Shipping cost on small orders?
I'm selling an aftermarket car module; the main parts are sorted with good supplier options. I would like to supply a couple of tools (phillips head L-key, trim removal tools) to make installation easier, but I'm finding shipping costs on these tools by sellers on Alibaba to be ridiculous. For example, for an order of 100 sets of 4 trim removal tools, the quoted cost for the product is $40 and shipping by air is $140. On the other hand, I can order the same thing on AliExpress for $1.67/unit with free shipping over $10. I would be happy to wait for ocean shipping, but some suppliers have said the product weight is too low.
Is there any way to beat AliExpress pricing with a small bulk order for a small component like this, or should I just buy from AliExpress until I can justify larger orders of these optional components? Does anyone know why there is such a gap between cost with "free shipping" on AliExpress vs. cost on Alibaba with shipping broken out? Does Alibaba subsidize AliExpress shipping, or just get extremely favorable rates?