AliExpress Standard Shipping: How Long It Actually Takes

As one of the world's largest e-commerce marketplaces, AliExpress has now become a major platform for dropshippers to source products from. Many suppliers and vendors on AliExpress offer free shipment, and most dropshippers prefer free shipping or the cheapest for profits.

As a dropshipper, you may have sourced from AliExpress and used AliExpress Standard Shipping, while there is still much basic and up-to-date knowledge you need to have about it. Once you understand that how AliExpress Standard Shipping actually works, you can make better business decisions and keep customers satisfied.

What Is AliExpress Standard Shipping

AliExpress Standard Shipping is a logistics service offered by Alibaba Group. You will get access to this type of shipping method when you dropship from AliExpress or other sites that belong to Alibaba Group. Instead of a delivery company, AliExpress Standard Shipping is more like an intermediary between customers and sellers.

AliExpress Standard Shipping has partnered with many postal and courier companies all over the world: Singapore Post, Finland Post, Correos, and others. It's not the cheapest method for dropshippers, and in some cases, there's even some extra charge if the product itself is cheap. But it's certainly a reliable option: tracking service, delivery within an acceptable time.

How It Works

If you've known about Amazon's FBA, AliExpress Standard Shipping works in a similar way as FBA. FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon. That means that sellers will ship their products to Amazon, which then will store the product in its warehouses for the clients.

Therefore, AliExpress's logistics operates as an intermediary between the customers and dropshippers. Instead of the common chain "Seller > Express Service > Customer" results, AliExpress Standard Shipping holds a different chain from other delivery and shipment: "Seller > AliExpress Warehouse (logistics department) > Express Service > Customer".

Products are cataloged, and when customers order, AliExpress will ship the products, rather than the merchants. Also, AliExpress Standard Shipping is one of the cheapest options dropshippers can choose compared to other shipping options on AliExpress.

Shipping is free most of the time. The price is about $1 to $3 if you have to pay. In most cases, you can find suppliers on AliExpress who offer AliExpress Standard Shipping and tracking services for free.

How Long Does It Take

Generally speaking, it usually takes 15 to 45 business days to deliver a package if you choose AliExpress Standard Shipping. This may seem like a long time for some customers to wait for their products. But if the order isn't that urgent, AliExpress Standard Shipping is great for many customers as it's a cheap way to get items safely.

On the other hand, AliExpress Premium Shipping typically offers you a 7 to 15 business day delivery window. So if the order is an urgent one, this may be the right one for the customers.

The first thing you need to know is how long the order will take to arrive. One tip here is to check the expected arrival date. On the product list, the seller will tell us the expected delivery time.

This is an estimate, depending on the mode of transportation selected, but the actual time required for AliExpress Standard Shipping depends on several factors that will be explained below.

1. Shipping Method

If you dropship a product by private express (DHL, Seur, FedEx, UPS...), the package will arrive in record time with higher prices and customs fees. For other types of transport, times vary by carrier.

2. Country of Origin

Some of the suppliers on AliExpress have warehouses overseas which are located in your country or nearby countries.

The products you dropship will be labeled "Delivered within 3 days" or "Delivered within 7 days". Those packages are usually delivered using Cainiao Warehouse Standard Shipping.

3. Country of Destination

AliExpress ships products almost anywhere in the world, but orders that usually have many foreign and state postal services will reach the destination countries faster.

Basically, It will take 3 to 4 weeks to arrive with AliExpress shipments, but the protection time of the actual arrival time is 60 days, and customers may have to wait 60 days to receive the packages according to the year or the time in the destination country.

4. Time of Year

During busy times, such as the famous Double 11, Black Friday, and Christmas Day, the delivery time may take longer than usual. This happens because there is a huge backlog of orders in the country of origin, so it will take longer to reach your country.

There are many suppliers on AliExpress from China, so you’d better take into account China's national holidays, which are celebrated throughout the country.

For example, Chinese National Day, which is celebrated in the first week of October. So if you dropship on these dates, remember to order before those days to make sure the customer receives their products on time.

AliExpress Standard Shipping & Dropshipping

AliExpress Standard Shipping applies to dropship as all the facts mentioned above. This is the most important part of running a business: money. When you pay AliExpress Premium Shipping to compete with FBA, the competition will cost you more & eat into your margins, makes you less money, or even worse, lose you money.

However, when you provide AliExpress free delivery service to customers, you can slightly increase the product price to compensate for the freight, and price the product at the retail price. AliExpress Standard Shipping helps dropshippers build a long-term and healthy dropshipping business.

When you compare it to other types of online business, such as printing on demand, the shipping cost plus the cost of the product is so high than dropshipping that the profit margin you get could be even smaller.

How DSers Helps You Dropship from AliExpress

One tip for your dropshipping business when sourcing products from AliExpress is using dropshipping tools like DSers. It’s necessary to remember that not every seller on AliExpress is trustworthy enough to offer you the best service.

So here comes the Suppliers Optimizer feature of DSers. It’s aimed to help dropshippers find better suppliers who can ensure the estimated delivery time and qualified products.

DSers has been receiving more than 4,700 positive reviews and is proved to be an effective e-commerce solution by over 150,000 users.

• Stock Management

This stock management feature will help dropshippers track the status of each order that is critical to your e-commerce online business. It makes sure that you always control the newest information and conditions of the order.

• Multiple Store Management

DSers helps you manage all your different online business stores in one place. Get all orders from your Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix store in one account, and you can easily switch between stores or platforms.

• Bundle Products

Up-selling and cross-selling are important marketing and selling strategies for an e-commerce business. Those can increase the average value of the shopping cart. With the feature of Bundle Products, you can create packages from different AliExpress suppliers. These bundle products are a great opportunity for online business owners to offer customers attractive offers, discounts.

There are many more valuable features of DSers that are offered to simplify the order fulfillment process and increase sales. Click here to try DSers for free!

Final Word

There are still some problems with AliExpress like untrustworthy suppliers or late delivery, though it is one of the largest marketplaces in the world.

As a dropshipper, always remember that it is necessary to know what goes on behind the scenes like how AliExpress Standard Shipping works and how long it actually takes.