Dropshipping vs Print on Demand – Complete Guide for 2025

You’ve probably heard the saying: “Price = Cost × 2.” Sounds nice, doesn’t it?But anyone who’s done dropshipping knows — if you really follow that, you’ll basically end up eating dirt. This article will walk you through, step by step: where your profits actually go, and how to calculate a realistic pricing strategy to avoid the nightmare of “the more you sell, the more you lose.” The Cost Components of Dropshipping  Don’t fool yourself into thinking the cost is just what you pay on 1688, AliExpress, or Temu. The real cost = product price + shipping + fees + marketing expenses + returns/customer service + taxes + your own salary/profit expectations. Let’s break it down: Cost Item Example Data (Selling One T-shirt) Product Cost ¥20 (AliExpress cost) International Shipping ¥15 (ePacket or Yanwen small package) Platform Fees ¥5 (e.g., PayPal + Shopify transaction fees) Marketing Cost ¥30 (Facebook ad spend) Returns/After-sales Allocation ¥3 (average 1 return per 10 orders) Other Expenses ¥2 (Shopify subscription, domain, customer service, etc.) Total Cost ¥75 Note: This doesn’t include your profit expectations yet. How to Calculate Your “Bottom-Line Price”   Many people set prices on a whim: “The product cost is ¥30, so I’ll sell it for ¥60. That should be enough to make a profit.” But in dropshipping, this kind of pricing is basically suicidal. Your costs are much more than just the product price — you have shipping, advertising, platform fees, after-sales costs, and more. If you don’t calculate these clearly, you might think you’re making money on a sale, but in reality, you’re losing. So let’s get clear on a crucial concept — the bottom-line price. What is the bottom-line price?The […]

When the product crosses the border, across thousands of mountains to reach the hands of customers, this time the customer is considered to be a real experience of your products. The cost of transportation, logistics, etc., is also a considerable expense in your operation. In the end, how to fine-tune your budget? It all depends on the distribution strategy you choose. Today, let’s talk about those things in cross-border e-commerce shipping. Including shipping steps, including shipping steps, methods of product packaging, commonly used carriers, ways to reduce shipping costs, order tracking and insurance and customs declaration considerations, as well as the various delivery methods covered by the shipping strategy, to help you deliver your products smoothly and create a perfect customer experience. How to Handle Cross-Border Shipping Step 1: Design Packaging Materials  Your product may experience a “roller coaster” of bumps during the journey, so the packaging materials must be selected to resist shock, pressure and moisture. Of course, the packaging should not neglect the appearance. Printed on the packaging of your brand Logo, corporate colors and slogans, which not only allows customers to brighten up, but also enhance the brand’s style. Selection of materials, the outer box should be based on the size and weight of the product, cardboard boxes, corrugated boxes or plastic boxes can be. As for the lining material, bubble wrap, foam pads, padding these are good choices, can be soft wrapped products. For the design process, first measure the size and weight of the product and find out those parts that are easy to hurt. Then, draw a sketch of the package design, consider the appearance, printing and the proportion of environmentally friendly materials used. […]

Why Is Stuff on Temu So Cheap? Sure, some products are cheap because the quality isn’t the best—but that’s not the whole story. There are a few key reasons behind the low prices: aggressive discounts, tax advantages, and even direct sourcing from factories by the platform itself. But don’t get it twisted—Temu isn’t the only place to find affordable products. And cheap doesn’t always mean bad. Tools like Dropship.IO can help you discover budget-friendly products with solid quality. Right now, you can even try it for free for 7 days—perfect for finding your next best-seller if you’re running a dropshipping store! So, why is Temu so cheap? It comes down to three main reasons: ● Some of the products really are lower quality● The platform uses loss-leader pricing to drive traffic● It’s a highly digitized operation, which cuts out a lot of middle costs By the way—Temu itself isn’t a seller. It’s a marketplace, and the actual products come from third-party merchants. In this article, we’ll break down exactly why Temu’s products are so cheap—and cover a few big questions: ● Is Temu a good option for dropshipping?● How do you connect Temu to Shopify?● What are the risks of using Temu for dropshipping? Why Are Temu Products So Cheap? Direct Sourcing from Factories One major reason Temu can offer such low prices is because it sources directly from suppliers and factories—cutting out all the middlemen who would normally mark up the prices.Think of it like skipping the wholesale market and going straight to the assembly line—you’re bound to get better deals. Compared to that, while many sellers on AliExpress are manufacturers themselves, they still tend to price things closer […]