Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start an online business and it’s even easier to manage your AliExpress dropshipping orders. Zappos, Amazon, and eBay all use dropshipping successfully as a part of their business model. If you’re interested in dropshipping then you should try out AliExpress. AliExpress allows you to start your own dropshipping business quickly and easily. You don’t have to hold any inventory– in fact, AliExpress suppliers can ship products directly to your customers. You can also use AliExpress shipping tracking to check exactly where your customer’s package is. As dropshippers, it’s important to know exactly what to expect from AliExpress suppliers. In this post, I will outline some of the most common questions which ecommerce entrepreneurs have about AliExpress orders management. The answers in this article will help you to manage your AliExpress dropshipping orders better and explain AliExpress fulfillment.
Post Contents
- What’s the Refund Policy for Dropshipping Orders?
- Where Can I Access Aliexpress Shipping Tracking Codes for My Dropshipping Orders?
- AliExpress Shipping Tracking: How Long Does It Take for an Order to Arrive?
- How Do I Check the Status of My Dropshipping Orders?
- Order Status Email Scripts
- What If the Delivery on the Dropshipping Order Is Late?
- What If My Customer Is Unhappy With Their Purchase?
- “How do I know if the products are real?”
- “What does buyer’s protection cover?”
- “How do I cancel a dropshipping order?”
- “How does AliExpress protect my payments for dropshipping orders?”
- Want to Learn More?
What’s the Refund Policy for Dropshipping Orders?
Most of the time, any issues with your dropshipping order can be resolved by communicating with your supplier. However, depending on the severity of the situation, you might need to escalate your case to AliExpress. AliExpress takes any issues with dropshipping issues seriously, so you'll be protected on that front.
In general, refunds are accepted when the product doesn’t arrive, or if it’s not in satisfactory condition when it does arrive. This can usually be resolved through open communication with the supplier — however, if you don’t receive a satisfactory response from your dropshipping supplier, you can escalate it to a formal dispute.
Formal disputes indicate that the buyer is dissatisfied with some aspects of their order and wants the supplier to fix the situation.
According to AliExpress, you can open a dispute from the 6th day after the seller ships out the products up to the day the dropshipping order has reached its destination.
To start, sign-in and click on the “My Orders” button on the home page. You’ll see a list of all of your dropshipping orders. From there, you can select “Open Dispute” and begin a formal escalation for your dropshipping order.
Where Can I Access Aliexpress Shipping Tracking Codes for My Dropshipping Orders?
AliExpress shipping tracking codes are the most important thing when it comes to placing your dropshipping orders– it’s the only proof you have that shows your dropshipping order is currently en route to your customer.
Then, once the supplier ships the order, you’ll get your very own AliExpress shipping tracking number so that you can track the shipment. You can access the tracking number in the transactions section of AliExpress (which you can see after logging in). You can use your AliExpress shipping tracking number to inform your customers about the current progress of their dropshipping orders and give them an estimation for when they will receive their products.
AliExpress Shipping Tracking: How Long Does It Take for an Order to Arrive?
When selecting products from AliExpress, you can sort them based on their estimated shipping times. If you see products that have the ePacket delivery option available, you might want to check them out. ePacket delivery is one of the most affordable expression delivery options on AliExpress, meaning that your dropshipping orders will get to your customers quickly. ePacket delivery usually costs under $5 and your customers will receive their product in under 14 days.
The ePacket delivery option isn’t available for every dropshipping order. You can only use ePacket delivery for a select number of countries, like the United States, Canada, the UK, and most European countries. If one of your customers wants to check where their dropshipping order is by using the AliExpress shipping tracking number, it’ll be less overwhelming to see that it’ll arrive within a couple of weeks, compared to the free 60-day delivery option.
How Do I Check the Status of My Dropshipping Orders?
First, you can track your dropshipping orders on AliExpress, with third-party tools like 17track.net, AfterShip, or Convey. You should check the order status of your dropshipping orders frequently so that you can catch any problems before they escalate — maybe your product has shipped much later than expected, or it’s stuck in transit. This way, you can alert your customers quickly if there’s a problem.
Next, there are a couple of steps that go into checking order status:
Now, sign into your account on AliExpress and go to “My Orders”. Next, check your order status through the tabs below.
If you find that your shipment status is late, you can contact your supplier directly and ask for a product reshipment. Then, email your customer(s) and inform them of the shipping problem. Let them know that the order is on its way and that they can keep both products at no extra charge when they arrive.
Order Status Email Scripts
Here’s an email script you can send to your supplier:
Here’s a message you can send to your customer:
What If the Delivery on the Dropshipping Order Is Late?
You can protect yourself against late deliveries by checking the seller’s “On-Time delivery guarantee” time, and making sure that the delivery date you’re looking for falls into that guarantee time.
However, if the dropshipping order doesn’t arrive to the customer on time, you must send a refund request within 15 days of your order placement.
Then, if the AliExpress shipping tracking code is inactive for five business days, you can email your supplier to ask for an update — you can find the tracking codes through the fulfillment monitoring page. Once you’re on the page just filter the orders that have an expired or unrecognized AliExpress shipping tracking code, and contact those suppliers.
Now, here’s an email script you can send to your suppliers:
What If My Customer Is Unhappy With Their Purchase?
If your customer is unhappy with their purchase, they must return it to you unused. From there, you can send it back to your supplier. This applies to all products that are covered by Domestic Returns.
To return a product, go on the “order details” page. Then, select “open dispute”, and click “easy returns”. From there, you can easily submit your refund request. The supplier gets five days to respond. If you’re unable to reach an agreement with the seller, you’re eligible to get a full refund for the product as long as you return it within ten days.
To make sure that you keep the best possible relationship with your customers, you should accept returns to your own store. However, don’t ask customers to send it to your supplier. Then, you can either re-ship those products to other customers or keep inventory for the future.
“How do I know if the products are real?”
You can ensure the products are genuine by verifying product coverage under the “Guaranteed Genuine” program.
However, if you purchase a “Guaranteed Genuine” product and it happens to be counterfeit, you’ll still get a full refund including shipping costs.
As a rule of thumb, items featuring popular brand names like Adidas and Ray-ban are the products to avoid dropshipping.
“What does buyer’s protection cover?”
It’s important to note, AliExpress buyer’s protection protects you under the following conditions:
- When an item doesn’t arrive within the guaranteed shipping time
- In the event that the product you receive is different from its description.
- If the goods turn out to be counterfeit despite being in the ‘Guaranteed Genuine’ program.
Don’t worry, if you don’t receive your order within the delivery time you can get a full refund. Furthermore, you can get a partial refund if the item is different from the product description.
To take advantage of buyer protection, contact the seller and state your issues. However, if you can’t resolve the problem with the seller, open a dispute. From there, you can formally discuss the problem with the seller. Then, if you still are unable to reach an agreement, you can escalate the dispute to AliExpress who will act as a meditator.
“How do I cancel a dropshipping order?”
If you want to cancel any of your dropshipping orders, you’ll have to contact and reach an agreement with your supplier before the ship date.
First, sign into the “my orders” section, and click the “cancel order” button for your order.
“How does AliExpress protect my payments for dropshipping orders?”
If you buy from a supplier on AliExpress, you can pay securely with your credit card. Don’t worry, the details are secure due to the highest level of commercially available protection — VeriSign SSL encryption.
Next, you can also use an AliPay account, which we recommend. You can add your credit card info to AliPay (similar to PayPal). Then, submit your ID card to verify that you’re the actual account holder. Lastly, you’ll use a PIN code to purchase a product on AliExpress. This way, you don’t have to enter your credit card information every time.
Want to Learn More?
- Shopify Dropshipping FAQ
- How To Select Dropshipping Suppliers
- How to Handle Angry eCommerce Customers + Free Email Templates
- [VIDEO] What Is ePacket Delivery?
Finally, have a question about managing your AliExpress dropshipping orders or AliExpress shipping tracking? Leave a comment below!