Oberlo Review (2023): Migrating From the Discontinued Dropshipping App

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Oberlo is a prominent dropshipping app with plans to shut down all operations in June 2022.

Our previous Oberlo review spoke highly of the Shopify-exclusive dropshipping solution, but Shopify eventually purchase the app and made the decision to cease operations.

Similar to many acquisitions in the tech space, Shopify seemed to have purchased Oberlo for several reasons, but primarily to offer a completely integrated dropshipping solution, while also combining the tech from Oberlo with tools they found more appealing.

After consideration, Shopify decided to utilize a third-party app called DSers as its primary dropshipping solution.

We're not sure how much of the Oberlo tech was transferred over for the partnership, if at all, but one thing's certain: Oberlo is no more, and all previous Oberlo users must transfer over their accounts to DSers, or an alternative dropshipping app, in order to maintain some sort of dropshipping functionality.

How to Migrate to Other Dropshipping Apps (While Keeping Your Inventory)

For all Oberlo merchants, the goal is to keep all of your inventory, but transfer it over to another dropshipping app with no problems. It's also important that your next dropshipping app has a promising future, integrates well with Shopify, and provides tools similar to what Oberlo had in the first place.

Shopify is recommending its third-party partner DSers, which is definitely a viable solution, but we'll also cover migrations from Oberlo to other popular apps that may seem more appealing, depending on your situation.

Some of the top apps to migrate to from Oberlo include:

As an alternative, you could opt for a dropshipping app with its own product sourcingโ€”not from AliExpressโ€”where you wouldn't be able to transfer over products from Oberlo. In that situation, you're most likely looking for a fresh start with a different system, or you'd like to try print-on-demand sourcing. Some of those options include:

How to Migrate from Oberlo to DSers

As the recommended Oberlo alternative from Shopify, DSers is probably the best bet you have to maintain similar features and transfer over your inventory with no issues.

To make that happen, walk through these steps.

Log into your Oberlo dashboard and click on Home.

Oberlo to DSers migration

Click the Add App button to install DSers. Also, make sure you have Oberlo still installed on your Shopify account so that the migration tool can match the two accounts.

DSers app moving from Oberlo review

Continue with the following steps:

  1. Create a DSers account (or log into your DSers account if you already have one).
  2. Look for the Start Migration button, and click on that.
  3. Wait until you see a Success message that confirms the completion of the migration.

Here's what happens after the migration:

  • This process transfers over all inventory, orders, settings, and imports from Oberlo to DSers.
  • Your Oberlo account gets switched to Read Only, meaning you can't adjust anything else on the Oberlo account.
  • You receive a free subscription plan on DSers, with the option to upgrade to a premium plan.
  • You can access all inventory under the DSers app instead of the Oberlo app in the Shopify dashboard.

How to Migrate from Oberlo to Ali Orders

Ali Orders by Fireside Apps offers a sleek dashboard, free Chrome extension, and quick migration to move all Oberlo products to Ali Orders.

To make that happen, install Ali Orders to Shopify.

add app button

You should see a notification to transfer data from Oberlo to Ali Orders. Click the Sync with Oberlo button.

sync with oberlo button

You'll have to install the Ali Orders Chrome extension prior to running the sync.

install extension

Oberlo should open up in a separate tab, and you'll see a Syncing progress percentage in the Ali Orders dashboard.

syncing with Oberlo When it's all done, you should see your Oberlo products and orders on the appropriate Ali Orders pages. Keep in mind that no settings transfer over to Ali Orders, so you may have to adjust those.

How to Migrate from Oberlo to EPROLO

EPROLO is a dropshipping and print-on-demand solution with rapid shipping times, low costs, and options for direct contact with product suppliers. It only takes a few manual steps to move Oberlo products to EPROLO.

Start by installing EPROLO to your Shopify store.

EPROLOIn the EPROLO dashboard, go to Import Ali Product. Paste in an AliExpress URL from your Oberlo account. Click the Import button.

import button

To find those individual AliExpress URLs, go to Oberlo and click on any product. Scroll to the link under AliExpress Products. This opens the AliExpress product page, where you can copy the URL.

get Oberlo URL

Next up, navigate to the Import List in EPROLO. Click the Push To Store button for all products you want to sync with EPROLO and your Shopify store.

push to store

After that, you'll see the item in the My Products list, and on your Shopify store.

my products - Oberlo review

How to Migrate from Oberlo to Spocket

Spocket does the trick for dropshippers by offering more local suppliers, particularly to US and UK dropshippers. This way, you receive significantly faster shipping, and often higher quality items. Spocket also syncs with AliExpress to combine your selling from different suppliers.

To move Oberlo products to Spocket, start by installing the Spocket app to Shopify.

add spocketInstall the AliScraper Chrome extension from Spocket. Also, ensure that both Spocket and Oberlo are installed on the same Shopify store, and that you have the same language settings configured for both apps.

With the AliScraper extension active, go to the Products tab in Oberlo. You should now see a Migrate Products to Spocket button. Click on that.

migrate products from Oberlo

The AliScraper extension takes over to migrate all of your Oberlo items, after which, you'll see them listed in the My Products page in Spocket.

Aliscraper from Oberlo review

Migrating Oberlo Order Data to Other Dropshipping Apps

Some of the third-party appsโ€”that aren't DSersโ€”limit the migration from Oberlo to your product data. But if you want to migrate order data as well, you must export them manually from Oberlo.

Simply go to Oberlo, click on Orders, then select the Export button. Some of the apps have their own ways of importing the order data, or you may be left to manage those most recent orders in an Excel spreadsheet.

Oberlo review to export

FAQs About the Oberlo Shutdown

With the Oberlo shutdown in June 2022, this means you'll lose access to your entire account, and all of your products, assets, and account details will be deleted.

With such a reliable dropshipping app closing, merchants have questions that need answers. We're here to help. View the FAQs below in order to calm your nerves and ensure that all data from Oberlo gets transferred properly.

What Are My Options if I Want to Keep Dropshipping?

You have several options to consider before Oberlo shuts down operations:

  1. Migrate all Oberlo data to the recommended DSers app for the most seemless experience.
  2. Migrate all Oberlo data to another third-party app with similar functionality. We suggest testing out multiple dropshipping apps to see which ones fit your operation best. But you may not get as great of a migration process since Shopify isn't supporting any app besides DSers.
  3. Simply let your Oberlo account lapse on June 15, 2022. After that date, Oberlo gets uninstalled from your Shopify account, and all data is lost.

Will I Lose Everything?

Not if you take the necessary steps to migrate Oberlo data to a new dropshipping app before June 15, 2022.

Everyone will lose their Oberlo accounts on that date, but there are plenty of alternative appsโ€”many of which function similarly to Oberloโ€”to move your data to. DSers is recommended by Shopify, but we have listed several others in this article.

Why Is Oberlo Discontinuing?

That's tough to tell. Shopify acquired Oberlo in 2017, making it look like the ecommerce giant had plans to establish a built-in integration for an improved dropshipping experience. Several years passed, and that's kind of what Shopify did. They didn't change the app that much, but they continued development; and they slapped a “By Shopify” label on Oberlo within its App Store.

But, alas, Shopify eventually made the announcement to shut down Oberlo, marking its end on June 15, 2022.

Oberlo and Shopify state that the shutdown is in the best interest of merchants, and that they're moving all dropshipping operations to a more “optimal” third-party app called DSers. We know that's all very vague, but here's some speculation on potentially what happened:

  • Maybe Shopify acquired Oberlo to squash any competition it posed to its true partner, DSers.
  • Perhaps Shopify acquired Oberlo, ran tests, and found that DSers was, in fact, a stronger dropshipping product. So, Shopify may have decided to minimize its losses on the Oberlo purchase by simply shutting it down and turning to a third-party app.
  • Maybe Oberlo was too expensive to operate, or it wasn't profitable enough. Shopify might have seen this as a test, and instead decided to revert back to having a third-party developer manage the complexities of dropshipping.
  • Perhaps Shopify planned on acquiring Oberlo to obtain certain elements, like its code for finding dropshipping products, the interface, or even people who worked at Oberlo. In this case, they may have seen it as more economical to simply purchase the company, take what they needed, then close down the rest of the app.

There are lots of scenarios that could have played out, but these are the usual suspects. Regardless, we've seen the last of Oberlo, so only time will tell if we notice any parts of the past Oberlo integrated into Shopify, or if it was more of a strategic or profitability play.

When is the Last Day I Can Get Into My Oberlo Account?

June 15, 2022 is the most important date to remember about the Oberlo shutdown. That's because all data from your account gets deleted after that date, and there's no way to get back into your account or retrieve past data.

Some other dates to remember:

  • May 11, 2022: The very last day you're allowed to make a new account and put the Oberlo app on your Shopify store.
  • May 12, 2022: The date where the Oberlo app gets removed from the Shopify App Store, so you won't see it on the store ever again, and you can't install it.

Will I Get a Refund for an Unused Oberlo Subscription?

Yes.

All premium Oberlo subscriptions have the option of getting a refund, some of which happen automatically. We encourage you to cancel your Oberlo premium account as soon as possible to ensure you get the largest possible refund, as they seem to refund merchants based on when you're billed.

Keep in mind that the refunds depend on where you were billed for Oberlo in the first place:

  • Billing on Oberlo: You'll get a direct refund after cancelling your account, in the form of your original payment method.
  • Billing on Shopify: Shopify refunds you in the form of Shopify App Store credits, not the original payment method.

Again, we encourage you to cancel your current Oberlo plan to guarantee a refund. To make that happen, you must actually downgrade from the premium plan to the free Explorer plan.

Here's how:

  1. Go to your Oberlo dashboard. Click your account name in the upper right-hand corner. Click Account Settings > Your Plan.
  2. Select the Switch Plan button.
  3. Pick the Explorer plan.
  4. Choose the option to Start Plan.

Is It Possible to Export my Products, Settings, and Import List from Oberlo?

Yes, but it depends on which app you plan on using in the future for dropshipping:

  • For DSers: Use the migration process covered above to move everything, like products, imports, and settings, to DSers.
  • For any other third-party dropshipping app: You must manually export Orders from Oberlo using an XLSX file or CSV. Most of them also have automated product migration methods outlined in our tutorials earlier in this article.

Is There a Way to Get My Oberlo Invoices After the App is Gone?

Yes.

But it depends on how you're billed. Some merchants get billed for the Oberlo app through Shopify, while others pay via the Obero dashboard.

If you get billed through Oberlo, all invoices are available by emailing this address: [email protected]. Simply request your past Oberlo invoices and they'll send them over to you.

If you get billed through Shopify, you'd find your invoices in the Shopify dashboard. To locate them, go to Settings > Billing.

Help! My Migration isn't Working!

To begin, make sure you've installed both Oberlo and DSers apps on the Shopify dashboard. If you had DSers already installed prior to this announcement, your account may have difficulty matching DSers to Oberlo. In that case, you should be able to pick which app to use as a data reference. This is important for moving over things like pricing rules.

If you're still having trouble migrating from Oberlo to DSers, reach out to the Oberlo support team at [email protected]. There's also a live chat module within the Oberlo dashboard where you can find help.

Unfortunately, Shopify and Oberlo won't provide much customer support if you plan on migrating data from Oberlo to an app besides DSers. However, depending on the dropshipping app, you might be able to contact that particular app developer for help on how to manually move data from Oberlo to their app.

What Elements Get Transferred Over if I Decide to Migrate to DSers?

Almost all data from your Oberlo account gets moved over into the DSers app, including:

  • Inventory
  • Imports
  • Orders (past and current)
  • Settings

Important: Shipment tracking data remains in the Shopify dashboard. So, you can't find any of your shipping tracking codes within DSers like you would with Oberlo. However, it's still accessible by logging into your AliExpress or Shopify accounts.

Do I Get the Same Features with DSers as I Had in Oberlo?

Not exactly, but it's close.

To start, DSers supports a wide range of languages, similar to how Oberlo offered translations. Some of the languages include English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German. What's great is that your language preference from Oberlo automatically transfers to DSers.

Furthermore, you can expect these features to be rather similar in DSers as it was in Oberlo:

  • Automations
  • Individual orders
  • Bulk orders
  • Direct AliExpress picking
  • Direct imports from AliExpress
  • Syncing with your Shopify store
  • Cost effective shipping methods
  • Inventory management
  • Variants
  • Auto pricing
  • Tracking numbers
  • Order status updates
  • A Chrome extension
  • Import lists
  • Trending suppliers

Is It Free to Sign Up for DSers?

Yes.

DSers offers a free Basic account. In fact, all Oberlo users are automatically placed on the Basic plan, after which, you can upgrade to one of the many premium plans for more features.

The plans include:

  • Advanced: $19.90 per month
  • Pro: $49.90 per month
  • Enterprise: $499 per month

Why Did Shopify Choose DSers as its New Dropshipping App in the First Place?

Along with Shopify's decision to shut down Oberlo, the answer to this question is pure speculation. The explanations by Shopify and Oberlo are pretty vague, but DSers does have a strikingly similar interface and feature set to Oberlo. So, it's possible that Shopify found it more economical to partner with a third-party app than move forward with its own acquisition of Oberlo. Or maybe they felt DSers was beating out Oberlo in some areas. It's not entirely clear.

Is It Required to Choose DSers? Or Can I Go With Another App?

No, in fact, this is a wonderful time to explore other dropshipping apps that may have features you were missing from before. It's also possible to find cheaper solutions, or those that provide stronger products for your niche.

However, Shopify is strongly recommending DSers as its official dropshipping partner. They have a direct migration for all Oberlo data, and even state that it's not entirely possible to export all of your data manually, so you may have to create new products or start from scratch in terms of your settings if choosing a dropshipping app outside of DSers.

Our Old Oberlo Review

If you're interested in our old Oberlo reviewโ€”for comparison or archival purposesโ€”you can view it below. Keep in mind that Oberlo ceased operations in June 2022, after its purchase from Shopify, who decided to discontinue Oberlo in favor of a higher performance 3rd party app for dropshipping, called DSers.

A colorful megaphone illustration

Free Webinar: How to Quickly Start a Profitable Dropshipping Store

Learn how to find high-margin products, import them into your store, and start selling โ€” fast.

Oberlo isn't a full ecommerce platform, but rather an extension you can install on sites built on Shopify and other places.

Created to help people access the eCommerce environment as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, Oberlo belongs to the dropshipping space. If you havenโ€™t heard of dropshipping before, it involves essentially removing the warehousing and fulfilment concerns from your sales process.

Instead of buying items, storing them, and shipping them to customers when they make a purchase, you only place an order with a supplier when a customer buys a product listed on your website. With Oberlo, you can export products from AliExpress, and similar sites, directly to your Shopify store.

Oberlo was founded in 2015, but it has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years. Today, itโ€™s one of the most popular applications in the Shopify marketplace.

The goal with the tool is to quickly import products to dropship while sitting back and having Oberlo package and ship the products to your customers.

An advantage for Shopify customers is that Oberlo comes pre-installed for new Shopify users so that merchants can search and add products quickly right from when they sign up in Shopify.

Oberlo review - shopify app store

Although Oberlo is available worldwide, itโ€™s worth noting that it works exclusively with Shopify stores. If you want to run a dropshipping business with a WordPress site, or something else, then youโ€™re going to have to try a different application.

Still, the fact that Oberlo only works with Shopify isnโ€™t going to be too much of a problem for most people. Shopify is one of the most popular and feature-packed platforms for todayโ€™s shoppers. Itโ€™s way ahead of a lot of itโ€™s competitors, and itโ€™s pretty affordable too.

If youโ€™re a beginner in the eCommerce world, it only takes a few minutes to launch a store with Shopify and add Oberlo to the mix.

Once youโ€™ve created an account on Shopify, you can search for Oberlo on the app store and install it with the click of a button. With Oberlo, you donโ€™t need to complete all of your orders on your own. All of your sales on Shopify sync immediately with Oberlo. After you find the product you want to sell and publish it on your store, all you need to do is check your orders in Oberlo with the order button.

Whenever you click the order button, Oberlo opens AliExpress, displays the purchase history, and adds the products you need to your cart. From there, you just fill in the shipping details, and youโ€™re on the way to a happy customer.

After the order is shipped, Oberlo automatically updates the status on your online business store, and notifies the buyer. Itโ€™s one of the most attractive dropshipping app options around because itโ€™s so simple to use!

Sounds pretty good, right? Well, let's see if it's worth your money.

Btw, here's a video review of Shopify created by my colleague Joe. ๐Ÿ™‚

YouTube video

Orbelo Review: Pros and Cons

All products come with their positives and negatives to consider, and the same is true of Oberlo. For many, this tool is one of the best ways to start selling online. However, there are some downsides to Oberlo too.

Oberlo Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Simultaneous integration with Shopify
  • Quick and secure product importing from AliExpress
  • Easy-to-use interface with a friendly interface
  • Automated product order fulfilment
  • Daily product syncing
  • Inventory and pricing automation
  • Extra scalability for growing businesses
  • Free Chrome extension
  • Sales and shipment tracking options
  • Ability to change suppliers whenever you like
  • Pricing markup options
  • ePacket filter built-in

Oberlo Cons ๐Ÿ‘Ž

  • Only works with Shopify
  • No option to work as a standalone service
  • None of the products are edited in Oberlo
  • Only AliExpress is supported

Oberlo Review: Features

oberlo review - oberlo homepage

The goal of Oberlo is to connect your online store with thousands of suppliers and manufacturers. This way, you're able to choose some products and sync them with your store. The content creation (for product pages) is mostly done for you, and you don't have to call around to find the right suppliers.

There's also the added benefit of not having to store, package, or ship your products. You do lose some control over your product this way, but the features from Oberlo seem to make things easy for the merchant. You don't need lots of capital to get started and the integration is about as smooth as they come.

Now, let's talk about some of the specific Oberlo features:

Impressive Importing from Suppliers

Oberlo review - import product

The primary feature you get from Oberlo is the importing from AliExpress. Since so many dropshippers use AliExpress to find and sell products, it's a wonder as to why a tool like this hasn't come around sooner. Not only do you gain access to thousands of suppliers on AliExpress, but the product images, details, and prices are all situated right there for you.

Anyone who has used AliExpress knows that it's pretty simple trying to search for a keyword and locate a product that might fit well in your store. And the Oberlo system makes it so much easier. Basically, you can complete your usual browsing, but this time you receive an Oberlo button that automatically imports the desired product to your online store. There's nothing more to it.

There's More

Oberlo used to only offer a connection to AliExpress. The only unfortunate part about that is that most suppliers came from China. So, companies elsewhere would get stuck with very long shipping times. However, Oberlo has now added two other types of suppliers: Oberlo Verified Suppliers and Oberlo Suppliers. The regular Oberlo Suppliers are companies that have been vetted and monitored on the Oberlo marketplace. Many of them are located all over the world and have better shipping times than AliExpress. The Oberlo Verified suppliers are the top performers who have been handpicked by Oberlo as the best of the best.

A Beautiful Interface for Managing Products

Oberlo review - manage products

Similar to the WordPress configuration, the Oberlo dashboard has a clean menu on the left-hand side for completing a wide variety of tasks. For example, you can search for products, set your featured products, import lists or view your products. All the items in your store are organized in a reasonable fashion, with information about your sales and earnings for each one.

Oberlo review - add/edit product

Editing a product on Shopify can be done in one click, so essentially you have two dashboards in this situation. None of the product details are really managed on the Oberlo dashboard. Rather, you would go to your Shopify website and complete that.

Try Oberlo for Free

Automated Order Fulfillment

Oberlo review - order fulfill

This is my favorite part of the Oberlo platform because it makes dropshipping what it should be: Super Easy. Once an order comes in through your online store, all you have to do is locate that product in your inventory and hit the Order Product button. You can add a few products into your own cart, even if the items are coming from different suppliers.

The best part is that once you hit that button, everything else is automatically handled by Oberlo. They package and ship the items so that your customers don't know you're dropshipping, and you don't have to worry about storing, packaging or shipping your products.

Inventory and Price Auto-Updates

Inventory is constantly managed so that you never sell an item that's out of stock. The same goes for pricing. So, if a price drops from the supplier's end, you will be notified in case you'd like to adjust the pricing on your own website.

Quick Supplier Changes

Oberlo review - inventory management

With Oberlo, you gain access to millions of AliExpress and Oberlo Verified products. They're currently testing a wide range of certified suppliers. These are convenient suppliers and you can check out ratings to see what types of products they supply. Sticking with one supplier is not required either. If you notice that a different supplier has a better price, a simple click of the button can switch you over to the better one.

Oberlo Review: Supply

Millions of products are available for you to choose from in Oberlo. You can sift through the different categories like beauty, home, and jewelry, while also searching from the search bar.

Oberlo review - search for products

Needless to say, the supply will not be a problem with Oberlo. It's by far the best dropshipping solution when it comes to the number of products. In addition, you can look at each product to see things like pricing, color, quantity, and shipping.

Oberlo review - aliexpress

Oberlo Pricing Review

Every plan from Oberlo starts with a 30-day free trial, giving you a taste of what to expect if you start paying. You can also cancel your account at any time and go over your plan limits without affecting your order process. However, one thing to keep in mind is that going over a plan limit removes the dropshipping component of the service, so you'll have to process the orders manually.

In terms of pricing, it's rather reasonable, and you have three plans to choose from depending on the size of your store.

  • Starter – For $0 you receive a setup for 500 products, 50 orders per month, daily product syncing, automatic order fulfillment, pricing automation, a free Chrome extension, and sales reporting.
  • Basic – For $29.90 per month you receive a setup for 10,000 products, 500 orders per month, everything from the previous plan, shipment tracking and order fulfillment monitoring.
  • Pro – For $79.90 per month you receive a setup for 30,000 products, unlimited orders per month, everything from the previous plan and multiple users.

Overall, I like the Starter plan, considering support for 500 products is quite a bit. The Basic Plan is the most popular, and many businesses will need the shipment tracking and order fulfillment monitoring.

The free starter plan from Oberlo is sure to appeal to a lot of people who donโ€™t have much of a budget to spend on their dropshipping strategy. You only need to pay extra when your business starts to scale and needs some new features.

With the Starter plan from Oberlo, you donโ€™t really need much in the way of initial funds to start your dropshipping business. You only buy from your supplier when a customer purchases from you, which means that you keep the ingoing and outgoing cash flowing smoothly.

You can earn your first sale as soon as you like with Oberlo, and as your business begins to scale, youโ€™ll still be able to take orders as normal. However, the auto-fulfilment process will disable itself if you go over your plan limits. This means that youโ€™ll have to handle the shipping yourself, or upgrade to a more expensive plan.

Another bonus of Oberlo is that you donโ€™t have to stick with your plan if you decide that you want to try a different service. You can cancel the plan and uninstall your application from the Shopify store. Thereโ€™s no commitments to keep you from trying something new.

Try Oberlo for Free

Oberlo Review: Support

For not being a full ecommerce platform, the Oberlo company certainly treats its support pretty seriously. For example, a full blog provides information on updates, strategies, and inspiration. You can subscribe to the email newsletter for news, or check out information on the social media platforms. We often find that getting quick support often comes when you shoot a company a message on Facebook.

Oberlo review - help center

As for the real meat of the support team, Oberlo has a large forum to speak with other people who are using the platform. The forum is nicely managed with responses from Oberlo, and it includes topics like how much to expect in terms of income and how to build your own dropshipping brand.

Finally, a full knowledge base is provided for those who like to search for and find popular questions about Oberlo. If you can't locate a situation that occurred in the past, a ticket submission button is available as well. In terms of support, Oberlo seems to have all the bases covered.

What is Dropshipping?

A dropshipping business is a quick and easy way to start making money online. With this kind of business, you donโ€™t actually own the products that youโ€™re selling. You donโ€™t buy items and store them in a warehouse to send directly to your customers. Instead, you choose products that you want to add to your store from a third-party supplier like AliExpress.

With dropshipping, the manufacturer is in charge of making the goods, carrying inventory, and shipping products to customers across the globe. On the other hand, as a retailer, youโ€™re responsible for showcasing products to potential customers, marketing your business, and building a brand that your customers can get behind. You also need to make sure that the orders get through to your dropshipping suppliers from your customers.

As a business model, Dropshipping allows you to eliminate a great deal of the stress from the fulfilment process. You can develop your own eCommerce store, without just having to use Amazon or eBay. Additionally, you can choose your own Oberlo pricing guide, with markups that you control, so you can boost your chances of making a profit.

While youโ€™re responsible for managing the Shopify app with Dropshipping, and making sure that your business can be found on Google, at least you donโ€™t have to worry about order fulfilment and shipping.

Although Oberlo isnโ€™t the only way to get started with dropshipping, it is one of the most popular choices for an eCommerce business. This is particularly true for organizations that already have a store on Shopify.

Another thing to keep in mind if you decide to take the dropshipping route, is that you may be responsible for delivering your own customer support. If thatโ€™s the case, itโ€™s important to make sure that you work with a supplier that you can contact to ask about things like delays in shipping.

What is AliExpress Dropshipping?

Oberlo dropshipping is sometimes referred to as AliExpress dropshipping, because the Oberlo app allows you to choose items from AliExpress suppliers to add to your store. With tools like the Oberlo Chrome extension, you can even add new products to your Shopify list in seconds.

However, Oberlo isnโ€™t the only way to access dropshipping through AliExpress. Businesses can also buy bulk products straight from AliExpress and send them to their customers themselves. However, Oberlo is the easiest way to access AliExpress dropshipping, where you donโ€™t have to worry about things like storing products and fulfilling orders.

With the Oberlo plugin and AliExpress, you can easily add products, complete with photos and descriptions to your dropshipping store in a matter of seconds. For beginners in the eCommerce world, using Oberlo.com is often a much more straightforward way to make money than building your entire business from scratch. Thereโ€™s even a free plan available from Oberlo to get you started with the basics.

Once youโ€™ve learned how to master Oberlo, you can start working on other steps to make the most out of your eCommerce business. This could mean upgrading to the pro plan on Shopify so you can access more features, or just enhancing your SEO strategy. Whatever you choose to do next, the Oberlo supply marketplace will keep you stocked up on dropshipping products.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Oberlo with Shopify

Shopify and Oberlo are a match made in heaven for beginner entrepreneurs that want to start selling online as quickly as possible. Shopify provides small business owners with all the tools they need to start standing out online. The convenient website-building technology makes growth quick and simple, plus thereโ€™s a marketplace where you can access add-on tools and plugins for more functionality too.

The Shopify Marketplace is where youโ€™ll find the Oberlo app. Oberlo is the go-to tool for dropshipping with Shopify. If you want to build a Shopify store where youโ€™re not responsible for order fulfilment on your own, then Oberlo is the app for you.

The question is, how do you get started with connecting Oberlo and Shopify?

Step 1: Get your Shopify Account

setup oberlo with shopify - sign up for shopify

The first step is creating your Shopify account. Go to Shopify and click โ€œStart Free Trialโ€ if you want to get a taste of the services you can expect before you sign on the dotted line. Once your fourteen-day free trial is over, youโ€™ll need to choose which Shopify pricing package is right for you.

Costs for basic Shopify start at $29 per month. If you want more features, you can upgrade to Advanced Shopify for $299, or just the standard mid-level Shopify tier for $79 per month. There is the option to access Shopify Plus for enterprises, but this is really only worth considering when your company is growing at an astronomical scale.

Step 2: Signing up with Oberlo

oberlo signup - oberlo reviews

Once youโ€™ve got your Shopify account, youโ€™ll need to create an account with Oberlo too. This will allow you to explore the various products available for you to sell on your website. Check out the Oberlo environment for a while, then go to Shopifyโ€™s app store so you can link your Shopify and Oberlo accounts.

Remember, once you link an Oberlo account to a Shopify profile, you canโ€™t unlink them and connect the same store to a separate Oberlo account. Youโ€™d need to start a brand-new Shopify account to do this, so itโ€™s important to take this step seriously. If you have any issues, get in touch with the Shopify team for advice on what to do next.

To link your Oberlo and Shopify accounts, visit the Oberlo page in the Shopify app store and click on Add App. Youโ€™ll need to be signed into Shopify to do this.

oberlo add app - oberlo review

Oberlo will ask for permission to manage your data, products, and order information. Youโ€™ll need to agree to give Oberlo all of these functions by clicking Install App.ย 

Step 3: Connect Oberlo to Your Store

Once you have Oberlo installed, itโ€™s time to connect the app to your store. Visit the website and click on add Oberlo to Shopify to sign up for an account. In the dashboard, select Connect a Store, At this point, if youโ€™re not logged into Shopify, youโ€™ll need to enter your siteโ€™s information.

Oberlo asks you for permission to manage your products, orders, and other data. To give Oberlo permission for all functions, click install app. From your Shopify admin section, click on Apps then Oberlo to open the service.

To finish your setup, youโ€™ll need to determine which shipping settings you should use in Shopify. In the Shopify admin section, click on Settings, then Shipping and Delivery. You only need to focus on the Shipping section here. This contains the general and custom shipping you can use for your customers.

Step 4: Complete your Shipping Profile

Shipping profiles within Oberlo allow you to adjust your shipping settings to suit the needs of your business, whether youโ€™re fulfilling orders, dropshipping with Oberlo, or shipping products from home. You can even access different rates for shipping certain products to specific locations.

Your business needs will help you to determine how many shipping profiles are suitable for you. If you want to have the same rules for shipping all your products, then you just need to use the general shipping rates profile. This profile starts on each Shopify website you connect to Oberlo automatically. The great thing about this general shipping rates option is that it immediately includes all of your products, so you donโ€™t have to assign individually.

If youโ€™re looking for different shipping rules for different locations or products, you need to use the custom shipping rates function to create custom shipping profiles. These profiles need to be created manually, and you can access up to 100 of them, which means that youโ€™ve got a lot of flexibility for your different kinds of products.

Once youโ€™re finished managing your shipping profiles, youโ€™re ready to start selling products with Oberlo. Itโ€™s as simple as that!

Who Should Be Using Oberlo for Their Online Store?

This question is pretty simple because any store that has dropshipping should consider implementing Oberlo. It only takes a few minutes, and the system cuts time spent with dropshipping. You can also find quality suppliers with reasonable prices. In short, it's how dropshipping should be.

Anyone can sign up for an Oberlo account, and start adding products to their store. Over the years, countless store owners have shared their success stories. Just keep in mind that Oberlo canโ€™t do everything. It might make it easy to avoid warehousing your own products, but it wonโ€™t work with all stores, like WooCommerce stores.

Additionally, you may need to spend some time researching suppliers to ensure youโ€™re getting the best quality of products, engaging product description solutions and a range of fast shipping options. Note that some AliExpress suppliers arenโ€™t the fastest at delivering products to customers.

If you have any questions about this Oberlo review, please let us know in the comments section below.

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When sheโ€™s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

Comments 45 Responses

  1. Ralph says:

    Hello Bodgdan,

    If I want to start a dropshipping webshop with Shopify and also use the Oberlo plugin, can I still add suppliers to my Shopify shop who are for example a local manufacturer in my home town?

    Best regards,
    Ralph

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Ralph, sure, you can add other suppliers as well.

  2. Katherine says:

    Most of stores I looked at have bad reviews. Are there any you can recommend.
    Very disappointing.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Katherine, I’m not sure which stores you are referring to…

  3. Bill Paulk says:

    I am confused. Why does the title have 2019 September, but the comments are from 2017. SInce Oberlo has discontinued their verified suppliers. What is it worth to use?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Bill,

      The article was originally published in 2017 and it is constantly updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  4. Manuel says:

    Hello, everybody talk how set up a oberlo/shopify and aliexpress dropshipping website,
    Ok but, why the people would will buy from my website, and not directly from aliexpress theyself?
    And the more important question, how to manage a tax and import rate?
    If the customer will need to pay a lot of duty fee when the parcell arrive on they doors?
    Who pay the duty tax?
    Nobody think about this?

  5. Ahmed Patel says:

    If client orders, does client pay for the product, than dropship…

    Thanks

    Ahmed

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Ahmed. Yep thatโ€™s correct, the client pays for the product when he places the order.

  6. Asteen says:

    When you resell an item what are the copyrighted infringement? If we import the product without the manufacturers permission isnt it against the law?

  7. Deondra Freeney says:

    I am having issues seeing my orders in Aliexpress. Oberlo chat assistance is no help!! They will not answer!!

  8. Renรฉ says:

    Great post! My only question is won’t it take somewhere between 15-30 days for the consumer to receive their item from China?

    1. denise says:

      This is my same doubt!

    2. Rae says:

      Hi Rene

      I have a question to Obero, I have customers waiting since October 30th they still haven’t received their Order!!! ๐Ÿ˜• Do ALL orders take this long? Did you ever get an answer?

  9. Ray says:

    Hi, I have a question. If I have a customer order an item in my Shopify store, is there a feature in the Oberlo app that can direct me back to the original item in Aliexpress to place that item order for the customer?
    Because if you have so many items in the store and changing the title and descriptions from the original item, you can’t search the item on Aliexpress anymore unless you copy and paste the link on a spreadsheet or something. Thanks.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Ray,

      Don’t know for sure. Have you tried posting this on their support forum?

  10. Fred says:

    I have a general question, When the supplier ships from China to the end customer, how does the shipping label get produced? Will the return address have the manufacturer’s address when the customer received it? If so, will the packaging also have chinese letters etc ??

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Fred,

      The supplier will ship directly to your customer. You can choose what the return address that will be printed on the label. Check out this guide for more details.

      Best,
      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  11. Graham Campbell says:

    What about pricing? If I want to make 100% markup on some items and 10% on others/ Or is it the flat 8% of Ali?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Graham, with Oberlo you can either multiply or add a fixed markup to the original AliExpress.com price.
      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  12. Michelle says:

    Is it possible to use a different drop-ship supplier in addition to aliexpress?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Michelle,

      Not at the moment but they should launch a separate suppliers directory soon.

      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

    2. OSWALDO REYES says:

      There are many other suppliers in addition to Ali Express. Yes you can use any other supplier.

  13. Giz says:

    Is there any other extentions similar to oberlo we can try on our own e-commerce stores at all? Just incase we dont want shopify
    Thanks

    1. Evan says:

      You can try WooDropship. It works with WooCommerce.

  14. rey says:

    can you list which e-commerce platforms we can use obejo on besides shopify?

    thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Rey, Oberlo works only with Shopify.

  15. Michael says:

    I have a question, if I use Oberlo together with Shopify, when I get an order placed on my website, do I need to spend my own money to order the item from Aliexpress, or do I use the customer money to place the order?
    Thank you

  16. jared says:

    How do you make sure Aliexpress will deliver your product. They only have crappy reviews. Thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Jared, You’ll just have to find a trustworthy supplier, based especially on reviews or recommendations.

      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  17. Danielle says:

    So when you select a Shopify plan oberlo is free to use or you still pay for their services too?
    -Danielle

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Danielle,

      Yo will still have to opt for a plan:

      FREE Starter Plan is free for up to 50 orders/month and 500 products listed.
      Basic Plan ($29.90/mo) is for those who receive up to 500 orders/mo and 10000 products.
      Pro Plan ($79.90/mo) for up to 30000 products and unlimited orders

      Best,

      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  18. Liz says:

    Hi thanks for the great article. I’m wondering whether the overall site has to be solely dedicated to dropshipping or could I also list and sell products that are not via dropshipping but the conventional online selling? Thanks!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      hey Liz,

      Oberlo isnโ€™t a full ecommerce platform, but an extension so you can install on shops built on Shopify or other ecommerce platforms. Therefore you can definitely have a drop shipping section and your own products on the same website.

      Cheers!
      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

      1. JAY says:

        Hey is it possible to add products to your oberlo library on your mobile device? My Chromebook broke and I can’t download chrome extension for windows laptop hoping I could use overload on iPhone bust haven’t figured out how to add more products to library

  19. Shera says:

    Does Orberlo use the e-packet option when they do automatic shipping ?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Don’t know for sure, have you tried contacting their support?

      Cheers!
      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  20. lchan says:

    Does this work with 3dcart?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Ichan, at the moment, Oberlo works exclusively with Shopify.

  21. Chellee says:

    Does Oberlo work with Ecwid?

    1. Catalin Zorzini says:

      Not at this time Chellee. Shopify only.

  22. Danni says:

    So you prefer for a consumer to use Shopify with Oberlo? And if I sign up for both, can I just immediately import products using oberlo?

    Last question, doesn’t the cheapest Shopify option only let you post a couple of items? Does Oberlo override this when you start using it?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Danni,

      All three Shopify plans come with an unlimited number of products you can sell in your store.

      Best,

      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

    2. Elizabeth says:

      It’s fine and great help for eshop. Be careful cause their bugs can cause serious damage on your company with wrong prices and automatic wrong fulfillment. Customer service almost never responded.

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