Later edit: As you have probably already heard, Shopify has decided to shut down Oberlo from June 15, 2022, which means this next article is needed now more than ever. So, in case you were using Oberlo and don’t know where to go now that the app is closing down, you will find some great alternatives below.
Oberlo has become almost synonymous with dropshipping and if you are in this business for a while, you already know why that has happened. But are you aware that there are now more than a few better alternatives than dropshipping on Oberlo?
So, let’s look at what great alternatives to Oberlo are out there.
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Oberlo dropshipping alternatives
You may think Oberlo and AliExpress are the only options if you want to be successful at dropshipping, but that’s very far from the truth. These days you have better and more reliable alternatives than Oberlo. So, here they are:
Better Shopify Apps
If you search on Google you will find many alternative apps that are built for Shopify. So, Oberlo is now just one of the many apps you can use to integrate with your store.
There are apps that provide products from suppliers like manufacturers, handmade artists or family-owned businesses, and local shops of all sizes and from all over the world. Some apps source products only from independent international brands, while others offer a wide range of products from custom prints to licensed, legal pop-culture merchandise, like Harry Potter or Marvel branded products.
What’s great about all these apps is that they will give you the best of the best and not ever compromise on product quality or the kind of suppliers they work with. While they can be more expensive than Oberlo, they will actually be of great help in the long run, delivering what they promise so that you can focus on your business.
AppScenic
AppScenic is a dropshipping and sourcing Shopify app that will give you access to premium and unique products from top suppliers all around the world, including the USA, Canada, Australia, EU, UK and more. Also, if you’re just starting dropshipping and only want to test this business model, then you can even choose to open a Free AppScenic Account that lets you import 500 products and gives you access to a few awesome automation features.
Other dropshipping platforms
There are many other dropshipping platforms you can use instead of Oberlo, here are a few that are popular at the moment.
Dropified
As one of the more advanced dropshipping platforms on the market, Dropified lets you add products from AliExpress, eBay, and other supported vendors. It has lots of other features that can help you start and grow a successful online business, such as the AliExtractor – an advanced product research tool that will help you find profitable products on AliExpress.
Dropified also integrates with many ecommerce platforms, including Shopify and WooCommerce.
Printful
Printful is a great alternative to Oberlo as it’s one of the best print-on-demand (POD) dropshipping platforms at the moment. This is a great dropshipping tool to source printed or embroidered t-shirts, hoodies and all kinds of clothing and accessory products that you can think of.
Print-on-demand is a special way of dropshipping in which you need to create and sell your own custom designs on different products, such as t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, etc.). Once you list the products on your store and make a sale, Printful does everything else for you, from printing the product and shipping it.
Printful has multiple integrations available, such as Shopify, WooCommerce or Squarespace.
Doba
Doba connects retailers or store owners like you with suppliers all over the world. The platform also offers important features and integrations that will help you list and sell products on various ecommerce platforms. Of course, there are a few cons too, such as the fact that Doba is one of the most expensive options for dropshipping worldwide and that there are quite a few retailers that complain its products are expensive.
Doba has mostly suppliers that ship from the USA and can also be integrated with ecommerce platforms, such as WooCommerce, Shopify or BigCommerce.
Now, if you’re thinking of dropshipping with Doba, here’s an article that can help you decide if this platform is for you.
Printify
An alternative to Printful, and Oberlo in this case, this is another great dropshipping platform software that allows you to open your own creative online store without all the inventory hassle. Just like Printful, this platform also offers a huge variety of print-on-demand items, like t-shirts, accessories, mugs, phone cases, and many more.
Printful connects your online store with lots of print suppliers and you can choose from over 200 products. You can integrate it with your Shopify, Etsy, or even WooCommerce store.
Modalyst
If you still want to dropship from AliExpress, then Modalyst is the perfect alternative to Oberlo. The app was selected by AliExpress to be an official partner which means that if you have a Shopify, Wix or BigCommerce store you can it directly to AliExpress suppliers and products and start dropshipping.
Independent Suppliers
You can also choose to work with independent suppliers instead of using a platform like Oberlo. It means you can have your own brand store and sell private label products from independent suppliers.
This way of doing business can have its own advantages as you can sell unique products and that will help you stand out from the crowd.
If you decide to go for this and have your own unique brand from an independent supplier, you will be the online one selling that product, and that’s a huge advantage. Plus you have all the control over other things like price, profit margins, and even on delivery as you are in direct contact with the supplier.
All-in-One Platforms
There are platforms that can offer all the above, from great pricing plans, unique and high-quality products, top and reliable suppliers, or ultra-fast delivery times to 24/7 customer support and other amazing features.
Such a platform is AppScenic. With AppScenic you can do everything – manage your team, handle orders and, most importantly, get access to over 1 million high-quality, unique and scalable products from trusted and top-rated suppliers.
All the suppliers on AppScenic can ship products directly from the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, etc. That means you won’t have to wait up to 4 weeks for an order to arrive like it may happen if you work with Oberlo.
And to make it even more amazing, once you are connected to the AppScenic App, you can let the app automate everything for you, from importing and syncing products to orders, payments, tracking numbers and so much more.
About Oberlo
Oberlo was this popular dropshipping platform developed and owned by Shopify, one of the largest ecommerce platforms out there. Once you joined Oberlo you actually got access to products from suppliers on AliExpress. So, in other words, you got to connect your dropshipping store with AliExpress suppliers.
AliExpress, based in China and owned by Alibaba, is a marketplace that lets dropshippers around the world buy cheap products directly from Chinese manufacturers or sellers. Suppliers can offer products at low prices on AliExpress because they are all manufactured in China.
If you want to read more about dropshipping on AliExpress, go check out this article.
Pros of working with Oberlo
Now, these were the main advantages of using Oberlo, in our opinion.
You could find products easily
Due to being linked with AliExpress, Oberlo gave you access to a huge range of product categories from Chinese dropshipping suppliers. That meant you could have found all sorts of products easily and quickly. Oberlo was built in such a way that you could easily search dropshipping products from AliExpress as soon as you signed in.
The cheapest products on the market
Yes, that’s true, we don’t think you can find cheaper products than on AliExpress. That’s probably why Oberlo was so popular among dropshippers. When you dropshipped with Oberlo, you got your products super cheap from China, which you could then have sold at US prices, and made a nice profit, for example.
Six Languages Available
Oberlo was available in multiple languages, like English, French, Spanish or Italian, and that made it quite accessible for many people around the world. You had the option to change to your preferred language when you signed in to your account.
Cons of Oberlo dropshipping
There was a lot that could and did go wrong when dropshipping on Oberlo.
Poor product quality
Even though their products were maybe the cheapest on the market, have you ever wondered how that was possible? What was the secret behind that? Well, that happened because most of the suppliers on AliExpress had to compromise on quality and some even tried to sell you counterfeit products. That’s how suppliers on AppScenic can sell you such cheap products.
Yes, their product images will look amazing, but once they get to your customers you will quickly find out they don’t look at all as they should. And your customers will not come back for more, so you see, you will get your profit but only for a short while, as you can never build a customer base like this.
Long shipping times
As we already wrote here, AliExpress has long shipping times. Oberlo was sourcing their products from there and so they had the same problem.
That happened because all these products had been shipped from China, and suppliers from there couldn’t guarantee a short delivery time.
So, keep in mind that, when dropshipping from AliExpress, your customers will have to wait from 12 days to 25 days. On top of that, you need to add 2-4 days of order processing and the actual delivery to the customer’s door. That means you will get your products to your customers in weeks and even months.
We can almost guarantee that most of the customers won’t be willing to wait 4 weeks to get an order.
Ever-changing prices and suppliers
If you read the online reviews on Oberlo you can see there were many people complaining about a lack of communication when they change prices or suppliers.
Don’t expect to be notified when big changes take place, like a supplier you were relying on has just disappeared from the platform. Oberlo didn’t have almost any control over its suppliers, as these don’t have to abide by any rules or regulations. And that’s because AliExpress does the same for its suppliers.
So, of course, at the end of the day, this means that you can’t rely on these suppliers for a long time, as they are under no obligation to supply the products to you consistently.
And this in turn applies to customer services as well, it can be almost impossible to get in touch with a supplier if you have a problem and need their support.
Not cheap to use
Let’s say you managed to find some products of high quality and reliable suppliers, even though those chances were quite low. Now, you have to think if it’s all worth it.
People were saying that Oberlo was free to use and it wasn’t! Oberlo was definitely not free if you were serious about dropshipping and it could have even proven to be quite expensive in the long term.
Oberlo did offer a free plan, but that was only for 500 products and 50 orders per month. Of course, 50 products couldn’t get you too far and you needed to upgrade as soon as you can. More than that, this plan didn’t offer shipment tracking, fulfillment monitoring, or multiple user access.
Their paid plans were from $30-80 per month which was not too much if you want to have a successful online shop, but once you would have added this to all the above, like poor quality products, unreliable suppliers plus long delivery times, you probably would have ended up with bigger costs than needed.
Conclusion
So, even though with apps like Oberlo you could get crazy cheap prices for products that can go for a lot of money, the same products are most of the time of low quality and have longer shipping times.
That’s why we hope now that you read all these and found out there are such great alternatives out there for dropshipping, you understand that the world of dropshipping doesn’t stop with apps like Oberlo.
In order to succeed and build a great dropshipping business, you need a platform that gives you high-quality, reliable suppliers and great customer support.
Want to start now? Then give AppScenic a try here.
