Connect AliExpress Dropshipping: pull sourcing products into the pool

Create a Dropshipping app on AliExpress Open Platform, fill its App Key and App Secret into the Sourcing-side connection form, test there, then pull products into the pool and review them into your own products.

The AliExpress Dropshipping connector is a sourcing connector, not a seller-store connector: it uses the AliExpress affiliate set, with an App Key and App Secret from a Dropshipping app and no store session or token. You save the credentials on the Sourcing side, optionally narrow the pull with a keyword or a category, pull products into the sourcing pool, and review them into your own products. This is a separate connection from the seller AliExpress connection, with a separate set of credentials — do not reuse the seller connection’s session or token here.

Prerequisites#

• An AliExpress account that can sign in to console.aliexpress.com and create an app on the Open Platform.
• Permission to create an app of type Dropshipping. A seller app or a different app type does not give you the credentials this connection needs.
• Access to the Sourcing side, where this connection is created and filled in, the connection is tested, products are pulled, and the pool is reviewed.
• A rough idea of what you want to source: a pull keyword, a pull category, or both. These narrow the pull — they are not credentials.

Get your credentials#

1. Go to console.aliexpress.com → Open Platform → My Apps, and create an app of type Dropshipping.
2. On that app, copy the App Key. This becomes the app_key field in the connection.
3. On the same app page, copy the App Secret. This becomes the api_secret field, used to sign requests — keep it somewhere safe.
4. If the app is new, be patient: a new app may need to pass AliExpress review before its Key can be used. If a test fails right after you create the app, check its review status before changing anything else.
5. Optional — Tracking ID: go to portals.aliexpress.com, sign in, then open Account → Tracking ID. If the account has more than one Tracking ID, note the one this connection should use.

Fill it into Integration#

1. On the Sourcing side, create or open the AliExpress Dropshipping connection and fill in its connection form there. This connection is filled in on the Sourcing side — it is not the seller AliExpress connection form.
2. app_key (required): paste the App Key you copied from the Dropshipping app in the previous step.
3. api_secret (required): paste the App Secret from the same app page. It belongs with the App Key above — do not mix in a secret from another app.
4. base_url (optional): the API gateway URL. Leave it blank to use the default gateway, https://gw.api.taobao.com/router/rest. Only fill it in if the gateway address shown in your app console is different.
5. tracking_id (optional): paste the Tracking ID from portals.aliexpress.com → Account → Tracking ID, if you noted one. It is used to generate attributed product promotion links.
6. pull_keyword (optional): a keyword that narrows what gets pulled, for example pet brush. This is a pull-scope setting, not a credential — leave it blank if you do not want to narrow by keyword yet.
7. pull_category_id (optional): a category ID that narrows what gets pulled. Like the keyword, it is a pull-scope setting, not a credential — use it on its own or together with a keyword to narrow the pull further.
8. Save the connection, then test it on the Sourcing side in the next step before you pull anything.

Test the connection#

Test the connection on the Sourcing side — that test is the real check. With real credentials saved, it first checks the shape of your app_key and api_secret, then runs a read-only probe through the AliExpress affiliate product search, so a pass means AliExpress was really reached. If app_key or api_secret is missing, the test fails and tells you the credentials are missing, pointing you back to creating a Dropshipping app. If no real credentials are saved, the result instead shows simulated mode: that result is not real connectivity — it only shows the flow running. Learn to tell the two apart: a real pass comes from the affiliate probe, a simulated result says so in the result.

Mapping / pick a template#

For this sourcing connection, this step is not a field template — it is the pull scope you set in the connection. The pull_keyword and pull_category_id you filled in are applied on the AliExpress side when products are pulled, so only matching products land in the sourcing pool. Review each pooled product there and create it as your own product only when you are happy with it. Treat the stock numbers shown for these products as indicative only: they come from the stock and availability signals in the product details, so use them to judge whether a product is worth sourcing, not as an exact count you can promise a buyer.

Activate#

Enable the connection, then go to the Sourcing side and pull products with the keyword or category scope you set — enabling alone does not pull anything yet. Pulled products wait in the pool until you review them and create them as your own products. That is where this connection’s scope ends for now: dropship ordering is not yet open on this connector, so it does not place dropship orders to AliExpress automatically. Plan your selling around pulling and creating products first, and keep treating the stock numbers you see as indicative until you confirm availability another way.

FAQ#

Test fails and says the credentials are missing

The connection has no usable app_key and api_secret. The usual cause is that no Dropshipping app was created at all, or the App Key and App Secret were copied wrong — for example swapped, incomplete, or taken from a different app.

Go to console.aliexpress.com → Open Platform → My Apps, create an app of type Dropshipping if you have not already, then copy its App Key into app_key and its App Secret into api_secret in the Sourcing-side connection form, save, and test again on the Sourcing side.

I just created the app, but its Key will not work yet

A new AliExpress app may need to pass AliExpress review before its Key can be used. Until the review is done, even a correctly copied App Key and App Secret can fail the test — the credentials are not wrong, the app is just not approved yet.

Check the app’s review status in console.aliexpress.com → Open Platform → My Apps and wait until it is approved, then test the connection again on the Sourcing side. Do not keep changing the credentials while you wait — once the app is approved, the same App Key and App Secret should work.

The test passes, but did it really connect?

Not necessarily. When no real credentials are saved, the result shows simulated mode instead of a real probe. That result only shows the flow running — it does not mean the AliExpress affiliate search was ever reached, so it is easy to mistake a simulated result for a real connection.

Save a real app_key and api_secret first, then test on the Sourcing side and read the result wording: a real pass comes from the read-only affiliate product search probe. If the result says simulated mode, you are not connected yet — fix the credentials and test again.

Pulling returns no products, or far too few

The connection can be fine — the pull scope is simply too narrow, so AliExpress has few or no products matching your pull_keyword or pull_category_id. A pull only brings back what that keyword and category actually hit on the AliExpress side.

Broaden the scope and pull again: replace the pull_keyword with a wider term, clear or change the pull_category_id if it is narrowing the pull too much, or clear both to see the wider result first. Then narrow again step by step until the pool holds the kind of products you actually want to source.

I filled in my seller session or token and it does not work

That is the wrong set of credentials for this connection. The seller AliExpress connection and this Dropshipping sourcing connection are two separate connections: the seller one uses a session or token, while this one signs with the App Key and App Secret of a Dropshipping app and has no session or token field at all.

Clear the seller session or token out of this connection. Follow the Get your credentials step instead: create a Dropshipping app, fill its App Key into app_key and its App Secret into api_secret, then test again on the Sourcing side. Keep the seller connection as it is if you also sell on AliExpress — the two connections can live side by side.