There are many things you may need to find dropshipping agent service when you dropship from China, for example, you may need to source quality suppliers at cheaper cost, you may need to stock goods in China warehouse, you may need to check the products quality before shipping, you may need private label products with custom packaging, you may need to consolidate products from multiple suppliers for cheaper shipping cost etc. Thus you if dropship wholesale from China, a reliable Chinese dropshipping agent is necessary to help you solve problems.

How to find the best Chinese agent for dropshipping wholesale? There are tons of Chinese agents available when you google, but there are still similar questions on Quora, Facebook group, Reddit and other dropshipping forums. Searching for a dropshipping agent is similar to sourcing dropshipping suppliers, one hundred people might have 100 options as each of their service requirements might be different. We will discuss how to find a reliable Chinese dropshipping wholesale agent via service requirements, service charge, procedure effiency, shipping couriers, payment terms, qualifications, customer service as well as other aspects.

Dropshipping wholesale service requirements

Dropshipping and wholesale are different business mode thus the service requirements are different, we can compare their service requirements via the following aspects:

Sourcing. The mainly difference between wholesale and dropshipping is online and offline sourcing. Wholesale sourcing mainly on Alibaba, 1688 and offline fair or wholesale market, dropship sourcing mainly on Aliexpress, 1688 and Taobao;

Sample/purchasing. Bulk wholesale usually need to make sample or check product real condition or function, confirm payment terms and delivery time， while dropshipping usually filter suppliers via certain rules online, no sample required before bulk purchasing;

Quality inspection. After sample service, the wholesale quality inspection only need to focus on the broken items, whole dropshipping need more carefully QC service;

Repacking. Wholesale usually no need repacking service as the OEM factory could pack based on wholesale requirements, dropshipping clothing need to remove supplier info, packaging and label then repack;

Barcode. If the wholesale goods ship to Amazon FBA or overseas warehouse which will need need barcode, it can be done by both th factory and agent service, if the dropshipping store has more than 50 products and each products have above 3 virants it also need barcode service to distinguish the products;

Inventory warehousing. Wholesale usually do not need inventory warehousing service unless they stock in China, dropshipping usually need short time inventory warehousing service once there are multiple suppliers available;

Pick pack. wholesale do not need pick pack service, but dropshipping does;

Consolidate shipping. Both wholesale and dropshipping need consolidate shipping service if they have multiple suppliers, it could not only save shipping cost but also provide better user experience.

Shipping service. Wholesale mainly ship via courier, air delivery, sea delivery or train delivery for large weight volume; dropshipping service usually ship via ePacket, small package line or courier for faster delivery as their orders mostly under 2kg or even less;

Tracking. Both wholesale and dropshipping need to provide tracking numbers for the packages shipping from China. Wholesale usually update manually, dropshipping update tracking through ERP system to Shopify and other shopping cart system directly;

After sale. Wholesale usually no aftersale unless package broken, dropshipping usually need after sale service for packaging tracking, redelivery, package lost etc.

Although the procedure for wholesale are similar to dropshipping, they have different agent requirements from the above comparision. No matter dropshipping or wholesale it is very important to know the business requirements and list them one by one to inquire different Chinese agent service.

Agent service charge

If you are looking for an agent to help you wholesale from China, the service charge might be commissions for sourcing and purchasing. Dropshipping agent service charge is a little complicated based on the services. Some agent service charge service fee based on individual service, for example, agents charge purchasing fee, warehousing fee, pick pack fee, pack material, barcode fee respectively based on the service you chose, Shipant charge all the service fee on order basis, easy to calculate and cost effective.

The service charge are only small part compared to product cost and shipping, if you store doesnt have enough profit margin then you should estimate overall costs together from different dropshipping wholesale agents, then compare the service charge difference from different agents.

Courier shipping cost

After Covid19 outbreak, the packages shipping cost increased dramatically, different agents quote different shipping rates to different countries. Among the total cost shipping cost might around 40% or even more based on the products weight volume. The more weight and volume the higher shipping cost.

When we looking for a reliable agent in China, in addition to the services they provide, the shipping rates is one of the most important factor, in other words, the more competitive shipping rates the more competitive agent service since the shipping rates are weigh too high since 2020.

Why agent shipping rates are so high compared to Aliexpress shipping rates?

If you pay attention to the Aliexpress shipping rates you will see there has big difference between Aliexpress shipping rates and agent shipping rates, we also have many dropshippers ask the same question.

The main difference between aliexpress free shipping and agent shipping service is the mail delivery service, Aliexpress free shipping service applied unregistered mail delivery service which takes 30 to 50 days delivery and the package usually cannot being tracked, while the Chinese agent service usually provide registered mail service with 7 to 14 days tracking delivery from China to EU and USA.

If you dropship light weight products from China to USA you will see the shipping cost difference. Let’s take jewelry accessories for example,  a ring usually weight less than 10 grams, with Aliexpress free shipping the shipping cost less than 1 usd, which with agent registered mail service, shipping to USA minimum packages calculated as 50 grams, the register fee 20 yuan, shipping rates 80 yuan/kg, the shipping cost is 24 yuan around 3.8 usd.

No matter you dropship or wholesale select proper shipping couriers with right shipping agent you will get guaranteed shipping delivery service which in return save your aftersale time and resources.

Total cost dropshipping wholesale from China

When you applied Chinese agent service for dropshipping wholesale, you know the product cost, shipping rates and service cost, then you are able to estimate the total cost, if you can make good profits then you can start to work with the agent, else you may still need to optimize the agents as well as the supplier to make your products competitive and profitable.

Wholesale cost: Product cost+China domestic shipping(factory to agent warehouse)+service commission(product cost)+international shipping+custom tax(tax free shipping can be ignored)

Dropshipping cost: product cost+China domestic shipping(factory to agent warehouse)+service fee+international shipping+custom tax(tax free can be ignored)

When you compare dropshipping wholesale agent quotation, the overall cost should be calculated together, then rate based on agent service charge and shipping cost.

Agent processing time

The agent work efficiency is closely related to your clients user experience and your business. while the fulfillment processing efficiency based on its business scale, hardward, software and human resource as a dropshipper you can automate order fulfillment on Shopify at the agent side mostly works can only be done under software and hardware assistance. 1 to 2 days processing time is common for dropshipping order fulfillment.

Agent customer service

A professional agent customer service is very important when you dropship wholesale from China, it reflects the the respond time, the negotiation ability between you and supplier, the communication skills, attitude and aftersale etc. The professional agent service is a troubleshooter which help you save lots of time and money.

The above aspects are generally concern when mostly small business looking for Chinese agent service dropship wholesale from China, of course, each dropshipping wholesale business might have different agent service requirements and the reliable agent standard might be also be different, you can also make more personalized requirements to inquire agent service.

In short, looking for wholesale dropshipping agent is to looking for a long time mutual benefit partnership, find an agent isnt hard, find a parternship you can trust is hard, you may get recommendations from friends or social networks, but it is only for you as a reference, you should take time to inquire and compare then work together after that you will know both of your business matched or not. No matter what the result is, congrats, you are on right direction for your dropshipping wholesale business.