5 top UK dropshipping suppliers for small businesses

1. DSers

DSers lets you alter the size, cost, and price of an item with just two clicks / Image source: dsers.com

• Best for: dropshippers who sell through Shopify
• Pricing range: $19.90 – $499 (around £15.80 – £397) per month, billed annually
• Ships to: Brazil, Chile, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, France, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Canada, Italy

DSers is a highly-rated dropshipping tool with access to over 150,000 merchants. It’s available across several market-leading ecommerce platforms, such as Wix. However, it works best with Shopify and has been since the app’s previous winner, Oberlo shut down in 2022.

Once it’s added to your Shopify store, you can use it to import products, edit listings, and then place orders individually or in bulk. After you record a sale, the product is purchased from the supplier and shipped directly to your customer. The product is purchased from the supplier and shipped directly to your customer. Shopify also has branded invoice and shipping label templates for that added professional touch.

I think DSers’ top feature is the DSers supplier optimiser, which allows you to find cheaper and better suppliers that sell the same products as your current partners to save money easily.

Less positively, users have reported occasional processing delays. That said, DSers’ helpdesk is available 24/7 via live chat. All DSers plans also have automated order status updates to keep sellers updated and prepared for delay complaints.

♪ DSers is also ahead of the game when it comes to sourcing stock. If you use TikTok for dropshipping, DSers last year released an update to its ‘Product Research‘ feature which allows users to investigate product videos that go viral on TikTok for inventory ideas.

2. Modalyst

Modalyst makes creating your own pricing rules simple for Wix users – Image source: support.wix.com

• Best for: fashion dropshippers who sell on Wix
• Pricing range: $35 (£27.84) to $90 (£71.60) per month (billed annually)
• Ships to: US, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, China, Mexico

Modalyst is owned by Wix, our top-rated small business website builder, and it is super easy to use the app to drop items into your Wix eCommerce store. Its speciality is women’s fashion and apparel, and it boasts partnerships with thousands of independent clothing brands.

Modalyst stands out for its pricing features. Sellers are able to automatically mark-up items, with no limit on changing prices (whereas DSers Advanced only lets you do this 10 times per month). It also boasts a profit calculator which I expect dropshippers will find helpful to calculate profit margins, a lengthy process which can feel stressful if you’re running your business part-time.

During a recent interview, Modalyst’s CEO also spoke about supplier reputation as something Modalyst obviously cares deeply about. It regularly monitors supplier response rates during vetting and expects suppliers to respond to merchants about any order issues within one business day.

Unfortunately, you’ll only be able to access the company’s entire network of suppliers on its business tier, Modalyst Pro. Dropshippers that sign up to Modalyst’s lower-priced tier, Modalyst Start Up, must shop almost exclusively at the AliBaba marketplace, meaning orders may take up to four weeks to ship.

Compared to DSers Advanced, which costs around £9 less per month and permits 20,000 products, Modalyst Start Up also allows just 250 products to be added to your shop at a time, which automatically rules it out for those who are planning bigger dropshipping operations.

How much does it cost?

Modalyst has two paid-for tiers, called Modalyst Start Up and Modalyst Pro.

• Start Up – $35 (£27)/month, paid annually
• Pro – $90 (£71.60)/month, paid annually

I would recommend Modalyst Start Up to very small businesses and side hustlers. Its small product limit means it is just not an option for larger ventures. Serious dropshippers must upgrade to Modalyst Pro, which permits an unlimited number of products and allows access to the entire supplier directory.

Modalyst also charges a transaction fee of either 5%, 2%, or 1%, on dropshipping sales based on your plan type. That means the more you spend on a payment plan for Modalyst, the higher your profits can be.

3. AliExpress

The AliExpress seller summary dashboard gives sellers a quick breakdown of customer feedback / Image source: shopify.com

• Best for: agile dropshippers wanting to source trending products
• Pricing range: 5-10% commission fee
• Ships to: 220 countries including South Korea, Russia, Brazil, Malaysia, Belarus, Israel, EU countries, US, Canada, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India

Operated by the global online marketplace, Alibaba, AliExpress offers over 100 million products and takes care of virtually everything you need to run a successful dropshipping site. It handles all of your shipping and tracking needs, and gives you access to millions of products to help you build an impressive product line for your consumers.

That level of insight is great for dropshippers of all levels because it lets you find trending products, do market research, build relationships with vendors, and order wholesale. AliExpress integrates directly with DSers and BigCommerce, and is available as an app for Shopify, allowing you to add its products directly to your online shop. You can then use the DSers app to automate order processing.

I’d recommend AliExpress if you’re not 100% sure what kind of dropshipping store you want to set up yet. Many sellers flip flop between different product categories when starting out, and AliExpress lets hands-on sellers experiment and form your brand by giving you access to the world’s largest inventory.

The downside is that nearly all of the products available ship from China. This means you may need to justify lengthy shipping times of around 15-45 business days to customers. If time is of the essence, we’d recommend going for a domestic dropshipping supplier instead.

How much does it cost?

Retailers don’t pay a monthly subscription fee to sell from AliExpress. Instead, it takes a 5-10% commission fee per sale, depending on your product list.

4. Avasam

Avasam’s clean back-end makes it easy to manage inventory, whether you’re selling lamps or telephones / Image credit: avasam.com

• Best for: seasonal businesses that need to focus on inventory management
• Pricing range: from $30 (£23.87) to $246 (£195.69), per month, billed annually
• Countries shipped to: only within the UK

With over 100 suppliers within the UK, Avasam offers a diverse catalogue boasting a staggering 200,000 products across 18 categories (although, like Modalyst, its cheapest plan only permits you to list 250 at a time).

Probably Avasam’s best feature is its ability to automate inventory synchronisation, which prevents you from selling products you don’t have and lets you keep a close eye on what is and isn’t selling for smart sales forecasting. Similarly, customers also get stock level updates for full buying transparency.

Because of this niche specialism, I recommend Avasam to dropshippers that want to sell seasonal items (e.g., holiday decorations or summer clothing). Thanks to Avasam’s stock management tools, you can scale up or down easily without the burden of excess inventory or the risk of disappointing customers.

Last April, Avasan also announced a new integration with BigCommerce, meaning it is now partnered with three major ecommerce website builders: BigCommerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

Less positively, Avasam does not accept PayPal, although it plans to in the future. It’s also worth noting that, since it only hosts UK suppliers, Avasam products will likely cost more to list in comparison to markets like the US or China.

How much does it cost?

Avasam offers four different paid-for plans:

• Starter: £24.99 (+VAT) per month, billed monthly. 25 products limit
• Advanced: £49.99 (+VAT) per month, billed annually. 250 product limit
• Business: £99.99 (+VAT) per month, billed annually. 10,000 product limit
• Guru: £199.99 (+VAT) per month, billed annually. 50,000 product limit

If you don’t want to commit to such a costly subscription, you can first try Avasam Free, which lets you explore the Avasam supplier network for free to get a taster of what’s available.

5. SaleHoo

You can search for any supplier in the famous SaleHoo Directory on the platform’s dropshipping app / Image credit: Salehoo.com

• Best for: gaining access to large seller network and international markets
• Pricing range: $27-$97 (around £22-£78)
• Ships to: US, UK, Australia, New Zealand

SaleHoo Dropship integrates with your ecommerce site to import products to your Shopify store, similar to Modalyst and DSers. But SaleHoo’s USP is the SaleHoo Directory. Paid via a one-off payment on top of your subscription, it allows sellers to access over 8,000 international and, crucially, vetted wholesalers.

You can choose to pay £53.30 annually, or a one-off payment of £101.03 to give you lifetime access. The latter is better value for money, but it’s worth trying out the directory to see if it suits you before committing long-term. Handily, there is a 60-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind within eight weeks.

This gives SaleHoo the edge over Avasam because it doesn’t restrict you to certified UK-based suppliers. It should also give you a level of confidence for the future. If you have ambitious aims to grow your business, you’ll be able to diversify your supply chain and expand your product offering in future.

Of course, there are downsides. SaleHoo doesn’t give you the option to check available stock before joining. Moreover, reviews report that many wholesalers listed on SaleHoo require a minimum order or charge a large amount for shipping, which could impact profit margins.

How much does SaleHoo Dropship cost?

There are two pricing plans available for SaleHoo Dropship:

• Basic – $27 (around £22) per month, billed monthly
• Premium – $97 (around £78) per month, billed monthly

The biggest difference between the two comes down to product allowance. The Basic plan allows you to import 500 high-profit AliExpress products, whereas the Premium plan permits an unlimited number. You’re also allowed three accounts with Premium, versus one with Basic.