I've been researching and working on dropshipping, acquiring knowledge and a detailed understanding of how things work and what I need to do once I'm in the middle of it, but I still struggle to understand what to start with. My budget is tight. 100$ max. I can reinvest everything I make for a month or so but that's all I have to start with.

Where do I get started practically and how do I spend my money in the right place to get into it?

P.s: I do plan to do organic marketing until I can push out a handful of sales enough to reinvest back and try for better strategies

Dropshipping is a way to sell products without having to keep the inventory. The seller will purchase the product from a wholesaler and then sell it to the customer.

Dropshipping can be beneficial for various reasons. Firstly, it is an easy way to start selling products without having to invest in inventory or storage space. Secondly, dropshipping offers more flexibility in terms of how much you can earn and how much time you need to invest in your business. Lastly, dropshipping offers an opportunity for entrepreneurs who lack capital or have little experience with e-commerce and marketing.

Learn more about Dropshipping here!

What’s a good way to get into drop shipping? I see that there’s a lot of mentors out there that are willing to help you out, but they can bike pricey. Also is it worth getting one, since I don’t know anything about drop shipping?

Also is it worth getting into at this point with the amount of competition that is out there?

What are the best resources/guides on the Internet for a newbie?

Hey everyone,
So I posted a beginners guide last year, and I thought I would update it now since another year has passed by. I compiled a lot of the questions and answers into this guide, so we could have a better tutorial for this year.

About me
I've been dropshipping on eBay for eight years now, and it's been as my full-time job. I wanted to share how I got started, without overcomplicating things. It's simpler than you think.

My First sale.
I still remember the first day I started dropshipping. It was during the Christmas season, late at night around 2 AM, snow falling outside. Completely broke while working my security job, I pulled out my smartphone and watched a YouTube video about dropshipping on eBay. I thought, "This will never work. Who would buy an item on eBay when they can get it cheaper on Amazon?" But I gave it a shot anyway.

I created my eBay account, saw someone selling a snow globe, searched for it on Amazon, found it, took screenshots of the images, copied the title, and listed it at a higher price on eBay. The next day, during my night shift, I got a notification that the snow globe I listed had sold. Mind blown. I went home, logged into my computer, went to Amazon, purchased the item, and shipped it directly to the customer's address. I had just made $10.

That moment sparked an eight-year journey, and now I'm here to share it with you.

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The 7 Steps I Used to Make My First Sale

Step 1: Create an eBay Account

Just head over to eBay and sign up. You can start with a personal account and switch to a business account later if you want. I usually make a normal eBay account and convert it into a business account.

Step 2: Find a Product on Amazon

Go to Amazon and find something you think will sell well. I picked a snow globe because, well, it was Christmas. Look for items priced between $10 and $200. Trust me; everything sells.

Step 3: List the Item on eBay

Click on "Sell" on eBay and start a new listing. Use the "Copy listing" feature if you're listing similar items.

Step 4: Copy the Details from Amazon

Copy the title, description, and images from Amazon and paste them into your eBay listing.

Important: Make slight changes to the title to make it unique. This helps you stand out and avoids direct competition.

Step 5: Price It Higher

If the item is $10 on Amazon, list it for $20 on eBay. Don't worry about people noticing; they usually don't. I aim for a 100% markup to cover fees and ensure a healthy profit margin.

Step 6: Offer Free Shipping and Returns

People love free shipping and returns. It makes them more likely to buy. In your shipping options, select a method that aligns with Amazon's delivery times (e.g., USPS 3 days).

Step 7: Repeat Until You Have 10,000 Listings

Yep, you read that right. Keep listing items. The more you list, the more you sell. This is where Bulk Theory comes into play.

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Understanding Bulk Theory

Bulk Theory is all about scaling your operations by listing thousands of items. The idea is simple: the more listings you have, the higher the chances of making sales.

• Quantity Over Quality: Instead of spending hours perfecting a single listing, focus on listing as many items as possible.

• Leverage the "New Listing Boost": eBay tends to give new listings a temporary boost in search rankings. By constantly adding new items, you take advantage of this feature.

• Use Automation Tools: I developed a tool called EcomSniper that helps me list items in bulk and manage my inventory.

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Before You Bulk, Start with Sniping

Before diving into bulk listing, I recommend starting with the Sniping Technique. It's a data-driven approach that can get you your first sale as early as tomorrow.

It's pretty simple: find hot-selling items and list them at a slightly lower price.

Why It Works:

Buyers gravitate towards listings that offer the best value. By listing popular items at slightly lower prices than existing listings, you essentially divert the buyer traffic to your listing.

Here's How It Works:

Step 1: Build a Seller List

• Identify eBay dropshippers who source from Amazon.

• Check out Amazon's best-sellers, then search those exact titles on eBay.

• Spot a dropshipper if they use the same Amazon images and mark up their prices.

• Aim for a list of 100 sellers—the more, the better for reliable data.

Step 2: Scan for Profitable Items

• Look for items that have sold to at least three times. Just go to the item page and see how many times it sold, ebay shows you this.

Step 3: Find Your Main Competitor

• Search the title of the item you want to list.

• Sort by the lowest price and note who your main competitor is.

• The goal is to be the cheapest option available.

Step 4: List Profitable Items

• Copy the title, images, and specifics from the original listing.

• List it at just about 5 cents cheaper.

• Use the “Sell now” button on eBay which helps prefill everything based on the competitor’s listing.

Step 5: Repeat

• Keep scanning and listing. It's a numbers game, but it works!

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The Momentum Strategy: Combining Sniping and Bulk for Maximum Sales

Success on eBay isn't just about listing products—it's about creating and sustaining momentum. The fundamental rule to remember is:

Sales bring more sales.

By leveraging this principle, you can exponentially grow your eBay dropshipping business.

The 90-Day Listing Strategy

Objective: Reach 10,000 total listings in 90 days.

Daily Listing Plan:

• Total Listings per Day: 100 items

  • Bulk Listings: 90 items

  • Sniped Listings: 10 items

Why This Works:

• Bulk Listings build a broad inventory base, increasing the likelihood of sales through sheer volume.

• Sniped Listings are carefully selected items with high demand, ensuring quick sales to boost your store's activity.

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Dealing with Challenges: Avoiding Suspensions and Managing Risks

What 8 Years of Dropshipping on eBay Taught Me About Avoiding Suspension

I get this question a lot: "How do I make sure my eBay account doesn't get suspended when I'm dropshipping?" Here's what I've learned.

Understand eBay's Bottom Line:

eBay is a business, and anything that hurts their bottom line is going to be bad for them, and they will try to cut it off.

Two Main Areas to Focus On:

A) Bad Buyer Experience (BBE)

• If a buyer is not pleased with the transaction, they may leave eBay or ask for a refund.

• This costs eBay money and hurts your seller metrics.

How to Handle:

1. Negative Feedback

   • Communicate promptly and professionally with buyers.

   • Use tools like ChatGPT to craft responses that make the buyer happy.

   • Offer refunds or resolutions before issues escalate.

2. Cases for Item Not Received

   • Always inform buyers of the expected delivery date.

   • If there are delays, communicate proactively.

   • Offer to reship the item if necessary.

3. Returns

   • Offer partial refunds if appropriate.

   • Accept returns and provide an Amazon return label.

   • Resolve issues before eBay has to step in.

4. Canceling Orders

   • Avoid canceling orders due to unprofitability; it's better to fulfill and take a small loss than risk account health.

   • If an item is out of stock, communicate with the buyer and offer alternatives.

B) Fraud/Risk Management

• Listing High-Risk Items on a New Account

  • Avoid listing expensive electronics or branded items right away.

  • Start with low-risk items to build trust.

• Growing Too Fast

  • Rapid spikes in sales can trigger eBay's risk algorithms.

  • Scale gradually to show consistent, manageable growth.

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Dealing with Amazon Packaging

Yes, the item will arrive in an Amazon box. Do customers care? In my experience, not really. If they ask, I just tell them we use multiple fulfillment centers, or sometimes I avoid the question. Most of the time, they just care that the item arrived on time.

Handling Returns and Refunds

If a customer wants to return an item, I provide them with the Amazon return label, which is free. Once Amazon processes the return, I issue a refund to the customer. Easy as that.

What About eBay's Policy on Dropshipping?

eBay allows dropshipping, but they don't like it when you dropship from retailers like Amazon. That said, they mainly care about the customer experience. As long as you:

• Provide Good Service: Ship items on time, respond to messages, handle issues promptly.

• Keep Customers Happy: Maintain good feedback and resolve any complaints.

You should be fine. I've been doing this for years without significant issues.

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Dealing with Account Suspensions

eBay Suspensions:

• Happens Sometimes: Especially when you're new.

• Avoid High-Risk Items: Don't list expensive electronics on a new account.

• Warm Up Your Account: Start with low-risk items like books or mugs.

• Scale Gradually: Don't jump from $5,000 in sales one month to $100,000 the next.

• Multiple Accounts: I have several eBay accounts to mitigate risks.

Amazon Suspensions:

• Using Multiple Accounts: I recommend having 2-3 Amazon buying accounts per eBay account.

• Limit Orders: Don't place too many orders in a single day from one account. I stick to about 5.

• Gift Option: Always select the gift option at checkout.

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Managing Cash Flow

When you start, eBay might hold your funds for a bit. After about 60 days, they release funds daily. During the initial period:

• Have Some Capital: You might need some upfront money to purchase items.

• Stay Patient: It gets better once eBay trusts you.

Dealing with Out-of-Stock Items

• Monitor Stock Levels: Regularly check your Amazon items to ensure they're still in stock.

• Use Software: Tools like EcomSniper can help automate this process.

• Communicate with Buyers: If an item is out of stock, let the buyer know ASAP and offer a refund or alternative.

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Combining Everything: Your Action Plan

1. Start with Sniping

   • List 10 sniped items daily.

   • Focus on high-demand products to generate quick sales.

2. Build Momentum

   • Sales bring more sales. The more active your account, the better.

3. Scale with Bulk Theory

   • Add 90 bulk items daily.

   • Aim for 10,000 listings over 90 days.

4. Manage Risks

   • Provide excellent customer service.

   • Avoid high-risk items on new accounts.

   • Scale gradually to prevent suspensions.

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FAQs

Q: Why would someone buy from me when they can get it cheaper on Amazon?

A: Great question. It's the same one I had when I started. Here's the thing:

• Not Everyone Shops Around: Many people go straight to eBay for their shopping needs.

• Trust and Familiarity: Some people trust eBay more or have had better experiences there.

• Convenience: They might have eBay gift cards or prefer eBay's payment options.

Q: Do I need to upload tracking numbers?

A: I don't. Instead, I message the buyer with the estimated delivery time. eBay doesn't require tracking uploads, and this hasn't been a problem for me.

Q: Why do you share your secrets and whats working for you instead of just doing it yourself?

A: Good question, I have been doing this for 8 years now, and a way for me to scale my operations is by teaching others how to do it and letting them use the tool that me and my team made. So that means, by teaching you how to make money, I also make money from that. I have a course and a tool that I have up for sale. The course teaches you how to run your ebay dropshipping business step by step, and I provide a tool that accompanies it.

So in short, its just a way for me to leverage my experience to make more. I also have a 30 day refund policy, so theirs no risk to you. If your not happy with the experience, just let me know, and I'll take care of you.

YOU DO NOT NEED MY TOOL OR ANY TOOL OR ANY COURSE TO BE SUCCESSFUL. THIS GUIDE SHOULD SERVE AS A STRONG FOUNDATION.

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Final Thoughts

Starting an eBay dropshipping business doesn't have to be complicated. Stick to the basics, scale up, and learn as you go. Don't get discouraged by the negatives commentators, or those who overcomplicate things.

If you have questions or want to learn more, feel free to join my Discord channel where we discuss all things eBay dropshipping.

Discord Invite: Ebay Dropshipping Discord

P.S. I got lucky with my first sale, but luck favors the prepared. If you don't get sales right away, keep listing and refining your approach. Make your own luck.

Note: I feel like I could add more details on how to handle eBay suspensions and create multiple accounts without getting flagged. Also, I should probably delve deeper into how to optimize listings for better visibility. I'll refine these sections later.

Let me know if you have any questions!

P.P.S:

Check out last years guide 2024 [Bulk Theory]. Lots of great comments.

Hello,

As we all know the market is flooded with resources for dropshipping, many of which are just avenues to market a course or another product.

What are some credible resources that I can use to research everything about dropshipping before beginning?

Looking for YouTubers, blogs, actual books, etc.

The Step By Step Formula To Build an eCommerce Business From Scratch and Get Your First Sale in 21 days!

Day 1: - Learn the basics of how the Dropshipping/eCommerce Business model works.

Day 2: - Choose a Niche.

Day 3: - Get a Shopify Account and Install a great theme on your Store.

Day 4: - Install Oberlo and start adding products and collections to fill your store.

Day 5 : - Customize your theme - add homepages, product pages, contact page, about us page, and play around with colors.

Day 6: - Choose a Name, get a domain, logo, fb page and other essentials. (most people get stuck with this part and that's exactly why I pushed it into day 6, if it was on day 1 - you wouldn't even get started)

Day 7: - Add Essential Apps.

Day 8 &9 :- Learn how to Manually research your products.

Day 10 :- Choose 4 Products.

Day 11 :- Set your Facebook Business Manager and Payment Processors.

Day 12 :- Customize Facebook Page to make it look more credible.

Day 13: - Learn how to create compelling ad images for your ads!

Day 14: - Learn how to create Great Facebook Ads. (The Copy, The Angles and the Setup)

Day 15 : - Learn how the Facebook Advertising Structure works. (Learn what a campaign, adset or an ad is and how they're structured etc.)

Day 16: - Set up Tracking.

Day 17 : - Learn how the Conversion Objective System of Facebook works.

Day 18: - Select a Great Audience for your Product and launch your first ad with a budget of $10-$20/day!

Day 19 : - Cut out any ads that don't have even a single "View Content".

Day 20 :- Cut out any ads that don't have a single "Add To Cart".

Day 21 :- At this point, if your product and targeted audience is good enough - you should see a sale! Or you can just turn off the ads and restart with different audiences.

Once you start consistently getting sales using this system, you can scale using Clickfunnels and eventually get rid of the whole dropshipping model and start holding inventory to scale hard.

Force yourself to get to that first sale as fast as possible and after that - you should start to understand how to make this work!

Hope this post helps!

I posted on this forum about how I had imposter syndrome and that I was thinking of mentoring.

I got so many helpful comments that I decided I'm going through with it.!

But I'm not going to make this announcement without giving back to the community that gave me so much

Any and all advice to this community just ask :) no charge.

Here is a link to original post https://www.reddit.com/r/dropship/comments/prjjg6/i_made_20k_revenue_my_first_year_dropshipping/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

So I have looked for hours, and I haven't a clue on where to start, and I have literally a $0 budget, so that really doesn't help, so can anyone give me tips on how to start on nothing?

I wanna start dropshipping but I'm afraid of those losses and drawbacks people experience in the beginning. I will be grateful if someone guide me or advices me through this process like a mentor. Please dm me!!

Need a China dropshipping agent? Check my profile!No MOQ！

2024 Cross-Border E-Commerce Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to Dropshipping for Beginners

If you're a newcomer to the cross-border e-commerce space, you might be lacking two key resources: time and money. Startups often struggle to turn a profit right away, and without funds to pay yourself or your employees, you have to rely on sales to generate income.

This is one of the main reasons many cross-border e-commerce startups opt for dropshipping. By outsourcing production, warehousing, and shipping to third parties, you can lower costs and focus on practical tasks like marketing that drive sales, ultimately creating a great online shopping experience for your customers.

While the dropshipping model in cross-border e-commerce is relatively easy to get into, you might not know where to start. Don’t worry! This guide will walk you through the basics, teaching you step-by-step how to launch your dropshipping business: identify a niche market, select your target audience, find reliable suppliers, set up your online store, and promote your business. Let’s get started!

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a business model where the products sold by a retailer or e-commerce seller are manufactured, stored, and shipped by a third-party supplier. Once a store receives an order, the seller purchases the product from the supplier.

For budding cross-border e-commerce entrepreneurs, dropshipping is a smart choice. This model allows small sellers to start with low risk, while established sellers can test new products without needing to purchase inventory.

1. Find Your Dropshipping Niche

Some dropshippers sell exclusive private label products or print-on-demand items. However, many dropshippers offer the same products. So, how can you outshine your competitors in a crowded market?

The most effective way to avoid competing with more established dropshippers and ensure your safety is to discover an underdeveloped niche market.

A market is defined by specific customer needs, preferences, or interests, while a niche market is a subset of that larger market. By segmenting the larger market, small businesses can reduce competition and further clarify their target audience.

For example, if your dropshipping product is coffee, you’ll face significant competition from other dropshippers and traditional retailers. However, if you sell vegan coffee, your competition will be less intense. Further narrowing down to decaf vegan coffee or a vegan coffee subscription box gives you a unique value proposition.

How to Find a Profitable Dropshipping Niche?

Many profitable dropshipping niches can be identified through keyword research. By analyzing the popularity of search terms on search engines and social media platforms, as well as the competitiveness of search results, you can uncover areas with unmet demand.

Common audience demand analysis tools include:

• Facebook Audience Insights: With around 3 billion monthly active users, this tool provides rich information about user interests, demographics, and online activities.

• Google Keyword Planner: Google processes billions of searches daily. This tool helps you analyze search patterns and identify opportunities.

• Google Trends: Similar to Keyword Planner, it offers insights into what products people are searching for and how interests fluctuate over time.

• Ahrefs: A popular keyword analysis tool among SEO professionals, it helps assess whether you can compete for traffic with established websites.

Only by identifying products within a niche market can the audience in that market add value to your business. As you delve into the dropshipping business, you may find that the products available for specialized audiences are limited.

Limited product supply is one of the main reasons some niche markets remain underserved by dropshipping stores. Therefore, collaborating with suppliers or manufacturers to launch a new product line is another way to make your dropshipping business stand out.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

Once you’ve identified a niche market that can benefit from your dropshipping store, you’ll want to dive deeper into understanding this group.

Understanding your target audience helps you communicate from the customer’s perspective. You’ll gain insights into which marketing channels to use, what types of products potential customers prefer, and which content types effectively drive traffic to your online store.

Answer the following questions to test your understanding of your target market:

• Where does your target audience like to surf online?

• What type of content does your target audience respond to?

• What products are they interested in?

• What product features are most important to them?

• Which existing brands do they prefer?

• Which companies successfully serve your audience?

Researching your target market doesn’t have to be overly complicated. After completing this step, you should have a clear understanding of the target group for your product sales.

3. Choose Products and Dropshipping Suppliers

Conduct keyword research and analyze your target audience to find product categories relevant to your niche market.

Once you’ve identified the product categories you want to sell, the next step is to find manufacturers or suppliers with those products in stock.

There are many dropshipping suppliers to choose from. Some suppliers have their own online platforms where you can create an account and search for products. Others negotiate custom deals with their retail partners. Here are some commonly used dropshipping supplier applications for cross-border e-commerce:

• Spocket: With Spocket, you can sell products from dropshippers in the U.S., Europe, and around the world in your Shopify store. Spocket suppliers are reliable and can automatically update inventory levels. They are official partners of AliExpress and Alibaba.

• DSers: This tool allows sellers to search, import, and edit product data from AliExpress suppliers. A notable feature of DSers is the ability to compare similar products on AliExpress to find the most competitive prices.

• Modalyst: Similar to other dropshipping applications, Modalyst syncs with AliExpress, allowing sellers to easily import products directly into their Shopify stores. Modalyst also offers a curated list of independent manufacturers and high-end brands like Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana.

• Print-on-Demand Applications: One downside of dropshipping is that other online stores may sell the same products as you. Print-on-demand dropshipping allows sellers to print custom designs on T-shirts, tote bags, notebooks, and home products. This model helps differentiate your store without holding inventory.

If you’re interested in print-on-demand, check out these well-known print-on-demand service providers and applications:

• Printful

• Lulu Direct

• Gooten

• Printify

4. Create Your Online Store

Now that you know what products to sell and have chosen your dropshipping suppliers, it’s time to start building your online store.

Design Your E-Commerce Website and Import Products: Use professional design templates to quickly set up your store. At this stage, use a color scheme that reflects your brand style, set up your checkout process, and add copy and images to the most important pages, but don’t spend too much time on the store’s appearance.

Once your business is up and running, you can analyze successful store examples to further refine your website design.

Set Product Pricing: Establishing reasonable product prices requires a delicate balance. You want to ensure your prices are competitive enough to attract customers and encourage browsing, while also maintaining a healthy profit margin.

Avoid getting caught in a price war with other dropshipping stores, as this can erode your profits and ultimately jeopardize your business. Remember, you don’t always have to offer the lowest price. When competitors’ prices are similar, customers also value brand ethics, customer service, and shopping experience.

When calculating product profit margins, don’t forget to factor in additional costs like shipping.

5. Promote Your Dropshipping Store

Developing a marketing strategy for your dropshipping store may be the most crucial step in unlocking sales. Your competitors may be selling the same products as you, so being the first to reach customers or providing the most satisfying customer experience is vital.

Differentiation: The essence of dropshipping marketing is differentiation. By building a brand and curating products, you can create a unique and cohesive impression for your online store.

A strong brand is visually and conceptually consistent. The colors, logos, images, and copy style used in your website template should resonate with each other, conveying a unified message.

This message should align with the content of your marketing materials, the values embodied by the products you sell, and the story you tell the public about your business.

Pricing is another effective form of differentiation. However, if you lower your profits to make your products more competitive, ensure that you still have a profit margin after covering all costs.

Leverage Social Media: For small businesses, social media marketing is an incredibly useful tool. The budget for paid social media advertising campaigns is adjustable, allowing you to easily keep costs within your budget. Audiences are categorized based on their preferences, online behavior, and followed accounts, making it easy to target users most likely to be interested in your products.

Even without an advertising budget, there are many free ways to utilize social media. Selling products on Facebook and Instagram, setting up a “Shop” feature, and syncing your product catalog to social platforms allow fans to purchase your products without leaving the social media site. (Note that some e-commerce features on Facebook and Instagram are only available in specific countries and regions.) Keeping up with trends on TikTok, sharing your unique insights, and using live streaming to showcase products can also help promote your offerings.

Utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is the process of using data to make your website content more relevant to common questions and search terms, with the goal of improving your site’s ranking in search results.

Google processes over 100,000 searches every second, making visibility crucial for any small business. There are many free SEO tools available to help you research the right keywords, identify relevant questions, and create content that answers them. This way, SEO marketing can be maintained at a relatively low cost.

Nurture Your Existing Audience with Email Marketing: If someone signs up to receive your newsletter, it indicates their interest in your products. Don’t waste these potential customers; use e-commerce email marketing campaigns to nurture them.

Email marketing opens a channel for ongoing communication with customers. High-quality email content can effectively share useful information about products and help build brand loyalty.

Email marketing campaigns generate various metrics, such as open rates and whether readers clicked on the CTA (Call to Action) button. These metrics can be used to refine your email subject lines and content.

3 Tips for Dropshipping in Cross-Border E-Commerce

Now that you’ve completed the steps above, are you ready to launch your cross-border dropshipping business? Here are three tips to keep in mind during your first month of dropshipping:

1. Professionally Handle Product Issues: As you learn the ropes of dropshipping, you’ll find that supplier errors are inevitable. If products and deliveries frequently encounter issues, it may be time to find a new wholesale partner. Even so, you must take responsibility for the occasional mistakes made by suppliers. When problems arise:

   • Take responsibility. Apologize to the customer and provide a solution.

   • Compensate the customer. Offer refunds, exchanges, or upgraded products.

   • Contact the supplier. Quality suppliers should bear the losses caused by errors.

2. Work with Multiple Suppliers: Dealing with multiple suppliers can complicate management. However, selling products from different wholesalers can reduce the risks associated with stockouts and supply chain issues. Consider the following practices:

   • Collaborate with multiple suppliers. This gives you more product options and safeguards against unexpected issues.

   • Choose common products. Select products that most suppliers carry.

   • Use generic descriptions. If necessary, similar products can share the same description.

3. Establish an Order Fulfillment Plan: While dropshippers have minimal control over order fulfillment, you should still be savvy in handling customer orders:

   • Arrange order routes based on location. If possible, choose suppliers closest to the customer.

   • Utilize automation to maximize inventory supply. Automation tools can help you send orders to suppliers with available stock.

   • Leverage high sales volume. As your store scales and orders increase, invite suppliers to bid, allowing you to improve profit margins.

If you want to learn more about dropship, please check out the ‘Beginner's Guide to Dropshipping.’ Click here for more details.

Basically what the title says. I’m a student based in the US and I would like advice from you all how I can start it. I did watch a little bit of videos and I wanted seek advice if you all have any on how I can start and what kind of products I should have on my page and how to do the advertising. I do have about 200-300$ saved up for this purpose and my ultimate goal isn’t to make money fast as possible but in a healthy way where I can sustain it and learn with the process. I hope you all can provide some valuable insights and share your experiences.

The purpose of this post:

Most of this subreddit is the same thing, over and over again. People asking for help and feedback with their stores. That's fine, I get it - it's hard to find a way to get some honest opinions without spending money, and sometimes you need a second pair of eyes to see the flaws in things.

With that in mind, most of these feedback posts have the same questions and problems, over and over again. To save myself (and you) some time in answering the question that's been asked a hundred times before, I'm going to use this as a "frequent points" post that I can refer back to. I welcome discussion on these points, but in general, these are my rules and laws when it comes to marketing anything.

My frame of reference. I'm not a guru, a youtube personality or an "advertising extraordinaire." I don't have a 12-step program, and I don't have a method to take your money, even if you wanted to pay me. If I ever recommend something, I won't ever provide a link, referral or otherwise - I'm not associated with any companies. I've worked as a digital marketer for a year, and as a content writer for a year before that. Of that year, six months of it was spent working for a large dropshipping firm, the biggest website for which was nationalparksdepot.us.

Long story short, I know my stuff by watching other people make mistakes. I lost my job at that ecommerce firm because the entire office was laid off, because my boss needed to do the things I'm about to list and didn't. I'm a little surprised that the website is still running, and haven't given it the satisfaction of anything more than a cursory visit since I was laid off.

In short, my boss faced the problems you all are going to face, so here are the solutions.

Folly #1: No Niche, No Store + Finding Your Niche.

If your store is your baby, the niche is the zygote. The zygote being a fertilized egg. If you don't know who you're selling to, you have absolutely no hope of ever selling anything. And the best way to know who you're selling to is to find your niche.

And let me be clear: selling baby supplies is not a niche. Selling bowling gear, selling camping equipment, selling watches... these are all things. They're what you're selling. You need to find the who.

So you're selling camping equipment. Are you selling camping equipment to college students, looking for a weekend at Tahoe? Are you selling them to hardcore survivalists, hiking across the Canadian frontier? Are you selling them to middle-aged families, looking to spend a weekend in a campground?

Then break it down further. Are those middle aged families tent camping, backpacking, or using a trailer? Do they own an RV? Are they going 10 miles, or 100? Are they a little bit city-minded, and the type to want running water, or are they more OK with the idea of a camp toilet and bathing in a river?

Is the purchase decision made by a man, or a woman? How many kids do they have, of what gender? Is this their first trip, or their 30th?

Unless you know everything about your target market, nobody is going to pay any attention to you, your brand, your advertising, or your store. Essentially, think of a crowded room. You and sixteen other people are shouting "hey everyone!" and being totally ignored. Instead you shout "hey, Greg!" And three people turn towards you. But it doesn't work if there's no Gregs in the room. That room is Facebook. Your shouting is your ad.

And as for finding a niche, that's the easy part. Look to your hobbies, to your work place, to your family and friends' habits and hobbies, and find the markets that enable them. Find a desire or need (more on that in a minute) that you can service. And put a spin on it.

Folly #2: No Desire, No Need, No Sale.

Sales 101: The only way you'll ever sell a product is by finding a need, or manipulating a desire. Seriously, go talk to a good salesman in a furniture store, jewelry outlet, car dealership, or go look at online advertising - all marketing is built around this principle. The conversation is always "What can I do for you?"

Dropshipping is no different. You've got your niche, so figure out what itch you want to scratch, what need you're servicing. Failing that, you don't have a business - you don't even have an idea.

Folly #3: One product, one page.

So you have your niche, and hopefully, you've got a good idea of what you want to do for them. That's the first step. Congratulations! You're now leagues ahead of 99% of people who post on this sub.

Your niche also means literally nothing if you continue following the steps that you're encouraged to.

This is the most obvious thing I see virtually everyone do wrong when it comes to dropshipping. You've got your niche (or not), so now it's time to find 15 products that might be of interest to that niche, write some mediocre copy, create an average-looking store, and run some ads, right? It's that easy! NOT.

Shopify is built to sell a hundred or more products, which is literally the opposite of what you need to do as a dropshipper. Trying to compete with Wal-Mart, Cabelas', or Amazon doesn't work. You just wont do it - not only do they have the brand, they have the prices and the selection.

As a dropshipper, the only way you will ever find success is by going the opposite direction - taking a single product and spinning a funnel around it (more on that in a moment).

Imagine you own a restaurant, which is widely regarded as the most difficult entry-level business to open. You know who you want to serve - hungry college kids that are looking for a quick bite between classes - but don't know what they want to eat. First, bad. You should know what college kids want to eat - burritos, pizza, hamburgers, coffee - fast foods that can be taken on the go.

But either way, you just kind of serve everything. Your menu consists of pizza, steak, all manner of mexican food, off-brand coffee, and 30 other items that nobody will ever eat.

As a result, you don't specialize. Your food is mediocre at best, nobody really knows your store for any one particular menu item, and you don't do very well.

OR, you have excellent burritos, and everyone comes to only buy burritos. So why have the rest of the menu, then? Pour your heart and soul into making the best damn burritos possible, and spend your marketing budget advertising burritos. You're either left with a mediocre restaurant that nobody wants to eat at, in which case, you need to find something to be great at, or you're left with a huge menu that you're wasting money on, when people only just want one thing.

Either way, specialization is success. You don't need 15 different products - you need one product that sells. If you don't know what that product is, the only thing to do is try until you find success. That success will be 100x more powerful than any mediocre trickle of sales you get from 20 products - and if you do have a store that has 20 products that sell, you're probably mostly selling two or three products. So just ditch the rest.

And when it comes time to market, build your site around that product. Build your page around that one product. Your reviews, your ads, your branding - all around that one thing. All you need is a landing page and an order form - that's it.

Folly #4: Funnels Are Your Friend.

Here's another common mistake I see. You've got your niche, your need, your product, and you've started your store, and now you're selling $35 whatevers and nobody's buying. Why? Because unless you're selling a $35 roll of toilet paper in a crowded, out-of-TP bathroom, nobody is going to whip out their wallet and give you their hard-earned cash. This isn't wal-mart, where you're guaranteed the lowest prices. It's not cabela's, where you're guaranteed quality products. It's not Amazon, where you have the entire stock of the internet at your fingertips and a decent review score to boot. You're just some guy.

There are exactly two ways to earn business as a dropshipper - trust, and incentives. A funnel achieves both of these things.

So here's what a funnel is:

A funnel is a marketing technique - a chain of offers which increase in value over time, targeting repeat customers in a wide necked, narrow stem approach to sales. In short, it's named after a literal funnel. You attract the MOST customers with the top of the funnel - the wide bit - with a very cheap offer that is appealing to anyone. If you're selling camping gear, you offer a free flashlight. If you're selling baby supplies, you offer free diapers. If you're selling automotive equipment, you offer a free steering wheel cover.

Then you move up the funnel. That free flashlight came with a card in it - it has your brand, and a 25% off coupon for a tent, or a free $5 credit on any item worth 20$ or more. The diapers came with an offer for a whole pack at a discount. The steering wheel cover came with an offer from a nationwide tire chain - get your wheels checked for free. Anything to keep the customer coming back.

Then with that larger purchase, you opt for even larger. That 20$ tent turns into a 40$ backpack. The pack of diapers turns into a monthly subscription. The wheel check turns into a tuneup or a set of rims. Each time, you're incentivizing the purchase. You're making the customer feel valued. You're getting brand interaction. You're building trust.

A repeat customer is always more valuable than a new one. They're warm traffic - not only do you not have to pay for advertising, but they're more likely to buy, as well. Any way you can utilize them, that's money in your pocket. And if you don't, you're probably just not going to make very many sales. The days of being able to sell 50$ items with Facebook ads are virtually gone - and especially so for dropshippers. This is your second option.

Folly #5: Branding Buys Business.

No brand? No association, no interest, no business. You need a brand to succeed, and that's more than a name and aesthetic.

What can you tell me about Subway? Well, they had their 5$ footlong. They had Jared. They have their daily offers. They used to be a good brand.

What about Papa Johns? Well, you probably immediately think of the owner of the franchise, whose face is burned into your brain. The dude's made himself the indispensible face of his marketing. He's very honest and friendly and family-oriented, like a Mitt Romney that owns a pizza chain. He has public opinions on the NFL controversey, Trump, and the quality of food he expects from any of his stores. Good branding. More importantly, what would Papa Johns be without him?

What about McDonalds? Ronald McDonald. The HamBurgler. The big golden arches. The dollar menu. Bud-ah-bup-bup-baaah. How do you describe McDonalds without any of those things?

Or Harry Potter? The scar, the snitch, the Hogwarts towers, the wands.

Star Wars? Lightsabers, X-Wings, Tie Fighters, Stormtroopers, Clones, Droids, the Millennium Falcon.

This is what "branding" means. Something unique. Something distinct. Something worth mentioning. And yep, it's work to get a good brand going. But a good brand is the difference between revenue and profit.

Folly #6: Attention, Not Distraction.

So you've got a brand. You've got a funnel, a solid product, a desire that needs catered to, and a perfect niche. And you're still not getting sales.

First, congrats. This is a pretty advanced issue, and one that I've literally never seen posted on here, but I know exists.

Typically, this issue is as simple as fixing a headline.

Did you know that the Enquirer is one of the most read papers in the US? Maybe not by copies sold, but on headlines alone, it's easily the most read. Everyone who visits a supermarket reads the Enquirer headline. And it doesn't use misleading information or clickbait titles. It doesn't force you to read it, it doesn't make you wait to watch your video, and it sure doesn't use FUCKING POPUP ADVERTISEMENTS.

It just puts something so interesting and so outrageous on the cover that you can't help but engage with it. And that's what you need to do with your marketing. You don't need to be outrageous, but you do need to resonate. Copywriting is the art of taking a need or desire, and putting it on display in such a way that it's powerful enough to not just attract attention, but to stop people from what they're doing in order to have it read. That's not shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. It's not an overbearing sales technique. It's not mugging your customer with ads. It's yelling "food!" to a famished crowd.

Folly #7: Advertising is expensive. Get over it.

Still not making money? You're probably not spending enough. Anyone who works in advertising will tell you there's a minimum barrier to entry to Facebook. You're going to need to spend 1-200$ on ads, minimum before you'll begin to see what your typical results will look like. That's just how the platform works - algorythms need time to optimize. Your market needs time to see your advertisements. Your website needs time to show itself off. 20$ a day, over 5 days, and you've got a solid ad budget.

1-200$ will buy you a couple hundred clicks, and a few dozen sales. Don't worry about making a profit straight off - there's optimization to do. But anything less than that, and you're trying to tell a wallpaper in a dark room. Wetting a desert with a glass of water. You can't tell what's going on with your site by spending 20$, it just isn't enough. Sorry!

Folly #8: 200% profits are a myth.

OK, this one's a peeve. You are a dropshipper. You exist on margins. The gurus out there that tell you to pick a product from Aliexpress, mark it up to 4x the price, and resell it to make millions are lying to you. Here are the problems that you will face when you blow up your prices to ridiculous amounts, in the interest of making more than they're worth.

• Lack of conversions, because you're charging above the market price.

• Customer support nightmares, because people are expecting something better than what you're giving them.

• Quality concerns, because you're charging name-brand prices for knockoff equipment.

• Competition undercuts, because it can be done cheaper and you aren't doing it.

• And more!

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and dropshipping is a logistics avenue, not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you're selling things at wildly inflated prices, even if you find success, it will come back to haunt you. All it takes is a few too many product defects, a few too many shipping delays, a sudden drop in conversions, a competitor taking notice, and suddenly, you're losing money. Lots of it.

Don't be greedy. Don't treat your customers like fools. They'll treat you like a predator, and nobody wants that.

So that's all. Ask questions and I'll answer if I can. Or want to.

I’ve recently been researching dropshipping and have been wanting to get into it, is there anyone who is willing to help me and guide me through it?

Hey everyone! Instead of coming by and dropping some random tips, I thought it might be useful to show you a month to month playbook of my dropshipping journey. I started back in January, didn't know what I was doing and lost money. Now I'm making almost $25k a month in revenue with 40% profits. In this post I've attached a screenshot of my earnings every single month since the beginning and will give a brief outline of what I did each month to grow. Hope this helps!

BTW, this is with a niche store (sorry not giving out the link!)

January - $643: I had no idea what I was doing. I heard about dropshipping on Reddit and decided to try it. Initially I did a free + shipping offer on a baseball cap and I got some decent sales but lost money because of ad spend. Was using Facebook ads only at the time.

February -$3,000: After running the free + shipping offer, people started buying other things on my store. It became clear to me what items people wanted, so I ran single image ads to them and this greatly boosted sales. I also began doing work on SEO this month. That included writing small blog articles, rewriting product descriptions, etc.

March - $6,900: My SEO from the prior work started to pick up so I began getting free traffic from Google searches which increased sales. I also started and Instagram page to build an audience related to my niche that I occasionally promote products to.

April - $13,200: I was able to double my revenue during this month. My previous job was working as a programmer, so I wrote a complex web crawler that search the web to find me winning products. Saved me tons of time and allowed me to test a lot more products. I found some new winners this way which increased sales. I also began running re-targeting facebook campaigns at this point and learning more about effective advertising.

May - $18,400: I added an upsell app to my store which increased my average order value from $20 to $45. I also discovered a new "sub-niche" for my store when browsing results from my web scraper bot. This allowed me to target a whole new audience and product more sales.

June - $15,800: Sales decreased a little bit this month. This was largely because I had recently moved and didn't have a ton of free time to work on the business. Things like being slow to answer customers, not optimizing ads, etc. can all add up to a revenue loss! Totally my fault.

July - $25,000: My best month yet! After a loss of revenue in June, I decided to crack down. I scaled all my Facebook ads up a ton and it didn't end up hurting my conversion cost. I also found another "sub-niche" that contained multiple winning products. I think my lesson here was that I was previously too scared to mess with my winning ads, which included scaling. It obviously worked out in my favor when I decided to get out of my comfort zone!

Key Takeaways:

1. Focus on multiple sources of revenue. I have a lot of sales coming from places like Pinterest, Google searches, my Instagram account, etc. Try not to get caught up in only doing Facebook ads.

2. If you have a skill, use it. Anything you can do that others can't will get you ahead of everyone else who's doing the same thing. In my case, I'm a programmer and was able to create the product finding bot.

3. Find winning products. 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your products! This means you need to find that handful of best sellers that you can rely on to bring you sustainable income. Test, test and test some more. Browse other successful stores to see what they sell.

4. Don't be lazy. It takes hard work and thinking outside of the box! You saw what happened in June when I slacked off. Keep pushing forward and the results will be endless. I could easily maintain the business spending 15 minutes a day on it, but it took a lot of hours to get there.

I hope this helps! 📷🙂

Edit: I don't sell courses so please don't PM me asking! I'm always open to answering questions in the comments so it helps others too.