[the Thing]

Hi, bumping this.

WeekendCasanova what happened to your stores? I was doing research for a store and wanted to take a look for some inspiration but can't seem to reach any of them.

[Brodiaga]

WC, excellent datasheet, +1 from me.

How do you get product photos for dropshipping websites? You mentioned that you didn't even order samples. Did you get professional photos from sellers on Ali Express?

[tobehero]

You can ask the suppliers , manufacturers or distributors for hi-res pics.

[Brodiaga]

(11-27-2016 07:11 PM)tobehero Wrote:  

You can ask the suppliers , manufacturers or distributors for hi-res pics.

How does this work? What is their incentive to send you hi-res professional pics so that you can re-sell their products for profit?

[tobehero]

You're thinking about it too much

If you are working together with distributors or suppliers, they have no problems sending your their official brochures, pictures and specs. You make money, they make money, win-win.

Worst case, googling the product number will find pics on what you need.

[jkray_]

Would any of you guys that have had some success in this be able to help me w/ my ads or send me some screenshots of successful ones? Have tried a number of different variants on different products, but with no great success.

Thanks!

[Bushido]

Thanks for this fantastic thread. It has been extremely helpful. I'm making my first dive into it this week.

Does anyone know of any decent Facebook groups or communities for information sharing/feedback concerning Shopify/Dropshipping?

I have signed up for a ton but the level of discussion is piss poor. "I spend 10 dollar already on FB ads why no sale???"

Don't mind a paid group if it comes recommended from someone here. Just want to cut through the noise. Thanks!

[Soothesayer]

(11-30-2016 05:11 PM)jkray_ Wrote:  

Would any of you guys that have had some success in this be able to help me w/ my ads or send me some screenshots of successful ones? Have tried a number of different variants on different products, but with no great success.

Thanks!

Try this site.

Just be sure and filter out all but ecommerce examples.

In my experience the best way, perhaps the only way, to succeed in any online endeavor is to follow those successful gents who went before you. Success leaves clues.

[mras1279]

Long time reader, first time posting.

I finally took the plunge in setting up a shopify store using the guidelines in this thread. My big question for you guys is: Do you guys generally focus on selling one specific product or do you generally sell a broad set to a particular niche?

I am focusing on selling women gym wear (tanks, tights etc) and have a fairly targeting niche list (1.3mm audience on FB). Spent like 70+ dollars last few days on ads, and generated 190+ clicks to website however, nothing sticking and nothing selling. Do you think its a function of focusing as a brand instead of a product?

Appreciate all the help and thanks again for the useful info on here.

[tobehero]

Sell a broad range of very niche specific. (You can use your fb group to get a rough idea what may sell)

You have potential gold if you already have targetted fb group. If you post something in your fb group, what's the percentage of them engaging in your posts?

Fb ads is a difficult thing to get right. You will be throwing money away at first before you even scratch the surface. The key thing with fb ads is not to look at it making sales but to build engagement.
Build engagement and the sales will follow. Most people think the opposite and end up loosing money with little to show for it.

[mras1279]

tobehero: really appreciate your response. Its not my own fb group. I was talking about a 1.2mm targeting audience for the fb ads which I launched.

Actually would love to get your (and others!) feedback on the site....maybe its just not as well designed? Happy to share as would love to learn more about this.

https://gymbella.com

Again appreciate everyones help and hope to figure out a way for myself and others to make money!

[tobehero]

1.2m is too high.

You want to target the hardcore fans... only the hardcore fans of a given niche will engage and potentially buy products. Avoid the casuals, they are just noise.

[mras1279]

(12-07-2016 01:57 PM)tobehero Wrote:  

1.2m is too high.

You want to target the hardcore fans... only the hardcore fans of a given niche will engage and potentially buy products. Avoid the casuals, they are just noise.

Thanks seems I have some work to do in defining my audience. Any feedback on the site design itself ?

[Kdog]

Been spending a few hours a day after my main project building up a store with Oberlo. I love how fast it is to upload your products, as well as altering prices and descriptions etc. A few more days I will be ready to launch and start some FB campaigns. I have two niches I am going with, both are decently small for shipping and both are not brand loyal products. I am going to have to play around with prices as I don't want to make pennies but I don't want to scare customers away. I will keep the threaded updated from time to time. How's everyone else going?

[SnowHugger]

Another thread inspired me to go ahead and do this. Oberlo seems like a good way to not have any inventory. Although the product prices are a little higher.
Anyone doing this right now?

[jamaicabound]

Hey all, this post has been going for a while. While I'm sure some people are probably making some money with this, this whole Ali Express dropshipping thing is getting pretty played out. Early on you could do the whole "just pay shipping" marketing gimmick, I know a few guys who were doing 10k a day with that. Its been overdone and most people don't fall for the hey I'm getting a free product thing anymore.

Ali Express is getting more mainstream which means customers know about it and can go direct and also as it gets more popular sellers are starting to raise prices. YOu can hop on over to DHGate or DealExtreme and find slightly lower prices.

After doing this myself for a while and also knowing a lot of people who use this method there's just too many negatives for me. First of all the margins aren't great. Second of all, customers are getting more saavy. THey realize when they order something and 45 days later a black garbage bag wrapped package shows up stating it came from China and the item cost 1/4 of what I charged them and they get upset. Despite clearly stating shipping times without fail at least 40% of customers are inquiring after 1-2 weeks where there package is.

If you have absolutely $0 to start a business or if you're outside the USA and have no option but to dropship then this method may be all you have at your disposal however for anyone who wants to start a serious business and not a half ass hustle I would highly suggest finding a niche, finding a product to sell to that niche, private labeling a product through an Alibaba sellers, buying in bulk and getting much better pricing and self fulfilling your orders or at the very least using a company like Shipwire to do it for you who will ship same day, max 24 hours. You'll have so much more control over your business, you'll have less customers hassling you, and you'll actually build something that can grow.

With dropshipping your not ordering in bulk so you can't expect a great price. You have 0 control over quality, 0 control over how quickly something ships, you have all the responsibility of accepting the payment and dealing with chargebacks and returns yet no control over the actual fulfillment or your business. Also if your supplier raises prices or discontinues a product your business is done.

Again, I'm not saying you can't make money doing this, I'm simply saying to me it's a huge headache and a huge waste of time and I'd rather put my time into a real longterm sustainable business rather than a smalltime hustle.

I'll mention one last thing for anyone who's stuck on the idea of dropshipping. If you want to dropship go negotiate a dropshipping relationship with a company or store who's products you like. Negotiate your own commisison, have a plan on how you will transmit orders to them, how much you'll be paid, etc so you can answer those questions when you approach them. By doing this you'll make moremoney, you'll have higher quality and more origonal products, nobody else will be selling the same stuff as you, and you'll have a much better relationship and closer relationship with your supplier as opposed to being some nameless guy on Ali who orders a whole lot of stuff from the same chinese seller.

[Praetor Lupus]

My first dropshipping FB advert went live tonight. I've used the free Oberlo trial, but haven't pulled the trigger on a paid sub yet.

[the-dream]

Anyone got any advice of sites you can dropship from in USA or Europe?

[SnowHugger]

(06-12-2017 03:53 PM)Praetor Lupus Wrote:  

My first dropshipping FB advert went live tonight. I've used the free Oberlo trial, but haven't pulled the trigger on a paid sub yet.

Report back :O
I'm still trying to figure out the shipping costs. Products are $3 and shipping is $9. Weird shit Shopify is pulling.

[testos111]

(06-12-2017 03:14 PM)jamaicabound Wrote:  

Hey all, this post has been going for a while. While I'm sure some people are probably making some money with this, this whole Ali Express dropshipping thing is getting pretty played out. Early on you could do the whole "just pay shipping" marketing gimmick, I know a few guys who were doing 10k a day with that. Its been overdone and most people don't fall for the hey I'm getting a free product thing anymore.

Ali Express is getting more mainstream which means customers know about it and can go direct and also as it gets more popular sellers are starting to raise prices. YOu can hop on over to DHGate or DealExtreme and find slightly lower prices.

After doing this myself for a while and also knowing a lot of people who use this method there's just too many negatives for me. First of all the margins aren't great. Second of all, customers are getting more saavy. THey realize when they order something and 45 days later a black garbage bag wrapped package shows up stating it came from China and the item cost 1/4 of what I charged them and they get upset. Despite clearly stating shipping times without fail at least 40% of customers are inquiring after 1-2 weeks where there package is.

If you have absolutely $0 to start a business or if you're outside the USA and have no option but to dropship then this method may be all you have at your disposal however for anyone who wants to start a serious business and not a half ass hustle I would highly suggest finding a niche, finding a product to sell to that niche, private labeling a product through an Alibaba sellers, buying in bulk and getting much better pricing and self fulfilling your orders or at the very least using a company like Shipwire to do it for you who will ship same day, max 24 hours. You'll have so much more control over your business, you'll have less customers hassling you, and you'll actually build something that can grow.

With dropshipping your not ordering in bulk so you can't expect a great price. You have 0 control over quality, 0 control over how quickly something ships, you have all the responsibility of accepting the payment and dealing with chargebacks and returns yet no control over the actual fulfillment or your business. Also if your supplier raises prices or discontinues a product your business is done.

Again, I'm not saying you can't make money doing this, I'm simply saying to me it's a huge headache and a huge waste of time and I'd rather put my time into a real longterm sustainable business rather than a smalltime hustle.

I'll mention one last thing for anyone who's stuck on the idea of dropshipping. If you want to dropship go negotiate a dropshipping relationship with a company or store who's products you like. Negotiate your own commisison, have a plan on how you will transmit orders to them, how much you'll be paid, etc so you can answer those questions when you approach them. By doing this you'll make moremoney, you'll have higher quality and more origonal products, nobody else will be selling the same stuff as you, and you'll have a much better relationship and closer relationship with your supplier as opposed to being some nameless guy on Ali who orders a whole lot of stuff from the same chinese seller.

Spot on! I did a paid Shopify Dropshipping course and most members in their private community are hell bent on selling their websites even though they get sales. Margins is a big problem, let alone getting regular sales. FB is increasingly becoming hostile towards low-quality ads and I'm sure, in the near future, they will, just like Google Adwords, start taking into account the quality of landing page that the ad is being redirected to and once that happens, expect the CPC to go really high if you have a website that looks crap and doesn't come across as a proper e-commerce business.

[jamaicabound]

Totally agree testos. The number of these stores I see pop up and wind up gone in 30 days or a couple weeks is astounding. I'm a Shopify affiliate so I can see the stores and signups I get and most don't last beyond the trial. Those that do fall out within a month or two.

I think with any business for the most part you get out what you put in. If you treat a business like a half ass hobby you'll get half ass hobby results. If your business model is something any broke dick danny can put together in an afternoon your going to have a ton of competition. If you can find your products and niche by pulling up AliExpress.com and looking at the first page so can everyong else which is why there's 10,592 stores selling parachute hammocks with tree straps and tee shirts and fidget spinners.

I have nothing against small time hustles but just want to be clear doing the ali to shopify hustle is far from being a long standing long lasting profitable business.

[asiaslayer]

does anyone know a good fulfillment center alternative to Oberlo or Amazon in the US?

[jamaicabound]

(07-05-2017 05:52 AM)asiaslayer Wrote:  

does anyone know a good fulfillment center alternative to Oberlo or Amazon in the US?

For a fulfillment center RedStagg or Shipwire however you need to buy your inventory, send it to them, and they will fulfill your orders. That's what a fulfillment center is.

If you're looking for a dropshipper that's something entirely different, they have their own inventory and you order it one piece at a time. Margins arent very good with this business model typically.

[Sensei Creation]

Dropshipping revenue to profit margins are typically 20-30% profit. That's good margin.

Taking into account sales and cost of sales, the FTSE 100 company that I work for has a revenue to profit margin of 3%.

[asiaslayer]

Why did OP disappear again?