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Amazon Dropshipping 2024 Guide: How to Dropship on Amazon

Looking for a way to start selling on Amazon but don’t want to spend a lot of money doing it? Try dropshipping on Amazon!

Dropshipping products on Amazon is a unique business model that doesn’t require as much upfront investment as private label or wholesale would. While the low overhead and upfront costs are desirable, you need to be sure you’re following the rules of dropshipping on Amazon to do it right.

In this article, we’ll cover how to start dropshipping on Amazon, including the following:

Want to learn more about selling on Amazon? Check out our complete guide.

What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping is an ecommerce fulfillment method in which sellers will outsource order fulfillment — all without having to purchase any inventory upfront. When a customer places an order, your supplier, manufacturer, or distributor will then ship the product to your customer.

Dropshippers reposition and/or rebrand the sold goods as their own and the end consumer is never made aware that the goods came directly from the manufacturer. This practice is popular on e-commerce sites like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify.

How dropshipping on Amazon works

And while this may sound somewhat complex, we’ve broken it down for you to help you get a better handle on how it works and how to start Amazon dropshipping in 2024.

Here is a diagram that teaches you the basics of dropshipping on Amazon (explained in further detail below):

  1. First, an Amazon customer (on the left-hand side of the diagram) purchases the product you’ve listed on Amazon. 
  2. Second, once the transaction is finalized and you receive the funds, you purchase the product directly from the supplier (on the right-hand side of the diagram) and give them the customer’s information. 
  3. Lastly, with the buyer’s information in hand, the supplier then sends the product to the customer.

Amazon’s dropshipping policy: 2024 updates

Before you jump into dropshipping on Amazon, please make sure you fully understand Amazon’s dropshipping policy guidelines on dropshipping so you don’t end up on Amazon’s bad side.

If you violate the policy in any way, you may lose the ability to sell via FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant), or even have your account suspended.

Amazon is very strict about its dropshipping policy, so please be sure to take notes from the information below. 

Yes! Amazon dropshipping is perfectly legal and allowed on the platform as long as you do it correctly. When dropshipping on Amazon, there are a number of rules you must adhere to:

  • You must be identified as the seller on all invoices, packing slips, external packaging, and any other information included or provided with the product. There should be no mention of your supplier or manufacturer. 
  • You remove any packing slips, invoices, external packaging, or other information identifying a third-party drop shipper prior to shipping the order.
  • You are responsible for accepting and processing returns.
  • You must comply with all of Amazon’s Terms of Service according to the seller agreement. 
  • Purchasing products from online retailers, such as Walmart, including Amazon, or other third-party sellers on Amazon, and having that retailer ship directly to customers is strictly prohibited without exception.

Do not — and I repeat — do not purchase products from another online retailer and have them ship the product to your customer. This is a big no-no from Amazon and they will suspend you for it.

Here’s an example of what is NOT allowed by Amazon:

  1. You list a coffee maker for sale on Amazon. 
  2. A customer purchases the product.o. 
  3. You purchase the same item from Walmart.com and then enter in the Amazon customer’s shipping info.
  4. The Amazon customer receives a package with Walmart identifiers on it. 

If a customer receives a package from Walmart, they’re going to be very confused and frustrated, as they ordered from Amazon. 

You may instead practice what’s called retail arbitrage, where you purchase an item from another store such as Walmart and resell it on Amazon — as long as there is no mention of Walmart on a packing slip or the packaging.

How does dropshipping compare to other methods of selling on Amazon?

Dropshipping is just one of many methods of starting a business on Amazon. Other popular — and arguably more lucrative — methods of selling products on Amazon include wholesale, private label, retail arbitrage, online arbitrage, handmade, and bookselling

  • Wholesaling is when you purchase goods at a bulk rate from a supplier to resell to another retailer or distribute as a retailer yourself.
  • Arbitrage is when you purchase discounted goods from other retail stores and resell them on Amazon.
  • Private label is a method of manufacturing your own products to sell on Amazon. 

However, there are a number of advantages dropshipping on Amazon has over wholesaling and private label.

READ MORE | How to Sell Wholesale on Amazon: The Ultimate Guide

Amazon FBA vs. dropshipping

Amazon FBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon, is a fulfillment method run by Amazon that stores, packs, and fulfills orders on sellers behalf, and even handles customer service. 

The biggest difference between FBA and dropshipping is that with FBA, you need to purchase and send inventory to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. With dropshipping, you don’t need to purchase any inventory upfront.

READ MORE | Amazon FBA vs. Dropshipping 

FBA also gives sellers the Prime badge on their listings, which provides another level of trust and convenience for customers. In fact, 61% of consumers have access to an Amazon Prime account, and 43% say the Amazon Prime badge is a very important factor when choosing products to purchase.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR | Consumer Trends Report 

Print-on-demand dropshipping

One popular form of dropshipping is through print-on-demand, especially Amazon Merch on Demand.

Print-on-demand allows you to advertise customized products such as t-shirts, mugs, posters, and even books without purchasing inventory. Then, when the sale is made, the supplier creates the product for you, then ships it. 

Is Amazon dropshipping profitable?

Yes, dropshipping on Amazon can be profitable—in fact, 94% of sellers who dropship on Amazon are profitable, according to data from Jungle Scout’s State of the Amazon Seller Report. It all depends on what you source your products for, how much you sell them for, and what’s leftover after Amazon fees.

Remember, dropshipping is just a fulfillment method, and the way you sell products on Amazon will be no different than if you purchased products in bulk. You need to focus on product research (which we’ll talk about below) and finding a supplier who can offer the products you want to sell at a profitable price. 

What does it cost to dropship on Amazon?

As we mentioned above, dropshipping on Amazon is a great way to get started selling as the upfront costs are typically low. 

Since you don’t need to buy any inventory upfront, that will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars you would have spent on inventory.

The only upfront costs will be the monthly subscription fee for an Amazon Seller Account ($39.99/month), and possibly for product research software. 

Once you sell a product, Amazon will charge you a referral fee per sale, which is typically 15%. 

READ MORE | Amazon Seller Fees

Pros of Amazon dropshipping

There are a number of advantages dropshipping on Amazon has over wholesaling, private label, and other methods of selling on Amazon.

  • Low start-up costs. As opposed to other popular e-commerce methods like private label and wholesaling, dropshipping does not require you to own your own inventory. Instead, when you get paid by the consumer on the sale, you simply use a portion of the proceeds to purchase the product from the supplier and have them ship it to your buyer.
  • No storage fees. Since you will be having your supplier ship out orders for you, you will not need to pay Amazon FBA or a third-party fulfillment center for storage fees.
  • Fast to set up. Because you don’t have to own your own inventory when dropshipping on Amazon, it’s quick and easy to set up. Afterall, you don’t have to wait for your inventory to be manufactured and/or shipped to the fulfillment location. It’s ready to go. All you need is a sale!
  • Fully automated business. There are a lot of apps and plugins online that allow you to fully automate dropshipping on Amazon. For this reason, you can be (almost) completely hands off with your dropshipping business. 
  • Amazon allows dropshipping. According to Amazon’s dropshipping policy, dropshipping “is generally acceptable.” Just make sure that you follow Amazon’s specific guidelines for dropshipping.
  • Easy to research. Dropshipping on Amazon can involve selling pre-existing products from manufacturers (though you can dropship products that you customize with your supplier). For this reason, you can use tools like Jungle Scout — an all-in-one platform for selling on Amazon — to see how well other sellers of that particular product are performing on Amazon.

Cons of dropshipping on Amazon

Naturally, as good as it sounds in terms of its advantages, dropshipping has its realities, and a few disadvantages to consider.

  • Competition. Because the barriers of entry are so low with dropshipping, competition can be high. In addition, while there is some possibility of differentiation with the products you are selling, there is nothing stopping other Amazon sellers from selling identical products.
    • As such, price is one of the few levers you have to pull to set yourself apart from others, which can lead to a “race to the bottom.”
  • Slow delivery times. Often, goods that are dropshipped on Amazon are shipped from the suppliers and manufacturers — and often, those suppliers are overseas.
    • For that reason, shipping times from overseas suppliers can take as long as a few weeks to reach the end user. For this reason, you should look for local suppliers who offer dropshipping.
  • Lack of quality control. Because items are shipped directly from the manufacturer to the buyer, there is no way for you to control the quality of the product.
    • When you consider that products may travel thousands of miles to reach their final destination, it’s easy to see how they could get damaged in the process.

How to start dropshipping on Amazon in four steps

Now that you understand a little more about how to dropship on Amazon, here’s how you can get set up as a dropshipper.

Step 1: Set up an Amazon seller account

In order to sell on Amazon, you will need an Amazon seller account. You can get one by going to sellercentral.amazon.com. There, Amazon will offer you two choices for the type of account that you can start with: individual and professional

READ MORE | How to Create an Amazon Seller Account

Step 2: Find a high-demand/low-competition product

 

Next, you will need to find a product to sell on Amazon.

You can do this by using a tool like Jungle Scout’s Opportunity Finder to find high-demand/low-competition product opportunities. And while you may have your own metrics to use for finding such products, I recommend starting with the following criteria:

  • 100-300 unit sales per month
  • Set competition to “very low” to “low”
  • Fix the average monthly price from $20-$70
  • Set niche score to 7+

This should give you an excellent number of product opportunities to peruse in all categories.

Also, when starting out, I recommend keeping things simple. Housewares, sports & outdoors, patio, and home & garden are all great categories for beginners because they tend to be low maintenance.

READ MORE | 6 Ways to Find the Most Profitable Niches on Amazon

Step 3: Finding Amazon dropshipping suppliers

Once you have some product ideas, you will need to find a supplier.

The biggest connection to dropshipping products is Aliexpress. It’s a business-to-business website that puts e-commerce entrepreneurs in touch with suppliers who are looking to dropship their goods.

Just type in the search terms for the product that you are interested in selling and, just like Amazon, a variety of products will come up.

Once you click on one, you’re provided with a number of details such as product cost and shipping cost.

While Aliexpress may be a good option, most items come from China, so the delivery times may be slow. Since Amazon shoppers are used to receiving their orders in 1-2 days, long shipping times will be a deterrent

As mentioned above, search for local suppliers, such as US-based suppliers who offer dropshipping on certain products. They’re out there, you just have to spend some time searching for them. 

Note: In order to dropship on Amazon, you must purchase from the supplier or manufacturer. Purchasing from another retailer is strictly prohibited.

When using Aliexpress or any other supplier to fulfill your dropshipping orders, make sure to contact the supplier ahead of time to ensure they will not ship orders with their company information — that is prohibited by Amazon.

READ MORE | Alibaba vs Aliexpress

Step 4: Create an Amazon listing

After you have a product idea and a supplier to fulfill that product, you’ll need to create an Amazon product listing.

From your Seller Central account, go to Inventory > Add a product. When the Add a Product screen comes up, click “ Inventory > Add a product. When the Add a Product screen comes up, click “Create a new product listing.”

First, you will need to choose your product category. Then, once you’ve done that, you’ll have to fill out the information for the listing itself.

When setting a price for your dropshipped product don’t forget to account for Amazon’s fees. If you are a professional seller, you will pay a referral fee of 8-15% depending on the category. Individual sellers pay an additional $1.00 per sale, too.

You can learn more about  Amazon’s fees by category on their Selling on Amazon fee schedule.

Finally, as soon as you’re ready, you can publish your listing and start making sales.

How to start dropshipping: Five tips for success on Amazon

Of course, creating a dropshipping business on Amazon is a little easier than other ways of selling products on Amazon, but succeeding with dropshipping on Amazon takes a little more work.

Here are five tips to help you succeed with dropshipping.

1. Promote your listing

In order to maximize sales, you will need to drive traffic to your product listing. This can be done in a number of ways. 

First, you have Amazon’s internal sponsorship program, Amazon Pay-Per-Click (PPC). With PPC, you create advertisements for your products that make your product appear higher in Amazon’s search results for keywords that you set.

Next, you can drive traffic to your Amazon product listing through external methods such as Facebook ads, social media, blogging, email marketing, etc. While this method is a little more difficult to get going if you don’t already have a following for your brand, it can help you differentiate your product from your competitors.

2. Focus on the customer

When you perform dropshipping on Amazon, you’re taking a lot of the hard parts of being an entrepreneur off the table. You don’t have to manufacture your product, nor do you have to ship it. All you have to do is make sure that the customer receives it and they are happy.

So, with dropshipping you can invest your hours into customer service, whereas you would normally spend your time running your business.

Plus, great customer service helps you get good product reviews and good product reviews can make or break your products on Amazon.

3. Focus on your brand

As I stated above, dropshipping’s chief disadvantage is that you will be selling a product over which you will have no final say in its development or design. In addition, other sellers will have access to the same supplier.

This leaves you with very little competitive advantage. Therefore, it’s important that you focus on the brand.

But even if your product is identical to your competitor, that doesn’t mean it has to be the “same.” For example, the brand YETI sells 40 oz stainless steel tumblers for $40 each. Meanwhile, their competitor, RTIC sells the same stainless steel tumblers for less than $20. Yet, somehow, YETI still dominates in that product category.

The reason is simple: people want to buy the YETI brand and the image it purveys.

4. Get samples

Before you list your product, make sure you know what you’re selling. Bite the bullet and order a unit in advance. And if you can do it without the supplier knowing that you’re a potential dropshipper, even better.

Once the sample arrives, inspect it. How did it look when it arrived? How long did it take? Were the products as described?

All of these little details will help you predict how your customers will receive the product once you start dropshipping on Amazon.

5. Cast a wide net

Because you have no start-up costs with dropshipping, it’s a lot easier for you to cast a wide net. In other words, you can list numerous products at the same time.

Some will fail. Others will succeed. Simply double down on what works and cut the rest.

As long as you follow Amazon’s rules, this approach is totally fine. Just make sure you stay organized and that you continue to focus on Tips #2 and #3.

Are you ready to start an Amazon dropshipping business?

Hopefully, this article has gotten you excited to either start your first Amazon business, or to add to an existing one. But, if you need more motivation, check out our State of the Amazon Seller report; it’s full of helpful insights. 

If you have additional questions or comments regarding dropshipping on Amazon, let us know down in the comments.

Happy selling!

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359 comments on “Amazon Dropshipping 2024 Guide: How to Dropship on Amazon

  1. Great article on dropshipping on Amazon! It’s clear that the market has seen a huge shift in recent years, and this guide does a fantastic job of laying out the basics for those looking to get started. The information on choosing the right product and supplier is especially helpful, and I appreciate the emphasis on the importance of doing thorough market research. Overall, this is a comprehensive guide that provides valuable insights for anyone considering starting a dropshipping business on Amazon. Thank you for sharing!

  2. I need help to start selling, I’ve had my professional seller account for over a year and have not had any thing listed yet because I having problems on listing products, I just want to start selling on Amazon.

  3. Hi I’m very confused on this part ”when a customer purchases from your Amazon listing, you place an order with your supplier and add your customers shipping information” do I have to add my costumers info or if I preorder from AliExpress then ship the products to Amazon will then do that for me ??

    1. What you are describing is not dropshipping. In all honestly, it is better to place a bulk order of products, ship them to Amazon fulfillment centers, and have Amazon handle fulfillment.

      If you are dropshipping, you will need to place an order from your supplier once you receive an order on Amazon.

  4. Thank you for this. I am looking at drop shipping and was really curious how one could with the competition from Amazon making margins so tight. The idea that there are items out there that can be found with big demand and low competition makes it more appealing, but I still am unsure. What is the amount of time one must put in to successfully make a living doing this on a global scale?

    1. There is no simple answer to that question. If you just try it out for a week or two, you probably won’t get the results you’re looking for. You need to really commit and put lots of effort into this business for it to work.

  5. I am confused on how I get the buyer to go from my Amazon listing to the AliExpress listing. What’s the connection between the two? Also how do I contact the supplier to know if they will ship without any labels on it?

    1. Hi Harrison,

      The idea is when a customer purchases from your Amazon listing, you place an order with your supplier and add your customers shipping information. Find a supplier and there is an option to contact them.

    1. You will need some money up front to order products after receiving orders as Amazon only pays out every two weeks.

    1. If you create a new listing then yes, you will need to enter the product ID. If you don’t have one, you can apply for a GTIN exemption.

  6. Hello Brian,
    I want to know before starting dropshipping we have to make LLC or not and if yes which documents are required for LLC?

  7. sir your article very very useful i live in pakistan and amazon just became legal in pakistan a few days ago, people just do a lot of dropshipping, they buy things from walmart and ship direct to the customer and then they get suspended in a month because when the customer sees the walmart label It reports on the account now I am also doing dropshipping but I have an account in the US and it is a child account how should I do it smartly?

    1. Hi,

      Do not do dropshipping that way. It is an easy way to get suspended. You should order your products in bulk first, send them to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and let Amazon handle the fulfillment.

  8. I am a bit confused as to when I place an order say from Ali express to start selling on Amazon, do aliexpress send my order direct to Amazon in my area for Amazon to then have the good ready to send out to sellers once the orders are placed? Therefore do I need to do this first before creating my first listing on Amazon?

    1. HI Kerry,

      You must have a listing created first on Amazon before any customers can place an order. Once a customer places an order, the idea is to the order from your supplier and have them ship to your customer.

      You can also purchase products in bulk and have them sent into Amazon’s fulfillment centers. That is much better than dropshipping as your customers will receive their orders fast through Prime shipping.

  9. HI
    I want to start dropshipping and want to discuss one example
    1. I buy product from Aliexpress (5-10 Units)
    2. Buyer hasn’t bought anything on Amazon seller Account yet
    3. But i want to have the stuff stored in advance
    How do i store this inventory? Where? What address should i put on Aliexpress address field, to make sure its stored in Amazon’s storage
    4. How long does Amazon store goods (Is it free?)
    Thank you in advance

    1. Hi Sergi,

      That is not dropshipping, then. Dropshipping is when you have a supplier ship out an order for you.

      Check out our How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners Guide. It will give you all the information you need. Please review that before listing anything on Amazon so you know how everything works and the costs involved.

  10. HI
    Your content is very helpful.
    My questions is, is it worth spending some money at least few grands$ to buy inventory in order to avoid delays in delivery from manufacturers/suppliers
    Also is it a good idea to first determine what to sell and who to buy it from before even signing up on selling account with Amazon.

    1. Hi Syed,

      Before anything, I believe you should sign up for an Amazon seller account as it takes some time to get approved. You must be 100% certain you can sell on Amazon before ordering inventory.

      Yes, you should purchase your inventory up front, and not rely on your supplier to ship.

    1. If you want to sell in different Amazon marketplaces, you will need accounts for each country or region. For example, in Europe you can have a unified account and sell in multiple countries from one account.

  11. I’m impressed, this article actually gives a decent true rundown about drop shipping. People seem to overlook that drop shipping is what started and built e-commerce in the beginning. Something they realize also is that Amazon has its own drop-shipping program called direct fulfillment that fulfills thousands of orders every for Amazon itself through vendors . Amazon has gone so far as no longer stocking certain vendor items and relying 100% on drop-shipping from vendors.

    Another item that you and others seem to overlook is that there are many retailers on and off amazon that blind drop ship orders all day long for resellers. These retailers are the suppliers and manufacturers that also sell themselves. This is performed using blind drop-shipping which is within tos and has been a popular way of doing business going back to when the word Amazon only referred to a river in South America.

    Amazon’s rules are common sense for any normal traditional drop-shipped. Shipping from businesses like Walmart , Home Depot, and other retailers without a blind drop-shipping agreement in place isn’t drop-shipping it is illegally selling items for resale as new that cannot be sold as such.

    People that follow that process deserve to be suspended for good. They lack common sense and/or listened to a fake guru. If you pay sales tax for an item, you may not resell it as new. It’s pretty simple.

    Drop-shipping from Alibaba or overseas is just not smart. We live in a same day shipping society. Shipping from that far away and from companies that do not have agreements or a relationship with is just plain asking for trouble.

    Decent article and representation of the truth.

  12. Hi Brian!
    I am new to online platform longing to start dropshipping knowing little bit about that, can you help me how it gets start??

  13. Hey, so i’m really interested into dropshipping but have questions. What if i sell products and then it takes long, as you said buy it yourself first and then see how long it takes what if it takes long what should i do then look for different product? Because as on Amazon people order and they don’t want their order to take long so they have amazon prime how can that work with dropshipping and me selling products?

    1. Hi Max,

      If you want to dropship on Amazon you need to be sure you have a reliable supplier. If the products take a long time to ship, I wouldn’t use that supplier. You need to contact them ahead of time and see if they can accommodate dropshipping orders and ship faster for you.

    1. Hi Kauser,

      I suggest starting with used books. Try to find some around your house or for free in your area. They are great to sell on Amazon.

  14. How can drop-shipped items possibly compete with the prime items that are delivered in 1-2 days? Non prime items do not even show up on the first page of search results. There are so many prime items in all categories nowadays that I do not see any chance for dropshipping and making a living out of it. What do you think?

    1. Hi Don,

      I agree. Personally, I am not a fan of dropshipping but it can work if you find a reliable supplier, fast shipping times, and a good product.

      Though products fulfilled via FBM (as you would with dropshipping) can sell just as well as FBA products.

  15. Hi

    Great to see your blog and free guidelines. All of this, can you please tell me that, lets say i receive a order for a 👕 t-shirt, and then i go to AliExpress and order that t shirt to the customer address, and when he will receive the product, it will be with a AliExpress stamp, so what’s the solution for this.

    Thanks

    1. Hi Sohail,

      Contact the supplier and see if they can send the shipment in a plain box without Aliexpress branding on it or on the invoice.

    1. Hi Farhan,

      If you want to take this business seriously and grow on Amazon, I suggest a professional plan. If you are just starting out and want to figure out how Amazon works, then start with the individual plan. You can always upgrade down the line.

  16. Sir
    I need some stores.Me, my younger brothers and cousins carryon some Amazon accounts. But we need some stores. Please give us a link or address of a person who owns and manages, distributes stores of Amazon stores.

  17. Hello, I loved your article. I had a question if you can help me? I’m trying to drop ship from Aliexpress to Amazon and I was wondering how I can find the product id on aliexpress to make a listing on amazon?

  18. Hello – Is there a recommended software that will allow the work flow ordering process to be simple? Meaning from customer purchase to third party supplier hand off to stock / pack and ship the order to the customer – automate that process? Can anyone recommend that software? – My third party vendors are Mom and Pop type companies – they manufacturer and private label for me for my customer base.

  19. Hi,

    I want to start dropshipping on Amazon I have actually learnt a lot from your article I just wanted to know that how do you like contact the supplier and how do you ask him to send your products to the buyers without you buying it.

    Thanks

    1. Hi,

      Once a customer purchases the product from you, you have to place an order with the supplier in order for them to send out the product. You will enter your customer’s shipping information with the supplier so it is sent to that address.

  20. Brian, this was an amazing article sir and I’m glad I found it!! I have been considering dropshipping to sell some shirts and stuff. I think my main worry was where to get stock and how to actually make sales on Amazon. This step-by-step tutorial however was really helpful for beginners like me trying to do this the right way 🙂

  21. Thanks Brian for sharing this post!! I have seen so stuff on Youtube about drop shipping that has so much hype. I really appreciate how easily you explained how Amazon dropshipping works and getting started with it. I think after getting starting, then it would a task of driving web traffic. I have been thinking a lot about starting another business and glad I found this!

  22. Hi Brian. Thank you for posting this. Your article was very informative.

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like drop shipping as an amazon reseller isn’t a lucrative business idea. If you sell products from other brands, there is a lot of competition. For example, I found 22 sellers of the exact same doll on amazon. The only way I’ve heard to make your product stand out is to lower the price, but the lower the price, the less profits you could make on a sale. It sounds like drop shippers would be paying similar fees to those using FBA.
    Also, it sounds as though resellers who do drop shipping typically can’t get orders to their customers as quickly as resellers who use other methods. How much of a turn off are slower delivery times now that most people want fast shipping these days?
    Is it just a matter of choosing the right products, and the right suppliers? I plan to do some more research on drop shipping.

    Thanks for your help. 🙂

    Lily

    1. Hi Lily,

      Personally, I am not a big fan of drop shipping. It is better to purchase your inventory upfront and send that inventory to FBA. That way, your products will have Prime shipping and customers will receive their orders much faster.

      If you are dropshipping, you won’t have Prime shipping and your shipping times may be much longer. Lowering the price on a listing hurts the other sellers as well because it will cause them to also lower prices.

  23. So with dropshipping, do the items have to be branded or can you order them straight from the manufacturer/supplier? How do you get your brand on the suppliers goods without buying stock and complying with Amazon’s guidelines?

    1. Hi Chris,

      They don’t need to be branded but probably should be as it will be difficult to sell a non-branded generic item in most categories. Contact suppliers and see if they can add your brand to products before shipping out to customers.

      1. Thanks for the reply, with regards to returns, how do you get the buyer to return items to you as per the guidelines, can you input this information on Amazon or do you need to put it on/in the packaging.

        1. Hi Chris,

          You can set your return settings in Seller Central for returns to be sent to your location. In the top right corner, go to Settings > Return Settings.

    1. Hi,

      I am not sure what you mean. You will need to pay the same Amazon fees and subscription fees as any other seller.

  24. Ok, so HOW exactly do I order from aliexpress when an order comes in from Amazon? I just create an account with aliexpress and order just like I would order from any other website? I’m new to this dropshipping business but have seen a lot of youtube videos on how people are making hundreds of thousands a year doing dropshipping, but never explaining HOW to get from A to B.

    1. Hi Diana,

      Yes, you would go on Aliexpress and order the item as you would from any other e-commerce site. You would enter your customer’s information. But make sure you are following Amazon’s rules regarding dropshipping.

  25. I’m fascinated about the the dropshiping and I want to participate being a marketing strategist and sales specialist myself and see how i can add value to humanity as well as profiting thereto.

  26. Hi Brian, im new to selling.on Amazon..in fact.im a seller but haven’t.posted an item to sell yet. With dropshipping I dont have to buy in bulk? And who fulfills the orders for the customers? Me or Amazon with dropshipping? Im so new to this I might need a class..any information that would & could help me Brian would be much appreciated.
    Tayaba S.

    1. Hi Tayaba,

      No, you don’t need to buy in bulk. With dropshipping, the supplier you order from will be the one who fulfills the order but you need to be sure you are following Amazon’s rules regarding dropshipping.

  27. Hey Brian, thank you so much for this article and all the good information. I do have a few questions and I will appreciate if you can reply. So I just started selling on Amazon, I’m doing FBA on a product but I’m just getting started and I have limited inventory. I was thinking about trying dropshipping on Amazon, initially that’s what I wanted to do but I heard so much negativity about it. Some say that you run the risk to get suspended but I learned about some people that do it successfully, so I wondered how. I heard that you can’t dropship from AliExpress because is considered by Amazon as an online retailer. I like the idea to dropship from AliExpress because I have used it to dropship before. I have even find that some suppliers on AliExpress deliver within 14 days to the US, which is great. So my question is, even though you already mentioned it, do you think I can safely dropship from AliExpress to Amazon? And one more thing, I have tried to come up with a shipping template for dropshipping on Amazon, but I can’t figure to set up shipping for longer times like 14 days, the longest it goes is 10 days for domestic , please if there’s anything you can tell me about that and about my questions I would really appreciate it. I know is a lot and I apologize but I will forever thank you 🙏

    1. Hi Walter,

      I suggest contacting a supplier directly that you find on Aliexpress or Alibaba and work out an arrangement with them regarding your dropshipping business. Versus just ordering from Aliexpress. See if they can offer faster shipping rates, prices, etc. Also, make sure you are fully aware of Amazon rules when it comes to dropshipping.

      If you cannot adjust the template for longer than 14 days, then there is nothing you can do. See if they can ship it faster for you.

  28. Sir how to stay away from branded products while choosing products to dropship
    Why bcz i am asking is it is find some famous brand name but it is not esy find the name which we didint aware is there any trchniques to find that i am a new bee help me

    1. Hello,

      Look for unbranded products that you can brand and dropship yourself. Or you can reach out directly to the brand or supplier to see if you can dropship their branded products.

  29. Hi
    I am Alikunju khadar from India,kerala.
    I would like to start drop shipping with Amazon.currently I am an affiliate with amazon,but no sales made.its almost 4 months now..Could you pls help me ro start a.dropshopping business with Amazon?

    1. Hi Tiffany,

      Did you read through the article and others on our blog? Lots of great information! What other questions do you have?

    1. Hi Bushra,

      You can create the shipping label in seller central, save it as a PDF and send it to your supplier or wholesaler.

  30. Great read. Just had a couple questions. How do you get the supplier or wholesaler to put your information to be identified as the seller on all invoices, packing slips and external packaging as mention in this article.

  31. Hi Brian! I have a few questions if you have a moment! First, is did you connect your dropshipping acct (like Shopify) to Amazon via the platform? I can’t seem to see any other way to connect the dropshipping, but it’s saying I need an Amazon pro account.

    Second question is — I ordered a product in bulk from AliExpress, and I can’t find it already in existence on Amazon, so I went to add it as a new product, but it asks for a Product ID, and I’m not sure where to find that on Aliexpress, do you know? Another blog said it would be in the URL but it doesn’t seem to be working.

    Thanks! Alyssa

    1. Hi Alyssa,

      Which platform are you trying to connect to Amazon? I am not sure what you are referring to here.

      The product ID would be your UPC code. To sell on Amazon, you must have a GTIN or UPC that is registered with GS1.

      If you do not have one, you can apply for what’s called a GTIN exemption. This will allow you to list the product without a UPC code. We have an article on that topic here: https://www.junglescout.com/blog/amazon-gtin-exemption/

      Hope this helps!

  32. Hi! Thank you so much for this information. In step 1. of setting up an amazon seller account, the picture you show has steps that don’t appear when I search “sellercentral.amazon.com.”. I just want to be sure that this is still the website, and that maybe it was updated.

    I just like to be 100% safe when entering personal information.

    Thank You!

    1. Hi Justin,

      Amazon frequently changes the look or steps of its website. That is the correct website address for seller central!

  33. Hi thanks for such an informative article! I have some questions…
    Does Junglescout (or any other) offer a system of picking/ordering directly for me rather than me having to login & make orders manually each time?
    Also, I would like to have at least SOME products available for Prime delivery to make my seller page more accessible I know myself, I ONLY purchase from sellers that offer Prime….
    So would you suggest I do part FBA and dropshipping too? I think this way I can regularly get test batches of stuff, see them for myself…. send them to the FBA to be sold whilst DS other items also…. or would you say that’s too much hassle?

    1. Hi Aisha,

      I am unsure of a program that can help you with that for Amazon. I suggest just doing FBA with Amazon, but if you would like to test some products with dropshipping, that is ok. If you can handle both, then I would test that out!

      1. Thanks for your reply… I am a bit worried about starting FBA & being stuck with a product that doesn’t sell, this is why I wanted to try both… do you suggest I try the FBA first & DS later? Are you allowed to do both on Amazon from one account?
        TIA

        1. Hi Aisha,

          Yes, I understand that. Keep in mind, you do not need to start with a private label product. You can start with retail arbitrage and sell just a couple of items with FBA.

          You have a better chance of getting sales when using FBA as the shipping speeds are much faster, plus your items will be Prime. Dropshipping, the shipping times are usually very slow.

          You can do both FBA and FBM on one account.

  34. Hi Brian,

    You post was very helpful but I would like to ask, how are returns handled? I presume that the suppliers address is listed on Amazon?

    As people these days often return goods for very small reasons it seems to me that “returns” could be very problematic.

    How does Aliexpress handle returns?

  35. Hi Brian,
    Thank you for the article. I have a product in mind that I would like to sell, but it is from a big box store (ie walmart, target, etc) how would you recommend going about this? I’m finding the only way is to ship it to me in their branded box, then I have to ship it to the fulfillment center in an unbranded box. Correct me if I’m wrong, thanks!

    1. Hi Tom,

      That would be an example of “online arbitrage.” Since you are buying an item from Walmart and reselling it on Amazon.

      You are correct, you would need to have Walmart send the item to you, then you would need to ship that item to a fulfillment center if using FBA.

    1. You can search online for companies that can help you automatically dropship. As far as products, you’ll need to do the research yourself to find the best products! No one will give away that information, unfortunately.

  36. very good article puts it into simple terms would like to have a person to talk to that will guide me through the orocess already have amazon seller acct no product listing yet

  37. Hi ! Thanks for your post.
    Understood everything , but one question , when doing this , of course the listing wont be available for prime shipping , it will be FBM right? And do i have to put how long it takes to ship ? Like if it takes 10 days it will show fbm , delivery in 10 days ?

    1. Hi Juan,

      Yes, it will be listed as FBM. You will need to put the type of shipping and estimated shipping speed in your shipping template used for the product.

  38. Hello, if I am selecting the supplier from AliExpress, how can we get the packaging of Amazon on the product? Can suppliers do that? And most irritating thing with Aliexpress suppliers is their shipping time, even if I chose to supply from US, they take 3 to 5 days in shipping the product and we know Amazon generally deliver the products in 3 to 5 days. Are you sure Aliexpress is good option for Amazon dropshipping? Is there any better option or way?

    1. Hi Piyush,

      I don’t personally think Aliexpress is good for dropshipping on Amazon. You will need to work to find suppliers within the US that can dropship products at a reasonable speed.

  39. Hello Dave, I have a question, dropshipping includes customs? or the seller has to do customs with a customs broker? Thank you!

  40. Good day

    i want went through your article on how to sell on amazon without sending much. i want to start drop shipping with amazon but don’t know how to start since i’m in Africa.

    I kindly need a guide to it so i don’t have regrets.

    Regards
    Daniels

  41. Hello, I had some doubts:
    1- I already have a professional Amazon account and need to open another one for dropshipping?
    2- How to know if a supplier dropship and if he is willing to provide his information to the customer?

    1. Hi Sonia,

      You don’t need a separate account. In fact, you’re only allowed one seller account unless Amazon approves you for a second. You will need to find out that information with the supplier in question.

  42. Hi so is the only way to find a good product to start with that meets the suggested criteria of low-very low competition, high volume sold per month, etc is through the opportunity finder in jungle scout? Or can I find this simply through amazon itself? I see it’s a monthly subscription in order to use – is the basic $25 ok or you suggest the $50 subscription?

    1. Hi Lindsay,

      You can do the research yourself on Amazon without any tools, it just takes longer and more manual work. The basic plan will be good to start with to see if Jungle Scout works for you!

  43. hi, thank’s for this information I have a question am a web developer and I will create my own website and I make dropshipping on my website for minimizing the cost of ads on Amazon, so is there an API offering by amazon or should make web scrapping? and for you, this idea is good or no?

  44. I have a question about the shipping time on the products. How would you cut down on these times from being so unbelievably long?

    1. Hi Jake,

      You will need to find suppliers that can ship the products out quickly with fast shipping speeds. There is a way to filter for that on Aliexpress. Or, try to find a supplier within the US.

      1. hello brian,
        hope you have a good time. I have a question. can I apply for a credit card in the USA without having a physical address? It is needed for amazon dropshipping.
        Thanks in advance

  45. It’s such a wonderful guidance, e even someone with zero experience can follow it up build a successful business. Thanks

  46. Does the aliexpress supplier send the item in your name? If so, what kind of info do we need to share with the aliexpress supplier? Or is there an option within aliexpress that we can click on that we are dropshipping?

    1. Hi John,

      You’ll need to enter in your customer’s information on the order, not yours. As far as I know, there is no “dropshipping” option. You need to make sure you are fully compliant with Amazon’s dropshipping rules when ordering from Aliexpress.

  47. I want to be selling on amazon through dropped shipping. I don’t have a website. Please how can I create a website

  48. hey guys just a quick question as i am new to dropshipping im going to use amazon and shopify do i need to make a website as i have no idea how to build one and just wondering what is the best supplier to use thank you

    1. Hi Patrick,

      You do not need a website to sell on Amazon. With Shopify, you can easily build a nice-looking website to sell your products.

  49. This is very informative, thank you.

    When I find the supplier on AliExpress, should I tell them that I am a dropshipper and will be needing their products and services?

  50. How do you securely get the customer info over to your drop shipper without breaking Amazon’s TOS of sharing confidential info?

  51. May I ask how do I change the brand name to mine instead when doing dropshipping (customers won’t know it was from the manufacturer)?

    1. Hi Nida,

      I suggest starting out with an individual account if you don’t plan on selling over 40 units per month. Though, the professional plan is recommended as you’ll be buy box eligible and will be able to advertise your products.

  52. Hi, I am confused on the part when a buyer buys from the listing. How do I ship them the product?

    Lets say I find something from aliexpress – how do I ship them that product?

        1. to add to my comment above – do I purchase the product 1 by 1 when it comes in or in bulk. If in bulk where do I store the inventory?

          1. In this case, you would purchase 1 by 1. Though, I recommended buying the product in bulk and storing at an FBA warehouse. It is a much better model than dropshipping.

  53. Do you need approvals from brand owners to sell their products like FBA ? Like how in FBA you have to get a letter from brand owners to sell their products or you have to buy 10 of a product and be able to provide a invoice

  54. Got a clear overview of Amazon Dropshipping business and it’s a really helpful post for those who want to start this business. I want to know more about driving customers to Amazon Product Listing. like what are the ways to do that, how much it costs, best effective ways to do that, etc. can you give me some resource for this?

    1. Hi John,

      Unfortunately, no one will give away their secrets! My advice is to do a lot of searching and contacting to find a company that will work best for you.

  55. I have a drop shipping website that gives me the opportunity to also sell on amazon, the question is they have no ean number. They are not currently on amazon so I’m not sure how to go about it. The company I am using to drop ship are based in the UK so delivery times are good.

    1. Hi Jason. You will either need to purchase your own UPC/EAN or you can apply for a GTIN exemption on Amazon. We have a post on how to apply for a GTIN exemption!

  56. Hi

    where and how I should connect AliExpress to Amazon for dropshipping, technically speaking?
    The title of this article is all about it, but nowhere mentioned it.

    Thanks

  57. I just went through this article, And I am impressed with this,I would like to more information about this like how to register,how to take listings,how to publish ,and how much money I can earn by doing this.

  58. Hello I’m looking to start my business brand this year of 2021. I look forward to hearing from someone that could help with drop shipping. Who should I go through. How to manage an account, what are the selective things I can do out there. I would live to share my brand Idea with the world.

  59. Thank you so much for this wonderful publication, now i have the full confidence to take the step in dropshipping on amazon,i really cant thank you enough.

    I have a question please,is it possible to use a professional account while dropshipping,and if yes,is it advisable?and can you please explain why its advisable,?because i was made to understand that professional account is for those sending thier inventory to amazon under FBA .

    Secondly,should i tell the supplier that im dropshipping, if no,how do i get him to be sending to different customers when I recieve oder.

    1. Yes, you can use a professional account when dropshipping. You should only work with suppliers that do dropshipping so they know what to include with each order.

  60. Nice article and thank you. The race to the bottom is a reality we’ve seen first hand. Which of the tools you mention help the dropshipper identify and partner with suppliers who have Mapps and who control the competitive under-pricing of their products.

    1. If you are selling your own branded or even a generic product, you will need to purchase a new UPC from GS1.

      You may also apply for a UPC exemption from Amazon if the product does not have a UPC

  61. Hello dave its a nice article but my question is when customer send back order they dont like product and they want their money back so when they send product will it go to my inventory or manufacture inventory

  62. Hi Dave,

    Thank you for your nice explanation and description of the steps of dropshipping process.

    I have some questions please.

    First question:
    In step 3, I will search for a product in Aliexpress and I have found a notebook cost $3.22.
    At this stage do I have to click on “Buy now” in Aliexpress?
    OR
    when a customer will buy the product from me, then I will go back to Aliexpress, and search AGAIN for that notebook, then click on “Buy now”?
    Please clarify.

    Second question:
    In step 4, am I actually listing a product (notebook in Aliexpress) on Amazon without buying (I mean without buying from Aliexpress)?
    If so, then how will I list the product (notebook on Aliexpress) on Amazon?
    You said to select the product category first.
    Then how will I fill out the information for the listing? Is there any option so that I can post the notebook advert on Amazon?
    As far as I know product listing is very complicated, Amazon ask to input barcode/EAN or something like this.
    Can you please explain this part in more detail.

    Thank you.

    1. Hi,

      The idea is to order the product after the customer orders from you.

      You would need to create a brand new listing on Amazon with your own brand name. You need to see if Aliexpress can use your brand name and company name on your product and/or invoice.

      I suggest looking into private label if you are looking to dropship from Aliexpress. Not something that I really recommended.

  63. I am a manufacturer of ethnic Indian handcrafted leather footwear and work for a lot of online brands selling my products and doing well, selling my products online. I have no clue of how to effectively market products on amazon to maximize sales .I tried my hand through FBA model 3 years back and had a highly forgettable experience doing so. Visibility of product were too low(consigned to the 900th page ) leading to poor volume of sales and high returns for unknown reasons.
    Could you please help me ? I am willing to share a part of our revenue/profits(or some other monetary consideration) on sales for your professional services.

    1. Hi,

      We’re you advertising your products when you first listed them? A brand new product listing will typically start with poor visibility until sales start rolling in.

      You can advertise via Sponsored products ads and there are other advanced marketing tools if you are brand registered. Also, you need to be sure your listing is fully optimized with the proper keywording to be shown in search.

  64. Hello,

    I guess the part I’m still not sure of. When the customers request these products from Amazon, who actually fulfills the order so, it gets to the customer? Also, are the pieces I order from Aliexpress or whoever I order from stored at Amazon? I have plenty more questions, just want to start from here.

    1. When someone places an order on Amazon, the supplier you chose will need to fulfill the order. So either you send them the order details or place the order yourself with the customers shipping address.

      If they were stored at Amazon, you would be using FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon and is completely different from dropshipping.

      1. Hi Brian,

        Is there any way to automate the order details from Amazon to the fulfillment company (from AliExpress)? Or does this need to be completely manual?

        1. Hi Jacob,

          There is software available that will automatically send order details from Amazon to ALiexpress. Do a search for these automation softwares.

  65. Hi i don’t know if you will reach out to me but i had a question, umm can we do drop shipping to Amazon and more other markets like ebay, and etc all at same time?

    1. Yes, you can drop ship on Amazon but you need to be careful with it. Make sure to read Amazon terms of service regarding drop shipping.

  66. Hi thanks for the information, but there’s information you touched on that I didn’t quite understand, like if it’s the same product as my competitors how do I make a profit and how do you deal with placing order in AliExpress for 1 item at a time because you can only buy in bulk. So do I buy in bulk and send it out to my customers. Thanks

  67. I am an Amazon Seller in Japan and I would like to know if there are any successful American drop shippers living in the country? Also, I would like to know if linking to a personal e-commerce site can work in conjunction with an Amazon Seller site?

  68. Regarding the YETI Ava RTIC anecdote: YETI AND RTIC tumblers have their brand name on them…as a design feature. So, this isn’t drop shipping, is it??

  69. Hello,

    I’m still fuzzy on the process of linking Amazon listings with the manufacturer for dropshipping. Is there a way to set up the Amazon listings so that orders go directly to the supplier (if so, how?)? Or do I need to collect all Amazon orders and re-order them myself through the supplier everyday?

    1. HI Jon,

      You’ll have to find an order integration software for both you and your supplier to use. Orders from Amazon go to the software, then your supplier will need to use that software to complete the orders.

  70. Thanks for this article. I am not understanding how you can have your own brand if the product is shipping directly from the manufacturer/supplier. Do they print your logo and info on it before shipping it to the customer or how does it work exactly when it comes to branding? Thanks very much

    1. Yes, you can see if the manufacturer you’re working with can print your brand’s logo on the product before shipping it out to a customer.

  71. Will you need to purchase UPC codes for each product listed? That could be an important thing to include in step 4. Thanks for your insight!

  72. Thank you, I have just been searching for info about this
    topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I have found
    out till now. However, what concerning the bottom line?
    Are you sure about the supply?

    1. Hi Lisa,

      Some dropshippers may require that information. To sell on Amazon you need either a Tax ID or your SSN.

      Brian

  73. But how do we be the seller of our own product..? (With packing slips and all) when packing is done by the suppliers?
    What if the packing or the print on the product states that it’s from another company or something ..?

    Thank you so much for your time 🙂

    1. Hi Robin,

      You can ask the supplier to add your company information onto the packing slips, etc. I cannot state the information of another company on the packing list.

      A way around that would to just purchase the product in bulk as wholesale.

  74. Hi, thank you for this article, it was very helpful.
    Would you advise to ship world wide? Also what about competition on pricing? What if I can’t beat the price of my product compared to another seller?

    Lastly, would you have any advice on what to sell? What sells well on amazon?

    Thank you for your time

    Best wishes

    Dale

    1. Hi Dale,

      I suggest starting in the home country you are in so ensure you can meet the delivery promise.

      If you can’t beat the price of your competitor, focus on selling a better quality product that has a higher perceived value.

      There are millions of potential items to sell, it is no possible to narrow down a few that will work for your business. You have to do some more research! Unfortunately, no one will tell you what you should sell.

    1. Hi Jermain,

      I am not sure of any.

      You will need to do your own research to figure this out. Unfortunately, not many people are willing to share their sources!

  75. Hi
    Thanks for your valuable article i very much love it . It is very helpful .
    I’m newbie I want to start dropshiping basically I’m from India . How it is works here. One more question can I sell in US or UK .

    1. Hello Atta,

      I suggest searching throughout Google. There are a lot of resources regarding wholesalers who will dropship.

  76. Hey! I have a quick question. According to Amazon’s dropshipping policy you must “Identify yourself as the seller of your products on all packing slips, invoices, external packaging, and other information included or provided in connection with them.” How does one go about doing this if you are ordering from the suppliers site and sending directly to the Amazon customer? Do you need to contact the supplier and provide them with box design etc so whenever you place an order then put the product in your box? Thank you!

    1. Hi Chris,

      You should ask the supplier to add your company information to the packing slips, etc. when shipping out your orders. You want to be sure that the drop shippers company info is not displayed.

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  79. Quick question, when you buy it from a 3rd party do you then ship it to a specific Amazon fulfillment center? Don’t know why I cant wrap my head around this.

    1. Hi Riley,

      No, then that would not be dropshipping. That is buying either wholesale or through arbitrage and sending your item into an FBA warehouse in order to become prime eligible.

      When you are dropshipping, the source you purchase from will ship the order to the address you provide.

  80. I have some doubts about drop shipping.
    1. Is COD possible for dropshipping, if not which payment method is better.
    2. If the product is going directly from the suppliers, the customer will get bill from the supplier so they’ll make out the price difference.

    1. Hi,

      No, COD is not possible. The customer buys it on Amazon and then you pay the supplier before they ship.

      You will need to ask the supplier to leave out any bill or packing list that states what you paid for the item.

  81. Hi Dave thanks very much for helping me to understand how this business model works.
    Am in maryland and am pretty much interested to start this business.At moments I have financial challenges. I don’t know if you could help enlighten me on how I got start making money in this business with as little as $1000.
    Thanks

  82. Can I have AliExpress or Alibaba ship directly to amazon? Would I be able to have products ship to amazons warehouse first before publishing the item? My main goal is for the items to qualify for prime shipping. I was thinking if they have the items before hand, they might sell faster.

    1. Hi Andrina,

      You can have a supplier from Alibaba send items directly into an FBA warehouse. I suggest getting in touch with a freight forwarder that can help get the items from China directly into FBA. Create your listing first, and then set up the shipment.

      If your items are Prime, they have a higher chance of selling because of the faster shipping speeds.

  83. I have two questions. The first is regarding Amazon’s rules on dropshipping. I understand that Amazon requires that the package can’t have the supplier’s name on it. But how do you ensure that the supplier will put my business name on the package? Is this something that is discussed with the supplier?

    And also, do I need an ecommerce store to do dropshipping? Can I just be an individual dropshipper? Why would I need a platform like Shopify to dropship?

    1. Hi Lisa,

      That would be something you would have to discuss with the supplier who will be fulfilling the orders for you.

      You do not need to use Shopify for dropshipping. You can dropship on many different platforms.

  84. Very useful thanks for the efforts, I have a question how much it cost to open a seller account and the percentage of fees when you sell any item !

    1. Hi Dewillem,

      Not necessarily. You can fulfill the orders manually or use software to automatically place an order with your supplier. Search on Google to find software companies that can help you with that.

  85. Hello, thank you for the informative article! You’ve advised that it would be better for the supplier to not know that you’re a potential dropshipper when you order a sample. May I know why so and at what point in time would you recommend letting the supplier know your intention as a potential dropshipper? I would presume a dropshipping arrangement would eventually have to be established between the supplier and the dropshipper?

    Thanks in advance! 🙂

  86. Dear Dave,

    I have a website under design of amazon affiliate marketing, I also have account with amazon associate and i have a store id. But the website is still under construction. after reading your article, Can I use drop shipping on my website rather than affiliate links? Or can I use both business models in one website? Please advise me.

  87. Hi there. I am confused by this article, as up until finding this, all research indicates that you are not allowed to dropship in the traditional sense of the dropshipping model due to Amazon’s rules that you cannot have a third-party retailer such as AliExpress ship on your behalf. All the research indicates that you would need to fulfil your dropshipping through Amazon’s FBA. Can you please give more clarity on that?

    1. Hi Fahmida,

      According to Amazon’s dropshipping policy, you must be the seller of record of your products and Identify yourself as the seller of your products on all packing slips, invoices, external packaging, and other information included or provided in connection with them.

      If you dropship from Aliexpress, you need to make sure that the company shipping the order does not provide any of their info on or in the package.

  88. Thank you for providing this valuable platform. I need clarification that what is difference while listing on Amazon for dropshiping and wholesale FBA.

    1. Hi Ali,

      With dropshipping, you don’t purchase any inventory upfront. You list products on Amazon that a supplier has and once something sells, they will ship the product for you.

      With wholesale, you purchase inventory in bulk upfront from a distributor or brand and resell.

      Hope this helps!

      – Brian

  89. i m new in this field i m interested to work with us but i m facing some difficulty to start drop shipping business so please guide me

  90. hello newbie here, just a simple question. if I dropship from aliexpresss to amazon. when customers receive product they will see aliexpress tag. how can I send the products using amazon logo. sorry for my dumb question.

    1. Hi Md Samiuzzaman Real,

      Thanks for the question!

      The only way to do that would be to order that product in bulk from Alibaba and send that inventory into an FBA warehouse. That way when Amazon ships your product, it will be sent in an Amazon-branded box.

      – Brian

  91. Hello,

    you say that we can use tools like Opportunity Finder to help us decide what products to sell.
    But the Opportunity Finder is in the Suite plan. If I want to buy the Basic plan to start, is there a product I can use to chose what I might be selling on Amazon?

    Thank you.

  92. I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering issues with your site.

    It appears like some of the text within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them too?

    This might be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously.

    Thanks

    1. Hi Elise! Thanks for letting us know about the issue you’re having. I looked into it and, while I’m unsure if others are experiencing the same problem with the text, I haven’t been able to replicate the runoff on my own computer.

      However, in case it is a problem with our website, rather than an issue with your web browser, will you please reach out to [email protected] with additional info about the run-off text when you have a moment (eg. other blog posts with the same runoff)? That way we can dig into this further.

      Thanks, Elise. 🙂

  93. Hi,

    I have a question regarding this step : When the customer buys a product from me on Amazon, only then I purchase the item off of AliExpress- I put in the customer’s information for their shipping address and name. Typically this seems like online flipping process, the shipping part gets tricky.

    When the supplier ships the product to mycustomer, what if he includes my invoice and the actual amount – which is the cost of sourcing only? How do we solve it?

    I do not see there is a way to connect to the supplier directly.

    1. You will need to be in contact with the supplier to make sure they do not include that information. It is against Amazon’s terms to have another company’s information on the invoice.

  94. Thank you for this article! I’m the owner/artist of a paint-class/party business. Given the COVID “season” we’re in, I stopped having public paint-parties, and am in the process of converting them to virtual/Zoom paint-party events. I’m collaborating with my former venues (i.e., restaurants, wineries/breweries/bars), to encourage the participants to also order and pick up food/beverages, to make it as similar-as-possible to the in-person events.

    The problem? Now it’s the responsibility of the participants to acquire art supplies – whereas I had previously supplied them in each class.

    So – what I’m wanting to do, is to create art-supply kits that participants can order. I’d be purchasing wholesale, and then pricing them for retail. Is drop-shipping the way to go for this? What’s the means by which I’d connect/collaborate with manufacturers?

    Any other tips?

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Dena,

      If you have good communication with the manufacturer then you can have them pack everything you want to include in each order.

      You can create the listing on Amazon and every time someone orders, send the order info to the manufacturer so they can package and ship the order for you. Is your supplier in the US?

  95. This is a great article and very helpful. Also If I may add, you need to know your target audience. You can either go for a general store or a niche store. To land on a good online niche, you need to identify a few things:

    Passionate audience
    Others are making money
    Targeting on Facebook
    Perceived value
    Difficult to find elsewhere
    Upward trending

    Passionate Audience

    You need an audience who are highly connected to the products you will be trying to sell. Why? Because if people aren’t passionate about the niche you’re selling, they won’t click the ads presented to them. And facebook & Instagram ads are the main source of traffic for most of the shopify stores. So, try to think of some products related golf, yoga, fitness, bird watching, army etc.

    Others are making money

    How do you know if other people are making money in a particular niche? Well… you kinda tell yourself if you look around carefully. There are some evergreen niches that always makes money. For example, the makeup niche, the sock niche. People are always going to need those items. If you can differentiate yourself a bit, there’s a lot of money to be made.

    Targeting on Facebook

    Facebook targeting is incredibly important for a Shopify niche to be good. Because targeting via Facebook is the easiest and shortest way to generate traffic for your store. You need to pick up a niche that you can easily target on Facebook. Many people tend to ignore this marketing trick and focus on the product innovation/uniqueness first. But if you can’t find the people who may buy your products, no matter how good your products are, all your effort is likely to go in vain.

    Perceived Value

    Most of the customers are unaware of the cost factors associated with a product. So, they typically ascribe an assumed value for the product based on how much they want or need the product. You should pick up a niche that has high perceived value but you can purchase the product at a low price.

    For example, earrings for the ladies. They typically appear to have high perceived value based on their design and beauty, but in reality, most of them come at a very low price.

    Difficult to find elsewhere

    If people can get the products ‘easily’ that you’re going to sell, you should think twice about selling them. By easily, I mean, the product shouldn’t be available in nearby Walmart or any other departmental store. You may not be able to beat Amazon in such a case, but that’s okay! Though Amazon sells everything, people buy from other online shops too!

    Upward trending

    Select something that is trending upwards. You can use google trends or the research feature within Importify’s dashboard to check on your probable merchandise from Shopify stores within your prospect niche… If you can choose a niche while it is going upward, you’re like to make the most profit out of it.

    I hope this helps

  96. This is great info. Thank you for sharing.

    Have a quick question.

    I have a few low competitive products in mind across different categories. If I wanted to sell multiple products on Amazon FBA, would I need separate website domains, landing page to do it? Or can I just list a few products by my seller account individual or business name?

    Appreciate your time.

    1. When it comes to selling multiple products across different categories, Teri, you don’t need separate website domains for each item; you just need one. Also, you can simply add them to your current seller account, under your business name. 🙂 Hope this answers your questions!

  97. Hi
    I’ve been using Jungle Scout to research products for drop shipping on Amazon and I’ve read the article ‘https://www.junglescout.com/blog/dropshipping-on-amazon/’
    but how would I be able to link my orders with AliExpress.
    Is there a way to automate this?

    Thanks

    Andrew

    1. Hi Varun,

      Good question. However, we are not Amazon seller support. You can, however, reach out to Customer Success team and they can help with any questions that you might have.

  98. So I am new and was wondering if there are any programs that will just send the money to the aliexpress site put in the adress and all and then send the profit over into an account.

  99. Your answer (for me to start the fulfillment process with my supplier after the transaction is credited to my amazon account but before I receive the actual funds from Amazon) makes a lot of sense–speeds up delivery and helps customer reviews.

    This will probably sound like a dumb question, I obviously need to buy a course somewhere or something, but how do I pay the supplier? Do I call them with a Credit Card, Debit Check Card…is their other options on how this paying the supplier process is done?

    Thanks in advance, Dave.

    1. John,

      I think it depends on the supplier and where you source them. I’m preeetttty sure that AliExpress uses ACH transfers and possibly PayPal and Stripe, but you’ll have to doublecheck. They probably want you to use AliPay (it’s like China’s paypal) which usually isn’t a bad option since the fees tend to be pretty low. TLDR It’s run by Alibaba, so they tend to require you wire up a bank to it, at least on their normal B2B site.

      I do dropshipping in my business, but mostly print-on-demand stuff like books and t-shirts through Amazon KDP, Redbubble, and Printful. POD is more or less dropshipping, too. Just more customizable.

  100. Hello Mr. Hamrick

    thank you for your knowledge sharing. i learn a lot.
    My name is Jie Sun, i am new dropshipper on Amazon US. i have a supplier which doesn’t offer ‘return label’ if the cumstomer return non-reasonable.
    I am not so clear about return set up in the seller central. Amazon ask seller to provide return label, could i ask cumsotmers who return non-reasonable deal with shipping by themself?
    If not, for the return mailing label, should i select ‘I will provide a pre-paid mailing label for this requrst’? , or ‘I would like Amazon to provide an un-paid mailing label’. in fact i don;t have an idea what’s this option meaning?
    The second question is about return address. The supplier has 3-4 warehouse address. Therefore, how do i add my return address? It seems only one address is acceptable. Is it changeable due to different return cases?
    The last question is shipping time. I locate in China, but the warehouse is in US. My defult send address is China, then i see the defult shipping time is 14-28 days and it is unchangeable. One potenial soulation might be change defult address to USA address. But does it safety to account? Do you have a better to fix shipping time?

    Sorry, so many question might is very boring and long. Anyway, look forward your feedback and hints.
    Thank you in advance!

    1. Hi Jie,

      Great questions all around, but unfortunately, many of these questions sound subjective to the supplier. I recommend contacting them directly to see if they can answer your questions for you.

  101. Great article, thanks! Total newbie here, I am just learning about drop shipping, I love the idea of it. I do understand I will setup a store on Amazon. I do have one question though:

    (When someone buys a listed product of mine.) Do I wait to get the money from Amazon (which I understand is deposited every two weeks if you have sales) and then, only after i receive money from Amazon, pay my American supplier to ship the ordered product?

    1. Hey John,

      Good questions. Ideally, you probably want to start the fulfillment process after the transaction is credited to your account but before you receive the actual funds from Amazon. If you wait two weeks or longer and THEN ship the goods after that, it might take too long for the product to get to the customers which could hurt your seller feedback rating.

      1. Hello Dave, I wanted to ask you more details regarding the payments to the supplier when the customer paid my listed product on Amazon.
        If the customer pay online through Amazon and that I fulfill the order to the supplier to be shipped on time ,should I pay in advance and wait for Amazon to pay me back with the benefits,?
        Thanks in advance for your assistance

        1. Hi Jessica,

          Yes, you will need to wait for your Amazon payout. The money will go into your balance after the order is marked shipped but you will receive your money from Amazon every 2 weeks.

  102. Question! How would you find the product number/code on AliExpress for the products? Can you bypass this step when creating your listing on Amazon?

  103. Can i he a seller with a dropsuipper if u arw nor based in the USA but want to focus primarily on sellimgvto the USA market and how long does it when an older is made by a customer and immediately paid for before I fetvtoir share offer profit paid over to to u via Amazon?
    I’m new to this so I am looking at the best options as my capital is limited to start up so inner a way or direction ad too how to receive tour profit and payment in the quickest time once ordered by the customer . I want to have no direct involvement with the customer and only work on the products line and listings and focus on quick turnover sales but try not to initially be involved in returns of items. ? Where and how do I go about it and does Amazon charge a joining fee to become a seller? Also o want only sell in the USA market so I have nothing to with returns and shipping. What are my options.

  104. Hey Dave,

    A few quick questions regarding this dropshipping process as I am new to this.
    1) What address should I put when making my Amazon seller account?
    2) When the customer buys a product from me on Amazon and when I purchase the item off of AliExpress, do I put in the customer’s information for their shipping address and name, is that how it works?
    3) Also, how will returns work? If the customer decides to return the item, you’ve stated that it ships back to me. However, I thought through dropshipping, the initial transportation of the package is from the manufacturer to the customer. So how is that the customer is able to send it back to me, instead of the manufacturer?

    1. Hi Justin,

      1) I recommend using your real address. Sometimes sellers have trouble using different addresses.
      2) Yes, that’s exactly how it works! 🙂
      3) It depends on the company that you’re dropshipping from. When you first arrange to have a product dropshipped, speak with the manufacturer on their policies.

  105. Hi,
    I started selling products on Amazon as a non-resident individual and due to lack of knowledge, I listed a branded product and the result was the blocking of my account.
    After contacting sales support, I was successful in re-establishing my account, however I list nothing more.
    My question is about dropshipping, more specifically, regarding the legality of this modality.
    I am very interested in using jungle scout and I am looking for an accountant with legal knowledge to structure the business.

    1. Hey Ricardo,

      If it’s coming from the manufacturer, in theory, you should be good to list it. Before listing a product, make sure that you speak with the manufacturer regarding IP rights, etc. You may need to have an invoice from them to prove that you are a registered seller.

  106. Hi,
    You probably know that dropshipping, or allowing a third party to fulfil orders is approved by Amazon as long as you comply with their requirements.

    You must:

    Be the seller of record of your products;
    Identify yourself as the seller of your products on all packing slips and other information included or provided in connection with them;
    Be responsible for accepting and processing customer returns of your products; and
    Comply with all other terms of your seller agreement and applicable Amazon policies.

    Will you please tell how you arrange to meet the above requirements if your dropship supplier wants to send the products directly to your buyer?

    Thank you

    Mani

    1. Hi Mani,

      Good question.

      To be the seller, all you have to do is sell it through your account. Your supplier should include your name on the packing slip. And if returns are requested, you have to process them (even if that means you send the products back to you and then you send them back to the supplier).

      I hope that’s helpful!

  107. Dave, this is a fantastic article. I am just wondering if the Corona Virus in China isn’t a major risk for drop-shipping at the moment. I have found these alternate US / European suppliers https://bit.ly/38O02CZ . Do you have experience dropshipping with US / Europe suppliers?

    1. Hey Florian,

      Good question and concern. No, I wouldn’t worry about the coronavirus slowing things down too badly. We’ve been keeping an eye on it, and so far, the only change has been a small extension to the Chinese New Year, but by no more than 1-2 days.

      As far as US/Europe suppliers, it depends. For the books I write which I create through print-on-demand services at Amazon, I have no issues at all. But like anything, just make sure the price is right.

    1. Felix,

      Excellent question. My recommendation would be to only use Facebook for the ads as sharing links even on business pages don’t get nearly as many impressions. A better option is a visual platform like Instagram where it’s easier to get impressions for people that aren’t your followers.

  108. Most amazon buyers – myself included – are addicted to free & fast Prime shipping, and won’t buy anything not Prime, even when it’s a pricier option (or we just won’t buy it).
    Drop shipping from AliExpress is the polar opposite of Prime. I used to do it on eBay. Shipping times can be a month or more, and AliExpress sellers can be extremely unreliable. I know from personal experience
    How do you suggest navigating these issues? I found them not worth it and decided to focus on inventory-based (pre-purchased wholesale) FBA of existing branded products.
    Thanks
    Max

    1. Hey Max,

      Good question. Mostly, it depends on the product. The successful dropshippers I’ve met tend to have higher-priced items, often to the tune of a few hundred or thousand dollars. Therefore, they expect it to take a little longer. I personally use print-on-demand services for a lot of what I do these days as they’re usually located here in the US or Canada and have faster turn around times.

      TLDR select products that people don’t mind waiting for. No, they probably won’t wait two weeks for a cell phone case. But will they wait two weeks for a factory grade 3d printer? Probably.

  109. Hey guys, have you heard about the kibocode program? I’ve read about it and it’s going to be huge and completely change the dropshipping and ecommerce game, at least many dropshippers say that. They are launching it officially on 28th this month and having 4 free live webinars.

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