The 15 Best Drop Shipping Tools (Updated May 2024)
Are you on the hunt for drop shipping tools to grow and manage your e-commerce business? With the help of drop shipping tools, you can send products to customers without having to handle orders or manage inventory yourself.
This article will cover the basics of drop shipping and introduce the 15 best drop shipping tools on the market. Whether you're new to drop shipping or an experienced online retailer looking for optimization, you'll find tools that suit your needs here.
What is Drop Shipping?
Drop shipping is an e-commerce model that allows online stores to sell products without storing or managing physical inventory.
With this model, an online store doesn't buy large amounts of stock from suppliers in advance. Instead, once a customer pays, the store orders the product from the supplier, who then ships it directly to the customer.
For new entrepreneurs, drop shipping has clear advantages. In the early stages of business, you might not have many employees yet. Outsourcing the fulfillment work to professionals can ease logistics pressure for the owner and allows them to focus more on marketing, customer service, and brand building.
Data shows that about 23% of online sales are made through drop shipping.
This operating model offers flexibility and cost-efficiency for business owners, helping to quickly launch and grow their business.
How Drop Shipping Can Help Your Online Sales
Under the drop shipping model, many of the heavy-lifting tasks are delegated to third parties, offering several advantages for the growth of retail businesses, including:
Low Management Costs
With drop shipping, merchants pay suppliers only after a product is sold, avoiding the financial strain of unsold inventory.
Minimal Startup Capital Required
Since there's no need to pay for product manufacturing and storage, less startup capital is needed. The saved funds can be directed towards value-adding services like paid advertising to help the business grow faster.
Location Freedom
As suppliers handle the inventory, you don't need a fixed office space; you can work from home or a coffee shop.
Low Risk for Testing New Products
Many drop shipping platforms highlight best-selling products, providing market-validated options and reducing the risks of trying new items.
Time Savings
Traditional business operations can be time-consuming, from inventory maintenance to logistics management. Outsourcing these tasks lets you focus more energy on marketing and brand building.
Challenges in Drop Shipping
As expected, drop shipping comes with some downsides, with lower profit margins being one of the most noticeable. Bulk purchases usually come with discounts, meaning the cost per item can be higher when buying one at a time.
Although you have the freedom to set your own prices, you must keep them competitive due to market competition.
Plus, with low entry barriers into the drop shipping market, competition is fierce.
Other challenges in managing a drop shipping business include:
Brand Building: Selling third-party products can impact the creation of a unique brand identity.
Dependence on Third Parties: Mistakes made by suppliers can ultimately affect customer satisfaction.
Cost Accounting: Calculating profits can get complicated when working with multiple suppliers and consolidating shipping and other costs.
Whether drop shipping is a suitable business strategy depends on your specific situation. If you're ready to make your mark in a competitive market and brand influence isn't your main selling point, drop shipping might be a good choice.
The 15 Best Drop Shipping Tools
Starting a drop shipping business can be overwhelming. Even picking one platform from the many available that fits your business needs is challenging.
To simplify this process, we've compiled a list of 15 popular drop shipping tools widely recognized by merchants today.
Note: The tools below are listed in alphabetical order.
AliDropship
AliDropship connects you with global suppliers and stands out because it doesn't charge a monthly subscription fee. For a one-time payment of $89, you get lifetime access to their services.
They also offer a custom website building service for $299, making it a strong competitor to platforms like Shopify.
It's suitable for merchants looking for an efficient and straightforward drop shipping experience.
AutoDS
AutoDS is a comprehensive drop shipping management tool that supports online stores on Shopify and eBay. Merchants can use AutoDS for inventory management, pricing automation, and collecting social proof.
The goal of this tool is to lighten the daily operational load of e-commerce stores, saving your time to focus more on increasing sales.
What makes AutoDS stand out is its range of software packages, which are customizable to the size and needs of your business. Prices start from as low as $6.33 per month, making it affordable for small startups, yet scalable to support large e-commerce platforms with up to 100,000 products.
Doba
Doba is a platform that specializes in drop shipping, with suppliers mainly located in the US and China.
One of its most notable features is the automatic pricing tool. Merchants can set rules to automatically mark up prices based on wholesale costs, eliminating the need for manual pricing for each product.
After the trial period, Doba's services start at $49.99 per month.
Dropified
Dropified is a tool designed to simplify the process of connecting with suppliers and automating the drop shipping workflow. It integrates seamlessly with several e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, GrooveKart, and CommerceHQ, providing a complete set of essential drop shipping resources to help your e-commerce business thrive.
Dropified offers a range of automation features, particularly suiting sellers who aim to build a personalized brand. They offer two pricing models:
Import: $14 per month
Private Label On-Demand: $168 per month
While Dropified is on the pricier side, its ability to use your own brand helps to address a major challenge in drop shipping—establishing brand recognition.
DSers
For product variety, few drop shipping companies can compete with AliExpress. Since its launch in 2010, this online retail service has offered over 100 million products across various niches, ensuring there's always something for you to sell.
If you're planning to drop ship through AliExpress, pairing it up with the DSers drop shipping app on a Shopify store is an excellent combination. DSers’ free plugin allows you to easily navigate AliExpress's vast product catalog and add them to your store in just a few clicks.
They offer up to 3,000 products for free.
The advanced plan starts at $19.90 per month.
It's suited for new merchants with limited budgets but the capability to build a strong brand and attractive product lineup.
Inventory Source
Inventory Source is a platform that combines drop shipping services and order management, connecting merchants' online stores to suppliers without extra fees.
Serving as a primary inventory management system, Inventory Source allows for the addition of personal drop ship suppliers, but such custom integrations can lead to increased costs.
Their inventory automation service starts at $99 per month.
Modalyst
Modalyst is an automated drop shipping app that focuses on connecting with well-known brands.
Modalyst offers a supplier network for US-based businesses, ensuring domestic orders are delivered within six to eight days. For international drop shippers, Modalyst's wholesale network spans over 80 countries and territories. The app also integrates with AliExpress through a Chrome extension plugin, further expanding its product sources.
Modalyst's free plan allows for the automated management of up to 25 products. For handling up to 250 products, the monthly charge is $35.
Oberlo
Oberlo is a plugin crafted specifically for Shopify, linking you to a vast network of suppliers, enabling you to easily pick products and swiftly import them into your online store.
With its no-cost starter plan, you can sell up to 500 products per month for free, providing an ideal starting point for those new to drop shipping.
As your business grows, you can opt for the Basic plan at $29.90 per month for additional features like increased product sales limits and more comprehensive order tracking services.
For higher-volume sellers, there's a Pro plan available at $79.90 per month, supporting up to 30,000 sales transactions.
SaleHoo
SaleHoo is a drop shipping platform that combines a directory of wholesalers and a market research tool.
Its database includes over 8,000 wholesalers and drop shipping suppliers, offering information on more than 2.5 million products. SaleHoo's Market Research Lab provides merchants with product data and sales insights, allowing them to study a product's performance on other channels before adding it to their store or online marketplace.
Moreover, SaleHoo helps you understand how many retailers are selling a particular product, so you can fully consider the market competition when planning your store's branding. For those looking to align their brand with high-demand products or want to exclusively sell hard-to-find items, SaleHoo offers excellent resources.
In terms of pricing, SaleHoo's drop shipping service starts at27 per month. Access to the database alone (without drop shipping services) cost $67 per year, or you can opt for a one-time payment of $127 for lifetime membership.
Shopify
Shopify is a leading global e-commerce platform that offers a quick and convenient way to build and operate an online store.
Shopify is more than just a drop shipping tool; it's a foundational cornerstone for creating an e-commerce portal. To help you get acquainted, Shopify offers a free 14-day trial.
When choosing Shopify to build your store, you can select from the following subscription plans based on your needs:
Basic Shopify – $29 per month
Shopify – $79 per month
Advanced Shopify – $299 per month
In addition to these costs, you also need to consider website hosting expenses, which are typically included in Shopify's fees.
Regardless of your business goals, Shopify provides a variety of service plans to meet your business needs and offers excellent customer support and a wealth of practical plugins to help grow your e-commerce business.
Spocket
Spocket is a specialized order fulfillment service for wholesalers, with suppliers primarily located in the US and Europe. However, the platform also includes merchants from Canada, Asia, Australia, and Brazil to support international e-commerce stores.
Spocket integrates seamlessly with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce, and AliScraper. It offers a free trial, allowing you to browse its extensive product catalog easily. Spocket also automates order processing to ensure timely delivery of goods after customer purchase.
Additionally, Spocket's branded invoicing feature can enhance your brand image. Customized invoices are sent out with products, helping to increase brand recognition and customer loyalty.
Here are some options for their paid plans:
Starter: $24 per month, up to 25 unique products sold
Pro: $49 per month, up to 250 unique products sold
Empire: $99 per month, up to 1,000 unique products sold
Recommended for merchants with a budget who want to build their own product brand.
WooCommerce
For those who have already established a WordPress website or are looking for a more economical alternative to Shopify, WooCommerce is a great choice. It's a free plugin that can easily transform your WordPress site into a fully functional e-commerce platform.
Worldwide Brands
Since its establishment in 1999, Worldwide Brands has been regarded as one of the most historic and trustworthy supplier resources in the industry. The platform insists that all drop shippers adhere to strict quality assurance standards.
Worldwide Brands offers a directory of suppliers and drop shippers that is a top choice for suppliers willing to work with emerging retailers. Although the platform may not offer automation services, it still provides access to over 16 million vetted wholesale products and a refined list of certified drop shippers, covering a wide range of product categories.
They offer a one-time service fee of $187.
Zapier
Zapier enables cross-application automation to reduce your need for manual tasks. For example, when your Shopify store receives an order, Zapier can automatically trigger MailChimp to add the buyer to an email list and instruct Invoice Ninja to generate the corresponding invoice.
Zapier's free forever plan allows you to create up to 5 automation workflows, making it a worthwhile drop shipping aid to try out. If you find that Zapier significantly streamlines your store operations after experiencing it, you can choose from more extensive paid plans according to your needs.
Zendrop
Zendrop is designed for dropshipping and print-on-demand services. Developed by experienced dropshippers, it solves issues that many businesses face on other platforms, such as unreliable supply chains and uncertain shipping times.
Zendrop offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for businesses to add products to their websites with a single click. Plus, businesses can attract repeat customers with custom packaging and subscription services.
After a 7-day free trial, Zendrop offers a Pro Plan with unlimited order processing for a monthly fee of $49.
Final Thoughts
It should be noted that operating multiple accounts is common in e-commerce, but most platforms have restrictions on this practice. To safely manage multiple accounts, you can use an antidetect browser. This type of browser creates a unique fingerprint for each of your accounts, ensuring that they are not linked on the same platform and reducing the risk of triggering platform monitoring.
While using an antidetect browser, you can also use BrowserScan to check the effectiveness of your fingerprint masking. It's a powerful tool for detecting browser fingerprints, helping to ensure that your real IP address and other sensitive information remain hidden.