How to start a business on AliExpress: From your first purchase to consistent sales
December 7, 2025
4-minute read
Dmytro Suslov
AliExpress businesses start to struggle where Excel sheets fall short. Using a CRM to manage orders, clients, and suppliers turns reselling Chinese goods from a gamble into a structured income model.
China remains the ‘world’s factory,’ and AliExpress is one of the easiest platforms for launching a product-based business. On the surface, the model looks simple: buy low, sell high, and keep the profit.
However, behind the seeming simplicity are hidden challenges that can sink your business before you earn your first income. Mixing up orders, losing packages, and overlooking client messages can hurt your sales faster than any competitor. Let’s explore how to turn messy purchasing into a stable AliExpress-based business with a clear plan and the right organizational tools.
Business model choice: dropshipping vs. holding stock
At the start, you have to choose between lower risks and greater control. Dropshipping from AliExpress doesn’t require upfront purchasing. You list the product, receive payment, and the Chinese seller ships the package directly to the client in the EU, the U.S., or another country. The downside is 2–4 weeks of delivery time, no control over quality or packaging, and all complaints go to your brand—not the supplier.
The alternative is to purchase a batch of products and resell them from your own warehouse — even if that means a garage or a small rented storage unit. You import a small shipment, clear it through customs, and ship orders through local carriers such as USPS, Royal Mail, DHL, or DPD. Clients receive their orders within a few days, returns are easier, and overall trust in your brand increases.
Key advantages of the resale-from-your-own-warehouse model:
- Fast domestic shipping allows you to compete with large stores.
- Full quality control ensures the client never receives a defective product.
- Higher profit margins are achieved through bulk purchase discounts.
- The ability to create your own content — photos and video reviews of the actual product.
By choosing the warehouse model, an entrepreneur takes on financial risks but gains a solid foundation for building a true brand.
What to sell: Identifying your niche and trending products
It’s not a good idea to try selling everything. Success comes from focusing on a specific category. To generate ideas, check the “Bestsellers” and “Top Ranking” sections on AliExpress. Then compare these items with actual demand on Western platforms such as Amazon Best Sellers, eBay, Etsy, TikTok trends, and Google Trends. Popular categories include small gadgets, accessories, home and kitchen goods, and beauty products. It’s best to avoid bulky items due to high shipping costs and the risk of counterfeit brands.
Quick response times make all the difference. When a trending product suddenly surges in demand, clients purchase from the seller who responds first. Slow handling of inquiries drives buyers to competitors. A CRM system records every request and assigns it to the appropriate manager, cutting down response times.
How to choose a reliable seller on AliExpress
Picking a product is only half the task — you also need to find a seller you can trust. There are plenty of scammers and careless sellers, so don’t trust the first one you see.
Here’s a list of criteria to help you find and verify a supplier before making a payment:
- Store rating: Anything below 95% should raise a red flag. Ideally, look for partners with a reputation of 97–99%.
- Number of followers and time in business: One-day stores often disappear after collecting payments.
- Reviews with real photos: Text-only reviews can be fake, while photos from clients show the actual condition of the products.
- Communication: Try sending a message to the seller. If there’s no reply or the response is generic, you may face issues later.
Logistics and сustoms regulations (Important!)
International shipping and customs — where most beginners lose profit. Every country has its own tax-free import thresholds, VAT (or VAT equivalents), and customs duties. When selling to Western markets, it’s crucial to calculate the full landed cost: product price + shipping from China + taxes and duties + local delivery to the client.
Tips to prevent logistics from eating into your margin:
- Split large orders into several shipments if allowed by your country’s customs regulations.
- Use reliable shipping options on AliExpress (AliExpress Standard Shipping, ePacket, or other trackable services) instead of the cheapest untracked mail.
- For larger volumes, work with freight forwarders and consider cargo consolidation.
- Track transit times and the percentage of lost packages for each shipping method and seller.
- Document your import process once, then only adjust it as needed— don’t reinvent it every time.
Clear logistics protects your margin and allows you to set realistic delivery expectations for clients.
Best platforms to sell your products
Your choice of sales channel depends on your budget and how serious you are about your business. Each platform has its own characteristics, audience, and requirements:
- eBay: A convenient way to test demand and pricing without launching your own website.
- Amazon: Huge traffic, but strict rules, high competition, and significant fees. Best suited once your processes are already well-established.
- Shopify or another personal store: Maximum control and profit margins, but you’ll need to invest in traffic, design, and building trust.
- Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Shops: Ideal for visually-driven products, where content and community drive sales.
- Local marketplaces: A convenient way to sell to an already “warm” audience that trusts the platform and is used to buying there. They provide ready-made traffic, local payment methods, and shipping options.
When you’re selling through several channels at once — Instagram, Viber, your website — things can quickly become chaotic. Messages get lost, and managers mix up orders. The solution is a CRM system that collects all inquiries in one place. For example, Uspacy allows you to connect Telegram and other messengers directly to your workspace. Client messages automatically create a lead or deal, and the manager can see the entire conversation history within the card.
Setting this up only requires a few simple steps:
- Get a bot token through BotFather in Telegram and connect it to the system to collect messages.
- Configure automatic creation of leads from incoming chats so no contact gets lost in the flow.
- Use CRM filters to segment your database, making it easier to send targeted promotions to existing clients.
Moving from Excel sheets to a CRM saves hours of work each day. Instead of manually transferring data, managers can focus on selling, while all history — calls, emails, and deals — is stored in one place, giving department heads full visibility and control over the process.
Conclusion
Reselling products from China is a realistic way to start your own business with a budget of $100–200. But success depends not just on choosing a popular product. The key to profitability lies in a systematic approach from day one. Use a CRM to manage clients, connect your messaging apps for fast communication, and integrate task planners to monitor processes — turning chaotic online earnings into a stable business.
Updated: December 7, 2025