Connect CJ Dropshipping
Connect your own CJ account with an API key, verify it in Dropshipping, and recover safely after a disconnect.
Connect CJ Dropshipping when you want to search, import, and operate CJ supplier products with your own CJ account.
Before you start
Entry path: Project → Dropshipping → Connect supplier
If your project uses the older navigation, open Store Operations → Dropshipping instead. The current Apps page does not list CJ; use the supplier entry.
You need:
- a CJ Dropshipping account and its current API key;
- authority to connect it to the organization; and
- a safe sample product for checking the connection before relying on it.
Keep the API key private and enter it only in Runner’s CJ connection dialog. Disconnecting removes supplier authorization from merchant-owned CJ imports until you reconnect.
CJ controls and results
| Control | Why it is useful | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Connect supplier | Opens the provider choices from Dropshipping. | Choose CJ Dropshipping to open API-key setup. |
| CJ Dropshipping provider choice | Opens CJ setup from Dropshipping. | Runner asks for CJ API Key. |
| CJ API Key | Connects your own supplier account. | The dialog accepts a non-empty key for submission. |
| Eye icon | Helps check a typing mistake. | Toggles key visibility. Hide it before sharing your screen. |
| Dialog Connect | Submits the key. | On success, Runner clears the field, closes the dialog, and marks CJ connected. |
| Cancel or close | Leaves without connecting. | Runner clears the key from the dialog. |
| Delete or Disconnect | Starts removal. | Runner opens a confirmation before removing the connection. |
| Confirmation Disconnect | Removes your key. | Future merchant-authorized CJ search, import, checkout, and supplier operations are blocked until a valid connection is restored. |
To inspect setup without authorizing CJ, open the provider choice and its empty key form, then select Cancel. Connecting and importing below require your own valid supplier account; a catalog preview does not verify either action.
Connect your CJ account
- Open Project → Dropshipping (or the older Store Operations entry when shown).
- Select Connect supplier, then choose CJ Dropshipping.
- Copy the API key from the CJ account you intend Runner to use.
- Paste it into CJ API Key.
- Select Connect in the dialog.
- Wait for Runner to confirm the connection.
- Submit a safe search or open a sample CJ product in Dropshipping to verify that the connection can access the intended catalog.
Supplier connections are shared by the organization. In Manage suppliers, check CJ and AliExpress separately; connecting one does not connect the other.
English callouts highlight the controls. Select the image to enlarge it.
This example shows existing connected suppliers. It demonstrates where to inspect each connection; no connection, import, or disconnection was performed for this guide.
Disconnect or replace the key
Read the disconnect confirmation carefully. Disconnecting removes your CJ API key. It does not transparently transfer merchant-owned imports to another CJ account.
After a disconnect, future CJ search and import require a connection. Checkout and order completion for affected merchant-owned imports fail closed when Runner cannot verify the live connection, product, variant, inventory, price, or freight. Reconnect the same CJ account and recheck the item. If its supplier identity or live data no longer matches, remove the affected product and import it again.
To replace the key, disconnect the current one, confirm that Runner no longer shows it as connected, then connect the replacement. Recheck existing CJ products before accepting new orders; changing accounts can make an existing import unavailable.
If CJ does not connect
- Copy the API key again from the intended CJ account; do not edit it by guesswork.
- Failed to connect CJ Dropshipping means Runner did not accept the provider connection. Check the key in CJ and retry.
- If the dialog closes without a connected state, refresh the current page before submitting again.
- If search or import fails after connecting, confirm that this CJ account can access that catalog operation.
- If disconnecting fails, assume the existing key and account context remain active until Runner confirms removal.
- If checkout stops after reconnecting, verify that the product and variants belong to the connected CJ account; re-import the item when they do not.