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AMA - $500k+/mo Dropshipper With Rebills

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

eTox

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Hey guys, it's been a long journey since the first date I joined.

I haven't been really active for the past few years.

A lot has happened since then.

I am immensely grateful for the value that I've got from reading progress threads and INSIDERS threads (highly recommend!!!). I've learned a lot from the folks on this forum over the past years. The game is in the mindset.

I am by no means any success. I'm far far from that. I'm still dead broke, yet to make a dime of my own.

The reason why I decided to post this is to give back. I know how hard it is to get started with something, especially when there are many people trying to take advantage of you. I hate b.s. and I'm grateful that this forum prevents it.

I would like to spill some truth and empty my heart here.

I've made mistakes that cost me many years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and bankruptcy to get to this small place.

To provide more context:

My partner and I are doing over 500k/mo (on track to do 700k) this month from dropshipping products from China to the US. We are utilizing subscriptions on the backend and have over $1.5m in rebills to collect. We are not running something that may seem moral to others and we are definitely not building a brand. There is a need in the market and we fulfill it. People want cheap products and people don't pay attention. So we are just one of the good ones at this game.

My partner handles finances & payment processing and I've built out the operations. But I know pretty much the other side well too.

I hope I did not offend anyone with our existence, so without any further ado shoot any questions you have at me and I'll try to answer them.

For mods: if you want verification, let me know, and I'll do my best to provide it. Also, I wanted this to be an AMA... how? :D
 
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Dadars10

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Ehi ragazzi, è stato un lungo viaggio dal primo appuntamento in cui mi sono unito.

Non sono stato molto attivo negli ultimi anni.

Tanto è successo da allora.

Sono immensamente grato per il valore che ho ottenuto dalla lettura dei thread di avanzamento e dei thread privilegiati (consiglio vivamente!!!). Ho imparato molto dalle persone di questo forum negli ultimi anni. Il gioco è nella mentalità.

Non ho affatto successo. Sono lontano da quello. Sono ancora al verde, ancora per guadagnare un centesimo da solo.

Il motivo per cui ho deciso di pubblicare questo è per restituire. So quanto sia difficile iniziare con qualcosa, specialmente quando ci sono molte persone che cercano di approfittarsi di te. Odio bs e sono grato che questo forum lo impedisca.

Vorrei svelare un po' di verità e svuotare il mio cuore qui.

Ho commesso errori che mi sono costati molti anni, centinaia di migliaia di dollari e il fallimento per arrivare in questo piccolo posto.

Per fornire più contesto:

Il mio partner ed io stiamo facendo oltre 500k/mese (sulla buona strada per fare 700k) questo mese da prodotti dropshipping dalla Cina agli Stati Uniti. Utilizziamo gli abbonamenti sul back-end e abbiamo oltre $ 1,5 milioni di riaddebiti da riscuotere. Non gestiamo qualcosa che può sembrare morale agli altri e sicuramente non stiamo costruendo un marchio. C'è un bisogno nel mercato e noi lo soddisfiamo. Le persone vogliono prodotti economici e le persone non prestano attenzione. Quindi siamo solo uno dei bravi in questo gioco.

Il mio partner gestisce le finanze e l'elaborazione dei pagamenti e io ho sviluppato le operazioni. Ma conosco bene anche l'altra parte.

Spero di non aver offeso nessuno con la nostra esistenza, quindi senza ulteriori indugi fatemi qualsiasi domanda e cercherò di rispondervi.

Per le mod: se vuoi la verifica, fammi sapere e farò del mio meglio per fornirla. Inoltre, volevo che questo fosse un AMA... come?:D
Ciao eTox,

im starting dropshipping, do you use multi products store? Can you give me some advice to start?
 

eTox

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Ciao eTox,

im starting dropshipping, do you use multi products store? Can you give me some advice to start?
Hey man, we only run general stores but our model is totally different from regular dropshippers.

If I was just starting out then I would only take products that have high perceived value and that solve a concrete problem. Ideally something that's low ticket, has low cost of goods.

I would then buy in bulk 500 or more units and fulfil from my own house. If that's not an option, I'd just get 1 unit from Amazon, shoot a bunch of viral content and upload it on TikTok.

That's how you'd get your first sales the easy way and then get to learn about fulfilment and payment processing problems if you have long shipping times ;)

Good luck!
 

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What’s the net on that?

Where do you run ads?

What’s the ad spend?

What’s the rebill? More physical products or something digital?

What platform do you sell on shopify or some kind of funnels?

Do you have 1 or 2 winners this whole time or are you always testing new things?

Crazy numbers, that’s where I want to grow my business to, except mines a legit brand, seems I’m wasting my time doing everything legit when people are scaling things like this to 500k a month. Hope you don’t take that the wrong way massive respect for doing it that’s not easy, I just wonder what I'm missing that I haven't been able to grow mine like this.
 
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eTox

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What’s the net on that?

Where do you run ads?

What’s the ad spend?

What’s the rebill? More physical products or something digital?

What platform do you sell on shopify or some kind of funnels?

Do you have 1 or 2 winners this whole time or are you always testing new things?

Crazy numbers, that’s where I want to grow my business to, except mines a legit brand, seems I’m wasting my time doing everything legit when people are scaling things like this to 500k a month. Hope you don’t take that the wrong way massive respect for doing it that’s not easy, I just wonder what I'm missing that I haven't been able to grow mine like this.

The net on that throughout the last year was not much. We've almost 5m in revenue with about half coming from subscription revenue alone.

The net profit wasn't there. We were growing rapidly in the past half a year. Profitability is just around the corner. I guess I'll give an update by Q4.

We're only doing TikTok. We're getting back on Facebook, but first we need to set up a more sustainable solution.

The rebills are an access to a restricted membership which has f+s offers for high perceived low cogs products. The uptake rate is surprisingly very low.

The rebill is at $16.99/mo

We use shopify as our front-end for public access, but we now drive traffic to proper webflow product pages as we have issues with take downs. Orders are handled by a specific CRM and the checkout is also custom.

We've went through 1,000 products. We only focus on products that we can take day 1 from 0 to 300 units with a $2-5 CPA at the start. There are about 7 or so winners that are now stabilized with a decent CPA that allows us to grow.

I could point to dozens of products that can be improved and be considered "Winners".

All products were researched and approved. That means I've got a list of 1000 products that are more or less guaranteed to work via the regular dropshipping model.

My friend, we're never wasting time. You're either earning money or experience. There are numerous ways to scale a brand much quicker. You just haven't realized how <3

If you're interested in having a chat, shoot me a DM with your numbers (for context) and your story in brief. If I'm certain I can help, I'll be glad to dedicate some of my time ;)
 

eTox

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For a very long time I considered myself a "stupid naive kid", but I've only recently realized that we're all like that at the start. The difference between a more "successful" version of you is the amount of mistakes that you have made in time. Which is a direct proportion to the amount of action you've taken.

The game is not about hitting one milestone after another. 99% of the actions I take I know will be wrong, and I'll fail. I embrace it. Learn to love failing as that's the only thing that will move you forward.

Failure to success is like gas to your engine. Be a 5 liter V8. Fail as much as possible, as fast as possible.

For example:

I have failed in the last week more than most will probably fail in half a year. Why? Because I know I've got a process to build or a thing to figure out. I know that "how" is not important. I know what's important is action.

So you give it a little thought and a lot of action with the intent of failing. You know that after attempting multiple different approaches one will get you the desired outcome. So you iterate, iterate, iterate and get to the point where you've got the thing you desired.

It's all mindset, rarely about existing skill set.
 

eTox

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I'm guessing you're using a service like Oberlo, Spocket, InventorySource, Doba ?
I would never advise doing that. We have our own trusted agent in China fulfilling orders.

If you're just starting out, I'd look for connections in different discord channels to get a proper sourcing agent who will help find the products you want to fulfill.

If you're just just starting out then a good option would be to talk to multiple suppliers on alibaba and aliexpress to see who offers better communication and faster shipping. Then go with one of them.

Alternatively, there are other services like cjdropshipping and others that you can look into. They are also reasonable.
 

eTox

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Has TFLF changed or am I really not interesting to anyone? haha :D

I guess I didn't brag enough about myself and not trying to sell any snake oil here.

Well, we're on track to do 1m in revenue this month, so w.e. If you guys don't have any questions then that's fine with me :) I wish I had all the answer back then. Would have moved so much faster.

Either way, if anyone stumbles on this thread. Feel free to ask.

I do suggest joining the INSIDERS and reading through the gold that's available there.

Most of what all new guys are missing is simply the right mindset. The rest is not even interesting since it's just a matter of time until you figure it out assuming enough action is taken.
 

MitchC

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What do the numbers look like on the products?

You said $2-5 cpa and the products are free plus shipping?

What are you doing for TikTok ads? Finding creators and sending them product and paying them?

Any other upsells on the funnel?

I was in a coaching group ages ago that was teaching the buyers club upsell method, he was also paying for some thing where you give people a bunch of discounts at other places to increase the perceived value. I never tested it, didn’t sit right with me but interesting to see people are still doing it.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Hey guys, it's been a long journey since the first date I joined.

I haven't been really active for the past few years.

A lot has happened since then.

I am immensely grateful for the value that I've got from reading progress threads and INSIDERS threads (highly recommend!!!). I've learned a lot from the folks on this forum over the past years. The game is in the mindset.

I am by no means any success. I'm far far from that. I'm still dead broke, yet to make a dime of my own.

The reason why I decided to post this is to give back. I know how hard it is to get started with something, especially when there are many people trying to take advantage of you. I hate b.s. and I'm grateful that this forum prevents it.

I would like to spill some truth and empty my heart here.

I've made mistakes that cost me many years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and bankruptcy to get to this small place.

To provide more context:

My partner and I are doing over 500k/mo (on track to do 700k) this month from dropshipping products from China to the US. We are utilizing subscriptions on the backend and have over $1.5m in rebills to collect. We are not running something that may seem moral to others and we are definitely not building a brand. There is a need in the market and we fulfill it. People want cheap products and people don't pay attention. So we are just one of the good ones at this game.

My partner handles finances & payment processing and I've built out the operations. But I know pretty much the other side well too.

I hope I did not offend anyone with our existence, so without any further ado shoot any questions you have at me and I'll try to answer them.

For mods: if you want verification, let me know, and I'll do my best to provide it. Also, I wanted this to be an AMA... how? :D
No question @eTox just dropping by to say a massive congrats! Remember when you bought our sales funnel course a few years back and you started at 0, and look at you now.

Nice to see the f+s model we've been teaching inside coming in useful to you and being at the heart of the biz as well, with subscription on the backend. You're actually probably our 4th million dollar + student that I know of!

That’s just awesome!

For everyone else who may be wonder, the sales funnel course is this one: MARKETPLACE - How To Create A 100K-1M+ Sales Funnel

However, the bad news I guess is that we've taken it off the market, so it's not possible to purchase anymore.
 
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Simon Angel

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People probably aren't interested because you're quoting big numbers while being very vague about the net profit.

From what I gather you are either at breakeven, at a slight profit, or at a loss. Which one is it, and by how much?

I remember you messaging me about dropshipping back in 2016 when I'd just joined the forum and was trying to figure it out myself. Pretty crazy to see you're still sticking with it 6 years later and that you are, although not loaded with money, pulling some pretty significant numbers.
 

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How do you recommend newcomers get a start in dropshipping? Of course the answer is "just do it" but it can be confusing, how did you learn the skills to get a start in the industry?
 
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How do you find winning products?

How do you create ads that perform well?

What makes a great product website?

Is a one product store or niche store better?

What sales funnel strategies can you share with us?

What platforms do you use for ads?

Thanks so much already. I've learned a lot from this thread!
 

eTox

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Broke through the 1m/mo getting close to 1.5m/mo.

When you get to 8 figs/year everything starts to break.

The challenge now is to rebuild a lot of the processes and hire proper c-suite positions in the company to handle and manage their own respective departments.

Still doing 80% of the traffic on TikTok. Hard to get back on Facebook, but we have several options for it. I will update later on which one is working.

I hope you guys are crushing it this BFCM, Q4 is never really good for us :)
 

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Broke through the 1m/mo getting close to 1.5m/mo.

When you get to 8 figs/year everything starts to break.

The challenge now is to rebuild a lot of the processes and hire proper c-suite positions in the company to handle and manage their own respective departments.

Still doing 80% of the traffic on TikTok. Hard to get back on Facebook, but we have several options for it. I will update later on which one is working.

I hope you guys are crushing it this BFCM, Q4 is never really good for us :)
Damn, you're crushing it buddy. Way to go!
 
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What are some of the key differences you notice between you and the thousands of wanna be drop shippers? Of course it’s mainly mindset, discipline, persistence, etc. But what are the key strategic differences that make you successful?
 

eTox

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What are some of the key differences you notice between you and the thousands of wanna be drop shippers? Of course it’s mainly mindset, discipline, persistence, etc. But what are the key strategic differences that make you successful?
It's understanding that everything in life comes down to having an unfair advantage.

Most blatantly believe that if they do what's necessary they'll have results that everybody wants and that's simply not true.

There is no secret.

And because there is no secret if everyone just did what's necessary everyone would be "successful", however, that's not true.

Unless you have an edge and can outcompete, you won't really be able to make it.

And yes, if we're talking about over 8figs a year it's all about:
  1. Unfair competitive advantage
  2. Product market fit
  3. Systems and process
I've seen a lot of people get to 7 figs and drop back to 6. I've seen a lot more who are at 5 figs and can't break to 6.
 
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MitchC

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It's understanding that everything in life comes down to having an unfair advantage.

Most blatantly believe that if they do what's necessary they'll have results that everybody wants and that's simply not true.

There is no secret.

And because there is no secret if everyone just did what's necessary everyone would be "successful", however, that's not true.

Unless you have an edge and can outcompete, you won't really be able to make it.

And yes, if we're talking about over 8figs a year it's all about:
  1. Unfair competitive advantage
  2. Product market fit
  3. Systems and process
I've seen a lot of people get to 7 figs and drop back to 6. I've seen a lot more who are at 5 figs and can't break to 6.
This is a really interesting way to look at it

Could you give some example of unfair advantages?

Can you give some examples of what you think is missing from the businesses that hit 7 and drop back down or that can’t grow past 6?
 

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because you literally titled your post "ask me anything"?

Lol. It's obviously not great but with that volume I wouldn't be so secretive even if it was say 10%. That's still $100K+ in profit/mo.

I hope you guys are crushing it this BFCM, Q4 is never really good for us :)

How is that even possible?

Are you not running discounts for BFCM because your margins are bad? I'm sure it's already occurred to you that you can fake a discount by raising the original price and "discounting" that.

OR are you getting your ad accounts banned at this time of the year?

If it's the latter, I can help you with that.
 

eTox

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because you literally titled your post "ask me anything"?
Because you guys all think in black and white and you don't even realize that it's your fault.

Why do you believe we should be making a profit?

Lol. It's obviously not great but with that volume I wouldn't be so secretive even if it was say 10%. That's still $100K+ in profit/mo.

Why do you believe we should be making 10% profit?

Why do you believe it's not great?

Why do you believe it has to be always?

Why do you believe that I didn't explain that I am secretive?

That's one of the unfair advantages.

You act based on what you assume and that kills 99% of you. Instead, you should be asking deeper, more thoughtful questions with your assumptions and hypothesis laid out to provoke a meaningful discussion to question your own beliefs and assumptions.

I don't need the answers. I don't need to sell courses. I'm all good. I'm just having fun.

But I will not answer lazy questions. That's just outright disrespectful.
 
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eTox

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How is that even possible?

Why do you assume that you need to crush it during BFCM or Q4?

Matter of fact, we're slowing down our ads.

Are you not running discounts for BFCM because your margins are bad? I'm sure it's already occurred to you that you can fake a discount by raising the original price and "discounting" that.

Why do you believe that to crush it during BFCM you need to "cheat" your way or actually do discounts?

OR are you getting your ad accounts banned at this time of the year?

If you're doing over a mil a month consistently, that's all figured out. It's just a given.

I'll tell you more, we're not even running Facebook that much at all.

If it's the latter, I can help you with that.

We're good, thank you :smile2:
 

eTox

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How to build an unfair competitive advantage?

There are many ways, but you can't do it unless you know what you are talking about.

What is having an unfair advantage mean to you? What examples would you come up with? Why do you think they are justified?
 

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There are many ways, but you can't do it unless you know what you are talking about.

What is having an unfair advantage mean to you? What examples would you come up with? Why do you think they are justified?
I’m going to answer this since I asked the same question

I’ve never viewed advantages as unfair. However I have tried to build a moat and pull the ladder up in a sense in my business.

Creating custom products, branding, influencer and content creator deals etc. back end and upsells etc. Things that make it harder for someone to compete when just starting out, or even if they are experienced.

If you have a custom product, now someone can’t copy your ads and dropship the same thing as you. They need to invest in a mould like you did. That takes time too. This is one example. Not something I’d consider unfair though.

And I’ve always viewed there as being a few levers you can pull in ecom

Ad conversion rate
Site conversion rate
Aov
Ltv
Margins
Referrals

But the way I interpret your post, you sound like you are suggesting that if I kill it in all these areas I’ll still lose because I’m missing something unfair.

I’d love at least 1 example

If I had to come up with my own my mind goes to unfair relationships with suppliers or ad platforms or payment processors or a celebrity endorsement from a friend. Something like that.
 
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There are many ways, but you can't do it unless you know what you are talking about.

What is having an unfair advantage mean to you? What examples would you come up with? Why do you think they are justified?

For me it means a clear advantage over my competition, which cannot be copied.

If I had to think of an example that fall within this definition it would be the brand and customer relationship leading to unfair existing purchasing power.

Could you tell us your definition & example?

If I had to come up with my own my mind goes to unfair relationships with suppliers or ad platforms or payment processors or a celebrity endorsement from a friend. Something like that.

i didnt thought about unfair relationships like that but this could maybe fit better than my example.
 

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Because you guys all think in black and white and you don't even realize that it's your fault.

Why do you believe we should be making a profit?



Why do you believe we should be making 10% profit?

Why do you believe it's not great?

Why do you believe it has to be always?

Why do you believe that I didn't explain that I am secretive?

That's one of the unfair advantages.

You act based on what you assume and that kills 99% of you. Instead, you should be asking deeper, more thoughtful questions with your assumptions and hypothesis laid out to provoke a meaningful discussion to question your own beliefs and assumptions.

I don't need the answers. I don't need to sell courses. I'm all good. I'm just having fun.

But I will not answer lazy questions. That's just outright disrespectful.

Jesus...
 

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