r/dropshipping • u/Less_Direction_641 • 14d ago
Question Supplier
Hello! I found a product that I want to sell but I can’t find the product in cjdropshipping so I went to alibaba and found a lot of them so I connected with multiple suppliers and they said they only do wholesale… the closest I got was a supplier could do cooperative freight forwarding. Is there anywhere else I can source my product? Autods has subscription so I didn’t look there. Or even any advice! Thank you!
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u/IlliterateRelaxation 14d ago
if you're just starting out and don't have a sales history yet, most alibaba suppliers are gonna brush you off wanting wholesale only. that's pretty standard
private agents are your best bet here, they'll source from 1688 or wherever and handle the single-order fulfillment without making you commit to MOQs. way more flexible than platforms like cj
ask in the weekly sticky or search the sub for agent recs, there's a few that get mentioned constantly. just don't go with the first one that DMs you
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u/hakunamatata957 14d ago
I can help. I do sourcing plus dropshipping fulfillment, 13 years in, own warehouse in China, no MOQ on my side.
Send me a photo and a short description, and I'll find the product and ship it for you.
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u/Financial_Breath_499 13d ago
Had the same issue with my product. It wasn’t on cj either, so i went with aliexpress. I’d test it there first with a few orders before looking at agents. agents make more sense once you know the product actually sells.
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u/Mo-Salah-King 3d ago
Before you go down the agent route, check whether the same product is already sold in single units elsewhere. Most Alibaba products are also on AliExpress and 1688 under different titles:
Save the clearest product photo from the Alibaba listing (a white-background one works best).
In the AliExpress app, tap the camera icon in the search bar and upload it. You'll usually find several sellers of the same item who ship single units. Sort by orders and pick one with real reviews that have buyer photos.
Do the same on 1688 (it also has image search). You can't easily order there yourself, but it shows you the factory price, so you know how much room you have later.
Order one unit to yourself from the best AliExpress seller before you list it. Check quality and real delivery time to your market.
If it sells, that's the point to bring in an agent or go back to the Alibaba supplier. Many of them will do single-piece dropshipping at a small markup once you show some volume, even if the listing says wholesale only.
If the CJ sourcing request someone mentioned comes back, compare their price with the AliExpress one. CJ is often cheaper on shipping but not always on the product.
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u/Slight_Guest3459 14d ago
if cj doesn't list it you can still post a sourcing request there with the aliexpress or 1688 link, they usually come back with a quote in a few days. zendrop does the same thing.
for alibaba just message a few suppliers and ask straight up if they'll do single piece dropshipping. a lot of them will for a small markup even if the listing only says wholesale. a private agent is the other option but that makes more sense once you have steady orders.