Sure, but the odds are against you. Avoid these mistakes, though, and you might actually succeed as a Shopify drop shipper. First, don’t spend so much time trying to make your store perfect. Obviously, get a decent domain, a logo, pick the right theme, you want it to look good, but find a happy medium. You shouldn’t be spending months on this. You can always tweak it and improve it as you go. Second, don’t get too attached to any one product.
Pick a product, run a test campaign, see what happens. Try different creatives and traffic sources. Still not profitable? Cool, scrap it. Why keep spending time and money if it’s not showing any promise? Especially when there are unlimited dropshipping products to choose from? Speaking of that, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Pay attention to what’s being advertised on social media. If you see a TikTok ad with a ton of engagement for a product that’s available on AliExpress? I mean, there’s a winner right there.
But here’s another mistake dropshippers make. They think it’s okay to just copy someone verbatim. No. Don’t do that. Not only is it unethical but your cloned Instagram video ad, for example, probably isn’t gonna do as well as the original. The algorithm sees you for what you are: a knockoff. You’ll get garbage clicks that don’t convert. So model, don’t steal. Better yet, actually order the product yourself and shoot your own promo video for it. Show people the ad you’d wanna see.
Another thing that’ll hold you back? Using dirty ad accounts. When you get some ads that are flagged for violating Facebook’s fine print (or whatever), they’re gonna be suspicious of you as an advertiser. So, once again, you run the risk of having any future ads get served to the worst segments of the audience you’re targeting. You’re better off starting fresh. Have a friend or family member create a new ad account from their profile and add you as an admin just to be safe.
Also, do your due diligence. Read the reviews for a product before testing it. Last thing you want is to make a bunch of sales because you nailed the previous steps, only to get flooded with angry emails, refund requests, and Dean from Dunbar, West Virginia, who was so triggered he went and added you to the Better Business Bureau website and warned the entire internet not to buy from your store, right? Dropshipping products are notoriously lacking in the quality department, so be picky.
Another common mistake? Poor pricing. You need margin. Ideally, on each sale, you’re making a minimum of twenty or thirty bucks more than what it costs you to drop ship the product to the customer. If it’s any less than that, by the time you pay for software and tools and transaction fees and (most of all) ad spend? No way you’re gonna be profitable. Whereas, if you’re selling something for $49.95 and you can get it fulfilled for around twenty bucks? Well, now you’re cooking with gas.
Last but not least, don’t try to scale with AliExpress. Use ’em to test, sure, but once you’ve got a winner, find a domestic supplier or consider ordering the item in bulk yourself and taking over the shipping. Why? ‘Cause you can’t build a sustainable business by making your customers wait patiently for six weeks while China gets their crap together. Thanks to Amazon, we expect everything at our doorstep by tomorrow at the latest. Period. That’s what you’re competing with.
