DHgate or AliExpress: Which is better for your sourcing from China?
Many people buy cheap Chinese products on DHgate and AliExpress and wonder what the difference is between these two Chinese websites. In today's article, I'll compare the two platforms and focus on the following five key aspects that buyers are most concerned about.
What are DHgate and AliExpress?
Who usually shops on AliExpress?
Who is DHgate best for?
What about AliExpress and DHgate shipping issues?
AliExpress vs. DHgate in buyer customer service.
What are DHgate and AliExpress?
Dhgate is a Chinese B2B online trading platform for small orders. When browsing DHgate, you'll notice that many sellers have set minimum order quantities, such as tens or dozens of pieces. The more you order, the cheaper the product, as illustrated below.
DHgate price breakdown for different quantities
AliExpress, launched by Alibaba Group, positions itself as a B2C platform connecting Chinese retailers with buyers around the world. Shopping on AliExpress is similar to Amazon, but the prices are much lower.
In terms of product categories, DHgate and AliExpress focus on everyday consumer goods, with a limited offering of industrial products such as CNC machines. However, overall, AliExpress offers a wider range of product options than DHgate. This is primarily because Alibaba Group encourages sellers on Taobao and Tmall, the two most comprehensive local Chinese shopping sites within the Alibaba Group, to move all of their products to AliExpress.
Additionally, AliExpress offers a better overall user experience, with more product images and detailed product descriptions.
Who usually uses AliExpress?
AliExpress primarily serves individual consumers in developing countries, such as Russia, Brazil, and India. According to data from Similarweb, Brazil stands out as AliExpress's largest market, and AliExpress ranks among the top three shopping websites in Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Additionally, there is a growing trend of consumers in developed countries like Spain and France increasingly purchasing from AliExpress, which contributes to AliExpress's position as the third-largest shopping website in these two countries.
Furthermore, many dropshipping entrepreneurs choose to use AliExpress. There's a wide range of product types available, allowing dropshippers to test the market without the pressure of having inventory. Furthermore, the after-sales service is reliable.
If you're considering starting a dropshipping business, AliExpress is a good option. It's essential to vet sellers and choose those with a long operating history, high transaction volumes, and positive product reviews. This process is straightforward, much like choosing sellers when you shop online yourself.
Who is DHgate best for?
Although DHgate has introduced dropshipping services to compete with AliExpress, DHgate still primarily focuses on small wholesalers.
DHgate's main buyers are retailers and small wholesalers from developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Canada, as indicated by DHgate traffic data collected by Similarweb.
Many small Amazon/eBay sellers and startups use DHgate to wholesale Chinese products for resale. Typically, orders aren't very large, just a few hundred dollars. They buy only a few or a dozen units of each product type. In this case, they can't meet Alibaba suppliers' high minimum order requirements and turn to DHgate.
At this point, some people may be wondering about wholesale on AliExpress. Some sellers support wholesale, as noted below, and offer wholesale customers additional discounts off the listed prices, such as 3%, 5%, 15%, and so on.
In contrast, DHgate sellers break down wholesale quantity ranges in more detail, offering a flexible pricing framework that's easier for wholesalers to use.
What are the shipping issues with AliExpress and DHgate?
Most packages are shipped via economical methods, but they are slow and prone to delays and loss.
Chinese products are cheap, but international logistics fees are high. Especially for small and low-value items, shipping costs far exceed the product price. In these cases, Chinese sellers, whether on AliExpress or DHgate, often opt for the most economical shipping methods, such as China Post Air Mail, ePacket, Cainiao Super Economy Global, and so on.
This type of economy shipping is essentially a collaboration between China Post or Chinese logistics companies and postal services in other countries. The postal network covers the globe and is broader than any other shipping channel. Furthermore, postal services are typically state-owned and benefit from national tax subsidies, resulting in very affordable prices. It's common to see Chinese sellers using these economy logistics options for free or cheap shipping.
Delivery delays and lost packages often occur in regions with inadequate postal services, such as Africa and Latin America. Take the Middle East, a vast territory with a sparse population and underdeveloped logistics infrastructure. Furthermore, package addresses often cannot be accurately pinpointed down to the door number, as there are only major subdistricts. Therefore, it is difficult for delivery personnel to accurately deliver packages to the door, resulting in longer delivery times.
In recent years, the governments of these countries have been working to improve postal services and strengthen transportation and logistics infrastructure to facilitate real-time transportation.
China and many nations have built specialized air, sea, and rail shipping routes.
These special lines facilitate the entire cross-border logistics process and shorten delivery times. For example, Ruston (Russian Air) is a special e-commerce line between China and Russia. It works by collecting and consolidating packages in Chinese warehouses, then shipping them directly to Russia, followed by customs clearance and home delivery by partner logistics companies. It typically takes 15 to 35 days to reach Russian buyers' destinations.
Special line delivery is much faster than postal services and slightly slower than commercial express delivery, but it is much cheaper than the latter due to the centralized transportation of bulk goods.
Both DHgate and AliExpress have made efforts to offer better logistics services.
Both platforms collaborate with several dedicated logistics providers and charter flights to offer buyers a better logistics service experience at reasonable costs. In addition, both platforms have built overseas warehouses, allowing sellers to store products and deliver packages quickly to consumers, often within a week.
Furthermore, it's worth noting that in the key market of Spain, AliExpress and Alibaba Group's Cainiao logistics company have collaborated extensively to establish Cainiao Self-Service Logistics Services to accelerate final deliveries. In addition to home delivery, Cainiao implements the Chinese express self-pickup model and has installed thousands of smart self-pickup lockers to improve efficiency.
Cainiao's self-managed logistics services in Spain
Cainiao's self-pickup smart lockers
In short, cross-border logistics times are gradually decreasing. As buyers, based on their budget and time preferences, choose the appropriate shipping methods, which you'll see when adding items to your cart on DHgate and AliExpress, along with specific shipping costs.
AliExpress vs. DHgate in Customer Service for Buyers
AliExpress offers live customer service agent support. If there is a problem with an order, buyers can chat with the agent to resolve it in real time.
But live customer support is difficult to obtain on DHgate. Although the platform claims customer service is provided via live chat, you're actually speaking to a chatbot. The way to access manual support is to describe your issue and submit a ticket, then wait for a response. If you haven't received a response within 24 hours, you can email again. This can be frustrating in the case of an urgent issue and lead to dissatisfaction with DHgate.
In summary
In short, if you want to buy a small amount of items from China, both AliExpress and DHgate are good options. AliExpress is a good option for purchasing one or two items for personal use or starting a dropshipping business. If you plan to sell wholesale products with a budget of more than $100 but less than $1,000, DHgate is a good option.
