Alibaba vs AliExpress: Which Platform Should You Choose?

When you want to sourcing product for your business, espcially from China, Alibaba and Aliexpress will show up. For some customer, they will get confuse about what and when to use those platfrom, some of them think they are same.

Alibaba and AliExpress are both part of the Alibaba Group, which Jack Ma owns. When I came to the Canton Fair, I was surprised to find that some new sellers can not tell the difference between Alibaba and Aliexpress. They are similar, and they also have some business overlap. Although they remain distinct, they both focus on providing a range of services for international customers. So let me quickly explain what the difference is and when to use, and what their business overlap is.

What are Alibaba and Aliexpress?

Alibaba (B2B Platform)

Alibaba is a business-to-business B2B wholesale platform for overseas customers, founded by Jack Ma in 1999. Like an online trade show, they connect Chinese manufacturers and trading companies online, attracting more overseas customers to purchase from them, mostly for bulk orders.

What’s their mission? To make it easy to do business anywhere.

AliExpress (B2C Platform)

AliExpress is a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) platform. It’s similar to Amazon, eBay, or China Taobao, where you can buy one piece directly and have it shipped directly to your door. And with a very low price, before TEMU came out, they were the cheapest in Chinese retail prices.

And AliExpress is well known for dropshipping sellers. Especially for a seller, it is a good start to test Facebook from the AliExpress dropshipping centre.

 

 

2. Key Differences: Alibaba vs AliExpress

3. When to use this platform?

Alibaba

You want to wholesale items for resale or for your big project.

1. You want to buy in bulk and customize your LOGO and private products for Amazon or Shopify.
2. You want to purchase raw materials, a machine, a car, and furniture,  for a large-scale project.
3. Your order amount exceeds 1000 USD. For some items, the price is 500 USD. In this case, you should go to Alibaba to obtain a quote and compare it with the price.
4. You want to use FCL or LCL to ship it by sea or air, making the bulk shipping cost more cost-efficient.
5. You want to open a mould and need to collaborate on product design and development with a single manufacturer.
6. You want to find a service from China, such as a shipping agent, a sourcing agent, or a product designer.

You should use AliExpress if:

1. You want to buy products for your personal use or small wholesale below 500USD
2. Like Amazon, you don’t want to waste time contacting the seller and want to buy directly.
3. You want to start a dropshipping business. You can go to the Aliexpress dropshipping centre to find niche products. Alibaba also have a dropshipping centre, but promise me don’t use it, it sucks. No dropshipper drops from there, even a newbie.

4. Example

AliExpress buyer: Lily

Bella is one student in Poland who wants to buy a massager gun for personal use. After conducting some keyword research, they found a mini massage gun for just $15 with free shipping, shipped by Canniao, and delivery takes about 9-15 days to Poland.

Aliexpress dropshipping seller: Mike

Mike in Germany, wants to start their own business. After conducting a thorough search, Mike decided to start with the Dropshipping model. Using tools like Spyads, they identified niche products on AliExpress.

After you receive an order from your Shopify store, you can place an order directly and enter your end customer’s address, so AliExpress can ship the items directly to your customer and provide a tracking code.

If you need a private dropshipping agent, we can offer an all-in-one service to help you get a better price than AliExpress, with more shipping options.

 

Alibaba Buyer: David in US

After doing dropshipping and getting their first money, David wants some stable income, and like dropshipping, always needs to find the following niche products.

David wants to create private label products for Amazon FBA and print their company logo and colour box for Amazon to help build their brand.

After negotiating with the Alibaba supplier, they reduced the MOQ from 1000pcs to 500pcs. So David used the Alibaba Trade Assurance order to make the deal and made a 30% deposit.

5. Quick Tips

Alibaba = B2B Wholesale + Customization + Long-term business

AliExpress = Personal use+ Dropshipping

The most suitable platform for you depends on whether you want to do business as a reseller or for personal use.

Summary: If you want to personally use or start your own dropshipping business, use AliExpress. If you’re going to source private-label products for your business, use Alibaba. If you’re looking for a sourcing agent or dropshipping agent to help you source and dropship from China, you can find us at SourcingXpro. 10 years of sourcing and dropshipping services with over 4,000 customers.

6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Are the prices on Alibaba real?

Alibaba: Some of them are genuine, while most use small tricks to generate more inquiries. To attract more traffic, they usually offer a low price. However, when you want to customize, the cost and MOQ will change or increase.

AliExpress: Just like Amazon, what you see is what you pay, and you can check if the price with shipping cost. The price is real and fixed.

Tips: We recommend using the link with Aliexpress Choice.

2. Can I buy just one item on Alibaba?

Alibaba: You can purchase one piece on Alibaba as a sample, but it’s not suitable for personal use. The sellers on Alibaba are not that welcoming to individual buyers. In most cases, you have to contact the seller before you make the payment.

AliExpress: Totally okay. Put the right address, and make the payment wait the parcel.

3. How long does shipping take?

Alibaba: since it is wholesale, you can choose to ship by express Like DHL, UPS, or by sea. If you buy a bulk order over 2CBM, and are not in such a rush to get items, you can use shipping by sea, DDP, or to the port, both of which are okay, which will save a lot of cost.

AliExpress: 10-25 days shipped by Canniao shipping, which is also owned by the Alibaba group. If you want to learn about dropshipping, shipping, and e-commerce shipping companies, you can refer to the blog we wrote previously.

4. Can I customize products or design a product (add a logo or packaging)?

Alibaba: Yes, most sellers are welcome to sellers who need customized products or product development, which usually means they need a high MOQ for customisation. Most sellers support OEM and ODM, as well as product design and development services. But always start with private label products first to test the market, and then create your unique products.

AliExpress: No, they are stock items for most sellers. However, if you want to order some printing on demand, such as customised T-shirts with your name or hoodies, it works even for just one piece.

5. Are the products good quality?

Alibaba: Use Alibaba Trade Assurance order, and check the product reviews.

AliExpress: Quality varies significantly, so check the product link with 4.8 reviews. Check carefully with the review pictures

6. What if I receive a defective item?

Alibaba: If you use an Alibaba trade assurance order, open a dispute on Alibaba, you will get refund or the best solution. Tips: Let the supplier arrange the shipment and use trade terms DDP, as this will protect you from receiving 100 defective products. DDP is the seller’s responsibility and the seller’s risk to send the items to your address, not yours. So if you use your own shipping agent, it may be cheaper, but when defective items are caused by the shipping channel, the supplier can push their responsibility to your shipping agent.

AliExpress: Protect the consumer, you can easily get a refund even do not need to return the products.

7. if AliExpress is legit, and Alibaba is legit?

yes, they answer both yes, just like Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, Aliexpress and Alibaba both legit, no worry about this question.

 8.Can I dropship products on Alibaba?

My answer is yes, you can find one supplier who supports dropshipping service on Alibaba, but you can not easily use it like Aliexpress, you do not even need to contact the seller, but be careful, do not use Aliexpress Choice to make the dropship, since the package will be a container with the Aliexpress Choice logo.  But my suggestion is not to dropshipping from Alibaba, even though they have a Alibaba dropshipping centre.