12 AliExpress Alternatives for Your Online Store
You can read my in depth AliExpress review. If you’re looking for an alternative, here is a list of sites similar to AliExpress where you can source products at wholesale prices.
AliExpress is an excellent ecommerce platform for online stores and dropshippers that need a vast selection of products at low prices.
However, sourcing products from AliExpress has several potential issues, including extended shipping times that can take weeks and a complicated refund process that can take several months.
Quality is the most pressing issue when sourcing products from AliExpress since many items come from small businesses with inadequate quality control. Thus, you must exert significant effort to find first-rate suppliers.
You may need to explore AliExpress alternatives for your dropshipping business to give your online store a competitive edge.
If you’re looking for options other than AliExpress for your ecommerce store, you’ve come to the right place.
This review discusses the best AliExpress alternatives, including my top five picks. I’ll explain each option’s features, pricing, disadvantages, and more.
Here are my top five AliExpress alternatives.
You can read my in depth AliExpress review. If you’re looking for an alternative, here is a list of sites similar to AliExpress where you can source products at wholesale prices.
Omar's Take
If you’re looking for websites like AliExpress for clothes and fashion-related products, LightInTheBox is ideal.
This Chinese website offers a range of clothes and fashion items, gadgets, jewelry, electronics, and home and garden products at wholesale prices.
LightInTheBox isn’t a marketplace like AliExpress with active third-party sellers. All the listed products are from the store, meaning it has more control over product quality.
The site accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, American Express, and JCB.
Here are LightInTheBox’s features you won’t find on popular sites like AliExpress and Alibaba.
Customized Products
LightInTheBox is an excellent platform if you need a wholesaler supplier offering made-to-order dresses. However, this platform doesn’t allow buyers to return personalized products unless they are defective or improperly transported.
Cheap Prices and Discounts
This platform is an excellent source for dropshippers who need affordable clothing, small accessories, and jewelry items.
You can enjoy a 10% discount using the LightInTheBox app and a 70% discount when ordering during the sale events.
Fast Shipping
The site guarantees 24-hour shipping for products with the “Ships in 24 hrs” label. These products leave the warehouse within 24 hours of payment confirmation.
Meanwhile, the rest of the products have an average shipping time of two to 26 days.
The product range isn't as extensive as AliExpress, and product quality can be unpredictable.
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Omar's Take
Banggood is an excellent platform for dropshippers and retailers looking for a reliable supplier of consumer electronics and home appliances at lower prices.
Banggood is most notable for its superior-quality electronics and cell phone accessories. However, this site also offers other product categories, like clothing, bags, and fashion accessories.
Banggood has a separate dropshipping store program where you must open a customer account before adding and selling products.
The online shop accepts popular payment options, including PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and wire transfers. Cash-on-delivery is available in some countries.
Here are Bangood’s unique offerings and features.
Shorter Shipping Times
Banggood operates 37 warehouses across the globe, making it one of the best AliExpress alternatives for dropshipping.
Shipping times are faster than AliExpress and other China-based ecommerce platforms if they have a warehouse and fulfillment facility in your country.
Are you considering Banggood vs. AliExpress? Banggood is one of the best online shopping sites and dropshipping suppliers worldwide.
Special Discount for Dropshippers
Banggood is one of the best AliExpress alternatives because it offers over a million products and special discounts for dropshippers.
Competitive, Superior-quality Products
Many US dropshippers are unfamiliar with Banggood, which can give your online shop a competitive edge.
The products you see on Banggood are often superior in quality to AliExpress because it doesn’t have third-party sellers. Banggood is the direct seller of the items on its site.
The shipping process is often time-consuming.
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Omar's Take
DHgate’s business model is similar to AliExpress. As a marketplace with over two million sellers, this is an excellent source of dropshipping products at low prices.
DHgate has over two million active sellers from 222 countries and supports eight languages. It’s also one of the biggest B2B cross-border ecommerce platforms.
DHgate vs. AliExpress: What’s the difference?
DHgate follows the same business model as AliExpress, and both platforms have third-party sellers. However, DHgate has unique advantages, including faster delivery times and no minimum order quantity limit for most items.
The extensive product selection in DHGate rivals AliExpress, making this platform popular among dropshippers and wholesalers who sell electronics, sporting goods, home decor, and health and beauty products.
Here are DHgate’s features.
Shorter Shipping and Delivery Time
Even though DHgate is a Chinese company, international shipping often takes three to 15 days for most countries, significantly shorter than AliExpress and Alibaba’s three-to-four-week delivery time.
DHgate is an excellent option for dropshippers seeking partners offering free worldwide shipping. The company works with major carriers, including FedEx, ePacket, DHL, UPS, Post Link, EMS, TNT, and HK Post.
No Minimum Order Limit
Many products have no minimum order limit, allowing dropshippers and retailers to purchase individual products to determine their quality before making a bulk order.
Flash Sales and Discounts
You can find discount coupons ranging from $2 to $25 and enjoy up to 50% discount during flash sales.
DHgate has multiple sellers, meaning quality and customer service vary by seller. Conduct thorough research to find a reliable supplier.
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Omar's Take
American Greenwood is an ideal place to start to make money while supporting a US-based ecommerce store selling eco-friendly products.
American Greenwood’s unique selling point is that it only carries paper products from sustainably grown forests.
Furthermore, all its plastic products are from recycled or compostable materials.
However, American Greenwood has a much more limited product selection than AliExpress, Alibaba, and other platforms I’ve mentioned.
American Greenwood primarily sells small items and promotional products, like key tags, bookmarks, pens, and tumblers.
Here are American Greenwood’s unique offerings.
Eco-friendly Products
Almost all products are from compostable or recycled materials or sustainably grown forests. The site also meets current Federal safety standards.
Better Shipping Process
American Greenwood’s shipping costs and times are better than AliExpress and other Chinese platforms. AG can fulfill and dispatch orders within one to three days.
Excellent Customer Service
American Greenwood provides quick and personalized customer service. You don’t have to deal with third-party sellers.
The product categories are limited to small items and promotional goods.
Furthermore, the site is more suited for small wholesalers than dropshippers because it has no dedicated dropshipping program.
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Omar's Take
Spocket is a reliable dropshipping and wholesale site where you can find superior-quality products from European and US manufacturers.
Spocket is one of the best AliExpress alternatives for dropshippers who don’t want to import from China. With this platform, you can source products from European and US manufacturers.
Since European and US manufacturers have stricter quality control than their Chinese counterparts, you can expect better quality from Spocket.
You need to open an account to start sourcing products from Spocket. Choose a country and click your preferred product category. Once you see an item you like, tap “Import” to add it to your online store.
Spocket offers unique features you won’t find in companies like AliExpress.
Faster Shipping Times
Spocket’s international shipping is more efficient and quicker than sites like AliExpress because it has local warehouses and fulfillment centers across Europe and the US.
Customized Invoices
Spocket offers personalized invoices with your brand and contact details. However, it doesn’t have custom packaging with your logo and business information.
Multiple Integrations
Spocket is one of the few dropshipping sites that integrate with multiple ecommerce platforms, including BigCommerce, Wix, Shopify, WooCommerce, Square, and Ecwid.
Verified Suppliers
The quality of products in places like AliExpress is hit-and-miss, but this isn't the case with Spocket because you can browse through verified suppliers.
It has slightly fewer options than popular online stores like AliExpress.
Here are Spocket’s monthly pricing plans.
Omar's Take
SaleHoo is one of the best AliExpress alternatives for global wholesalers and dropshippers who want their products from vetted suppliers.
SaleHoo isn't a manufacturer or supplier but a directory service with over 8,000 pre-vetted suppliers. As such, it doesn't pack or ship products directly to customers.
Are you looking for sites and apps like AliExpress but don’t want to deal with shady third-party sellers? SaleHoo is an excellent choice because it thoroughly investigates each supplier.
Additionally, the directory service offers 24-hour customer support and a market research tool to help you find suitable suppliers for your dropshipping business.
SaleHoo is one of the best dropshipping services because it offers unique selling points.
Trendy Products
You can find trendy products ranging from women’s clothing and baby products to pet supplies and health and beauty items.
Money-Back Guarantee
Buyers can get no-questions-asked refunds within the first two months if they are unhappy with their orders.
Dedicated Dropship Plan
SaleHoo also allows buyers to import AliExpress products directly to their store in just a single click.
If you’re specifically looking for dropshipping products available at cheap pricing, SaleHoo isn't an ideal source.
Furthermore, SaleHoo’s directory service lacks a filter for location- or country-based searches.
Here are SaleHoo’s monthly pricing plans.
SaleHoo Dropship
SaleHoo Directory Pricing
Omar's Take
Worldwide Brands gives direct access to safe and highly-rated wholesalers, although it has a steep one-time membership fee.
Worldwide Brands connects dropshippers with pre-vetted wholesalers who provide over 16 million products, including computer accessories, fashion items, toys, and gaming consoles.
You must pay a one-time membership fee of $299 to access the platform’s substantial product categories at low prices.
The platform accepts Amazon Pay, PayPal, Stripe, Payza, Skrill, 2Checkout, major credit cards, and Authorize.net.
Worldwide Brands has unique offerings you won’t find on websites and apps similar to AliExpress.
Intuitive Website
You can search by category, brand name, product type, and location. If you can’t find a product, you can submit a request to customer service to track down any wholesalers that offer it.
High-quality Products for Dropshipping
The platform offers a wide range of product categories specifically for dropshippers, including DIY items, garden and outdoor, smartphones, toys, gaming consoles, tablets, and smartwatches.
Safe and Secure
The platform gives direct access to safe and highly-rated wholesalers.
Some may find the one-time membership expensive, especially first-time dropshippers. Thus, the platform may not be ideal for newcomers.
$299 one-time membership fee
Omar's Take
If you’re looking for wholesale websites offering flash deals and discounts frequently, DealeXtreme won’t disappoint. DX is beneficial if your ecommerce store sells consumer gadgets and electronics.
DX doesn’t have a specific dropshipping program, although it remains a popular AliExpress alternative because of its massive selection of products at low prices.
This Hong Kong-based ecommerce platform sends your customers’ packages without its logo or any information indicating its warehouse location.
DX products are cheaper than AliExpress. However, you must do your due diligence by checking the seller’s profile and ordering small quantities to check the product’s quality.
As one of the best AliExpress alternatives, DX has unique offerings you may not find anywhere else.
Wholesale Deals and Discounts
You can submit a request form asking sellers for discounts or bargain prices. You can also get the most competitive prices during the site’s flash deals.
Extensive Selection of Electronic Accessories
Sites like AliExpress and DHGate have a vast selection of consumer gadgets. However, DX is a better platform for dropshippers looking for cheap smartphones, tablets, and other electronic accessories.
You can also find branded electronics from known Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, and Realme.
Free Shipping
DX provides free shipping on all its listed products, although you need to pay extra for express shipping from carriers like DHL and TNT.
Many buyers have complained about DX’s poor customer service team, which rarely answers calls and prefers email communications.
Another issue is that the quality of unbranded electronics and other cheap products is hit-and-miss.
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Omar's Take
While AliExpress and Alibaba are sister companies, the latter offers better deals if you buy bulk merchandise or need customized products.
Alibaba’s business model is similar to its sister company AliExpress, although the former offers better deals when you buy large quantities.
Alibaba is also an excellent option if you’re looking for websites like AliExpress with fast shipping.
In addition, the platform has a better supplier verification process and more intuitive search functions than its sister company.
Customized Products
Alibaba is an excellent AliExpress alternative because you can add your brand logo or designs to your products.
Intuitive Website
Alibaba has easy-to-use search functions to help you find items by product categories, location, and price range.
Buyer Protection
Alibaba has a buyer protection program called Trade Assurance that gives refunds for substandard or defective products and delayed or failed delivery. It also performs background checks on sellers to ensure product quality.
While Alibaba conducts background checks on sellers, a small percentage of intermediaries still exist on the platform. These people pose as manufacturers and provide no added value to the transaction.
Since most products have a minimum order quantity, Alibaba isn’t ideal for buyers who can’t buy in large quantities.
Furthermore, it doesn't integrate with Oberlo, which can be an issue if you have a Shopify store.
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Omar's Take
Doba connects dropshipping suppliers with retailers. The platform doesn't offer competitive prices but integrates well with Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and WooCommerce.
The product prices on Doba aren’t as competitive as other AliExpress competitors because it only connects retailers and dropshipping suppliers.
This dropshipping aggregator has unique offerings that benefit small online shops.
Intuitive Website
Shopping online is a breeze with Doba, thanks to its curated product lists, easy-to-use search functions, inventory management, price change alerts, status order tracker, and other features to help dropshippers find products.
Excellent Store Integrations
Doba integrates with popular platforms, including Bigcommerce, Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and WooCommerce. It also offers a complete dropshipping solution.
Faster Shipping Times
Depending on the shipping method, the delivery time can range from one to 12 days, faster than AliExpress and most similar platforms.
The monthly fees may be too expensive for dropshippers with small operations.
Furthermore, many dropshippers complain that most Doba products are overpriced.
Here are Doba’s monthly pricing plans.
Omar's Take
Kole Imports is like the US counterpart of AliExpress and Alibaba. While the platform started as a wholesaler, it now has many dropshippers who can access their extensive range of products.
Kole Imports is a California-based company and one of the oldest wholesale websites in the US. It also offers a dropshipping service for free, meaning you can access thousands of products without paying a membership fee.
Kole Imports offers unique benefits.
Sells Closeouts
Kole Imports isn't just a wholesale and dropshipping site. It’s also a reseller of excess inventories, overstock products, and closeout items from businesses and individuals.
Dedicated Dropshipping Platform
Kole Imports has a dropshipping program to help you run your business smoothly.
Faster Shipping Times
For US orders, shipping time can be as quick as two business days. However, products that require additional prep may take three to seven days longer.
US products are more expensive than their Chinese counterparts, which may lead to smaller profit margins.
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Omar's Take
While Geekbuying has a smaller product selection, it remains one of the best AliExpress alternatives for dropshippers who need tech product suppliers.
Geekbuying’s business model is the same as AliExpress, meaning you can buy bulk orders at wholesale prices. However, one of its selling points is the extensive selection of tech products.
Here are some products on Geekbuying.
Geekbuying’s popularity among dropshippers boils down to its unique offerings.
Faster Shipping and Delivery Times
Whether you order a single item or a large quantity, Geekbuying can ship it worldwide. The average processing time for orders is one to three days, while standard shipping takes five to eight days.
Delivery time is shorter for US buyers (two to three days) because the company has multiple warehouses nationwide.
Branding
Your customers will receive the package with your brand logo and company details as if your business processes orders directly.
Large Selection of Electronic Products
Geekbuying has over 25,000 electronic products and accessories on its website.
There are many counterfeit products on the site, and shipping costs are more expensive than most competitors.
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If you’re looking for reliable suppliers, you need to find AliExpress alternatives that offer not just a vast selection of goods at cheap prices but also quality products and excellent customer support.
Here’s why you should look for platforms similar to or better than AliExpress if you’re a dropshipping business owner or online retailer.
AliExpress shipping usually takes three to four weeks because most products come from China.
While you can improve the shipping time by choosing a faster shipping method, doing so will increase the wholesale prices of your items, making pricing less competitive.
Communication with dropshipping and wholesale suppliers from AliExpress may be an issue since most speak little to no English.
Many Amazon, eBay, and Walmart sellers source their products from Chinese manufacturers from sites like Alibaba and AliExpress.
Consider looking elsewhere if you need a dropshipping supplier offering unique products and handcrafted items.
Due to the inadequate legal protection for brands in mainland China, you can find many counterfeit and pirated items from Chinese websites like AliExpress.
Another issue with this popular wholesale and dropshipping platform is product quality. Since unknown brands often have insufficient quality control, consider sticking to products from established companies.
If you send defective goods back to China, it usually takes three to four weeks to reach your supplier. If they agree to send a replacement, it will take another three to four weeks to arrive.
If you have to open a dispute because the seller refuses to send a replacement, it will take approximately another month.
Yes. There are several US suppliers like AliExpress, including American Greenwood and Kole Imports.
Yes. Many AliExpress alternatives accept PayPal, including LightInTheBox, Banggood, and Worldwide Brands, accept PayPal.
Both platforms are excellent for dropshippers and retailers, although Alibaba is better in terms of wholesale prices and bulk orders.
Meanwhile, AliExpress is a better option for smaller orders and dropshipping businesses.
Yes. Aside from low prices, AliExpress offers specific tools to help dropshippers run their business smoothly.
If you’re using Oberlo, you can easily find products and add them to your store in just a few clicks.
All the sites, platforms, and directory services I mentioned are excellent AliExpress alternatives.
The perfect one depends on your business, preferred shipping time, and customers.
To succeed in your online retail or dropshipping business, you need multiple suppliers offering superior-quality products at lower prices. You don’t want to run out of best-selling products or limit your customers.
Instead of ditching AliExpress or choosing just one platform, you can leverage multiple sources.
If you primarily sell clothing and fashion items, consider using the best print-on-demand companies for ecommerce.
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