My AliExpress Dropshipping Journey

[BRUU]

Hi, I'm interested too. I' ve got a business acount and many idea of business.
Thanks a lot

[profithound]

Hi Yaros

Been following this plugin creation

would be interested in Beta testing it

Have domain, hosting and indepth wordpress skills

will send PM

[altanak3000]

Hi Yaros what sort of Refund Policy do you recommend?

[ballalife]

Hello Yaros

I'm definitely interested to beta test your dropshipping plugin. PM sent.

[Yaros]

(07-23-2016 08:10 AM)altanak3000 Wrote:  Hi Yaros what sort of Refund Policy do you recommend?

I recommend using exactly the same offered by AliExpress.

[Yaros]

Having a phone number on your site does bring peace of mind to your consumers and people you do business with. It gives your visitors more trust and removes any fear they may have before a purchase.

Even if you don’t want to answer calls and speak with your clients, we recommend registering a Skype number with a voicemail option. In this case your customers will have a possibility to see and call a real number and leave messages that you can get directly on your email.

1. Sign in to your Skype account. Select Skype Number in the Manage features section and click Get a Skype Number.



2. Select a country and location (city/state) this phone number will belong to. For example, if the majority of your clients are from US, then there is a sense to get a US number. Then choose one of the numbers available and make a purchase. The cost of a Skype Number subscription varies depending on which country you want the Skype Number for and how long the subscription lasts (3 or 12 months).

3. Go to Voice Messages in the Manage features section and Enable voice messaging. Activate email Alerts and set your email address to get voice message.



4. Finally go to Skype Preferences -> Calls. Set Incoming Calls to Send to voice message.



Here you can also setup voice messaging. You can record your own one or order a professional voice-over from Fiverr.

Here is a sample script you can use:

”Thank you for calling our webstore. No one is available to answer your call right now. Please leave your contact information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible”.

[peterheller]

(07-24-2016 05:06 PM)Yaros Wrote:  

(07-23-2016 08:10 AM)altanak3000 Wrote:  Hi Yaros what sort of Refund Policy do you recommend?

I recommend using exactly the same offered by AliExpress.

Yaros,

I am interested in the beta testing of the plugin. I have also bought your Aliplug. I think you should let your people who have actually bought your aliplugin to beta test it only, otherwise you'll going to just get tire kickers who want stuff for free.

I can provide my purchase number if needs be.

[Auntie]

Interested in beta testing with all your requirements met. Thanks.

I also have purchased your Aliplugin, if this changes anything.

[Yaros]

Finally, I have registered my own LLC (Limited Liability Company) in US to help me run my dropshipping business.

May be some information below will be useful for those who want to establish a company in US from overseas.

Why do I need it?

I think, running your dropshipping business under a US company has many advantages.

If you or your business are based not in US, you are limited with a choice of payment gateways you can use on your store. in my case I was not able to integrate Stripe, Authorize, PayU and other systems to start accepting credit cards on my sites. Actually there are many other solutions of course, but they all did not meet my needs. For example, in Russia I can easily connect local payment processors, but the problem is that according to Russian law you can show your clients only Rubbles on checkout page (not US Dollars or any other currency). So, this fact makes all these systems absolutely useless for me.

Another advantage is that you can choose any State for registration (no-sales-tax state or a state that suits your business better). And you don't need to present any documents, only information. You also don't need to be present in the U.S. to register a company. All filings can be done remotely, electronically.

Other important thing that as a foreigner you are not required to have Social Security Number to open your company and obtain EIN (company tax ID). You also don’t need to have a U.S. address or phone number, however if you like it’s possible to obtain them from specializing vendors.

How much does it cost?

I paid $634 for LLC and + $299 for U.S. Business and mailing address. It took around a month to complete everything.

What about opening US bank account?

After 9/11 and with the passing of the Patriot Act it became really hard for foreigners to open U.S. bank accounts. Only a trip to the US would present you with the best opportunity to open a bank account.

But in most cases what you need is not a bank account, but the functions provided by a traditional bank account. For this purpose you can use a reloadable prepaid debit card from companies like NetSpend, Payoneer, Payza. What you get is an internationally recognised debit card and an account number with routing and ABA numbers that you can connect to your 2checkout, Stripe, etc. accounts. As for me I successfully connected my Payoneer card to Stripe.

[badcoffee]

Review Copy: First Impressions: AliDropship WP Plugin and Theme by Yaros:
PS: This is the beta drop-shipping Aliexpress plugin, not the affiliate Aliexpress plugin by the same author, Yaros.

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In order to install the plugin, you need to have Zend Loader installed on your server. I had to PM my host, and they installed the Zend PHP loader within 6 hours.

I don't recommend trying to install this Zend loader on your own [I attempted a DIY, but soon got lost in all the techie stuff that was way over my head]...as it is complicated, and should be done by your host provider.

Believe me, just have the hosting company do this. Most hosting company's have primary Zend php already installed, but they don't usually have the "loader" part installed, which is necessary to run the plugin. HINT: Zend is used by programmers to "hide their source code" from inquisitive onlookers/persons.

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Once the plugin was up and running, you need to install the theme that is provided by Yaros [it's a DaVinci theme that Yaros has customized to work with the plugin], ...it is exactly what you need to make your site look like a real business.

It's a good theme, and incorporates what is necessary with the plugin to load and list your Aliexpress products in a way that is functional and pleasant to the eye. Sure, you have to tweak it to get it right, but that true with all themes that you want to customize to your own specifications, such as logo, colors etc.

On interesting thing...the Wordpress backend works with Google Chrome [not firefox or I.E. etc], as the plugin requires that you install a Chrome extension to facilitate the "import" function of the Aliexpress products into your site. Nothing wrong with this, as the plugin needs some method to communicate with Aliexpress to scrape products according to your specifications that you set up in your backend "products" import page...see just below.

You can scrape products from Aliexpress by category, keyword description, unit price $, feedback score 1 -5, purchase volume {how many sold in the last 30 days i.e. the larger number the better}. You can also just direct import products from Aliexpress without using any of the scraping functions.

Once the product is imported, it shows up on a page with all of the elements of the listing on Aliexpress, including a nice nested gallery photo layout, nested list of specifications etc. The photo's come with a nice set of banners that show off it's discounted price.

UPDATED:
REDACTED problem with old version: A new version was just released by Yaros 7.5.5.1. The plugin now imports from Aliexpress with near perfection. However, out of 50 test products imported, one is still showing some Russian text and Chinese images from the Aliexpress vendors listing {same product as before the update, so I am assuming this is a problem associated with just this single particular item as listed on Aliexpress}.

However, all of the other items imported seem to be formatted correctly in English with great images to support the post. So, if you're just importing a few items a day, then it is no problem to quickly review the listing to verify that they're showing the correct images.

However, if you're importing dozens or hundreds of items, then you will need to take some time to review and format the items to make sure they're ready for publishing on your website. This involves opening wordpress, and editing out the offending post to remove any bad images. Remember, you don't want any Chinese images showing on your your listings, as they can be inadvertently imported along with the product photo's. Thankfully, nearly all of the products being imported are just fine, and are ready as is to publish on your site. But, it never hurts to review and make sure all is well prior to publishing.


Otherwise...it just looks great...stunning !!

It really couldn't be easier to list products from Aliexpress on your own website, and then use your own profit markup, or use the plugins suggested built-in markups for making your profit over and above what the Aliexpress vendor is listing the product.

You could have an entire store populated with highly targeted, high profit margin, .... and highly desirable products in a matter of hours.

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You can also import product "reviews" from Aliexpress product page into your product page, according to your desired criteria, such as 5 stars, or 4 + stars etc. That is a nice touch.

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The plugin comes with all of the reporting {ORDERS} functions that need to evaluate your sales and profits.

Also, you can set your desired shipping methods.

You can also set up payment methods with PayPal, Stripe, PayU...

Also, discount codes can be incorporated into the check out process.

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So far, the plugin far exceeds my expectations. It is a clear winner. I would recommend the plugin to anyone who wants to set up their own store on their own hosting site. This method is much more desirable than using Shopify or other similar vendors, as with this plugin you have total control over all aspects of the sales process, and you're not limited by Shopify's regulations. Once your store is profitable, it can be sold, as you would own the property and the website.