A lot of dropshippers, both new and experienced prefer working with a platform that can ship from warehouses all around the world, handle inventory storage and order fulfillment with faster shipping than what Aliexpress offers.
Enter CJDropshipping, a company that seems to tick all these boxes and many more. You might have heard of CJ Dropshipping, but didn’t know whether it is as good as it is touted to be.
In today’s CJDropshipping review, we will take an objective look at this dropshipping platform and help you decide whether this is the right choice for your business.
What is CJDropshipping?
CJDropshipping is a dropshipping supplier that has become quite popular in the last few years. They are actually based in China. But unlike Aliexpress, which is essentially a platform that bridges a supplier and a business, CJDropshipping owns their warehouses internationally.
There are 29 of them to be precise outside of China, including in the United States and the EU.
Suddenly, you realize that this translates into faster shipping times within the US, which gives you a fighting chance to stand up against the big brands.
But CJDropshipping’s benefits don’t end there. There’s more. They also offer an extensive product catalog of more than 400,000 products and one click integration with most commonly used dropshipping software, to name a few features.
How does CJDropshipping Work?
CJDropshipping uses the traditional dropshipping platform to sales channel integration to help you use the massive marketplace and other features. Here’s a step by step guide on how you can set this up.
- Register on CJDropshipping. There are two different types of accounts you can create. One is a dropshipping account and the other is an affiliate account. Register for the dropshipping account and sign in to access the dashboard.
- On the left hand side, you will see 17 options. There’s Shopify, eBay, WooCommerce, ShipStation, WED2C, Etsy, Shoplazza, Squarespace, AllValue, Magento, Wix, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Amazon, a custom API, Lazada & Shopee. Depending on the ecommerce software you are using, pick one of these and add your store/account details into the CJ dashboard.
- That’s it. Your store is now connected to the CJ interface.
- What’s great about CJ is that it allows you to sell even if you do not have a storefront yet. For instance, if you use Instagram or Facebook to generate sales. You can still place orders. Just select the product, add to the SKU list in the CJ Dashboard and create orders.
CJ Dropshipping Pros and Cons
Before we look into the features in detail, let’s take a bird’s eye view of the top benefits and disadvantages of CJ Dropshipping.
Pros
- Updated Catalog – CJDropshipping works with thousands of manufacturers and suppliers all around the world. This means that their product catalog is always updated with latest trendy products.
- Free Sign up – CJDropshipping offers a free sign up and account creation. There are no subscription charges, or any hidden charges. The service is free. You only pay for the products you source from CJ, which makes it a great choice for beginner dropshipping entrepreneurs.
- Updated App – CJDropshipping offers an updated mobile application that makes it easy to place and manage your orders. The Application is particularly useful for dropshippers on-the-go, as well as those who do not have a dropshipping storefront.
- Customized Product Packaging – One of the most notable features of CJ is that it allows you to custom package the products before it is shipped. This allows you to dropship white label products with your logo.
- Extended Market Reach thanks to global warehouses – CJDropshipping has 29 international warehouses, which greatly expands its reach to global markets. This also helps with faster shipping times for international customers.
Cons
- Clunky Interface – CJDropshipping’s interface, both web and mobile app, is not as user-friendly as Oberlo or Shopify’s. It looks clunky and overloaded with features that could have been better arranged. If you are used to using those two platforms, then you will find the CJDropshipping interface a little difficult to navigate.
- Not a cheaper Aliexpress Alternative – CJDropshipping’s product catalog is not always cheaper than Aliexpress. A lot of dropshippers hop on to CJ expecting it to be a cheaper alternative. But it’s not. You will have to consider working with a dropshipping agent and sourcing from a private supplier, if price is your primary concern.
- Support requests are not personalized – One consistent pattern that we have noticed across CJDropshipping’s customer reviews on the Shopify Marketplace as well as outside of it, is that the support team is not very quick in responding to customer queries if you have a basic free account. When they do, it can often be a cookie-cutter response. Like a template response. It’s not a one-on-one, personalized attention that most businesses prefer. If you prefer a dedicated account manager, you have to sign up for a pro account.
- Warehousing Fees for items shipped from US – CJDropshipping’s advertising, as well as brand positioning hints towards it being a zero-charge service. You pay only for the product that you buy, seems to be the image they portray. But that’s not true. There are warehousing charges, which only come to the fore when you look for products shipping from the USA or other international warehouses. Oh, there’s accounting charges too. Private inventory storage also attracts these fees by the way.
- Low Margins in some niches – Many of the trendy products on CJ are actually niches that are nearing saturation, or already saturated. This means that your margins in these niches will be very low to begin with. Also, there’s always a possibility that someone else will offer the same product for a much lower cost, because some dropshippers just want to beat the competition, even if it means sacrificing on their profit margins by a fair bit.
CJDropshipping Features & Benefits
Let’s take a closer look at what we believe are the top features and benefits of CJDropshipping.
1. Massive Variety of Products to Choose from
CJDropshipping’s biggest draw is that they have a catalog of over 400000 products to choose from that’s steadily expanding every single day. It is also one of the most diverse options when it comes to product type, category and supplier variety.
A lot of dropshipping platforms are actually Aliexpress clones and work with the same suppliers that you’d find on Aliexpress. CJDropshipping, however, has its own catalog of products and suppliers, many of whom are located internationally. This gives it an edge over most similar dropshipping platforms.
For instance, if you click on ‘Selected Global Products’ on the CJDropshipping homepage, it will take you to a list of preselected, branded products from suppliers around the globe. If you do not want to spend time with research, just pick one of these and start working. These are CJ recommended brands and products.
They also work with a lot of manufacturers directly and source products which are stored in their warehouse network. So, there is a distinct possibility that you may find products at a cheaper price than what you can find on Aliexpress.
In case you cannot find a product on CJ, they have a custom sourcing request. They can find a product for you, as well as match a product’s pricing from your current supplier, and better it.
2. International Warehouse Inventory
CJDropshipping has 29 international warehouses that are located in USA, Germany, France, Italy, India, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Britain, Russia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Saudi Arabie & New Zealand, to name a few.
While that’s not a global footprint, it’s certainly better than most of the other dropshipping platforms that are available today.
This gives you the advantage of being able to source products from a wide range of countries and get them shipped to your customer’s doorstep within 2-4 days without having to worry about customs and duties.
You can search for a product based on the warehouse location and even filter it further by shipping cost. There are products for example, in the US warehouse that offers free shipping within USA. This is a great way to use this in your advertising.
They also offer a ‘Global Shipping’ program, which allows you to dropship products from any of their global warehouses to any of the other warehouses. So, if you don’t find a product on their US warehouse, you can always check the German warehouse and vice versa.
If you are sourcing the products from CJ’s marketplace and existing supplier network, then there are no additional charges for stocking the inventory. But if it’s a custom sourcing request (which they also offer), then warehouse storage charges may apply.
Also, there are some MOQs in place for international warehouses. For instance, to use the USA warehouse, you need to have at least 100 pieces in one SKU.
3. Product Sourcing
Product Sourcing is one of CJDropshipping’s mainstays. It is one of the only dropshipping platforms that actively sources custom products for you. There are numerous ways to request CJ to source products using the platform.
For example, you can search for a product on their Marketplace or Supplier catalogs and place an order to directly get the products shipped from the warehouse of choice. You can also preorder inventory and store it in a warehouse of your choosing, to avoid peak season delays or risking inventory going out of stock.
CJ calls this ‘Preorder Inventory’ and you will see this option on every product page. But if you cannot find a product on the CJdropshipping marketplace, you can post a custom sourcing request.
If you have connected your store already, then you can directly import a product from your store and post the request with images and other details. Else, you can upload relevant product data and ask CJ to source it for you.
The membership tier determines the number of sourcing requests. VIP members get unlimited sourcing requests while Level 1 business members get five per day.
CJDropshipping can also source from Taobao, 1688 & Aliexpress for you. All you need to do is install the CJDropshipping chrome extension and head to these sites. CJ can find the same products for you at better prices, which is great.
4. Automation & Fulfillment
A dropshipping platforms automation and fulfillment is one of the most critical and decisive factors when it comes to choosing one. You do not want to spend time creating orders manually.
Even Aliexpress requires you to manually place orders, if there are more than 20 at a time, which is cumbersome. Thankfully, CJDropshipping offers a wide range of automation and fulfillment features that are comparable with the best in the space.
For example, they offer an automated order processing feature which allows you to process and fulfill orders with a single click once you have connected your store with the CJDropshipping interface.
All you need to do is click on sync orders and pay for the orders. The CJDropshipping team handles the rest. You can create shipping labels, tracking numbers and print invoices right from the platform itself.
At the same time, you can also place manual orders on-the-fly in just a few clicks. For instance, sometimes orders do not sync or get imported, which shows them as invalid. You can just click on the red icon and click on reconnect again, to re-sync the orders. It’s pretty user-friendly and does not take more than a few minutes.
5. Print on Demand
CJDropshipping allows you to get started with the massive print-on-demand industry without the traditional hassles associated with the business. No MOQ, no investments, and no inventory management.
However, conventional POD services are meant for artists who want to sell their own unique creations. CJDropshipping also allows you to do this. You can create your own designs with any of the hundreds of POD products listed on CJ.
There’s clothing, mobile cases, lights, tech accessories, home and garden products, and even beauty products that can be customized. Your designs are saved to a section called ‘Design Myself’. You can then import them to your store and generate sales. CJ will handle the printing and fulfillment.
But there’s another amazing option here. CJDropshipping allows you to list the products as they are, which are blanks. You can then let the customer design the product.
This, we believe is an excellent way to increase the average order value and get people more engaged with your store. Please bear that not many POD services offer this feature. So, you can use it as a USP.
CJDropshipping Price
CJDropshipping charges a processing fee + warehousing fee when you source products that are not already stored in one of their warehouses. For instance, if you want a product that’s not available in their USA warehouse, they can source that for you and store it in the warehouse. But they will charge you both these fees.
This is the same with all their international warehouses, including the Chinese one. The charges are based on the dimension of the item and the space that it occupies in the warehouse. For the Chinese warehouse, the processing fee starts from $0.20 for an item that weighs 0.001 – 0.1kg, and goes all the way to $1.86/item. Additional services such as pallet, labeling, unpacking, assembling, stock taking & outbound, are also chargeable.
You can get complete details over here – https://cjdropshipping.com/service-fee
CJDropshipping Alternatives
CJDropshipping is definitely one of the best dropshipping platforms out there. But it’s not the only one. In case, CJDropshipping doesn’t work for you, then here are the best alternatives.
1. Sourcingbro – Dropshipping Agent in China
We’d like to start off with a pat on our own backs. Just kidding. Sourcingbro is a small team of passionate people who have helped dropshippers from all over the world to find and import products from China.
We’re not just a sourcing agent. We also handle fulfillment, private label dropshipping services and offer personalized one-on-one attention to every single client. If the lack of personalized attention with CJDropshipping bothers you, then we can be the partner you seek.
Key Features:
Personalized Customer Support – After working for years in the dropshipping industry, we realized that there was one common problem. That was accountability and personalized attention. Very few services legitimately care about your business. That’s why we offer one-on-one attention to each and every client. Right from sourcing until product delivery, we are there to oversee and solve any issue that might arise.
Choosing Swift & Reliable Ecommerce solutions – Sourcingbro offers end to end services, ranging from product sourcing from our extensive ground-network of factories, conducting factory audits, finding you better pricing, helping with product development and lastly, shipping.
Fulfillment Automation – One of the big draws of dropshipping platforms is that they automate fulfillment and no manual inputs are required. Well, you’d be glad to hear that Sourcingbro offers the same feature. Once you generate a sale, it automatically syncs with our backend system. We’ll automatically fulfill and ship it to your customer with delivery duty paid method. This allows you to focus on scaling your business and not fulfillment headaches.
2. Printify – Top Print on Demand Service
Printify is a print on demand service that lets you create and sell your custom apparel products easily. It’s one of the simplest ways to launch a t-shirt line as all you have to do is upload your artwork, select your shirt style & color.
You can also configure other custom options if needed. They offer more than 300 products to choose from and boast of stringent quality control.
Key Features:
Custom Products with a mockup generator – Printify offers a unique mockup generator tool. You can upload your design and get a live preview of how it will look on different products before buying them. You can also swap colors, which gives you a fair idea of what color variants you can offer.
Quality Products – Printify has a multi-tier quality control process. Every product that comes from them is manufactured in one of their state-of-the-art facilities and then sent for final inspection. If it fails the inspection, they don’t ship it to you either. Also, they allow you to place a sample order to actually get the product in hand and check it yourself.
Largest Global Print Network – Printify is one of the largest global print networks. They have product suppliers all over the world and this allows you to handpick suppliers that are close to your target market. They also handle the shipping to your customers.
3. Modalyst – Sell on any sales Platform
Modalyst is a dropshipping platform that’s been featured on Forbes, Bloomberg and a host of other major online publications.
It lets you sell on over 25 of the most popular e-commerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce and more. That’s not all. You can source from US suppliers, Aliexpress sellers as well as private suppliers, massively expanding your access to products.
Key Features:
Get in touch with suppliers – A lot of the dropshipping platforms act like middlemen and restrict your direct access to the supplier. Modalyst connects you directly to the source and lets you get in touch with manufacturers, suppliers and wholesalers. There’s no limitation to the exchange or communication either.
Automated Inventory Alerts – There’s nothing more disappointing than not having your product in stock and getting an email from a customer. With Modalyst, you can set automated emails to inform you about low inventory. This means you can restock well in time and maintain stock levels to avoid dissatisfaction.
Unlimited Products – Modalyst is the perfect solution for businesses that are looking to scale as they go. They do not place any restrictions on the number of products you can add to your store. This gives you the breathing room to experiment and find what works for you and scale without worrying about the additional volume.
- Dsers Dropshipping Review
- Oberlo vs Dropified
Additional Resources:
Dsers Dropshipping Review Oberlo vs Dropified
CJDropshipping Review: Conclusion
CJDropshipping definitely rates amongst the top in our list of the best dropshipping platforms. It has tons of products, offers custom sourcing, white labeling and print on demand.
Their paid membership also gives you access to a dedicated account manager. That being said, there are certain areas where they can improve including the interface, which remains a little overloaded, and the customer service in particular.
As an entrepreneur, your focus should be on building a sustainable dropshipping business that’s as automated as it can be, without cutting corners with customer service. That’s precisely what Sourcingbro brings to the table. We offer personalized attention, completely automated fulfillment and proactive customer service until the product is safely delivered to the customer.
We hope that this article helps you come to an objective decision about CJDropshipping and the alternatives that we have listed here. Good luck.
