The promise of easy money online is constantly peddled, and dropshipping often sits at the forefront of these claims. When lockdowns started, like many, I explored alternative income streams. Years of precarious finances fueled a desperate search for security. Stocks seemed inaccessible without initial capital, and online surveys were, as always, barely worth the effort. Then, dropshipping emerged – seemingly a golden ticket. Instagram feeds flooded with images of successful “entrepreneurs” flaunting luxury cars, all thanks to this magical e-commerce model. But is dropshipping really a viable way to make money? Let’s delve into the reality, separating hype from hard facts.
Dropshipping’s concept is deceptively simple: you sell products online without holding any inventory. You create an online store, often using platforms like Shopify, market products on social media, and when a customer buys something, a third-party supplier (typically from platforms like AliExpress) ships it directly to them. You act as the middleman, pocketing the profit margin. Dropshipping gurus boast about making millions, citing reports like a 2020 BBC feature. YouTube is awash with videos screaming titles like “How I Make $10,000+/Month on Shopify at Home” and “How I Made $6,100 Drop Shipping In 1 Day“. The allure is undeniable: bypass the traditional grind of loans and physical stores, and become rich from your sofa in weeks.
Influencers flaunt this lifestyle, much like beauty gurus or forex traders, creating an aspirational image.
Luxury car showcased by dropshipping influencer
Alt text: Dropshipping influencer Jeraun Richards posing with a BMW i8, suggesting dropshipping success leads to luxury lifestyles.
Business YouTubers like J Rich (182,000 subscribers) and Matt Lorion (21,000 subscribers) frequently appear in flashy cars – BMWs and Teslas – reinforcing the image of dropshipping as a quick path to wealth. The message is clear: dropshipping pays, and it’s easy.
Intrigued and frankly, needing a financial boost, I decided to test the dropshipping waters myself. My goal was to start with minimal investment, mirroring the situation of someone genuinely seeking income during tough times. In August 2020, I signed up for Shopify, ready to become the next dropshipping success story.
Launching My Dropshipping Experiment: From “Doze…” to Disappointment
Unlike traditional retail, dropshipping exists purely online. Branding, a catchy name, and a lifestyle image are crucial. Targeting the work-from-home demographic, still prevalent post-lockdown, seemed logical. I envisioned marketing to “wannabe wealth magnates” living by motivational phrases, needing products suited for the WFH environment.
Brainstorming names on Shopify proved harder than expected. “Lounge Living,” “Be Your Own Boss,” and “Lounge Boss” were all taken. The reality of online business quickly set in: creating a brand without a solid plan, relying solely on “being successful,” is tough. Decades of e-commerce, dominated by giants like Amazon, mean finding unique names is a challenge.
After a day of fruitless name searching, I shifted focus. Businesses can be named anything. “Doze…” emerged – capitalizing on lockdown-induced sleep problems and possessing a catchy, brandable sound, like major corporations.
Finding the “Winning” Dropshipping Product: The Pet Lion Mane and Sleep Masks
YouTube tutorials emphasized extensive product research on platforms like AliExpress. The typical dropshipping product is often a quirky gadget or novelty item. Examples include wacky phone holders, pet lion mane wigs, or cleaning slime. However, I aimed for broader appeal and quicker profits.
Luxury car showcased by dropshipping influencer
Alt text: Screenshot of a “Pet Costume Lion Mane Wig” product page on Wish, illustrating a typical quirky dropshipping product.
“Doze…” focused on sleep. Eye masks – specifically “premium” silk sleep masks – became my product. Sleep was a trending topic, especially for millennials struggling with sleep quality. Countless sleep aids, from books to sprays, were already popular. Eye masks seemed simple, fitting the dropshipping model, and crucially, cheap to source.
I found a “premium silk sleep mask” on AliExpress for $0.95 (£0.74). Using Oberlo, a Shopify app for importing products, I added it to my store. My planned selling price? £10 – a massive markup. While seemingly unreasonable, I adopted the “think like a winner” mentality promoted by dropshipping gurus.
Launching “dozelseepmasks.com” and the Reality of E-commerce Setup
Shopify’s themes made store setup appear straightforward. However, the time sink lay in crafting product descriptions, taglines, and optimizing website elements. YouTube “experts” like J Rich (who built a store in 20 minutes) gloss over the details.
In reality, building a professional-looking store takes time. Home pages, product pages, menus, and essential website components demand attention. Securing a URL (£13) and tweaking website code to ensure proper functionality added to the workload. It took one to two weeks, juggling my regular job, to launch dozelseepmasks.com on September 6th. The launch was met with silence – no fanfare, no sales, just a quiet online presence. Advertising was the next hurdle.
Landing page of dropshipping store example
Alt text: Screenshot of a product page from the author’s “Doze…” dropshipping store, showcasing the website’s design and product presentation.
The Facebook Ads Fiasco: Marketing My Dropshipping Store
Dropshipping guides often recommend influencer marketing on Instagram – affiliate links from influencers with massive followings. While potentially effective with someone like Kylie Jenner (unlikely), I opted for Facebook ads.
This plunged me into the labyrinthine world of Facebook Business Manager. (Cue internal screaming). Setting up ads for a brand with zero online presence proved incredibly complex and frustrating. My notes from that period are telling: “FACEBOOK ADVERTS… MASSIVE FUCKING HEADACHE. I HATE IT. I HATE MYSELF. I WILL NEVER BE RICH. VERY VERY HARD.”
The deeper I went, the clearer it became: dropshipping isn’t just about clicking buttons. It demands a skillset – marketing, e-commerce platform proficiency, and understanding complex systems. Each step revealed my inexperience. Dropshipping became a source of stress, invading my sleep and waking hours with mounting anxieties about marketing, sales, and the sheer volume of knowledge required.
Despite the mounting frustration, #goals persisted (ironically). I launched my first Facebook ad campaign on September 7th.
Facebook advertising portal screenshot
Alt text: Screenshot of the Facebook Ads Manager interface, highlighting the complexity of setting up and managing advertising campaigns for dropshipping.
The ad ran for a week, costing £17 daily, resulting in… zero sales. On day eight, Facebook permanently banned my ad account, citing policy violations and “controversial” content. The algorithm, it seemed, mistook “eye masks” for “face masks,” incorrectly flagging my ads as pandemic profiteering – exploiting “crises or controversial political or social issues.”
After a week of appeals via automated forms, an anonymous Facebook team member upheld the ban. My bewildered response: “Is it because the Facebook tech has confused ‘eye masks’ with ‘face masks’?” Minutes later, another automated email arrived: account reinstated, apology for “inconvenience.” A stark reminder of the automated, often illogical, systems governing online platforms.
My ad was finally live again. One Facebook “like” and a friend tag – no sales. Dropshipping, far from the easy money promised, felt like a slog. No “Big Wins,” just screen fatigue and mounting expenses.
Dropshipping product ad example
Alt text: Example of the author’s dropshipping Facebook ad featuring the sleep mask product, which yielded no sales despite running for a week.
Seeking Expert Advice: The “Ecom King” Weighs In
A week later, seeking guidance, I contacted Kamil Sattar, a British entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “Ecom King” with a popular YouTube channel (Kamil Sattar) offering dropshipping advice. He also runs a free dropshipping course.
I shared my store link. “Kamil, is my shop any good?”
His blunt assessment: “Dude, without me being too harsh or rude, this isn’t going to do too well, mate.” Ouch.
While praising the landing page, Kamil deemed my product – silk sleep masks – insufficiently unique. He emphasized the need for “innovation,” a “shit” product that grabs attention. Not being an inventor, the closest I could think of was the Galaxy Light projector, trending on Twitter.
This projector, a borderline “tat” item, projects stars onto walls, mimicking a night sky or a screensaver on steroids. It’s also a dropshipping staple, often promoted in viral tweets.
I pivoted, rebranding my store to sell Galaxy Light projectors. New product descriptions, new ads, and a slightly cheaper ad budget (£5/day for four days). This time, 56 link clicks and 3,920 people reached. Still zero sales. On day four, Facebook banned my ad account again for “suspicious activity.”
Dropshipping product example: Galaxy Light Projector
Alt text: Screenshot illustrating a Galaxy Light Projector, a product often associated with dropshipping and viral marketing trends, as an alternative to the sleep mask.
The Perils of Dropshipping: A Harsh Reality Check
Dropshipping, for me, became a frustrating, self-inflicted ordeal. The YouTuber promises dissolved into a complex web of micro-tasks that multiplied with each step. Marketing strategy, target audience identification, ad design, conversion optimization, returns processing – the questions were endless. Nearly £200 spent on setup and advertising, with no return.
Perhaps I lacked the “business mind” for dropshipping success. Many online claim otherwise. The r/dropship subreddit boasts 86,000 members. Yet, digging deeper reveals a different picture. Many “successful” dropshippers primarily sell courses, not products. Unsuccessful dropshippers likely far outnumber the success stories.
Jared West, an 18-year-old finance YouTuber with 98,300 subscribers, also ventured into dropshipping. His first attempt, documented in “SPENDING 1 WEEK STRAIGHT DROPSHIPPING,” yielded zero sales due to a “bad product” and beginner status. His second attempt, with a “decent” store and ad spend, generated 200,000 Instagram impressions, but again, no sales.
Is dropshipping a scam? “Like anything, if you get it right – it’s viable,” Jared concedes. “But it seems to me that dropshipping has become a get rich quick scheme for beginners. It’s not that. You need to be a very successful marketer and very skilled in a huge plethora of skills when it comes to sales. It’s not an easy thing to just go and do.”
The “get rich dropshipping” narrative echoes those “make fast cash from home” flyers. While some might succeed, the hype often overshadows the reality. Dropshipping’s “golden era” may be over. Market saturation is rampant, with countless sellers pushing similar products. COVID-related shipping delays from China exacerbate issues, leading to month-long delivery times and potential return headaches.
My dropshipping journey, fueled by Instagram hype, ended in a marketing, sales, and product research quagmire. Successful dropshippers undoubtedly exist, but for average individuals lacking e-commerce expertise, it’s likely a time and money sink. Consider selling on platforms like Depop, exploring side hustles, but be wary of the dropshipping “easy money” myth. It’s rarely that simple.
