Can I Use AliExpress Photos for Dropshipping?

One of the biggest problems you have is that while AliExpress photos are often taken to a high standard, they’re not unique to your brand. Customers who are often searching between three and five websites for products will recognize which brands are using the same photos. Then they will know which brands aren’t putting in the effort to stock the product.

This can mean that you could technically lose out on a sale.

Another problem is that the images can sometimes be high-quality but not relevant to your audience. Sometimes a product in a situation where it might be used can be a good selling point. For instance, toy stores will often have pictures of their products being played with by children. Why? Because it gives a sense of how much enjoyment and how a product can be used.

Finally, you can also make your website’s images more SEO friendly if you have taken them yourself. A lot of SEO is based on the metadata that is hidden within a photo. So if you have a photo from AliExpress, it probably won’t have the SEO keywords you want to be inserted into the file name.

These can be changed, but it is easier for you to create your own and get them started.

None of this suggests that you shouldn’t use AliExpress. When starting your dropshipping website, using photos can be a good way to get started quickly. However, it might just be a good idea to start thinking of how you’re going to edit your photos and create unique options in the future.

Over time, as your business becomes bigger, you might want to consider replacing older photos from AliExpress with new photos from you. But this is something that could be personal to you. And it does depend on how often you switch out the products on your store.