The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

$500,000+ revenue on Shopify!

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
I've posted my issues with the thread, so I get where some people are coming from. But it's not a reason to personally attack someone, especially if they're using their real name.

@AllenCrawley is spot on: asking better questions gets you to the truth faster than name calling ever will.

Great post. I have absolutely nothing to hide. I don't expect everyone to agree but I feel I have added value here. I've had around 50 PMs too and some guys wanting a chat on Skype. This is all free information that I am providing.

I'm happy if people disagree but calling someone an "a**hole" because you think they work for Shopify (which I don't. They're in Canada. I live in India) is ridiculous and not something I consider Fastlane mentality.

So many assumptions are being made here and the thread is losing it's direction.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eTox

Expect success, but prepare to fail.
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
145%
May 21, 2016
473
684
Toronto
@Sanj Modha have you ever used Adespresso? If so, what is your opinion on it and would you recomend it?
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
@Sanj Modha have you ever used Adespresso? If so, what is your opinion on it and would you recomend it?

I've heard good things about it and Massimo (the CEO) is a nice guy. I'd try it out for sure but I happen to use Qwaya. I like it and it helps me launch 100s of ads in minutes.

Just use whatever works for you. There's no right answer.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Maka702

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
117%
Mar 13, 2015
12
14
Werere
Congratulations keep that fire in your belly burning and i'm sure you'll be making much more in the future.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
Which do you use (prefer) The Ali express model that so many are using or direct to (US) manufacturer relationship?

I work with US suppliers for Shopify and Chinese suppliers for Amazon or tripwire offers.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

cheksbry

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
50%
Oct 24, 2011
6
3
n
Thanks buddy!

Sanj, did you use your indian address while registering on shopify?
How did you handle payments, USA or indian paypal?
I just bought a domain yday and I have some action plans laid out.....I just pmd you too
 

GSF

Silver Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
278%
Aug 25, 2012
339
941
@Sanj Modha as an international overseas seller selling physical products in the usa, how do you deal with sales tax?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
Sanj, did you use your indian address while registering on shopify?
How did you handle payments, USA or indian paypal?
I just bought a domain yday and I have some action plans laid out.....I just pmd you too

My business is registered in the UK. Nothing changes for me apart from my location.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
@Sanj Modha as an international overseas seller selling physical products in the usa, how do you deal with sales tax?

Shopify handles all that for me. There's an option to charge Sales Tax based on the customer's location.
 

Envision

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
779%
May 5, 2014
861
6,707
So we hear this often. Find a large audience, then give them what they want or need or find out what they want. Any practical methods you have successfully used to find this sort of thing out? Run surveys etc?

For instance the pet market is huge, niche down to dogs. What practical methods can be used to find a gap or underserved opportunity here other than your own personal insight and intuition?


Say you are interested in yoga and believe the market is underserved with overpriced products that for the most part contain poor quality.

Go to Amazon and begin surveying different niches with Yoga

Say we look into yoga mats (super saturated) and you see this

Screen Shot 2016-09-23 at 11.26.07 PM.png

It's a yoga mat that looks like it is dominating at the moment. Lots of reviews and variety of colors with a pretty fair price point. But it does have 1-3 star reviews meaning there have been customers that have a problem with the product and they need it to be fixed.

Screen Shot 2016-09-23 at 11.26.15 PM.png


That means you can do better and if you can do better and SHOW people that its better than you will get the sale assuming you can market it and get it in front of people (this can be done on amazon via PPC).
Screen Shot 2016-09-23 at 11.26.26 PM.png


Now as we can see there is a quality issue in the material (can you make the material thicker? stronger? more sturdy yet flexible?) as well as with its ability to stay in place. What type of material or coating is applied to prevent the product from moving/making noise?

It also doesnt have a strap amongst other issues that can be fixed and added to improve the product.

Continuing forward Amazon has gone ahead and provided you with a simple bundle opportunity by showing you that people are buying two items together at a higher cost

Screen Shot 2016-09-23 at 11.26.45 PM.png

So what is stopping you from creating a foam roller/ yoga mat bundle and improving the quality of both of the products so that the customers on Amazon can have their needs filled?

Once you can do this with a product other needs in your niche become evident and you can duplicate the process repeatedly amongst products throughout your niche and eventually expand onto other sales channels because your product is good and you understand the market wants it.

PS: dont do yoga mats - they cost too much to ship via FBA due to their size and the market is saturated to all hell but this is an example. and assuming you can brand, import, and caculate costs to run a profitable business you should have no issues finding a need to improve and building a company around that.

Remember to not go for products but a market/niche. Have some vision when creating your company so that you can build something that is not just a couple money making products but a complete brand/company.

Edit: credit goes to @biophase for most of the details included here.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

Envision

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
779%
May 5, 2014
861
6,707
that feel when you bump an old thread and dont realize it.

Good stuff though. rep+
 

JasonR

Maverick
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
544%
May 29, 2012
2,102
11,425
Las Vegas
they cost too much to ship via FBA due to their size

While I agree that selling a yoga mat without some sort of huge competitive advantage is foolhardy, but dismissing products because they are "too much to ship via FBA" sounds straight out of the AMS course bullshit.

I have friends who sell things that are too "fragile" or too "heavy" for FBA and they do quite well.

I like to point this out because of the faulty thinking that goes into product decisions. Being Fragile and Heavy are never the sole reason to drop a product.
 
Last edited:

Envision

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
779%
May 5, 2014
861
6,707
While I agree that selling a yoga mat without some sort of huge competitive advantage is foold hardy, but dismissing products because they are "too much to ship via FBA" sounds straight out of the AMS course bullshit.

I have friends who sell things that are too "fragile" or too "heavy" for FBA and they do quite well.

I like to point this out because of the faulty thinking that goes into product decisions. Being Fragile and Heavy are never the sole reason to drop a product.

This is a good point and it shouldn't limit options thats for sure.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

johk

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
38%
Jul 21, 2013
39
15
Hi,

Very interesting thread and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge/experience.
Is the packaging generic or does it have the drop shippers name on it?
How do you deal with warranties etc – are all products shipped back the drop shippers by the customers?


Thanks

Johk
 

safff

Redlining
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
171%
Jun 11, 2015
179
306
Well done with your success so far :)

One question I had - you mentioned having a spend of $1k a day on advertising. Now, my ads are far, far below that but then sales are often on a go slow. So I guess I'm wondering at which point did you find sales ramped up in relation to your advertising spend? Which came first, the big spend or the big revenue?

The biggest challenge for me is getting engagement, and I'm in a constant battle of not being sure if it's content/copywriting/the actual products or simply not investing enough as far as advertising goes. As an example, one product line I've spent about $260 on adwords over the period of a couple of months which has netted about 560 in sales, 400 of which profit so only really $140 ahead in the big scheme. Do you find in that senario double budget equates to double takings, or did you find a point at which many more factors came into play?
 

IMEVO

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
May 22, 2017
7
7
Montreal
First off...
Congrats with your success!
I just recently started a shopify site but had to put it on pause as im having an issue being able to use facebook ads. I've never used facebook and basically created an account for the sole perpuse of testing ads.

Before i was even able to run ads they blocked my account. I went back and fourth with them but they never provided a real reason, Just wasted a lot of my time. I just wanted to know if you ever got some accounts banned and how you went about getting new ones to use?

I want to use facebook ads to test stuff but these guys won't even take my money!

My Ads were legit and not promoting anything sketchy. I just assumed i got blocked for using a new account.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

SeanyHang

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
287%
May 24, 2013
167
479
34
New Jersey
I can usually convert wholesalers into dropshipper with a few easy steps. They have the product and infrastructure in place so I sweeten the deal by sending a bunch of sales via purchase orders. I handle the leads, customer service and anything else. They ship the items. It's a win/win.

So you must not typically start your Shopify store with dropshipping then, correct? You find a market, pick a niche, get wholesalers for products in that niche and once you start making sales you try to convert you wholesaler into a dropshipper?

It'd be kind of hard to use "increased sales for the wholesaler" as leverage when you're first creating a Shopify store considering you wouldn't have any sales.
 

kristyblair

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
48%
Jun 8, 2017
21
10
49
Forked River NJ
I test all variations with new ads. That's WC, CTWs and PPEs then scale the winners and kill the losers. There's no exact science for me. I let the numbers decide.

ok I am sorry I am new to the game, I do not know the acronyms you have stated? WC? CTW? PPE??

Thank you
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

SeanyHang

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
287%
May 24, 2013
167
479
34
New Jersey
why? I'd like to know

Hey Kristyblair - I see you're new here. Welcome!
Don't ever ask people what their product is or what they're selling on this forum. We've had issues with some folks learning about other members products and then completely copying them... It's a scum move that leads to competition and possible decreased sales for the OP (original poster). So yea. Don't ask about products or businesses if they haven't already specified them.


ok I am sorry I am new to the game, I do not know the acronyms you have stated? WC? CTW? PPE??

Thank you

Website Conversion, Click to Website, Page Post Engagement. Google is your amigo.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
ok I am sorry I am new to the game, I do not know the acronyms you have stated? WC? CTW? PPE??

Thank you

First off - I didn't realize this post came back from the dead! I haven't replied for months!

WC = website conversion, CTW = clicks to website and PPE = page post engagement. If you're new to FB ads I suggest grabbing an entry level course off Udemy. They have regular offers when most courses sell for $10. Sign up to their newsletter for updates.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
So you must not typically start your Shopify store with dropshipping then, correct? You find a market, pick a niche, get wholesalers for products in that niche and once you start making sales you try to convert you wholesaler into a dropshipper?

It'd be kind of hard to use "increased sales for the wholesaler" as leverage when you're first creating a Shopify store considering you wouldn't have any sales.

I have a general store so I can pretty much sell in most niches. Some won't convert but that's fine. There are plenty to choose from.

If I find a product I want to test - I'll run some quick tests. From experience I know if it takes off on day 1 so I'll run very low profit or break even ads. I send the wholesaler these orders and tell them I can generate more sales with a better price and then we negotiate on volume/price.

Now I have vendors in place so I receive a weekly newsletter with their best selling items and we work with factories in China directly too. I'll run anything they send me.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
Which do you use (prefer) The Ali express model that so many are using or direct to (US) manufacturer relationship?

I used both in the beginning but there are pros vs cons with each model. Ali is cheap but delivery takes longer. Plus I've heard horror stories with damaged items and mass refunds or PayPal shutting down accounts.

US is less stress and most items can be shipped within 3-5 days. The negative is that you'll pay more but this isn't always a bad thing since you can change your pricing, offer upsells/cross-sells etc to make it a better deal for the customers.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed
First off...
Congrats with your success!
I just recently started a shopify site but had to put it on pause as im having an issue being able to use facebook ads. I've never used facebook and basically created an account for the sole perpuse of testing ads.

Before i was even able to run ads they blocked my account. I went back and fourth with them but they never provided a real reason, Just wasted a lot of my time. I just wanted to know if you ever got some accounts banned and how you went about getting new ones to use?

I want to use facebook ads to test stuff but these guys won't even take my money!

My Ads were legit and not promoting anything sketchy. I just assumed i got blocked for using a new account.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Thanks man. I've never had an account blocked (touchwood) so I can't comment on that.
 

Sanj Modha

Platinum Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
315%
Feb 16, 2016
1,024
3,226
42
In Your Newsfeed

kristyblair

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
48%
Jun 8, 2017
21
10
49
Forked River NJ
First off - I didn't realize this post came back from the dead! I haven't replied for months!

WC = website conversion, CTW = clicks to website and PPE = page post engagement. If you're new to FB ads I suggest grabbing an entry level course off Udemy. They have regular offers when most courses sell for $10. Sign up to their newsletter for updates.
thank you!
 

kristyblair

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
48%
Jun 8, 2017
21
10
49
Forked River NJ
Hey Kristyblair - I see you're new here. Welcome!
Don't ever ask people what their product is or what they're selling on this forum. We've had issues with some folks learning about other members products and then completely copying them... It's a scum move that leads to competition and possible decreased sales for the OP (original poster). So yea. Don't ask about products or businesses if they haven't already specified them.




Website Conversion, Click to Website, Page Post Engagement. Google is your amigo.
got ya! totally understand.... not something I would ever do I just love hearing about it but definitley get it!
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top