A friend of mine started a small home decor shop on Shopify last year, nice photos, clean branding, the whole thing. I assumed she was sourcing from some obscure wholesale supplier. Turns out almost everything in her store came from AliExpress, she just handled the branding, pricing, and customer side herself. That was the moment it clicked for me that you could genuinely earn money from AliExpress, not just buy cheap gadgets from it.
There are really two separate ways to do this, and they’re pretty different from each other. I tested both enough to know what each one actually involves.
Is It Actually Worth It
Yes, plenty of people genuinely earn money from AliExpress, but the two methods suit pretty different people. Dropshipping means running an actual store, marketing, customer service, and all, with no upfront inventory cost. The affiliate route is lower effort and more passive, but the payout per sale is smaller. Neither one is instant money, both take some real setup before anything comes in.
1. Dropshipping With AliExpress
This is how my friend’s shop works. You list AliExpress products in your own store, usually built on Shopify or WooCommerce, at a markup. When someone orders, the AliExpress supplier ships the product directly to your customer, so you never touch or store any inventory yourself. Tools like DSers make it easy to import products directly from AliExpress into your store with a few clicks.
My first attempt at this went badly. I picked a supplier purely based on the lowest price without checking their ratings or shipping times, and orders took nearly a month to arrive. Customers were, understandably, not happy. Once I switched to suppliers with strong ratings and reasonable processing times, even if they cost slightly more per unit, complaints dropped off almost completely.
2. AliExpress Affiliate Program
This is the lower effort option. Through the AliExpress affiliate portal, you generate trackable links to specific products and earn a commission when someone buys through your link. There’s no store to run, no shipping to manage, and no customer service, you’re just pointing people toward products.
The tradeoff is the payout per sale is noticeably smaller than the markup you’d earn dropshipping the same item. It works best for people who already have an audience somewhere, a blog, a YouTube channel, or a niche social media page, since you’re relying on people trusting your recommendation rather than running paid ads to cold traffic.
Mistakes People Make
- Choosing suppliers on price alone. A cheaper unit cost means nothing, and this is the fastest way to hurt your ability to earn money from AliExpress long term if shipping takes six weeks and customers start asking for refunds.
- Not ordering a sample first. Seeing and testing the actual product before listing it saves you from selling something that looks nothing like the photos.
- Setting unrealistic shipping expectations. Being upfront about delivery times on your store page prevents most complaints before they happen.
- Promoting affiliate products you’ve never used. Recommendations that don’t hold up hurt trust fast, especially with a smaller audience.
How I’d Start This Month
- Decide whether you want to run a store or just share links, dropshipping and affiliate suit different amounts of effort.
- If dropshipping, pick a niche and research two or three suppliers with strong ratings before committing.
- Order a sample of anything you plan to sell before listing it publicly.
- If going the affiliate route, sign up through the official portal and only link products you’d genuinely recommend.
- Set clear shipping expectations on your store or in your content either way.
If you already have a social media following, pairing this with something like earning money on Instagram through affiliate links can work well together, since you’re already reaching people who might be interested in the products you’re promoting.
FAQ
Is it actually legal to earn money from AliExpress this way?
Yes, both dropshipping and the official affiliate program are legitimate, widely used business models. Just be transparent with customers about shipping times if you’re dropshipping.
How much money do I need to start dropshipping?
You don’t need inventory money upfront, but you’ll want a small budget for your store platform, a few product samples, and some initial marketing or ads to get traffic.
Why is AliExpress shipping so slow sometimes?
Many suppliers ship internationally from overseas warehouses. Choosing suppliers with local warehouses or faster shipping options, even at a slightly higher cost, can cut this down significantly.
Do I need a big following for the affiliate program to work?
Not necessarily huge to earn money from AliExpress through affiliate links, but you need an audience that trusts your recommendations. A smaller, engaged audience often converts better than a large, disinterested one.
Can I do both dropshipping and the affiliate program at once?
Yes, some people run a store for their own products while also sharing affiliate links for items they’re not stocking themselves. They’re not mutually exclusive.
Whichever route you pick, the pattern that actually works is the same one that shows up everywhere else in this space, pick reliable suppliers, be upfront with people, and treat it like a real small business rather than a shortcut. It takes longer to get going than the ads make it sound, but it’s a genuinely workable way to earn money from AliExpress if you stick with it.
Earnings mentioned above are based on personal experience and general seller reports, not guarantees. Actual results vary based on niche, effort, and market conditions.