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.

Views on dropshipping?

eccehomo

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
83%
Apr 18, 2020
18
15
Heaven/Hell
Gymshark started off dropshipping but where they really took off was when they MADE their own product. I think they were dropshipping supplements first?

People who dropship never tend to speak to their customers or build a relationship with them. It’s always tricking people with urgency timer and other apps like “This guy just purchased X minutes ago.” There is always a dropshipper trying to target a niche and when I go analyze these community niches they all consider dropshippers scammers. Like literally every time. Terrible business model.

Agree with most others for once lol, this guy comes off as a 99.99% scammer.
yeah i was getting the vibe dropshipping is a get rich quick scheme
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

jb21

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
58%
Apr 23, 2018
12
7
NC
OP I saw your other thread. I personally am 50/50 with dropshipping. I think it just depends what you sell. Anything from China will be saturated.

I dropship soccer goals and I am cheaper than the manufacturers price to the public, so it works in my advantage.
 

Shamira M

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
53%
Feb 9, 2019
17
9
I think it’s still very much alive. I did $2000 in my first month as a newbie, with Zero ad spend. I only used traffic from Pinterest . That’s not a lot but we’ll see how much I can do in the coming months using Pinterest plus Facebook ads.
 

juresesko

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
125%
Apr 10, 2020
177
221
21
Slovenia
Just think about it...
The main thing dropshippers are doing is trying to make their website LOOK legit.
Those people feed of the people who don't know much about the web, making products insanely overpriced and hoping that people won't look it up on the aliexpress.
I think it's sad when you see people with bracelets that they bought them for 20$ from a website while the worth of the same product is 50 cents.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Bobby_italy

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
192%
Jan 19, 2016
209
402
Just think about it...
The main thing dropshippers are doing is trying to make their website LOOK legit.
Those people feed of the people who don't know much about the web, making products insanely overpriced and hoping that people won't look it up on the aliexpress.
I think it's sad when you see people with bracelets that they bought them for 20$ from a website while the worth of the same product is 50 cents.
I wouldn't mind as the same happens in shops, but at least for those 20 give me a fast delivery.
 

Santi M

See you on the fastlane
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
140%
Jul 22, 2018
150
210
Fastlane
In my opinion it is a very short-term based business.

Nowadays 1 month for a product to arrive is almost a scam.

Also, you are not offering any extra value, you are simply an
intermediary.

Clients probably won't buy you again after that kind of customer experience, and it's way more expensive to get new clients than selling again to already-satisfied ones, so it's kind of unsustainable.

it may be useful for testing some products before private-labeling them, even though there are other ways.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

jb21

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
58%
Apr 23, 2018
12
7
NC
In my opinion it is a very short-term based business.

Nowadays 1 month for a product to arrive is almost a scam.

Also, you are not offering any extra value, you are simply an
intermediary.

Clients probably won't buy you again after that kind of customer experience, and it's way more expensive to get new clients than selling again to already-satisfied ones, so it's kind of unsustainable.

it may be useful for testing some products before private-labeling them, even though there are other ways.
I dropship american products, so it works in my favor. Id recommend everyone does that
 

Visionary96

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
180%
Oct 23, 2018
123
221
Torquay, United Kingdom
I am using this model to start off and once the product starts to gain traction, I will immediately move to private labeling. And my Alibaba supplier can get the item to customers in 10 days which isn't bad.
 

jb21

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
58%
Apr 23, 2018
12
7
NC
I am using this model to start off and once the product starts to gain traction, I will immediately move to private labeling. And my Alibaba supplier can get the item to customers in 10 days which isn't bad.
As long as they can. I personally ordered something through Aliexpress in March and Im still waiting
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Visionary96

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
180%
Oct 23, 2018
123
221
Torquay, United Kingdom
As long as they can. I personally ordered something through Aliexpress in March and Im still waiting

Aliexpress is all just middlemen. Things are pricier, take longer to arrive, and not the place to go to source products if you ask me. When dealing with the factory or manufacturer themselves, their reputation is a little more on the line so usually get things done quicker. Having said that, Alibaba is huge and there are definitely terrible suppliers on there and sometimes is like trying to find a needle in the haystack.
 

Ing

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
102%
Jun 8, 2019
1,621
1,651
58
Bavaria
Btw: I purchased a VW van some years ago.
As I knew a Volkswagen dealer, I got a short insight in the procedere.
Exactly seen it war dropshipping and the time of delivery was longer than from aliexpress!
 

Igor957

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
71%
Oct 16, 2012
7
5
Brazil
Just to clarify, is this the E=Entry point of dropshipping that violates CENTS?

It would tick the other 4 points in my opinion.

Low entry barriers. You can setup a store in minutes with Shopify and Oberlo.

Low control. You just have control over the website and marketing nor anything else of your operation.

Scale is also a thing. Although in a first glance it seems that a dropshipping store is plenty scalable, you need to think that you do not own full control over your operations. To scale you need much more money for ads, reliable suppliers and returning customers...

The customer experience is a problem because usually they won't come back after waiting many weeks for a questionable quality high-priced purchase to arrive (exception below).

Time and Needs could be worked on from some research and automation.

You could dropship things that are produced inside your country, you will have lesser waiting times and a better relationship with the supplier. But still, the other things about entry and control still applies.

What I am used to see is a 'scheme' where marketers create dropshipping stores and right after some profit deactivate them and create another one, in a loop to maybe get some returning customers.

A similar but better option would be crossdocking, which is something I have never seen someone talking about here (if someone is interested I could do a post explaining what it is).
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

PizzaOnTheRoof

Moving Forward
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
220%
Jul 30, 2018
1,218
2,682
Texas
Dropshipping is just another business model with its own strengths and weaknesses.

The gold rush has past, but you can still make dropshipping deals privately and locally.
 

smtz

New Contributor
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
60%
Sep 21, 2019
5
3
In my opinion it is a very short-term based business.

Nowadays 1 month for a product to arrive is almost a scam.

Also, you are not offering any extra value, you are simply an
intermediary.

Clients probably won't buy you again after that kind of customer experience, and it's way more expensive to get new clients than selling again to already-satisfied ones, so it's kind of unsustainable.

it may be useful for testing some products before private-labeling them, even though there are other ways.

Hi @Santi M , I was reading through this post because this is my exact plan to start, I want to create a dropshipping store to test some products and when I have a winner, take all the steps to convert it into private label, I think this is a good plan since I don't have any experience in e-commerce, but I'm really curious to ask, what are the other methods that you would suggest to test the products if this is not the best way for you?
 

Santi M

See you on the fastlane
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
140%
Jul 22, 2018
150
210
Fastlane
Hi @Santi M , I was reading through this post because this is my exact plan to start, I want to create a dropshipping store to test some products and when I have a winner, take all the steps to convert it into private label, I think this is a good plan since I don't have any experience in e-commerce, but I'm really curious to ask, what are the other methods that you would suggest to test the products if this is not the best way for you?

Well, I can give you some examples:

One option is to buy a very small quantity of the product and test it as a private label since the beginning, some suppliers on Alibaba have a low MOQ (minimum order quantity), they won't put your logo in the product or the packaging, but you can do that when you get them in your house, go buy some packaging at your city and go to a copy shop or similar places where you can print or stick the logo in the product.

Another option if you don't want to buy a product that you are not sure if you're going to sell, would be to create the shop and create some quality ads for the product (would be great if you can get a sample of it to do this), and then you can do the same as if you were selling the product but you can write on the selling page something like 'This product is sold out but we will be replenishing soon, please leave your email address here and we will notify you when it is available.' And maybe you can tell them that they'll also have a discount or something.

Then you can have an idea about how many people are interested in the product plus having some leads before launching.

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

Walter Hay

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
401%
Sep 13, 2014
3,318
13,305
World citizen
One option is to buy a very small quantity of the product and test it as a private label since the beginning, some suppliers on Alibaba have a low MOQ (minimum order quantity), they won't put your logo in the product or the packaging, but you can do that when you get them in your house, go buy some packaging at your city and go to a copy shop or similar places where you can print or stick the logo in the product.
You don't have to buy the MOQ even if it is a small amount. I have taught thousands of new importers how to negotiate a very small order so that they can test the market without a huge outlay.

Being a newcomer to product sourcing and importing you need to learn something about it before you jump in the deep end. First, read Post#5 in my AMA
GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.

If you have the time, start reading at Post #1 and keep reading, but here are some hints that might save you from being burnt:
  • Never believe what you read on Alibaba.
  • Buying from the real manufacturer is necessary if you want the best prices and service.
  • Just because their company profile on Alibaba says that they are manufacturers, that does not mean that they are.
  • Never place an order if they want you to pay freight collect.
  • Never place an order until you know exactly how much freight, duty etc., will cost.
  • Always get freight quotes in writing, and they must include all costs to your address.
  • With that in mind, never give a supplier your Courier account number unless you have previously negotiated a huge discount with the courier and got that in writing.
If you have any questions, you can post them on that thread if they are not confidential, but if confidential, PM me. I am privy to the secrets of many Fastlane members so you can be sure anything you tell me goes no further.

Walter
 

smtz

New Contributor
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
60%
Sep 21, 2019
5
3
Well, I can give you some examples:

One option is to buy a very small quantity of the product and test it as a private label since the beginning, some suppliers on Alibaba have a low MOQ (minimum order quantity), they won't put your logo in the product or the packaging, but you can do that when you get them in your house, go buy some packaging at your city and go to a copy shop or similar places where you can print or stick the logo in the product.

Another option if you don't want to buy a product that you are not sure if you're going to sell, would be to create the shop and create some quality ads for the product (would be great if you can get a sample of it to do this), and then you can do the same as if you were selling the product but you can write on the selling page something like 'This product is sold out but we will be replenishing soon, please leave your email address here and we will notify you when it is available.' And maybe you can tell them that they'll also have a discount or something.

Then you can have an idea about how many people are interested in the product plus having some leads before launching.

What do you think?

Wow, thanks so much for the insight, I read about the second option in Unscripted but I wondered why MJ said that this approach "pushes some ethical boundaries". Anyways, I think that I'm going to start selecting the product and testing it this way.
 

smtz

New Contributor
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
60%
Sep 21, 2019
5
3
You don't have to buy the MOQ even if it is a small amount. I have taught thousands of new importers how to negotiate a very small order so that they can test the market without a huge outlay.

Being a newcomer to product sourcing and importing you need to learn something about it before you jump in the deep end. First, read Post#5 in my AMA
GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.

If you have the time, start reading at Post #1 and keep reading, but here are some hints that might save you from being burnt:
  • Never believe what you read on Alibaba.
  • Buying from the real manufacturer is necessary if you want the best prices and service.
  • Just because their company profile on Alibaba says that they are manufacturers, that does not mean that they are.
  • Never place an order if they want you to pay freight collect.
  • Never place an order until you know exactly how much freight, duty etc., will cost.
  • Always get freight quotes in writing, and they must include all costs to your address.
  • With that in mind, never give a supplier your Courier account number unless you have previously negotiated a huge discount with the courier and got that in writing.
If you have any questions, you can post them on that thread if they are not confidential, but if confidential, PM me. I am privy to the secrets of many Fastlane members so you can be sure anything you tell me goes no further.

Walter
Hi Walter, I really appreciate the time that you spent detailing your answer, I'll definately go through this post, I actually was planning to do so in a future, because I thought I should start with something easier, like just basic dropshipping to gain some experience, but I'll read through this first to decide what would be a better approach, thanks!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Santi M

See you on the fastlane
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
140%
Jul 22, 2018
150
210
Fastlane
You don't have to buy the MOQ even if it is a small amount. I have taught thousands of new importers how to negotiate a very small order so that they can test the market without a huge outlay.

Being a newcomer to product sourcing and importing you need to learn something about it before you jump in the deep end. First, read Post#5 in my AMA
GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.

If you have the time, start reading at Post #1 and keep reading, but here are some hints that might save you from being burnt:
  • Never believe what you read on Alibaba.
  • Buying from the real manufacturer is necessary if you want the best prices and service.
  • Just because their company profile on Alibaba says that they are manufacturers, that does not mean that they are.
  • Never place an order if they want you to pay freight collect.
  • Never place an order until you know exactly how much freight, duty etc., will cost.
  • Always get freight quotes in writing, and they must include all costs to your address.
  • With that in mind, never give a supplier your Courier account number unless you have previously negotiated a huge discount with the courier and got that in writing.
If you have any questions, you can post them on that thread if they are not confidential, but if confidential, PM me. I am privy to the secrets of many Fastlane members so you can be sure anything you tell me goes no further.

Walter
Thank you!
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

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

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top