How to Validate Suppliers on AliExpress

In this latest video we will discuss the all-important issue ‘How to validate suppliers on Ali Express‘, Due to the large number of suppliers on Ali Express it is essential to filter out the bad ones from good ones.

Therefore, it is very important to validate suppliers on Ali Express before partnering with them. And I quote myself “… it will be a disaster if you don’t validate your supplier on AliExpress …”

Validating Suppliers on AliExpress

Step 1

We start by visiting AliExpress.com, then selecting any category. I have chosen Health & Beauty, Hair. From here I chose the sub category Nail Art & Tools > then sub-set Nail Glitters.In the Sort By option select ‘Orders’ and this will arrange all products by most orders placed. When you hover your mouse over the product picture you will notice “Top Brand” badge in front of the Seller name, this shows that the seller is a trusted brand.

There are other indicators of the rating system being used at AliExpress in case the brand doesn’t have a top brand badge. Just click on the Store/Seller’s store name and you will be taken to the official page for the store. Now click on Feedback, you will be able to see the average ratings of the supplier here.

You will see their overall rating, communication rating, item description, and shipping times. This will give you a clear idea of how the seller fares in comparison to other sellers.

As a personal recommendation, I will always suggest you go with ‘Top brand’ sellers as they are the most reliable ones and AliExpress itself trusts them. However, sellers without the ‘badge’ are not outright scammers, but they are still a bit less reliable than the top brands. The number of reviews for every product is also a great indicator of a good or bad seller, so do go through user reviews of the seller too.

Step 2

Click on the name of the Supplier to view their profile, as in my example above I clicked on YIWU ALISI JEWELRY Store, following is the supplier’s profile:

This Seller Feedback area will allow you to learn about the supplier in detail. When buyers leave a review of supplier reliability, communication, and shipping speed this is where you can see it in a glance.

If you notice the supplier has also scored a superb positive feedback rate of 99.1% which is brilliant. Look for something between 89% and 99% as a reliable supplier score. You can also review the supplier score breakdown for 1, 3, 6, and 12 months.

You can also check for shipping methods available from the supplier by simply clicking on one of the products, then clicking the link in front of shipping it will show you the menu shown above. Cheaper delivery or even free delivery indicates you can earn a larger profit margin from this supplier.

Delivery times & costs are essential for both profitability and customer satisfaction. It is very crucial that you evaluate several suppliers in accordance to delivery time, deliver costs, delivery satisfaction and returns. Most delivery related reviews are provided through buyer reviews so do read through them to know how quickly products reach different countries.

Right below the summary, you will find listed real time customer reviews of the supplier. The great thing is that reviews are available in different languages for customers from different countries. This is probably the place to validate a supplier on AliExpress. You can now see a complete breakdown of user ratings and which regions the supplier has easy access to.

I also suggest that you order samples of your chosen products from the supplier to evaluate delivery, shipping, payment processing, service quality, communications, and actual product quality. It will give you an idea of what your customer will expect & experience allowing you to change suppliers if possible.

Factors for validating Suppliers on Ali Express

At this stage you should have detailed information about several AliExpress suppliers. You now have the ability to validate multiple suppliers on AliExpress by comparing them head to head. Here are some factors to analyze when comparing them:

1. Positive Feedback – Positive feedback ratings are the first impression for any dropshipping store owner. This factor expressed as a percentage shows the sentiment of buyers towards a supplier. Usually shown for 6 months, it is a great indicator of a valid supplier.
2. Feedback Score – The accumulated total of all factors in the Detailed Seller Ratings section. This is a major factor when validating suppliers on AliExpress. A higher number indicates a more reliable supplier.  (5 or 4 stars = =1 point, 3 stars = 0 points, 2 or 1 star = -1 point).
3. AliExpress Seller Since – A Supplier’s registration date is a good measure of validity. It indicates that a supplier is not only valid, but also very reliable if they have been operating on Ali Express for a long time.
4. Detailed seller ratings – These are ratings from buyers who have purchased from the supplier earlier. These are essential to analyse when validating a supplier on AliExpress. This section provides a single view of supplier item description, communication & shipping speed ratings, while comparing it to other suppliers.
5. Item as Described – This section carries great importance when validating suppliers on AliExpress. It analyses the condition of a product and if it complies with the item description & advertised quality.
6. Communication – This section indicated how responsive and active the supplier is towards user queries. A higher number indicates that the supplier is very active and immediately responds to customers when called upon.
7.  Shipping Speed – Shipping globally from China is a crucial measure for all AliExpress suppliers. This should not be confused with delivery times; which indicates the time taken for the product to reach the customer from courier/postal services.
8. Feedback History – This gives a historical feedback of the supplier. It is good to analyse this since supplier validity can improve or decline over time.
9. Feedback Received as a Seller – These are reviews left by buyers for other buyers. It is a real time review that buyers have to leave after each sale is completed. These are a great measure of supplier validity, so do browse through them.
10. Feedback Left For Buyers – This is feedback left by the supplier for different buyers. It identifies discrepancies in reviews and shows if a buyer was biased in their rating.

Hope you enjoyed our guide on how to validate suppliers on AliExpress. If you liked our guide leave us your feedback and do remember to eave your suggestions or questions for improvement to our content. Until next time, see you again soon. For getting more answers of more queries check aliexpress wiki