Last updated: 24th January 2018

This Salehoo review will cover what Salehoo is, what you get as a member, how useful it is, compare it to some other similar products - like Worldwide Brands and Doba - and then conclude with the best place to find reliable and low cost drop shippers and wholesalers.

Just some background first though - for several years I’ve been earning money online, and one of the businesses I've been successful with is trading on sites like eBay and Amazon, as well as my own e-commerce store - so I know how challenging it can be working with suppliers, and finding low priced products to re-sell.

Salehoo is a directory of over 8,000 (as of 2018) wholesalers, drop shippers and manufacturers from around the world. The Salehoo website says that there are currently over 1.6 million products available from these suppliers.

Salehoo is based in New Zealand and was founded in 2005. Most of the suppliers you'll find listed in the Salehoo database are from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, China and the United States.

In Salehoo's members area you can search for suppliers and their products (you can search by name, category, etc.). Contact details for each supplier are available, so you can get in touch with them directly and start buying their products at wholesale prices.

Salehoo has good coverage of product categories - ranging from video games to garden equipment. There are about 70 categories of products listed in total.

A lot of the people who join Salehoo are eBay or Amazon sellers, or those with relatively new e-commerce stores - and they are looking for cheap and reliable suppliers.

Unreliable or scam suppliers are a big problem when searching for wholesalers/drop-shippers online and all of the main suppliers directories (including Salehoo and Worldwide Brands) perform some sort of check to try to protect their members from these.

Salehoo's method is to screen new suppliers before adding them to their directory. There are also reviews/ratings for each supplier (like eBay) on Salehoo.

Salehoo membership costs $67 a year. This is for the basic membership that includes access to the directory and a few free extras (including forum access, tutorials and their 'market research labs' tool).

If you sign up to Salehoo they will suggest some premium add-ons as well - and these will cost extra. Last time I checked, the 'Online Store Builder' costs at least $27 per month, and Salehoo's 'Online Selling Tactics' costs an extra $247.

These premium extras can be useful, but they are optional - many people just join the Salehoo directory, which is the core of the product.

Although Salehoo don't guarantee that the prices in their directory are the lowest you will find, they do have a lot of suppliers so you would expect to be able to find what you're looking for at a reasonable trade price.

Salehoo does have a good reputation and many people buy at low enough prices to make a profit selling online or in stores.

There is a problem though and it is the same for many directories and suppliers not just Salehoo: not all of the items listed are cheap enough to sell profitably on eBay. In some cases, I've heard of goods selling for less on eBay than through a wholesaler.

If you are looking for a source of products where you can find low enough prices to buy and sell (or drop ship directly) on eBay or Amazon there are three key things to look for:

1. The number of products the directory lists - the more the better as the extra competition will drive down prices

2. The reliability of suppliers - go for a directory like Salehoo or Worldwide Brands where suppliers are checked before being added to the directory.

3. Look for a directory that actively works with sites like eBay.  When you know that others are able to buy cheap enough to sell on eBay, then you should be able to as well.

Salehoo has a large number of suppliers and products, and all of them are screened for reliability before being added to the Salehoo supplier list, which is good.

However, there is another directory that has 10 times the number of products that Salehoo has, with all their wholesalers and drop-shippers guaranteed to be reliable, and is fully certified by eBay.  I'm going to talk about it in more detail later in this review, but that directory is called Worldwide Brands.

Salehoo is good, but it's not the only directory of wholesalers and drop shippers. Arguably the leading directory in the USA is WorldWide Brands, which was founded in Florida in 1999 and is still based there today.

Both Salehoo and Worldwide Brands have more than 8,000 wholesalers and dropshippers in their directories.

However, the first key advantage Worldwide Brands has over any other directory is this: WWB has over 16 million products that you can search through (by brand name, product keyword, category, location, etc.) in their database, while Salehoo has only 1.6 million, as of 2017.

WWB was founded my Chris Malta, who is a successful eBay seller and has even written a book about making money on eBay. The company still has close links with the online marketplace, being the only directory to be certified by eBay.

I've heard of some people joining a lower cost directory (not Salehoo or WWB, a different directory) and finding it impossible to make a profit selling on competitive sites like Amazon and eBay.

This is an issue that you may encounter with any directory if you plan to sell on eBay (or similar sites), but it's worth noting at this point that Worldwide Brands are the only dropshipping/wholesaling directory that was founded by an eBay powerseller and is fully certified by eBay.

The only disadvantage that Worldwide Brands has is that it costs more to join.

Membership to Worldwide Brands usually costs $299 (this is for lifetime membership, so works out to be the cheapest in the long term), but as with many things you get what you pay for - the additional directory fees could be offset by the saving on a just few items sold.

But if you are interested in joining Worldwide Brands, I have a link to a $30 discount offer here.

Doba is another alternative to Salehoo, but is quite different. Doba is not a directory and does not do wholesale - it's just a drop shipping service and costs $59 a month, making it by far the most expensive option. It's quite easy to use though, but as you deal directly with Doba rather than individual suppliers there's potentially less choice.

I've already mentioned Worldwide Brands, but I want to go into more detail about this alternative to Salehoo.

Worldwide Brands is probably the largest directory of drop shippers and wholesalers in the world. As I said earlier, they have 10 times the number of products that Salehoo claims to list.

Here's a video preview of WWB:

 As they are based in Florida their focus has been on US suppliers, which is useful if you are setting up a business there.

In addition to the huge database of suppliers, Worldwide Brands comes with access to the members forums and market research tools - very much like Sale Hoo.

There are two key differences between Salehoo and Worldwide brands though:

1. Worldwide Brands is the only directory that's fully certified by eBay

2. Salehoo lists about 1.6 million products and Worldwide Brands has over 16 million that you can search through on their site

These are both important points if you want to find reliable and low priced dropshippers or wholesalers to set up shop on eBay or elsewhere.

Click here for more information about Worldwide Brands on their official site

I would certainly recommend joining a directory of suppliers, rather than trying to find them on Google. There are two good reasons for joining a supplier directory:

1. You can log into the directory and search for a product name and suppliers will come up immediately. It's that easy to find a product on sites like Salehoo and Worldwide Brands and both have millions of products from thousands of suppliers to search through.

2. There is no risk of being scammed with a directory. It's easy to find a 'scam' supplier on Google but much harder to find reputable and reliable suppliers - and you often don't know if they are reliable until you've spent some money with them.

A supplier that takes the money and never delivers, or sends a counterfeit product, will harm the reputation of your new eBay account or online store.

One of the key advantages that directories like Salehoo, or Worldwide Brands, have is that they check new suppliers before adding them to their lists.

Worldwide Brands are so confident of the quality of their suppliers that they are the only directory to fully guarantee that all their suppliers are reliable and legitimate. WWB can afford to do this because their vetting process for new suppliers is so strict - it includes placing anonymous test orders and even visiting the supplier's warehouse.

When it comes to picking the best directory I'd say that Worldwide Brands is my number on choice, but Salehoo is a good option too.

Click here to visit the Worldwide Brands site (discount link here - $269 instead of $299)

Worldwide Brands have a 60 day money back guarantee, so you can get a refund if you do not find what you're looking for.

Although Salehoo is a good directory, these are the reasons Worldwide Brands is my top recommendation:

Worldwide Brands has the most products from wholesalers and dropshippers. There are 16 million products in the WWB database compared to Salehoo's 1.6 million, and you can search for individual products, not just by seller or category.

With over 8,000 suppliers there are often multiple suppliers for a product, so you can easily compare prices between suppliers to get the best deal.

The initial fee to join is high, but you get what you pay for. Worldwide Brands has very helpful customer service and is easy and fast to use, which will be useful when your business gets busy.

Worldwide Brands has fully working mobile apps (iOS and Android) to use on the go.

The high membership price has given Worldwide Brands the money to invest in things like in depth research into checking suppliers and going out and finding new ones on request (you can request suppliers for products not yet listed in the members area).

WWB is the only directory to be certified by eBay and to offer a guarantee that there are no scam suppliers. There's a 60 day money back guarantee too in case you join and change your mind.

Click here for more information about Worldwide Brands.

UPDATE: $30 off discount code available here.

Nothing is perfect, and there are few downsides too:

1. The initial cost at $299 for lifetime membership makes WWB more expensive initially, but here's a $30 off link if you do decide to join. Although in the long term this works out cheaper than Doba ($59 a month) and Salehoo $67 a year) it's a lot to pay initially.

2. As with all directories there will be some products that are not cheap enough to sell for a large profit on some sites like Amazon and eBay.

Salehoo and Worldwide Brands both list a lot of dropshippers, who you can start dealing offering their products for sale on eBay or your site immediately, and when you get an order buy the item from a drop-shipper in WWB or Sale Hoo.

With dropshippers the minimum order is 1 unit of a product, do you don't need to make an initial investment and can buy items only after your customer has bought from you. But if you want to buy from wholesalers instead, there are many of them as well with low minimum orders (under 5 units) in both Salehoo and WWB.

Worldwide Brands has a strong US focus in terms of it's suppliers, but there are many that will supply internationally at competitive prices too. Salehoo has good coverage in non-US countries also, like New Zealand where they are based.

Here's a link to some comments from long term WWB members on the World Wide Brands site.

Access to both WorldwideBrands and Salehoo is immediately available after paying, so it's pretty fast to get up and running with any of them.

Good Points About Worldwide Brands

• Worldwide Brands has the largest database of products from dropshippers and wholesalers online - 16 million products compared to 1.6 million in Salehoo.
• WWB's database is very diverse - there are suppliers in all the same main categories as other directories like Doba and Salehoo, but with so many more products than anywhere else there's more choice with Worldwide Brands.
• WWB also a wide range of obscure things like 'meat snacks', water filters and phone cases.
• Database of suppliers is searchable by keyword - e.g. you can search for "garmin" and find suppliers for that and similar products
• Many top brands are for sale at low prices through dropshippers and wholesalers
• Safe to buy from suppliers – all of them have been fully researched to avoid scams getting in, Worldwide Brands offer a no scam guarantee also
• Regularly updated – new suppliers added weekly and old ones removed too
• International – virtually all sellers on WWB sell to the USA, but over 70% also sell internationally
• Most suppliers have no minimum order numbers
• Many drop-shippers are listed with minimum orders of 1 unit
• WWB's customer support will help you with research – that's especially useful if you're new and need help finding suppliers for a specific product (they'll find some and email you back a list).
• The forum is full of valuable tips for new and even experienced online business people – includes lists of suppliers and mistakes to avoid.
• Worldwide Brands is the only directory to be certified by eBay
• Founded by established eBay business author
• Member of the Better Business Bureau
• Money back guarantee for 60 days

BAD Points about WWB

• Costs $299 to join, which is more initially than Salehoo. However, this is a link to get WWB for $269 ($30 discount).
• With 16 million products, the size of the directory can be overwhelming
• Not all suppliers are cheap enough to resell on eBay - but that's the same for other directories as well.

If you are interested in selling online (or anywhere) and want the easiest way to find low priced, legitimate and reliable wholesalers and drop-shippers with minimal effort then you need to check out Worldwide Brands.

Their directory has millions of low priced products from thousands of fully verified and tested suppliers, backed up by guarantees, and although the fee to join is higher than some alternatives it's for lifetime access and could work out cheaper in the long term.

Salehoo is a good directory too, with a large number of good quality suppliers and some useful training and research tools. But because they have so many more products, eBay certification and one time (rather than annual) fee for membership I'd suggest at least taking a look at Worldwide Brands first.

There's also a 60 day money-back guarantee with WWB. So if you try it and don't like it you can get a refund easily. There's not much in risk trying it.

Click Here for more information or to join Worldwide Brands with $30 off!