Your Supplier: CJDropshipping → Private Suppliers
There is one supplier for beginners: CJDropshipping. Use it until you hit 5–10 consistent orders per day. At that point you unlock something significantly better, private suppliers that are best-in-industry. Here's the exact path.
This is one of the most common time-wasting mistakes beginners make: hunting for a "better" supplier before they have consistent orders. It is redundant and futile. There are no meaningfully better options than CJ until you're doing 5–10 orders per day consistently. Any time spent supplier-hunting before that threshold is time stolen from testing, creative production, and learning.
A lot of beginners, and some do this before they've even made a sale, try to reach out to private suppliers or agents right from the start. Here's what they don't know: private suppliers hate working with people who are just testing products. They'll give you a quote, sure. But they will not give you good prices. Their best pricing is reserved for operators doing consistent volume, not testers. Anyone telling you otherwise is lying to you. The moment you show up without volume, you get their worst rates dressed up as a favour. Wait until you have the orders. Then the conversation changes entirely.
Stage 1 (0 → 5–10 orders/day): CJDropshipping. Fully integrated with Shopify, handles fulfillment automatically, no minimum orders. This is your entire supplier strategy until you hit consistent volume.
Stage 2 (5–10+ orders/day consistently): Private suppliers I've vetted, best-in-industry pricing, faster shipping, better quality control, and packaging options. I have three of them. You get access when you hit the threshold. Not before.
This is the shortest phase in the course. CJDropshipping. That's it. Don't complicate this. The upgrade to private suppliers happens automatically when you hit volume, there's nothing to research here yet.
How to Use CJDropshipping. The Complete Setup
Go to cjdropshipping.com. Search your product name or category. CJ is reliable for beginners, it's the best of the worst, and it works. Find your product, check the photos are close enough to what you'll advertise, and move on.
Your target: sell for at least 3–4× your total landed cost (product + shipping). If CJ charges $12 for the product and $4–5 for shipping = $16–17 landed cost, you need to sell for $48–68 minimum. Use the Break-Even ROAS calculator in Module 05 to confirm the economics work before you commit to this supplier.
CJ offers multiple shipping methods. Look for options that deliver to your target country in under 14 days (7–10 days is better). Anything over 14 days will generate customer complaints and chargebacks. Check: CJPacket Sensitive Line for US (7–12 days), CJPacket UK (7–12 days), ePacket for other markets. Always confirm the realistic shipping time, not the optimistic estimate.
Before running any ads, order one unit of your product. This costs you $15–40 but prevents a catastrophic quality problem at scale. Check: does the product match the advertised photos? Does packaging look acceptable? Is the quality good enough that customers won't immediately return it? Many products look great on supplier photos and arrive as cheap junk. Find out before your customers do.
Install the CJDropshipping app from the Shopify App Store. Connect your CJ account. Import your chosen product. Set your selling price. When a customer orders, CJ automatically receives the order and ships directly to your customer. You pay CJ per order, no subscription, no minimum. This is the entire fulfillment workflow for your testing phase.
Find your product on CJDropshipping right now
- Go to cjdropshipping.com and search your validated product
- Check: shipping time under 14 days to your target market
- Record the landed cost (product + shipping) and verify your 3–4× markup math
- Order a sample if the product has any quality sensitivity. Do it now, not after launch.
Red Flags on CJ. Avoid These
- Shipping over 14 days, unacceptable customer experience for testing
- Product photos don't match actual product, order a sample to find out before your customers do
- Product available for $4 on Temu, customers will find it
Supplier Costs. Realistic Numbers
| Item | Typical Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Product (CJDropshipping) | $8–$20 | Varies widely by product category |
| Shipping (CJPacket to US) | $3–$7 | 7–12 day delivery |
| Shopify transaction fee | 1.5–2% | Included in Shopify Payments |
| Sample order | $15–$40 | One-time cost before you launch |
| Your target selling price | 3–4× landed cost | Minimum for viable margins with ad spend |
When you reach 5–10 consistent orders per day, you unlock access to private supplier contacts with better pricing, faster shipping, and proper QC capability. This is the supply chain upgrade that transforms your margins.
How to access: Join the Discord and raise a support ticket when you hit the threshold. You'll be connected directly. Join Discord →
