Your store is ready, you need something to fill the orders. This is often when people take the first, cheapest AliExpress result, and find out three weeks later that their first customer is still waiting for the parcel.
Your customer never sees your supplier. If delivery drags or the product doesn't look like the photo, it's you they write to. Choosing a supplier means choosing half of the experience you sell. Here's how to do it well, without spending weeks on it.
Three things to decide before you search
The delivery time you want to promise. It's the criterion that matters most to your customer. A product shipped from Asia usually takes one to three weeks to reach Europe depending on the carrier; from a European warehouse, a few days. That time shows on your product page, and it weighs: in Baymard's cart abandonment research, 20% of shoppers who abandon do so because delivery is too slow.
The money you're willing to put up. Zero with dropshipping: you pay the supplier only once your customer has paid you. A first order from a wholesaler or a manufacturer, on the other hand, is stock you finance before you've sold anything.
The control you want to keep. Your logo on the packaging, a flyer in the box, consistent quality: the more you want that, the more you move towards a wholesaler or manufacturer, and away from generic dropshipping.
| Supplier type | Stock to pay upfront | Customer delivery | Customisation | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dropshipping from Asia | None | 1 to 3 weeks | Low | Testing an idea with no budget |
| Dropshipping from Europe | None | A few days | Medium | Selling in Europe with a decent delivery time |
| Brand wholesaler | A first order | A few days | None, they're their brands | Reselling existing brands |
| Manufacturer (white label) | A minimum batch | Production, then fast | Full | Building your own brand |
| Print on demand | None | 1 to 2 weeks | Good on the design | Apparel, posters, personalised items |
For the detail of no-inventory models and their costs, selling online without inventory compares the four options. Here, we focus on finding the right supplier once your model is chosen.
Where to look, depending on what you sell
Test fast, no stock: AliExpress and CJdropshipping. Millions of products, no minimum, and apps that send your Shopify orders to the supplier automatically. It's the right place to check that a product interests people before putting money into it. CJdropshipping also has warehouses outside Asia for part of its catalogue, which shortens delivery on those products.
Deliver in a few days: European dropshipping wholesalers. BigBuy, for example, states over 400,000 products stored in Valencia, Spain, with dispatch within 24 hours. The catalogue is less original than AliExpress, but you can promise fast delivery, and that shows in your conversion rate.
Resell brands: Ankorstore and Faire. Wholesale marketplaces where independent brands sell to shops. Each brand sets its minimum order, and on Ankorstore most keep it at €100. You usually need a business number to open an account.
Have your brand manufactured: Alibaba and Europages. Alibaba for factories, mostly in Asia; Europages to find European manufacturers, with 2.2 million suppliers listed. On Alibaba, always pay through the platform: that's the condition for Trade Assurance to refund you if the factory ships late or quality doesn't match what was agreed.
Print on demand: Printful and Printify. You create the design, they print and ship each order one by one. Ideal for apparel, mugs or posters without storing anything.
The trick few people use: look at the label or packaging of a competing product, or search Google for "manufacturer + your product + country". Many factories have a website and sell directly, often with more flexible minimums than you'd think.
Connect it to Shopify so everything goes out on its own
A well-chosen supplier that's badly connected means orders copied by hand and forgotten tracking numbers. Most suppliers have a Shopify app that does the work. At a minimum, it should:
- Import products into your store with photos, variants and prices, which you then edit.
- Send orders to the supplier when a customer buys, in one click or automatically.
- Send the tracking number back to Shopify, so your customer gets the shipping email without you touching anything.
- Sync stock and price, so you don't sell a product that's out of stock or whose cost went up.
| Supplier | Shopify app | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| AliExpress | DSers | Free up to 3,000 products; automatic stock and price sync requires the $19.90 per month plan |
| CJdropshipping | CJdropshipping app | Products, orders and tracking from one interface |
| BigBuy | BigBuy connector | European stock, catalogue sync |
| Printful, Printify | Their own app | You pay per order, no subscription to start |
For AliExpress, the step-by-step DSers tutorial shows installation, importing a product, linking your variants to the supplier's, and bulk ordering.
The eight questions to ask before paying
A serious supplier answers precisely. A risky one answers fast, with enthusiasm, and without numbers. Ask in writing and keep the answers.
| Question | Why you ask | The answer that should worry you |
|---|---|---|
| What's the dispatch time, then delivery time to my customers' country? | It's the time you'll display | "Fast", with no number of days |
| What's the minimum order? | The money you'll tie up | A minimum that changes when you push |
| Can I order a sample? | Compare the real product to the photo | A refusal, or "the sample is different" |
| What happens if a product arrives broken? | Your customer won't want to wait | "That never happens" |
| How am I told about a stockout? | Don't sell what no longer exists | No automatic stock tracking |
| Is the parcel tracked all the way to delivery? | Your customer will ask you | Tracking that stops when it leaves the country |
| Can you add my logo or remove yours? | Your customer shouldn't see another name | Another shop's invoice or flyer in the box |
| Which payment methods? | Your protection if things go wrong | Bank transfer only, off-platform |
Time their replies too. A supplier who takes four days to answer before you've bought anything won't be faster when you have an unhappy customer.
Be wary of photos that appear on ten other stores, of a price far below everyone else, and of any request to pay off-platform in exchange for a discount.
Work out your real cost, not the listed price
The supplier price is just one line. Your real cost per order is the product, plus shipping, plus payment fees, plus whatever is added when the parcel comes from far away.
If you import from outside the European Union, two lines have been added in recent years: VAT applies from the first euro since July 2021, and since 1 July 2026, every item under €150 carries a flat €3 customs duty. On an €8 product, that changes everything.
Think about the label too: for a product made outside the EU, your product page must show the manufacturer and a responsible contact in the Union. Ask your supplier for it from the start, a good supplier already has one.
Put your numbers into the Shopify profit margin calculator before setting your selling price. If the margin doesn't hold on paper, it won't hold once you add advertising.
The test order, before the first sale
Never sell a product you haven't received yourself. Place a real order delivered to your home, like a customer would, ideally through your own store to test the whole chain.
Write down the order date and the delivery date: that's your real delivery time, the one you'll display. Open the parcel like a customer: the packaging, the condition, how close it is to the photos, and check there's no invoice or ad from another shop inside. Take your own photos while you're at it, they'll make your product page more credible than the supplier's.
If you're torn between two suppliers, order from both on the same day. In two weeks, you'll know which one to keep. And once the product is validated, the checklist for your first sales is waiting before you send traffic.
Show the right delivery time on your store
Once you know your real delivery time, show it wherever your customer decides: on the product page, under the buy button, and in the cart. A ten-day delivery announced clearly sells better than a five-day promise that takes twelve. In Shopify, shipping profiles let you set a different time and price per product, for example when part of your catalogue comes from Europe and the rest from Asia.
No store yet? You can generate it with Scale Ova from your product, look at it and change it for free, and only pay when you publish it on Shopify.
FAQ
How do I find a reliable supplier?
European or Chinese supplier?
How do I connect a supplier to Shopify?
Do I need a company to buy from a wholesaler?
How much should I order the first time?
Sources
- Reasons for cart abandonment, Baymard Institute, accessed 18 September 2026
- DSers pricing, accessed 18 September 2026
- BigBuy, dropshipping from Europe, accessed 18 September 2026
- Ankorstore, changes to minimum orders, Ankorstore blog
- Europages, B2B marketplace, figures shown on 18 September 2026
- Trade Assurance, Alibaba.com, accessed 18 September 2026
- €3 customs duty for low-value parcels, European Commission, 29 June 2026
- E-commerce: the rules change on 1 July 2021, French customs
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, EUR-Lex