AliExpress Dropshipping Spreadsheet: Work Out the Real Margin Before You List a Product

What do the two example rows show?

The file opens with two example rows, calculated by the same formulas you'll use:

eBay fees are its published US rates for most categories. The own-shop row uses an illustrative 2.9% + $0.30 payment fee. Item costs and prices are examples, not quotes.

The eBay row is the same example worked through on our eBay page. The second row is a tee bought through an agent and sold in your own web shop: lower platform fees, but you pay the card processor and your own postage, leaving $7.50. Change any input and profit, margin and break-even update at once.

Verdict: Look at the break-even column first. If your realistic selling price isn't comfortably above it, the product isn't worth listing.

The columns, explained

What each column means:

Three ways to run a small store on Chinese stock

There are three ways to run a small store on Chinese stock, and the sheet works for all of them:

• AliExpress direct to customer. You list, the AliExpress seller ships to your buyer. No stock, but delivery takes one to three weeks and you don't see the item.
• Buy stock, ship yourself. You buy a few units from AliExpress or 1688 (through an agent), ship from home, and control speed and quality. Needs a little capital.
• An agent or supplier ships for you. Items are bought and checked in China, then sent to each customer. Photos before dispatch, no stock at home.

For creators and small shop owners, the third model is the one we offer: send us your customers' orders and we post them straight to them, with your prices and your customers. The homepage has the details, and you can ask on WhatsApp.

Two rules that keep the numbers honest

Two rules keep a dropshipping sheet honest. First, sell only what you have the right to sell — unbranded goods or your own label. Marketplaces remove listings that use other brands' trademarks, and AliExpress itself was fined €550 million by the European Commission in July 2026 over illegal and unsafe products, so sources for branded-looking goods disappear quickly. Second, include import charges: since August 2025 US parcels can owe duty, and since July 2026 EU parcels under €150 owe €3 per item category plus VAT. The duty calculator fills that column.

For sourcing costs, the 1688 page shows unit costs falling to around half the AliExpress price from twenty units; put both in the sheet as separate rows and compare.