How Do I Find US Based Dropshipping Suppliers

With the sharp rise in people starting their dropshipping business in the US, one of the biggest questions emerging is, “How do I find US-based dropshipping suppliers?” 

Below, we broke down the steps in the easiest way possible and provided where to find US suppliers so you can start selling from the US today! 

Here is what you can expect:

1.0 – Why Is Dropshipping From The US So Beneficial For My Business?

1.1 – Shipping Times
1.2 – Product Quality Control
1.3 – American Made
1.4 – Customer Satisfaction
2.0 – Understanding Inventory Supply And Turn Times before picking a US Supplier
3.0 – What Makes A Great US-Based supplier?
4.0 – Top 5 US Dropshipping Suppliers
5.0 – Why Is China Dropshipping Dying?
6.0 – The Bottom Line

There are many reasons why finding a US-based supplier is beneficial. Things like faster shipping times, higher quality products and cheaper delivery costs create a more sustainable business when selling in North America. 

Let’s dive in to explore why and how you can start dropshipping from the US today!

Why Is Dropshipping From The US So Beneficial For My Business?

While most dropshipping automation apps like Dropified and DSers easily integrate with AliExpress and thousands of Chinese vendors that supply millions of product options…

…there are a number of reasons dropshippers are looking for US-based supplier options.

Here are 4 reasons why.

1. Shipping Times

The shipping times from China are probably the single biggest reason for wanting US options. It still takes several weeks to arrive once your customer places their order.

Amazon Prime has conditioned most buyers to expect quick delivery, especially since they are so used to 2 Day delivery times. Now, most don't mind waiting a few days longer to get their orders when they order from a non-Amazon, e-commerce store. But with that said, they still expect their order fast.

And it’s not just your US-based customers that are demanding faster shipping – it’s huge social media platforms like Facebook that also now demand fast shipping.

But isn’t Facebook just an ad platform? How do they demand this? Well, customer service and satisfaction are one of the biggest factors in the Facebook ads algorithm. So dropshippers that run ads on Facebook are being affected by complaints about their ads, which in turn results in higher ad costs.

Yes, Facebook monitors ad feedback. When it comes to dropshippers, one of the most pervasive complaints is the length of time it takes customers to receive their orders, and it results in higher ad costs. Conversely, dropshippers using US-based suppliers with fast shipping times are rewarded with better feedback and ultimately lower ad costs by Facebook.

2. Product Quality Control

Another big reason that US drop shippers want more US supplier options is product quality.

While there are, no doubt, countless Chinese suppliers that provide excellent products, the sheer amount of suppliers available that just pop up on the fly leads to a lot of shady suppliers with poor quality products.

And when the dropshipping businesses are so far from the suppliers, it’s hard to reach them or hold them accountable for bad quality items.

US-based suppliers are gaining popularity, because they are, in theory, easier to reach if there is a problem. There is a comfort level in that they can be met personally to discuss issues if needed. I say “in theory” because there will always be people that act in bad faith or will just be straight-up scammers. But that’s where due diligence needs to be done, just as with any supplier, to cut down the chance of this happening. And we will be sure to show you how to avoid this in the upcoming sections.

3. American Made Products

There is also the intangible reason for working with American companies versus foreign companies and using “American Made” products or “American Stored” products.

In many cases, being able to market your products as “American Made” can not only help you sell more products, but it may even lead you to be able to charge higher prices. 

4. Customer Satisfaction

As we touched on above, using US-based suppliers can also lead to higher Customer Satisfaction.

The factors listed above, such as faster shipping times, higher quality products, local or US-region phone numbers and contact information as well as being made in America, can all lead to better experiences for your customers. 

When a customer knows they are doing business inside the US, they don’t really have any worries about issues popping up. If there are issues, they trust they can get things resolved quickly and easily.

When dealing with foreign products shipped from outside the US, there can be more worry about when the product will arrive and if it will be of good quality. If there is a product issue, they worry they will have to deal with someone that may be hard to reach or difficult to communicate with.

Understanding Inventory Supply And Turn Times Before You Pick A US Supplier

Before you pick a US dropshipping supplier, one of the most important factors in deciding which supplier to use is how much inventory they have available at any time as well as how quickly they can turn out new inventory as it begins to run low.

Smaller suppliers may have a lot of inventory available but may not have the resources to manufacture new inventory as fast, so it’s important to know how quickly they can turn out new inventory.

After all, if you start selling a product fast, it’s only as good as your supplier can keep at volume. If you sell out the inventory, and it takes several weeks for the supplier to get new inventory, then you can’t grow and scale.

Not only that, but once you start selling fast, it can draw the attention of other sellers. Your supplier may now need to start supplying multiple sellers at once to try to capitalize on the same hot product which leads to faster inventory sellouts.

With many Chinese suppliers being small fly-by-night operations, they tend to jump on hot product trends, and they’re easily affected negatively by quick product sellouts and long inventory turn times… on top of the long shipping times.

That doesn’t mean US companies won’t have that same issue, so you just need to be aware of it and do your due diligence to limit the possibility.

With all that said…

What makes a great US-Based supplier?

Just as with any supplier, you need to do your due diligence and research. Once you find your winning product, the regular factors you need to review should be the same for all potential suppliers regardless of where they are located. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to validate a great US dropshipping supplier:

Trust / Feedback: 

• What kinds of feedback have you found in your searches? 
• Are they listed on the Better Business Bureau, Yelp or any other review sites? 
• Are they part of any professional associations that list feedback or that can be reached to get feedback?

Communication:

• When you reach out to them (and you must reach out to every supplier prior to doing business), do they respond promptly and professionally? 
• Are they able to answer your questions accurately and thoroughly? 

Shipping Cost and Time:

• Do they have the ability to dropship on your behalf, with your company info? 
• Do they make it clear and easy to include accurate shipping costs? 
• Do they ship out items quickly once an order is placed? 
• Do they offer shipment tracking? Does their system integrate with your dropshipping automation app so everything can be handled automatically?

Inventory Turn Time:

• How much inventory do they carry at any given time?
• How quickly can they replenish their inventory should you start selling their products fast?
• How much demand can they truly handle without ever running out of inventory?

Additional Fees:

• Do they require any additional fees to work with them?
• Do they require minimum sales amounts to do business with them?
• Do they charge extra for any dropshipping services such as packing, labeling, and inventory?

Returns, Refunds and Defects:

• How do they handle product returns?
• How do they handle refund requests?
• How do they handle product defects and/or product quality concerns?

Now that you know what makes a great US supplier, where do I find them?
This is the exciting part…

US-Based Dropshipping Suppliers

There are many US dropshipping suppliers to choose from, and we’ll list some of the more popular ones below.

However, YOU are the one responsible for doing your research and due diligence to make sure these companies meet your needs, are trustworthy and worth doing business with. This is also not a complete or comprehensive list, and these are NOT in any particular order. 

They are also not necessarily direct suppliers – rather they act like AliExpress and offer a directory of suppliers according to their own criteria.

1. Salehoo

According to Salehoo, they are a “powerful research tool, supplier directory and online community for dropshippers, wholesalers and e-commerce stores.”

They list 8,000+ trusted wholesale and dropship suppliers that they’ve personally reviewed and 1.6 million+ branded products you’ll recognize at prices that leave plenty of room for profit.

2. Doba

According to Doba, they’ve “brought hundreds of qualified manufacturers and suppliers into one marketplace.”

They list 2,000,000 products from hundreds of suppliers in one catalog, and they offer a Supplier Scorecard to evaluate the companies they work with.

3. AliExpress

AliExpress doesn’t just operate in China – they also have many suppliers based in the US. 

There are 2 quick ways to find products that ship from within the US on AliExpress:

On AliExpress: 

1. Do a search for the product you want on AliExpress
2. Once you’ve done a search, select the Ships From box at the top of the page above the search results and select the United States. This will filter the results to all products that ship from the US.

In Your Automation App:

Some automation apps like Dropified already integrate the database of US products from AliExpress right into the app dashboard. To find those products:

1. Open your automation app (like Dropified)
2. Click on the US Products Database
3. Enter your product type in the Search box
4. Review all the products you can sell!

4. Spocket

Spocket allows you to choose the best products to dropship from various categories from dropshipping suppliers all over the world.

80% of their dropshipping suppliers are based in the US or Europe, shipping is quick, reliable, and effortless.

5. Modalyst

Modalyst says “New stores and experienced sellers alike can use Modalyst. Modalyst connects you directly to designer brands, eco-friendly suppliers, private label manufacturers, and AliExpress sellers.”

Order product samples right from their dashboard in a few clicks. Easily test out the products and suppliers to build a reliable dropshipping business.

Why is China dropshipping dying?

A political factor between the US and China has put an end to the “China dropship model”. Right now, shipping costs from China are generally more expensive and take longer to arrive. This makes it incredibly hard for businesses to source from places like AliExpress and Alibaba.

Since 1969, the US was part of the Universal Postal Union, allowing for steep shipping discounts for poor countries to ship goods to the United States.

Those steep discounts, subsidized by the United States Post Office, meant shipping rates for Chinese suppliers were discounted from 40% to 70%.

The result meant that in many cases, it was more expensive to ship items within the US than it was to order a product from China to be delivered in the US.

However, there were discussions between the leaders of the US and China to pull out of that agreement and cut the discounted shipping because China is no longer viewed as a poor country.

As the shipping discount got removed, the low-cost advantage Chinese suppliers have counted on to undercut product pricing has vanished.

That also means any dropshipper using Chinese suppliers will see their shipping prices jump significantly. So not only will it take weeks for products to arrive, they will now no longer be super cheap.

As a result, the shift to US manufacturers and suppliers will jump quickly, and that could mean a bottleneck in supply.

The Bottom Line

The better and faster you can serve your customers, the better you will do long term.

As a result, it’s a smart thing to begin to source, develop and begin to work with US-based product suppliers, because your customers are demanding faster delivery and better quality.

At the end of the day, you need to work hard to research and find solid suppliers that offer you high-quality products with dependable inventory and fast shipping times.

After all, the writing is on the wall that the pricing advantage that Chinese suppliers enjoy may quickly be coming to an end, and if you only offer Chinese goods, you’ll end up with higher-cost products with long shipping times, and be left scrambling to find local suppliers.

Is there anything we missed?

Comment below what you think about US-based supplier dropshipping!