Free AliExpress Dropshipping Guide (2026 PDF)
A plain-English beginner's guide to selling AliExpress products through your own Shopify store. It covers what it costs to start, how to vet suppliers, how to price with real maths, and the customs rules that changed for US, EU and UK parcels in 2025 and 2026.
No email, no signup form. The PDF opens straight away (1.8 MB).
What's inside the guide
Eleven short chapters, each ending with a task you can finish the same day. Every price, fee and customs rule was checked in October 2026 and is listed with its source on the last page.
What AliExpress dropshipping is
How one order flows from your store to the AliExpress seller to your customer, and an honest list of pros and cons.
What it costs to start
A first-month budget table: about $311 for a lean start and $735 for a comfortable one, line by line.
Choosing a niche that ships well
Six product types to rule out first, plus a 30-point scorecard for niche ideas.
Vetting AliExpress suppliers
What to check on the store and listing, red flags, a message to send sellers and why you always place a test order.
Setting up your Shopify store
Which plan to pick (Basic is $39/month or $29/month yearly), setup in order, and the pages every store needs.
Pricing formula with worked maths
Landed cost, break-even CPA and break-even ROAS, worked through on a $32.99 product.
Customs and duties in 2026
The end of US de minimis, the EU's €3 duty on small parcels from 1 July 2026, and the UK's £135 rules.
Shipping and tracking
Picking the right AliExpress shipping method, what a normal parcel route looks like and how to add tracking in Shopify.
Customer service templates
Six ready-to-edit replies, from "Where is my order?" to questions about import duty.
Launch checklist
Thirty boxes to tick before you spend your first dollar on ads, plus a simple stop rule for product tests.
Where AliDrop helps
Which steps an app can take off your plate, and what it costs.
A preview: the pricing maths from chapter 6
Most beginners look at a $7 AliExpress item, list it at $30 and expect $23 profit. The guide works through the full cost instead. Here's the example: a cordless lint remover sold to US customers at $32.99 with free shipping.
So you can pay up to $17.86 in ads for each sale before you lose money. At $10 per sale you keep $7.86 (about 24% net). At $20 you lose $2.14 on every order. That gap is why the guide spends so long on pricing before it gets to ads. For the duty side in more depth, read our post on AliExpress import tax and customs duties.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Product price on AliExpress | $7.40 |
| Shipping to the US | $3.10 |
| Import charges (example) | $1.60 |
| Landed cost | $12.10 |
| Payment fee (2.9% + $0.30) | $1.26 |
| Apps per order | $0.78 |
| Refund reserve (3%) | $0.99 |
| Cost before ads | $15.13 |
| Break-even ad cost per sale | $17.86 |
Example figures. Use the import charges AliExpress shows at checkout for your customer's country.
Who this AliExpress dropshipping guide is for
- Complete beginners who want one clear order of steps instead of 40 saved videos. If you want the basics first, start with how dropshipping works.
- People who tried and stalled, usually because the product was priced at 2x cost or customers kept asking where their order was. Chapters 6, 8 and 9 deal with exactly that.
- Shopify sellers adding AliExpress products who want the supplier checks and 2026 customs rules in one place. The setup steps pair well with our Shopify and AliExpress walkthrough.
What's new in the 2026 edition
- US duty-free de minimis treatment is suspended for all countries, so every parcel can carry duty.
- The EU's temporary €3 customs duty on parcels up to €150 applies from 1 July 2026.
- UK VAT on parcels of £135 or less is charged at the point of sale, and the duty relief has a planned end date.
- US Shopify prices as of October 2026, and the EU product safety rules (GPSR) for products made outside the EU.
AliExpress dropshipping guide FAQ
Is the AliExpress dropshipping guide really free?
Yes. There's no email form and no signup. Click the download button and the 15-page PDF opens in your browser, ready to save or print. You're welcome to share it in full with a credit to AliDrop.
Who should read this guide?
It's written for people starting from zero who want to sell AliExpress products through their own Shopify store. It also helps sellers who launched once, priced too low or struggled with delivery questions, and want a clearer process the second time.
How much does it cost to start AliExpress dropshipping?
The guide's lean first-month budget comes to about $311: Shopify Basic at $39, a .com domain at around $16, AliDrop at $1 for the first 7 days, about $25 of test orders, a $200 ad test and a $30 refund reserve. A more comfortable start is about $735.
Do AliExpress orders pay import duties in 2026?
Often, yes. The US suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries from 29 August 2025. The EU charges a temporary €3 customs duty per tariff category on parcels up to €150 from 1 July 2026, plus VAT. In the UK, VAT on parcels of £135 or less is charged at the point of sale.
Is AliExpress dropshipping still profitable?
It can be, but margins are thinner than many courses suggest. In the guide's worked example, a $32.99 product leaves $17.86 to spend on ads per sale before you lose money. Products that sell for at least 2.5 to 3 times their landed cost give you room to test.
Do I need AliDrop to use the guide?
No. Every chapter works by hand. Chapter 11 explains where AliDrop saves time, such as one-click product import to Shopify, US and EU suppliers and automated order fulfilment, if you'd like to use an app.
Ready to try it on your first product?
Read the guide, pick one product and place a test order. When you're ready to import it to Shopify and send orders to the supplier automatically, AliDrop costs $1 for the first 7 days. See plans and pricing or how AliExpress dropshipping with AliDrop works.
