“How do I not get flagged”, “Which Non API eBay Lister is the best”, “DHgate Vs AliExpress” – These are the questions constantly running through your mind as a dropshipper.
We have already answered the first two questions of how to not get flagged on eBay, and the Best Non API Lister to use for your dropshipping business.
So today, we will attempt to answer the latter – DHgate Vs AliExpress.
Before we really get into the DHgate Vs AliExpress showdown, let us look at both of them individually – their advantages, disadvantages, benefits, and the general difference between these two e-commerce marketplaces.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Before we will get to the showdown DHgate Vs AliExpress let’s try to get to know each supplier better.
What is DHgate?
DHgate is a Chinese business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce marketplace that facilitates the sale of manufactured products from suppliers to small and medium retailers.
It is one of the largest e-commerce trade platforms in China.
DHgate is an online trading platform that services 15 million buyers and 1.7 million sellers and is operational in 222 countries and regions.
It is pretty easy to set up and use.
All you need to do is sign up on the DHgate website, complete the authentication, and start your dropshipping experience with DHgate.
If you want to know more about how DHgate works, we have written an article on how you can dropship using DHgate.
In this article, you will get to know the basics such as how to cancel an order on DHgate, how to dropship with DHgate, and so on.
It is a totally legitimate site to shop and source for products to sell on platforms like eBay and Amazon, but what are the benefits of using it?
This brings us to the next section.
So DHgate Vs AliExpress who should I choose?
Benefits of Using DHgate
As we stated earlier, these marketplaces have their advantages, and DHgate is no different.
Here are some of the benefits you stand to gain by using DHgate.
New Buyer’s Coupon
One major benefit of using DHgate is its customer service.
They especially have good benefits for new members like the New Buyer’s Coupon for example.
The New Buyer’s Coupon, as the name implies, is only applicable to new accounts that have not made any purchase on DHgate.
With this coupon, you get an $11 coupon pack.
DHgate Inspection Service
In addition to this benefit, you get some other ones like the DHgate free inspection service.
This service was put in place to mitigate the occurrence of ending up with bad products.
It works in three simple steps
- A DHgate inspection officer will unwrap the package and check the color, size, quantity, damage, etc, of your merchandise, and crosscheck it according to the order information you filed in.
- If there are discrepancies, DHgate will immediately notify the seller to make corrections and notify you -the buyer – at the same time.
- If there are no discrepancies, the package will be restored to its original state and sent for delivery.
Customer Service
Another benefit of using DHgate to source your dropshipping products is their enhanced customer service.
You can contact them, toll-free, on their telephone service, send them a message via DHgate message or chat with them via DHgate live chat.
Drawbacks of Using DHgate
Just as there are advantages of using DHgae, there are also disadvantages.
Replica Products
If you want to get original products, you probably shouldn’t be shopping on DHgate.
If there is anything DHgate is known for, it is its abundance of replica and fake products.
Now there is a difference between replicas and fakes.
Replicas are basically knock-offs of the original product.
Fakes are either something different from the original product or a product that does not work.
And there are a lot of suppliers on DHgate that sell fake products.
That is why there are disputes and mediations in the first place.
Limited Products
Although DHgate has been around for some time now, it is not as popular as the remaining e-commerce marketplaces.
As a result, there is a limit to the options you have when it comes to certain products; especially the very niche categories.
Before we go into the DHgate Vs AliExpress showdown, let’s also take a look at the second online marketplace
What is AliExpress?
AliExpress, like DHgate, is an e-commerce website based in China.
Basically, DHgate Vs AliExpress who is better? Let’s understand what is AliExpress.
It allows International shoppers to purchase items from Chinese wholesale retailers.
AliExpress has all sorts of different items available in diverse categories, and ships to over 200 countries worldwide.
It is one popular online marketplace amongst manual dropshippers and has been proven to be reliable as a place to source products from.
Benefits of Using AliExpress
Here are some of the benefits of using AliExpress
Large Database of Products
You can browse a huge selection of items on AliExpress.
They have a wide variety of categories including clothing, electronics, toys, and more.
This is because its popularity has attracted a lot of wholesale suppliers to use that site as their trading platform.
Coupons
AliExpress, sometimes, offers coupons that reduce the total cost of your order.
And individual sellers often have coupons for some of the items they have available.
Also, you get a new user coupon when you sign up for AliExpress.
Buyer Protection
AliExpress offers buyer protection on all orders.
If your order doesn’t turn out quite right – maybe a missing part or bad quality – AliExpress can help you out.
You can open a dispute with the seller to get a full or partial refund depending on the situation.
Customer Service
Another benefit you get from AliExpress is their 24/7 customer service.
If you need help with any of their features or you have questions to ask, just go over to the customer support self-help section and proceed to chat with their representative.
This takes you to the AliExpress online chat service where you can ask as many questions as you want and get swift effective replies.
Drawbacks of Using AliExpress
Here are some reasons why you may not want to shop on AliExpress.
Slow Shipping
You probably won’t want to order items from AliExpress if you want them in a hurry.
Since all AliExpress products ship from China, it could take a while before they arrive at your destination.
False Advertisements
Sometimes, the products you get are not as advertised on AliExpress.
And AliExpress has to mitigation protocol in place to resolve this problem.
So you need to be extra careful when getting from this website.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Comparisons
We need to look at these two platforms side-by-side and draw out comparisons and how they differ from each other.
Below are comparisons between the two.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Pricing and Discount Policies
It is found that prices are generally lower on AliExpress than on DHgate.
But they both sell affordable items.
DHgate compensates for this by always dishing coupons and discounts to their users.
AliExpress is not left behind in this discount and coupon frenzy.
They also give many sales and offers to make shopping with them cheaper and more affordable.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Features and User Experience
Both DHgate and AliExpress have interesting features to make shopping much less frustrating.
DHgate has what is called DH membership where users can get benefits and privileges just by using their website.
And as you keep using their website, you keep growing in their membership scheme, and the privileges keep increasing.
AliExpress offers more user experience features.
For example, if you are looking for shoes, it is possible to set a particular size of that shoe, and you will be presented that size only in your search queries.
This cannot be found in DHgate.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Payment Options
DHgate is more flexible in its payment structure than AliExpress.
They accept a large range of payment methods including Visa, UnionPay, MasterCard, Skrill Bank Transfer, American Express, Diners, Maestro card, Discover, and many other international means of payment.
Whereas, with AliExpress, there are more conservative with their payment methods because they want to offer full security on all transactions done with their platform.
And that is why they introduced Alipay, a more secure way, for both the seller and the buyer, to do transactions on AliExpress.
Although AliExpress does accept other payment methods like credit cards, Visa, Mastercard, and the rest, you might be restricted to using Alipay in some transactions.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Shipping Options
Both DHgate and AliEpress have free and paid shipping options, depending on the location and the product itself.
As you can use whatever courier service you want for the paid option of both platforms.
The difference in their shipping method is in the time of delivery.
AliExpress will give you an exact date of delivery, while DHgate will a more approximate time.
Sometimes, these dates are usually very broad.
Where you see something lie “delivery time in 8-30 days”.
it can be quite difficult to communicate this to your buyers.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Buyer Protection
Both websites offer buyer protection that is seemingly rock-solid.
DHgate, for example, offers what is known as the seller guarantee that centers on the return policy and on-time delivery.
Here, the seller sets a time duration for when the item can be returned. It could be 3 days, 7 days, or any time frame the seller sees fit.
For the on-time delivery option, the seller sets a time frame for which the order can be canceled.
After this, if the order is canceled, your money may not be returned.
AliExpress also has a buyer protection guarantee in place via what is known as the moneyback gurantee.
The problem with it is that the seller has to be the one to initiate it, and they can come out of it any time they want to.
That is the loophole with AliExpress’s buyer protection policy.
DHgate Vs AliExpress: Product options
This is probably where DHgate and AliExpress differ significantly.
First of all, both platforms have a broad range of product categories.
however, AliExpress has a wider range and more products than DHgate.
The reason is not exactly far-fetched as AliExpress has been around for a long time now compared to DHgate which is still quite young.
Also, both have their different strengths in product categories.
AliExpress is best known for electronics, jewelry, hair, and home decor.
DHgate, on the other hand, is well known for theie replica products.
Especially fashion replicas like replica clothing, replica bags, replica shoes, and so on.
DHgate Vs AliExpress – The Final Verdict
As we said at the beginning of this article, the DHgate Vs AliExpress showdown is the main reason for this article.
And we will address just that in this section.
To really appreciate the DHgate Vs AliExpress head-to-head, we need to bring their benefits and drawbacks, side by side.
By doing that you’ll realize that these two online marketplaces differ in three categories – Cost of products, logistics, and customer service.
When it comes to the cost of products, AliExpress beats DHgate because prices are generally lower on AliExpress as compared to DHgate.
As regards logistics, DHgate stays winning because, with DHgate, you have things like inspection services that certify that your package is authentic.
With respect to customer service, they are both okay.
The only problem is that, with DHgate, the rate at which you get a reply is dependent on your ranking in the DH membership scheme.
A higher ranking member will be promptly responded to, while for a low-level member, it can take up to 4 hours.
With AliExpress, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been trading on their platform.
Once you ask a question, you are swiftly responded to.
In summary, we have gone through the DHgate Vs AliExpress subject matter and have explained their advantages and disadvantages in great detail.
In our opinion at KalDrop, we advise you don’t just think DHgate Vs AliExpress; think which one best work for you and your dropshipping business.
So in this showdown DHgate Vs AliExpress which supplier will you use?
