What rating should an AliExpress seller have?

Look for a high rating backed by a large number of orders and a store that has been open for some time. The number of orders behind a rating matters more than a tenth of a star.

Does AliExpress have US and UK warehouses?

Many sellers hold stock in local warehouses. The “Ships from” option on a product page shows which countries it can be sent from, each with its own price, stock and delivery time.

Should I contact the supplier before selling their product?

It helps for products you expect to sell regularly. Ask about dispatch time and whether they can leave invoices and promotional leaflets out of the parcel.

What if my supplier runs out of stock?

Set your eBay quantity to zero immediately, then move the listing to an alternative seller of the same product if you have one. Do not leave it live in the hope the stock returns.

Guides 6 min readUpdated 10 October 2026

Choosing an AliExpress supplier you can rely on

In short

Judge an AliExpress seller on five things: a store rating and product rating from many orders, a warehouse in or near your buyer’s country, a delivery estimate you can put on an eBay listing, enough stock in every variation, and a record of resolving disputes. The same product is usually sold by several sellers, so compare them rather than taking the first.

On eBay your supplier is invisible and you are responsible for everything they do. A late parcel is your late shipment; an empty variation is your cancelled order.

So the supplier is chosen as carefully as the product. These are the checks, in order of how much they save you.

The five checks

Check	Look for	Why
Ratings	A high product rating from hundreds of orders, and a store open for years	A rating from ten orders tells you nothing
Ships from	A warehouse in your buyer’s country where there is one	Days instead of weeks, and no customs
Delivery estimate	A range you could state on your listing and beat	It sets your eBay delivery promise
Stock	Depth in every size and colour, not just in total	One empty variation cancels a sale
Disputes	Recent reviews that mention refunds and replies	It is how your own claims will go

The same product, several sellers

Most products on AliExpress are listed by more than one store, with the same photos. Prices differ a little; delivery and reliability differ a lot.

Search by the product’s photo to find them all, and compare the total: price plus delivery to your buyer’s country, from the nearest warehouse, with the best rating.

Local warehouses change the business

A product sent from a warehouse in the United States, the UK or the EU arrives in days, usually carries a tracking number from a local carrier that eBay follows, and has no customs charge for the buyer.

It costs more per item and stock is thinner. For anything where delivery time decides whether the buyer complains, it is usually worth it.

Read the stock, not the headline

A listing can show thousands available while the size you sell most has three. Check each variation’s own quantity, and treat a very large round number as a seller who has not counted.

Stock that keeps appearing and disappearing is a seller buying from someone else. Their delivery estimate is not theirs to keep.

Keep a second source

Save an alternative seller for each product that sells well
Watch both for a few weeks: price changes and stock-outs show who is steady
Switch the source rather than end a listing with sales history when a seller fails

Questions

What rating should an AliExpress seller have?: Look for a high rating backed by a large number of orders and a store that has been open for some time. The number of orders behind a rating matters more than a tenth of a star.
Does AliExpress have US and UK warehouses?: Many sellers hold stock in local warehouses. The “Ships from” option on a product page shows which countries it can be sent from, each with its own price, stock and delivery time.
Should I contact the supplier before selling their product?: It helps for products you expect to sell regularly. Ask about dispatch time and whether they can leave invoices and promotional leaflets out of the parcel.
What if my supplier runs out of stock?: Set your eBay quantity to zero immediately, then move the listing to an alternative seller of the same product if you have one. Do not leave it live in the hope the stock returns.