Last Updated on May 2, 2021 by Jay Clover
If you’ve been dropshipping for a while now or have read about it before you start your business, you’ve most probably come across CJ Dropshipping. This program is almost the same as AliExpress Dropship and sources its products from the (almost) the same suppliers. However, there are differences between these two.
Therefore, in this article, we’re going to look at them as well as at the things you have to know about CJ before you choose them as your dropshipping program.
So, let’s get started!
What is CJ Dropshipping?
CJ Dropshipping is a Chinese company working in the same way as AliExpress. They source products from thousands of suppliers, keep them in their warehouses, do the order fulfillment for you, and ship out the products you’ve sold to you.
Unlike many dropshipping programs, this one offers after-sales support in case they’ve lost or damages your products during the transport.
Their website is almost identical to that of AliExpress, with the same product categories, sections, and layout. The only difference is in the colors.
Since they do all the things for you, using this program is super easy.
CJ Dropshipping Features
CJ Dropshipping comes with a big number of impressive features. They are divided into 5 services, including:
APP
Their web-based app is packed with plenty of features. Some of them are automatic product listing, product review importing, automatic order synchronizing, uploading CSV orders, inventory monitoring, fulfillment, product tracking, print on demand, managing multiple stores, etc.
CJ Dropshipping also has a Chrome extension, which allows you to import products from suppliers on the go. Hence, you don’t have to be by your desk and do all the job on your computer. You can do that whenever you want. This is especially helpful when you’ve accidentally spotted a great product at a great price and you don’t want to miss the chance to sell it in your store.
Order Fulfillment
As mentioned previously, CJ fulfill your orders. This gives you more time to focus on marketing your business, managing your store, and communicating with your customers. This program allows you to combine orders to save on delivery cost, split one order into multiple, and combine multiple order SKUs into one SKU.
The feature we especially love is the custom packaging. This helps you build your brand and become recognizable among your audience and customers.
Warehousing
CJ Dropshipping pride themselves to have warehouses across the globe. This allows them to ship products much faster than AliExpress with suppliers directly providing their products to you. Moreover, this program allows you to keep a private inventory for your customers to shorten the processing time.
Shipping
The company offers a fast shipping time between 7 to 15 days worldwide. Of course, you can always check the exact time and the price of a product’s shipping. They ship via various carriers, including USPS, DHL, and their own shipping line CJ Packet. Also, they have a special line for shipping electronics and jewels and offer an ePacket shipping.
Pro Service
The Pro service comes with a number of amazing features that help you manage and scale your business. They offer product sourcing from other sites like AliExpress, 1688, and Taobao. Also, they check each product for quality, recommend winning products, do product and video shooting, online disputes, allow you to submit tickets to the management team, and offer 24/7 customer support.
In addition, they allow for wholesales so you can save even more on bulk orders. There’s also dropshipping training for all who want to use this program.
Benefits of Using CJ Dropshipping
CJ Dropshipping seems to be the perfect dropshipping program. And, how can it not be when it’s packed with lots of amazing features. If you’re not sure whether it’s worth using it, take a look at its benefits.
Free App
The CJ Dropshipping app is free to use and there are no limits on the number of orders you can make.
Multiple Integrations
It integrates with several e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, eBay, WooCommerce, Shipstation, Lazada, and Shopee. The integration is sleek and you can do it on your own since you don’t need to know the technical stuff.
Good Prices
Since it’s a Chinese company like AliExpress, you can expect low prices on their products. In fact, their prices are more or less the same as those listed on AliExpress. In this way, they offer the same price per product but have a much better service, faster shipping, and awesome features. And, that is exactly what makes dropshippers looking to sell affordable products to choose CJ Dropshipping over AliExpress.
Shorter Processing and Delivery Times
Unlike AliExpress, where the product processing can take up to a week, CJ Dropshipping processes the orders in 1-3 days for products they have in their warehouses and up to 5 days for products they don’t have.
The faster processing leads to faster shipment. That’s why your customers won’t wait for 20 days and more but will receive their orders in up to 15 days. The delivery time depends on the area to which they are shipped and the carrier you’ve used for the delivery. For instance, CJPacket delivers the products in 5-15 days and USPS in 4-8 days. In terms of the region, shipping to the European Union takes 5-12 days.
Product Quality Check
CJ Dropshipping, unlike ALiExpress, checks each product to make sure it’s ok before shipping it out.
Product Sourcing
Found a product on AliExpress that’s not on CJ Dropshipping. No worries! You can send a request to the company to find that product for you. Just send them photos of the product and the AliExpress link to it.
Good-Quality Product Photos and Videos
CJ Dropshipping offer lots of great photos and videos of their products. They have their own studio where they do the photoshoots and filming. And, you can use them for FREE!
There’s also an option to request a photo shoot or video that will belong solely to you. But, this will cost you around $150.
Branded Packaging
CJ Dropshipping offers custom packaging with your logo and company name on the package. This is one of the best features of CJ Dropshipping as it helps you build your brand. Best of all, you can get that for a low price.
Multiple-Supplier Products
One of the biggest issues with dropshipping is when a customer orders several products from different suppliers. It’s because they won’t receive them in the same package nor at the same time. This causes frustration for the customer and anxiety for you, as the seller.
Fortunately, that’s not an issue with CJ Dropshipping since all the products your customer has ordered will arrive in the same package.
Great Customer Support
And, there is their stellar customer support that is available 24/7. Unlike many e-commerce/dropshipping sites, CJ Dropshipping have a highly-responsive and efficient. You can reach one of their agents within a few minutes and get help in no time. Plus, they are fluent in English which makes the communication much easier.
Drawbacks of Using CJ Dropshipping
Too Big
CJ Dropshipping has grown fast and, now, issues are arising. Namely, dropshippers report mistakes in ordering and shipping and slower processing times.
Public Winning Products
Although suggesting the winning products is one of CJ Dropshipping’s traits, it’s also a drawback because everyone can see them. Hence, every dropshipper can sell them in their online store. This means that the product will become denser which leads to less sales.
Products Originating from China
No matter how good their service is, how low their prices are, and how good their products are, they are still coming from China. And, the thing is that many people don’t want products coming from that country because of their low quality.
Slightly Higher Prices
Although the prices are more or less the same as those of AliExpress, they are still a bit higher. If you want to get a lower price and make more profit, you’ll have to ship in bulk to your own fulfillment services or use a private agent.
App Issues
While the CJ App is free, it’s not always about being free. If there are issues that compromise the app’s performance, it’s not worth using it. The problem with their app is that it can be buggy, which causes issues like the search function not working.
Not as Easy as AliExpress
When dropshipping with AliExpress on Shopify, the order fulfillment is super easy and quick. But, with CJ Dropshipping it’s a bit harder and time-consuming.
Price
FREE!
Yes, we are serious. CJ Dropshipping is free to use and there’s no subscription nor membership cost to use this program. Amazing, right?
Some may find this too good to be true but the reviews from dropshippers using this service confirm this and are mostly positive. The thing is that CJ Dropshipping doesn’t charge you directly. Instead, it includes its provision in the products’ prices. Plus, they earn from extra services like engraving on products.
