So you’ve recently found out about dropshipping and now you’re wondering if it’s worth it?
You’re wondering if you can, just like some of the gurus out there, make millions with this business model?
In this article, I will review the dropshipping business model.
If you wanted to read a story from someone who is NOT selling you a course but has been in the trenches and struggled with dropshipping for years — this article is a must-read.
As you’ve probably guessed, the dropshipping model is very simple.
Most of this business model is automated and thus allows you to run it from anywhere.
That’s why so many people get started with it.
And that’s probably how you got to this dropshipping review in the first place.
Most people want to get started with dropshipping because they believe it is easy.
And they have often been told it is because of guru’s and others who are selling courses to make money.
In this review I will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of dropshipping, try to eliminate the myths and hopefully convince you to either try it or decide it’s not for you.
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a business model where a seller sells products on a webshop without inventory.
Instead, they use a dropshipping supplier to fulfill orders for them.
This works as follows:
- A customer visits the webshop and buys a product
- The seller receives the order and buys it directly from their supplier
- The supplier then ships the product directly to the customer
Most dropshippers use the following strategy:
They start a webshop on Shopify and import products from AliExpress through Oberlo.
This is called AliExpress dropshipping.
Basically, when someone orders from your store, you purchase it directly from AliExpress and send it to your customer’s address.
Oh and yes, this is 100% legal. In case you were wondering.
Is Dropshipping Profitable?
Okay, you’ve seen the big numbers.
Dropshippers have a lot of dough. (At least they like to tell you they do.)
And you probably feel like you’re missing out, right?
Dropshipping FOMO is real. Trust me, I’ve been there.
But it’s not as easy as it looks.
Yes dropshipping is profitable. Very profitable.
But you have to be good at it. And you won’t get good until you spend months (or in my case, years) working your ass off.
It’s like learning a language.
In theory it looks easy. You just learn the words and you’re good to go.
But when you get out there in the real world and you have to speak it? Very different.
Mastering a language takes a lot of hard work and effort.
And that’s exactly what dropshipping (or any online business method) requires.
You won’t get good just by purchasing a course and starting a Shopify store.
That’s not how it works, and surely you know that, right?
So if you believe you’re going to become rich within weeks or even months by starting a dropshipping store — please don’t get started.
But if you have that “itch” just like I did, to get started with online business and fully devote yourself to it.
By all means, go for it.
You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
You fail your first store after months of work. Guess what?
This still leaves you with more real-world experience than most business majors.
And after failing that first store, you can use your experience to start the next.
And then another one.
And eventually, if you remain devoted, you’ll be profitable.
But again, if you came here looking for a get-rich-quick scheme or an easy way to make millions.
Please go play the lottery instead.
Why Dropshipping is NOT Easy
My last section should already tell you dropshipping is NOT easy.
But I’d just like to reiterate it once more.
Most dropshippers follow a strategy along the lines of this:
They see a competitor they know is dropshipping and think he/she is doing well.
They copy their products (some even copy the entire webshop) and place Facebook Ads on them.
Then, they wait for the money to roll in.
Or they use a certain tool that provides live winning products such as ecomhunt or drop point, import the product and place facebook ads on it and expect that to be the end of their hard work.
This doesn’t work.
This is why most drop shippers fail.
They don’t want to put in an effort to find their own products, do their own research and invest in things they cannot possibly do themselves.
Dropshipping requires the following skills:
- Product Research
- Branding and graphic design
- Social Media Marketing
- Paid Advertising experience
- Video Editing
- Photo Editing
- Copywriting
- Marketing experience
Likely, you’re good at one or two of these.
But it’s very unlikely you’re good at all of them.
Yet every dropshipper wants to do everything themselves.
This results in webshops that:
- Have poor product research (because they lack experience)
- Look unprofessional (because the branding is bad)
- have a terrible sales funnel (because they don’t have marketing experience)
- Have terrible titles/descriptions (because they don’t know anything about copywriting)
- Have terrible product images (because they don’t know anything about photo editing)
- Have terrible ad videos (because they lack experience in video editing and marketing)
The list goes on.
And this list may look very de-motivating to most of you but it doesn’t have to be.
You don’t have to hire someone to do all this for you.
The first step is to understand these skills are a recipe for dropshipping success.
The next step, is to master these skills.
If you want to learn how to dropship, you shouldn’t just be googling ‘how to get started with dropshipping‘ and follow every video you can find.
These videos will give you a good base, but eventually, you’ll realize they all just cover the basics.
You need more. You need to do your own research in the following skillsets:
- Photo editing
- Video editing
- Sales copywriting
- Facebook Ads
- Social Media Marketing
- Product research
You can do this by reading books such as how to win friends and influence people, influence, and cashvertising to up your copywriting game.
Combine that with daily research through youtube videos and articles on copywriting plus competitor research and in just weeks you’ll have ten times more experience.
Photo and video editing may seem very difficult to get into, especially since products like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, and Final Cut are so expensive.
Luckily you have free apps like Canva and GIMP that can help you with photo editing and free apps like iMovie or invideo to help you with video editing.
You can focus on youtube videos to learn how to use these apps to your advantage.
Essentially what I’m saying is, the main reason drop shippers fail is because they don’t try.
They start a store, put some products on it with facebook ads and they think they are done.
The real recipe to success is in the research.
Once you have knowledge in marketing, advertising, editing, branding, and so on, that’s when you’ll start making the real bucks with dropshipping.
How Much do Dropshippers Make on Average?
The amount that dropshippers make vary based on their profit margins, advertising methods and the amount of money they put in paid advertising.
A good dropshipper, will have a profit margin of anywhere between 10-30%.
Let’s illustrate with a fictive example.
Say you have a product you’re selling for $40.
You invest $100 a day or $3000 a month in Facebook Ads and that gets you about 15 orders a day.
Thats 450 orders a month for a total amount of sales of $18,000.
After the cost of goods, monthly fees, and advertising cost, you are left with $7000.
Minus your $3000 advertising input, that’s a total monthly profit of $4000.
And that’s just when you spend $100 a day.
The real art of dropshipping comes with the scaling.
If you can maintain this kind of return on investment while scaling to $1000 a day, you can hit the 6 figure mark as a dropshipper.
The Truth About Dropshipping Gurus
Dropshipping is made popular by Gurus.
The reason you likely learned about dropshipping, is because you’ve likely got an advertisement on youtube or Facebook about it, right?
Or maybe you’ve seen one of the many youtube videos made by these gurus.
Every dropshipping guru has their own dropshipping course.
They like to price this course from anywhere between $297 to even $997.
These gurus will do everything in their power to get you to buy their courses.
Once they know you’re interested, they will spam you with advertisements, emails and so on.
And if you’re interested in dropshipping, you’re probably interested in buying a course right?
So should you…?
Eh… Maybe … But probably not.
The thing about these “courses” is that they are all one and the same.
Each teaches you (in almost the exact same fashion) how you can create your Shopify store, how you can do your product research, how you can set up your Facebook ads and email marketing, and so on.
Yes these basics are helpful, but you can also just find this info online.
My dropshipping guide alone (which is completely free) covers just about everything the majority of these courses cover.
You can get started by doing your own research just as well.
Sure, if you need to ‘invest’ in order to really pull through with it, it might be worth it.
But then again, if you need to spend money in order to get motivated, the dropshipping business model isn’t for you.
Do your own research, you’ll be better off, stick to free dropshipping guides and youtube videos and you can invest your in learning Facebook Ads instead.
My Review of Dropshipping
So what do I think of the dropshipping business model?
I love it.
I love dropshipping as a business model and I love the opportunities it has created for me.
Dropshipping has kick-started my online business, has taught me more about business than college ever could, and getting started was super easy.
But dropshipping is far from perfect.
It took me years to really make money with it.
And I’ve also watched on the sidelines as many people have felt betrayed or scammed by the business model.
Many people still believe it is a get-rich-quick-scheme and its an easy money making machine.
It’s not.
Don’t let the FOMO take over. Don’t let the guru’s get to you.
Dropshipping is BUSINESS.
And business is HARD.
I cannot stress this enough.
If you have the perseverance to push through and really go for it and learn the ins and outs of online marketing, by all means go for it.
But if you’re lazy and believe a course will turn you into a millionaire, don’t waste your time and money.
Should You Get Started With Dropshipping?
If you’re still reading my dropshipping review after I’ve talked about all the negatives, good.
Let me start by asking you a couple of questions:
Do you have work ethic?
Are you able to wake up early?
Can you devote at least 5 hours a day to working?
Are you eager to learn?
Are you patient?
Do you feel the itch?
If you can truthfully (and be honest with yourself!) answer YES to everything, then I believe you’ve got what it takes to make it in any online business, including dropshipping.
If you’re motivated, eager to learn and ready to devote at least 5 hours a day, then and only then am I putting my money on you.
How To Start Dropshipping
Now how can you get started with dropshipping?
The answer is right here.
My complete dropshipping guide will teach you the basics to get you started.
I’m also constantly pumping out new articles about dropshipping which you can find here.