drop shipping

It all comes down to picking the right product(s). The Shopify/Oberlo/AliExpress model tends to work best with Facebook advertising and only if the product has some sort of "wow" factor and is at a price point that does not cause people to have to worry about spending a whole lot of money (an impulse buy).

Things that tend to work best are products that everyone is talking about (or clones of them), products that solve a problem or products that are very unique ("wow, I've never seen anything like that before, it's so cool!"). Other than that, you can sometimes have success selling a product that caters to a very specific avid audience.

They have to be those types of products because nobody goes to Facebook looking to buy things. Your ad needs to catch their attention and make them think, "I have to have that now". Amazon is not a factor because the people you are advertising to are not on Amazon when they are introduced to the product; they are on Facebook looking at your ad.

Think about the types of things people are talking about, the type of groups that are really passionate about something and the type of problems people have that they need a solution for. Then, find a product on AliExpress that might work for one or more of those situations.

Honestly, the aliexpress dropshipping market is very saturated. The problem is it's extremely easy to get started so literally anyone and everyone can do it. There is definitely money to be made but you have to find a good niche market.

The real issue is that many of the popular products have been bought in bulk by big sellers and are available on amazon with domestic shipping so people don't have to wait 2 weeks for their product and it's very hard to compete with that

I'd personally recommend selling some sort of private label product via dropship, there are plenty available in the US and it means you create something unique.

Forget about competition. I mean don't FORGET forget about it. But the fact that people are buying more and more every day, means you have a better chance of getting a piece of the pie.

Branding out is what you eventually want to do. Niche down, make a store around a product and sell that product, or variations of it. It takes a lot of time, but it's doable.

Of course, this is long term. Short term, you can start a general store.

You think Amazon was the only one selling fidget spinners when they came out? No. Sell what is selling

Thanks @dave_hermansen @jonnyg13 @Pablo Visconti - I appreciate the feedback. Fidget spinners - where did that madness come from anyway?

I was thinking about making a website dedicated to a specific need of a hobbyist market I have in mind.

I'm wondering whether this could be more appealing to a potential buyer than just rows and rows of product pics on amazon.

Does it have a better chance if it (my shop) looks like it lives and breathes this aspect of this hobby? Kinda thinking like: knitting needles r us sort of thing as an example.

I'm also a bit concerned about being ripped off by the supplier. I mentioned my thoughts on doing this to someone I know and they said that a lot of people have been burnt by suppliers in China faking the actual dispatch of goods - Is this possible?

I watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykOqvTHdMVw&t=183s

The guy in the video says that they have a rating system including crowns. I went to the same seller he went to in the video and couldn't find any crowns (which are meant to signify trustworthiness). Has this changed recently? Am I to trust this 'top brands' thing that AliExpress bang on about?

And just to clarify - if I were to use the shopify/oberlo/allixpress setup - does this mean that when a shopper on my site purchases something (I dare to dream), does this mean that they actually pay the seller on Aliexpress and somehow the site I've made using shopify sends me my cut of the sale? Is that right?

You need to do some research on what are the hot and unique products that you are passionate about. Setting up a store using Shopify is not difficult, the most critical thing is on how to drive traffic that can convert to sales.

Thanks again @dave_hermansen . So to make a really obvious statement - online shopping pretty much is exactly like old school bricks and mortar. I guess rather than continuously asking these rudimentary questions regarding the mechanics of all of this here, I think I should dig around online. Thanks a bunch though.. I've got a more focused vision of what I should be doing now.. cue the 'Rocky' theme tune.. and thanks to @InternetMarketingMadeEZ, the traffic issue will be right there on one of my front burners.. I think I'm going to be rather busy with my research.. all advise is extremely welcome.

Thanks @mspike - you've certainly given me a lot to research

@dave_hermansen - I have just one more noob question: according to my research last night, my understanding of the purchase process is this: customer clicks on something on offer at my site

Using Shopify > Oberlo > AliXpress an order for that product gets sent to me or the guy on Alixppress? This I'm not sure of.

thanks again @dave_hermansen .. and @rabbiefpv .. your idea sounds like a surer way to begin. It's interesting - based on what @dave_hermansen said most recently that it seems quite labour intensive.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm not prepared to put in time.. but... I already run an actual business (lawn mowing and gardening), so I know all about labour - and the time it takes to see it running as a business.

Im hoping to transition out of this - as I'm becoming rather senior now (51) and really, I'm over it. I just mean, that the idea of actually manually making every transaction for 10 bucks here and 10 bucks there, doesn't seem so time effective. I'm hoping to do something "passive" - I think it's called.

Of course if it aint gunna happen for me online then I'll most likely be doing the same shit until I drop dead. But.. I'm going to give it a good bash.

I've been poking around online since my last post here and am now exploring the idea of blogging - with an eye on affiliate marketing. So far, the total of 90 minutes I've had spare to research this has turned up this guy: https://billionaireblogclub.com

Have just read his intro and contemplating my next move. I'm on my annual leave right now and have a couple of weeks with bonus time to spare. I guess it can't hurt to ask does anyone have any ideas on the best intro course? Obviously, as I'm dipping my anxious toes here - any free ones?

Amongst all of the things I'm obligated to do around the house and a few days away in the country, I've kinda made a pledge to myself to get something, anything off the ground - where it can clog up some bandwidth amongst the others.

I'm also thinking that this thread is now unrelated to this and should start a new one on that topic.

Fair comment @dave_hermansen - It just sounds clunky to me at this stage. I am of course speaking from a position of having no experience with this system.

I just would've thought that the orders would go through automatically from the customer to the Aliexpress guy and simply log that as a sale at your end - wishful thinking I 'spose. And it sounds like the profit margin is important if you hope to make a living out of it.

Would you be able to throw up a link to one of your shops so I can get a better idea? Or is that not right?

PS: Sorry I made you use caps

@dave_hermansen I wasn't sure if it was wrong or not - now I know. Re the stylistic caps.. I wasn't offended, though I think I've riled you up, so sorry - not my intention.. just trying to learn the ropes here.

Glad I haven't upset you.. I think that sometimes I can be annoying with my questions.

Just thought I'd let you know that I had a look at your profile and noticed that you have a course... and free.

I've google it and it appears that yours is actually one of the rare exceptions to the multitude of scammy ones on offer. I think I might sign up. I'm still tossing up between starting with affiliate marketing and then progressing to drop shipping.

From what I've learned so far, it appears that affiliate marketing is a good way to dip your toes into it and get some low cost practice at driving traffic amongst the other things I'm yet to understand. Rather than try and learn that stuff while paying for a shopify store. So if you see a monkey pop up in your incoming emails signing up - it'll be me.

Thanks again for the advice..

If you're going to peruse drop shipping I'd recommend finding a product then a niche, seeing as products that sell are few and far between these days...

Good luck in your ventures though.

Try to start at first w/ a general store and then later on go more narrow in your niche.

Making sure your website is advertised correctly can make you compete with sites like Amazon.

There are a lot of good drop shippers out there, try finding one that offers a push to ebay or amazon option get your feet wet and learn the business before trying to do it yourself.

Dropshipping is great if done correctly. You can compete with sites like amazon you just need to have the right place to advertise and so on.

Facebooks ads directed at 16-19 year olds is the best for almost every product.