Dropshipping is the fulfillment model for nearly one-third of all online stores.
Dropshipping is a popular way to make money online, without the need to buy, store, or manage the products.
Here’s how dropshipping works.
- Your customer makes a purchase at your store
- Send the purchase to your supplier
- The supplier fulfils your order and sends it to you
- The money is yours to keep
You will, however, be increasing the price to make a profit.
Dropshipping is now much simpler thanks to platforms like Shopmaster and Oberlo.
These platforms can be used to search for dropshippers and products to add to your store.
This article will compare Oberlo and Shopmaster, so that you can make an educated decision on which one is best.
Let’s discuss each aspect individually.
Product/Supplier Selection
Each directory has its suppliers.
Shopmaster
Shopmaster has over 30 suppliers listed in their directory. These suppliers include but aren’t limited to:
- Alibaba
- AliExpress
- 1688
- Amazon
- eBay
- Walmart
- GearBest
- CJDropshipping
- Tmart
Shopmaster relies on large platforms like Amazon to source their products, as you can see. Any product from any of these platforms can be used and added to your website.
Oberlo
Oberlo does not appear to have a list if the suppliers they work with. However, the Oberlo search function was unable to locate products from AliExpress.
Shopmaster is the winner. Oberlo gives you access only to AliExpress products. Shopmaster allows you to purchase products from other platforms.
Find Profitable Products
How do you sort through thousands of products to find the ones that are more profitable? Shopmaster and Oberlo both offer advanced search options that can be used to narrow down your search.
Shopmaster
Shopmaster allows you to use different criteria for filtering through products. You can search for new arrivals and products that ship free of charge, as well as different brands.
You can sort products based on where they are shipped from and their price. You can also view various product categories.
Oberlo
Oberlo lets you sort and filter by price, category, order count, seller rating and many other criteria. You can also search for products that are available to be shipped to countries other than the United States if you’re not there.
This is where Shopmaster and Oberlo have a lot in common. Both allow you to use filters to filter through thousands of products to find the best for you.
Integrations – Connecting Your Store
How do you link your store to both platforms so that you can sell? What other integrations are possible?
Shopmaster
Shopmaster is integrated with many eCommerce platforms, allowing for easy imports of products.
These products can also be integrated with five other eCommerce softwares and online platforms to sell:
- eBay
- Wish
- 3DCart
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
Shopmaster products can be sold online, so you don’t have to own a store.
If you want to sell at multiple stores, you can connect all five platforms.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t sell via any other platform. These platforms offer advanced APIs and integrations that allow you to automate sales.
If you sell on another platform, however, you can still manually fulfill orders in your Shopmaster dashboard. This just means that you will have to do more work.
Shopmaster integrates with four “service partners”, including:
- Trackdog
- Nichescraper
- CrazyLister
- 3DSellers
These service partners can help you identify profitable products to market, track your orders and gain in-depth insight.
Oberlo
Oberlo is only compatible with Shopify. Oberlo can only be integrated with Shopify using an app from the Shopify app store
Oberlo can be set up with Shopify to allow you to display your products on other platforms such as Facebook and Messenger.
The internet is full of confusion about Oberlo ebay. Many people ask me about Oberlo on ebay. Let’s see what Oberlo has got to say about this. To learn more, read this Oberlo article.
Shopmaster wins again. Oberlo makes it difficult to shopify, while Shopmaster offers more options.
Importing Products
Once your store is connected, it’s now time to import products. These are the options and features available for import on both platforms.
Shopmaster
Shopmaster products can be imported to your shop in just one click. You can choose multiple products to import to your shop at once.
After you import a product, it is possible to customize it so that your listing does not match the listing on the supplier website. This would make it difficult to rank high in SEO because it would contain duplicate content.
You can modify the title, description, and images.
You should change the price of a product when you import it. This will allow you to make a profit. This doesn’t need to be done manually. Shopmaster allows you to set dynamic pricing rules that automatically add margins to the products you import.
You can, for example, add 20% to each product.
Advanced import features include importing products after they have been restocked, Amazon Gift and Amazon Prime product importing, as well as other advanced features.
Variation mapping allows you to connect multiple sources into one listing. You can combine multiple product variants or products into one listing.
If you are unhappy with delivery times or services, you can change suppliers to the same listing at any time.
Customers won’t be able to tell that dropshipping is being used by you if you mark shipping options “Other”. For example, if you mark it “AliExpress Standard Shipping”, customers will be able to see from which location you’re shipping your products.
Shopify allows you to automatically assign products to Shopify collections, which can help increase sales.
You can use premade templates for eBay and eBay business policies. You can also create size charts and schedule eBay listings for publication at certain times.
Oberlo
Oberlo makes it easy to import products, but it’s not as simple.
First, add products from your search dashboard to your importlist. This can be done from the right-hand menu of your Oberlo interface.
You can choose to import the entire product or just certain variations. In the description editing area, you can also add a description.
AliExpress will pre-load a variety of images that you can choose from.
After you’ve made your selections, click the import button to add the information to the store.
After you import the product, you can edit its details. However, this will need to be done through your Shopify admin panel.
Variant mapping can also be used – you can combine product variants from different suppliers to create one listing. You can also split multiple product variants of one seller into several listings.
To change your supplier, you can also override the product.
The plan you subscribe to will determine your Oberlo product import limits.
Who wins? Shopmaster again, because the import process is simpler. Not only AliExpress can you import, but also multiple platforms and multiple stores.
Editing and managing your store
After you have imported your products, you can edit and manage your store. This is how it works.
Shopmaster
Shopmaster allows you to add, edit, delete, or publish new listings at any time. You can bulk edit up 300 listings at once!
This is helpful if you are looking to add or raise a brand name to descriptions or titles.
You can use the built-in image editor to resize images and remove watermarks. Your Shopmaster plan includes 10GB free image hosting.
Shopmaster allows you to add staff members to your store. You can also outsource store management to your staff.
You can give access rights to each member of your team and view their activity history in the logs.
Oberlo
Your Shopify dashboard can do a lot of the management for your store. You can manage certain things in your Oberlo dashboard, such as your Oberlo settings.
You can also set pricing rules within your dashboard. You can create advanced rules to adjust the price margin depending on the initial product price.
You can, for example, set it up so that products costing less than $10 have a margin 1.5X and products costing more than $50 have a margin 1.2X.
To make your final price look like $XX.99 you can add a cent value. You can also manage shipping settings, reporting settings, and downloads for GDPR reports from your Oberlo dashboard.
Who wins? Shopmaster seems to offer more flexibility and options when it comes to the things that can be done with their dashboard.
Automated Syncing and Order Fulfillment
What happens if a product is out of stock? You don’t want your supplier to stop fulfilling your orders.
Shopmaster
Shopmaster automatically syncs all your products. Based on the pricing rules that you have set up, any changes in the selling price of a supplier will affect the price at your store.
The product monitoring tool tracks any supplier updates, including inventory availability. It then updates your store accordingly. This tool is not available for all Shopmaster’s suppliers.
Let’s get on with order fulfillment. Shopmaster allows you to fulfill orders directly from your supplier in just a few clicks.
Bulk order fulfillment can help you save time as you can fulfil up to 300 orders simultaneously. After an order has been fulfilled, you can track the shipment automatically and upload tracking codes into your Shopmaster account. You can also email customized tracking URLs directly to customers.
You can edit the quantity manually when fulfilling orders. You can send a purchase note to suppliers if a customer has added it.
You can correct spelling errors in shipping addresses and hide the phone numbers of your customers from suppliers to protect their information.
For different suppliers, you can choose from different default shipping options.
Oberlo
Oberlo works only with AliExpress and Shopify, as mentioned previously. To place an order for customers, AliExpress will automatically add their address and information to the AliExpress checkout page.
You’ll need the Oberlo extension installed. More information will follow.
Selecting the “Place X AliExpress Orders” option allows you to process multiple orders at once. Oberlo will automatically complete your cart with all the required information.
Which side wins? Both sides are fairly equal, since the order fulfillment process works in a similar way.
Chrome Extension
Shopmaster and AliExpress both have Chrome extensions.
Shopmaster
The Shopmaster Chrome extension allows you to import products from AliExpress while browsing. You can import one or all of the pages; you can also select certain products to be removed, such as if they do not have the ePacket shipping option.
You can also automatically fulfil orders by prefilling checkout carts at sites like Amazon.
Oberlo
Oberlo’s Chrome extension looks very similar to Shopmaster. It allows you to do three things:
- AliExpress allows you to import products
- Additional shipping information is required when you browse AliExpress
- AliExpress allows customers to place orders.
Which one wins? Both have the Chrome extension.
Pricing
What is the cost to start a dropshipping company with Shopmaster or Oberlo
Shopmaster Pricing
Shopmaster pricing offers four plans
- Starter – Free: This plan allows you to connect up two channels (Wish.Ebay.Shopify. etc) with only one store per channel. There are only 800 active listings, but unlimited orders can be placed. You have limited reporting and tracking options, but you can only have 800 active listings. There is also no bulk order fulfillment option.
- Basic – $19.90/month – The basic plan allows you to connect two channels and three stores per channel. You can create up to three staff accounts and have access to all features.
- Business – $39.90/month – You can connect up to four channels and eight stores per channel. You can create eight staff accounts, and you have 18,000 active listings.
- Enterprise: $79.90/month: Connect five channels and 25 stores to each channel. You can create 25 staff accounts, and you can have unlimited active listings.
You can upgrade or downgrade at any moment.
Oberlo pricing
Oberlo pricing offers three plans
- Starter – Free: You can have 500 products with the free plan. The free plan does not include features such as variant mapping, bulk fulfillment, real time tracking, order fulfillment monitoring, or order fulfillment monitoring.
- Basic – $29.90/month – You can access all features and have up to 10,000 products
- Pro – $79.90/month – You can have as many listings as you like and access all the features. Plus, you can add staff accounts.
Shopmaster is the winner for several reasons. Shopmaster has more plan options which gives you more options for your budget and business.
You also get more for your money with their plans (e.g., Oberlo’s 800 products are now available to you, while the $79.90 plan allows unlimited listing).
Oberlo vs Shopmaster: Which Should You Choose?
This was the Shopmaster vs Oberlo Comparison.
Oberlo is a popular brand, but this article shows that Shopmaster is more popular in many aspects.
You have more suppliers, which makes it easier to offer unique products at competitive prices. Also, you can sell through more channels.
Overall, Shopmaster offers better value for money. Shopmaster is always free to use and you don’t need to upgrade to a more expensive plan unless your income is sufficient and your budget allows.
Shopmaster is a solid and easy way to make money online by starting a dropshipping business.
