the amount of market saturation, these directories are often paywalled with a subscription fee on top of an application process.
The best directories are worth the price, but make sure you come in with a plan and are ready to sort through and find your ideal dropshipper as soon as you can so you don’t pay the ongoing subscription for longer than you need to.
Examples of directories include Worldwide Brands and SaleHoo.
7. Ask in dropshipping communities
Some dropship-focused groups and forums can be found on Facebook and Reddit, but the quality of the replies you will get on these publicly accessible websites might not be the best. Perhaps the best place to find a low-key, quality dropshipping supplier is inside of a tight-knit, expert-led private community.
Since the communication happens inside a high-trust environment outside the reach of prying public eyes, the advice is straight to the point and highly effective. In high-quality dropshipping private groups you’ll often get a list of suppliers you can contact and the best channels to reach out to them in addition to what the best current winning products are.
The last thing to remember is that going into business with a dropshipping supplier means that you’re ideally entering a long-term relationship with them. As with any relationship, you’ll want to avoid red flags and find as many green flags as possible before choosing one to use as the foundation for launching and scaling your business.
What Makes a Good Dropshipping Supplier?
Before working with a dropshipping supplier, it’s important to know which qualities that elevate them to a sufficient level to engage in a working relationship with.
Ideally, you want excellence in all of the following areas so that you’ll be working with a great supplier:
Quality customer service
One of the most important considerations when choosing to work with a dropshipping supplier is how responsive they are to any questions or issues that you or your customer might run into. Good customer service that responds promptly and solves issues, including returns and product quality concerns, is essential for your reputation as a business. No matter how well you address your customers, you’ll always be dependent on how well your supplier addresses you.
Look for suppliers that respond promptly to questions and offer multiple communication channels with dedicated and easy-to-reach support teams. You should also get a clear understanding up front of their policies in addition to any other commonly asked questions.
Diverse yet curated product catalog
Having a variety of products to choose from is a good sign, but what matters more than the product choice is the quality and relevance of products. A winning product can make the difference between a highly profitable business and one that fails to gain traction, and in dropshipping, these products are subject to trends and other market changes.
So, when you’re perusing a supplier’s offerings for your next winner, you shouldn’t need to sort through a random collection of outdated products to find those that are still trending–the best dropshipping suppliers are already stocking the latest and best products, phasing out those that have lost their steam.
Accurate product description
Nothing’s worse than paying for something and not getting what was expected in terms of quality, functionality or anything else that feels like the product was a good deal.
Make sure your supplier has detailed specifications about each product, and when you order a sample, ensure the product matches the description. A good supplier knows that accurate product descriptions mean a lower return rate and a higher sense of customer satisfaction, two qualities that your dropshipping business should strive to maintain.
Well-made products
The profit margin you get from the upcharge that your customer pays should feel justified, so make sure you’re sourcing well-made products. The quality of your products should at the least meet or ideally even exceed the expectation. To find suppliers with well-made products, look for reviews, quality control measures or any guarantees.
Take the time to send the product to yourself and make sure it’s durable, reliable, easy to use and set up, and has fully functional supplementary parts if it comes with a battery or charger or any other necessary accessories.
Efficient fulfillment
As a dropshipper, you and your customer are at the mercy of the fulfillment time and process that your supplier provides, and with consumer time expectations surrounding shipping becoming increasingly shorter, you’ll want your supplier to fulfill your orders as efficiently as possible.
This could mean sourcing from a domestic supplier rather than one from overseas, but regardless of where your supplier is based, the products should be delivered reliably within the expected timeframe.
In order to make this process smoother, your supplier should also receive a notification of orders as soon as they come into your store, so consider working with those that can easily automate fulfillment integrations with your chosen ecommerce platform.
Efficient fulfillment also means that your product is in stock when it’s needed, so you should also make sure that your supplier is ready to notify you in case a product might be out of stock soon and is also able to replenish stock quickly.
How to Tell if a Dropshipping Supplier is Legit
If you don’t have a trained eye or experience dealing with suppliers, it can be hard to differentiate between a legitimate supplier and a low-quality one, as the latter often make good efforts to conceal their shortcomings.
However, if you pay attention to these factors, you’ll be able to save time and sort out the good from the bad:
Good Reviews
The first thing you should look for before engaging in business with a dropshipping supplier is good reviews. Start by searching the suppliers name + reviews on Google, Reddit and other forums to see what people have to say about them. Be sure to search websites like Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau as well.
Keep an eye out for complaints as these are more likely to be public than if something is going so well that satisfied customers don’t feel the need to brag about it.
When browsing supplier websites, see if there is a public review or feedback area for individual products or suppliers as this is a green flag if they’re open to receiving and displaying feedback.
Product quality
The quality of the product is what will justify your profit margin, so the standard must be on par with competing products that can be bought at similar price points.
In addition to doing as much research as you can online, be sure to order at least one sample to review in person so you can get an accurate understanding of whether or not the product matches its description in addition to other important factors like its ease of use and long-term durability.
Shipping and fulfillment options
All good dropshipping suppliers will provide shipping and fulfillment options that are both reliable and efficient and without any surprise costs.
Make sure that the all-in cost of getting your winning product to the customer inside a reasonably quoted timeframe allows for a profit margin, and be sure to also double-check that the quoted times are accurate by ordering a product yourself.
Quality control and returns policy
Legitimate dropshippers will have some degree of quality control and a reasonable returns policy. Look for terms for returns, exchanges and refunds carefully, and if you can’t find them publicly displayed, you can ask customer support but this is often a red flag that the supplier is lacking in these areas.
Other things to look for include warranties or guarantees and whether or not the supplier assumes responsibility for any shipping delays or product defects.
Make sure your store policies in these areas reflect that of your suppliers, in addition to double checking that the supplier is true to their word either by first or second-hand experience.
Customer service when it comes to dropshippers
The quality of customer service that your supplier provides, especially when it comes to individual dropshippers, is a key indicator of how legitimate the dropshipper is.
You can get a taste for the customer service even before you make a transaction: start by asking a specific question, such as the availability of a certain product or more details surrounding their return policy, and see how quickly and accurately they respond.
The level of support you receive as a prospective individual dropshipper often reflects how they’ll handle future issues when they inevitably arrive, so be sure to work with a supplier that excels in this area. Multiple points of contact are a good sign, ideally including live chat with a real human in addition to email support with a reasonable response time.
7 of the Best Dropshipping Suppliers
Here’s a list of quality dropshipping suppliers you can work with. The options range from websites that are stacked with full product catalogs to curated directories and easy-to-integrate apps:
1. Aliexpress
One of the most popular options for a dropshipping supplier that fits businesses at all budget and experience levels is Aliexpress.
Their marketplace has a diversity that rivals Amazon, with perhaps more interesting and unique gadgets that have the potential to be winning dropshipping products.
Another positive is its public review system and messaging features that make it easy to contact suppliers.
However, the product range has the potential to be overwhelmingly diverse and the quality of suppliers can vary drastically. Also, the shipping times are generally longer as the majority of products come from China.
2. Spocket
One of the biggest gripes for both buyers and sellers in dropshipping is the shipping times, as many products are sourced overseas from China and come with waits that can be in the two-week range or even longer.
Expedited overseas shipping has the potential to increase the acquisition costs to a level that is no longer profitable. The solution of working with a domestic supplier has proved elusive in the past, but Spocket, a dropshipping app that integrates with Shopify, makes this easy.
Their product catalog contains products sourced from the US and EU with fast shipping already priced into the reasonable product cost, making them a great solution for those looking for a domestic dropshipping supplier.
3. Worldwide Brands
When it comes to dropshipping directories, one of the best places to start as a dropshipper is Worldwide Brands. Don’t let its outdated-looking website dissuade you–if anything, this lends to their legitimacy as an old-school, long-standing provider that doesn’t need a fancy design to convince its customers.
As with any other private supplier directory, there is a membership fee, and with Worldwide Brands, you only have to pay once for lifetime access.
After paying, you’ll get access to a thoroughly vetted database of wholesale products and dropshipping suppliers so you can quickly pick a winning product from a reliable supplier.
4. Salehoo
Salehoo is another private directory for wholesale and dropshipping suppliers. Access to their pre-vetted list of suppliers is granted for either an annual or lifetime price.
In addition to being able to access suppliers and products in some of the hottest categories including gadgets and popular accessories, Salehoo offers outreach templates and market research tools that help you to find winning suppliers in just about any niche.
5. Wholesale Central
Wholesale Central is a free directory with a diverse selection, including domestic options as well as overseas suppliers.
It primarily serves the wholesale market, but with some effort and outreach, it’s possible to find a supplier that’s willing to dropship for you.
The platform also hosts live trade shows that you can join to find products and build relationships that can give you a unique competitive advantage.
6. Oberlo
While it’s not a dropshipping supplier per se, Oberlo is incredibly handy as a resource for finding products to dropship. It’s a dropshipping app that integrates with Shopify and Aliexpress, easing many points of friction in the process of running your dropshipping store.
With Oberlo, you get assistance with finding a winning product based on top trending statistics, and you’ll be able to easily import and effectively manage inside your store with easy integrations and a helpful dashboard.
The company offers a limited free plan in addition to a tiered basic and premium monthly subscription.
7. Printful
For those who want a unique product that stands out or something to represent a personal brand, a top choice is print-on-demand, a form of dropshipping that involves custom-printed products.
Printful rises to the top as a premiere option in the print-on-demand world, offering a collection of over 300 different products that can be customized on demand and shipped individually to customers.
Top converting products include T-shirts, coffee mugs, and towels.
Pricing, fulfillment times, customer service and product quality are all top-notch, so they’re an excellent choice if you want to sell customized products that you don’t have to produce and fulfill yourself.
Grow your Dropshipping Business With Whop
Even if you’ve already started your dropshipping business and have tasted some degree of success, you can always test and improve various aspects to build a competitive advantage and rise to even higher income levels.
One of the best ways to create and sustain improvement in a positive direction is to join a community that keeps you accountable.
With Whop, not only can you access such communities that are focused on specific areas of business, including dropshipping, you’ll benefit from expert guidance on top of other unique advantages such as exact supplier lists, winning product case studies and custom software.
If you want to build the dropshipping business of your dreams and stay ahead, check out Whop’s premiere collection of dropshipping focused communities.
