DROPSHIPPING WALKTHROUGH

Impressed by the level of shilling op

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Bumping for interest as I'm just about to get started myself and welcome your advice anon.

>>1729358
>How I went about finding a product to sell

Well, fuck me I spent a long time researching. My understanding was that I needed a product that had high margins and cheap shipping. Here was my process:
>went to amazon best sellers (https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers/)
>looked for what was selling well in different categories

At first, I found that water filters and "reverse osmosis" water filters were selling heaps, and had a pretty good margin. However shipping was complicated, and there were a lot of red-flags (i.e. "order not received" reviews).

After discarding the water filter idea, I figured that clothes generally have a standard 100% markup. I also figured that shipping would be uncomplicated, and standard items would be cheap to buy.

>checked out amazon's best selling womens clothing items
>found that sport items were selling well

I was going to go ahead with this idea, and it seemed good. I checked competition and found a metric dick-tonne of other dropshippers selling women's sporting clothes for cheap. It would also be hard to compete with big players, including traditional online stores with their own warehouses etc. Finally, the markups weren't close to 100% which was a shame.

>explored further, and found that womens underwear sold well
>checked out prices on AliExpress and found that underwear could be bought for around $0.90 a piece

Bingo.

>>1729363
Thanks anon, I'm dumping all my content tonight, writing it up right now. Stay tuned

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>>1729358
>How I went about choosing the right items

For $0.90 a pair, I figured that I could charge $7.99. This means an 800% markup. As I explored more lingerie items, I figured that a good number is 400%.

I worked out that for the higher quality, lower margin items, it actually works out cheaper and more profitable in the broader sense. Particularly as the more expensive, lower margin items have better shipping options. Explained:

I figured that with clothing, customers aren't willing to wait that long for shipping. I decided that 3 weeks was the longest I'd want to wait, as a customer. So, with a rough profit margin in mind, and a decision on products, my first constraint was set:
>item must be shipped within three weeks

So I set about finding items that had shipping options to a max of 21 days. A common shipping option, on AliExpress, 'E-Packets', arrive between 13 - 20 days, and often cost less than $3 per item. Items with this method of shipping available, for no more than $6, were the items I'd choose.

I decided that having to deal with returns, non-arrivals, damaged items and wrong items, was a time consumer that I wasn't prepared to deal with (I work full time anyway).

AliExpress has satisfaction ratings for each seller. Here's how I used these ratings:
>Anything below 96%, don't even bother, unless there's super positive reviews for the item itself.
>Between 96% and 97%, really take the time to read the reviews and do product vetting. If there's an 'item not received' review, discard the product. The specific item should have no reviews under 3 stars.
>Between 97% - 100%, it's a safe bet. Still, flick through the negative reviews. The item should have zero 'item not received' reviews.

Attached is a screenshot of how I vetted the items, both for quality and viability. If people want, I'll put this spreadsheet on google docs or some shit so you can use it for your own purposes.
>if an item is green, total costs, including shipping, are under $15

>>1729358
>How I'll get customers

I have a lot of friends in my hometown, who actually pay photographers to take sexy pics of them in lingerie. I figured that these girls, who aren't professional models, but love looking sexy and like buying lingerie, would be the way to break past big brands like Victoria Secret, Bras'n'things etc.

I know that instagram is a conversion machine for ads and businesses and the visual element is what I'm going for (i.e., clothing that LOOKS good).

So I quickly created a logo on photoshop and started an instagram page. I figured that the page needs to look good, but it's hard to know exactly what these girls like. I stalked through some major instagram sellers of lingerie, and looked for the photos they'd posted that had an average number of likes/comments well above the rest. These photos were saved, and planned to be posted on my instagram page.

>if using instagram, I HIGHLY recommend hootsuite. The basic plan is free, and all you need to get started. It will make your life 100 times easier and save you a shitload of time.

>protip; videos seem to get at least 8 times more likes/comments/engagements than regular photos.

So, I got around 2 weeks worth of images (1 to 2 posts a day), and scheduled them with Hootsuite. Now I had to find followers to market to.

The way I targeted my followers was by finding the above mentioned girls, engaging with them (i.e., liking around 10 of their pics, commenting some love-heart emojis, and following them), and waiting for them to notice. My profile is set to private; so that they have to follow me to see my posts. Once they followed me, I waited around a week before unfollowing them (to make the page look more reputable to new followers).
>protip; heaps of users have instagram statistics apps which inform them of unfollowers, and they will unfollow you when you unfollow them. After unfollowing 600+ profiles, I lost around 10 followers.

1/2

>>1729374
can you explain how the actual checkout process and shipping works?

so the customer buys the item on your site, do you then get a notification to ship, at which point you go to ali express and order the same item and put in the customers address? or is there a way to automatically send the order to ali express?

>>1729377
>How I'll get customers
pt. 2/2

By going on www.google.com/trends, I noticed that Christmas and Valentines was searched for around 400% more than normal. I decided that I'd plan the launch for the lead-up to valentines day, and begin marketing before then.

I decided that some promotion would help gain traction. I clearly stated in my bio that "we are on the hunt for upcoming sponsers!". This entices girls to follow the page to see our stuff, and got me heaps of messages. One girl is heading to 'Next Top Model' in London in a few weeks and wanted to model my products on a runway, with cameras and shit. The problem was that the quality lingerie I'm selling was too poor for that kind of event.

I set up a post saying that we'd notice potential sponsors if they "post a booty pic, and tag us in it". This led to a girl posting a booty pic, superimposing our tag over it, and tagging us in it. It helped gain followers that day.

I shipped off 1 pair of underwear (cost me $4 including shipping) to a girl in Australia with around 20K followers, who messaged the page. That should get some more followers when it arrives (next 2 weeks some time).

I've recently made a promotional post, headlining "FREE LINGERIE FOR YOU AND YOUR BESTIE". It explains that over $100 worth of items (retail, costs me like $10) will be given to the winner and their best friend, if they repost and tag us in the picture. I'll let you guys know how well this goes.

The whole social media presence is pitched as if I'm a girl running the page, it's pitched as an established and professional store, and it's pitched as a "real", and "authentic" personality.

I met the owner of flattummytea.com, who's business turns over $14M per MONTH. This guy nailed the marketing in the same way (his site says "Another babe from Washington just bought a Flat Tummy Tea Pack" every time you visit, for example. My brand is going to be targeted to customers in a similar way.

>>1729384
I'm using Shopify and Oberlo, here's how it works:
>customer goes onto your site, clicks "buy" on a product
>their "shipping" is the price that you set
>they pay, and receive an email from "your shop" confirming the order has been placed
>you get an order saying "one order needs to be fulfilled"
>in oberlo, you click on "orders", and it will automatically take you to the product page, proceed to checkout, input the customer's shipping details (except their phone number and email are replaced with your own), and then purchase the product with your card
>shopify receives the customer's funds and deposits into your bank account
>Oberlo automatically sends customers the tracking number and shipping details

To the customer, here's what it looks like:
>I go to the site
>I find a product, proceed to checkout
>I input my credit card, or pay with paypal
>Once confirmed, I land on a 'thank you' page and receive an 'order confirmed' email
>a few days later, I receive the 'shipping' details email, including the tracking number
>after so many days, the product arrives at my door. Thanks anon!

Really simple, here's a great video that I used to help familiarize myself with the process before doing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S-4pZtyLIw

>>1729387
thanks a lot man, going to take a look and see if i can figure it out. so this oberlo site can directly integrate with shopify? without you having to code or program stuff?

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>>1729358
>mistakes I made so far, so you can avoid them

Well, here's one:
I only planned products based on shipping to Australia. When I tested purchasing a product, the ONE product I happened to test turned out to only ship to America. Lesson 1)
>ensure your chosen product ships worldwide

Here's another one that cost me a shitload of time and duplication: Shipping details aren't stated at the checkout page. Hence, lesson 2)
>for every item, you need to include shipping details in the description

This one was a pain in the ass. Not really a mistake, but can be avoided: heaps of sellers on AliExpress put their stupid fucking logos or store names on product display images. This leads to lesson 3)
>ensure you can remove logos and store names. If a product image has "CHINKY CHINK LUXXXE SUPER HAPPY FUNFUN STORE NO. 322342241" across every image, just fucking forget it unless you can remove it easily. It looks way too fucking tacky, unprofessional and untrustworthy to your customers. A customer seeing that will immediately bail on the rest of your site.

Another issue that caused me problems: Sizing. This isn't applicable to everyone, but if you end up selling clothes, it'll happen to you (pic related). 99% of the items on AliExpress simply say "S - L" (if you're lucky, the majority of clothing items are minimum of XL"). An Asian "S" is a standard "XS" for the rest of the world. Similarly, bra sizes aren't standard for your country, leading to lesson 4)
>get good sizing charts, and incorporate them onto every single one of your product descriptions.
>feel free to rip my sizing charts straight off my site: https://lakelace.com/pages/sizing-charts
(Not shilling, just cannot remember the original source of these pics & text chart)

I must admit I'm hypocritical as fuck on this, as I'm yet to put the sizing chart on every single product once I realized this issue.

More issues will come as I discover them.

>>1729389
Yep, literally not a single ounce of coding required. It's the most simple, fucking brilliant time-saving dropshipping application you can use. Also, it's free. It'll be suggested on your shopify dashboard but, in case it isn't, look at the very bottom left of your shopify admin (www.myshopify.whatever.com/myadmin) and click "appstore", and search for "Oberlo".

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>>1729392
Thanks for all the info so far. Much appreciated.

I was wondering regarding the sellers from Aliexpress... Do you use a single seller and just relist all his or her stuff on your site or do you list products from multiple sellers? Is it easy to configure Oberlo to send orders to different sellers?

>>1729392
what type of shopify account do you recommend for a beginner? the basic seems alright to me

this looks like it will be a bit of a learning curve for me so im going to play around and start really simple

Nice work so far. How many products have you sold?

Where did you get your website theme

>>1729358
>Tips & tricks in general that are useful to me

When reviewing products to buy, you should make sure that other buyers have had success. This leads me to Tip No 1:
>only buy products that have had at least 200 orders

Often, sellers will sell a product properly and legitimately for a few months so as to gain good reviews, then completely fucking abandon the item and get free money by scamming customers. I've nearly bought items from sellers of 99% satisfaction, on products with 5 star ratings. Here's how you can avoid it, Tip 2:
>Check the LATEST reviews. Make sure there aren't recent reviews (within last 2 months) saying that no order was received

Please understand; there are fake. fucking. reviews. everywhere. Avoid these sellers like the plague. I've seen products with literally 200+ 5 star reviews, ALL of them fake. Most of them come from Russia, Ukraine, or Pajeetistan countries and are generic (i.e., "good seller, product arrive fast, high quality, excellent, not first time buying, my wife loved it." etc. etc. This leads to tip 3:
>Conduct vetting on the reviews. If there's fake reviews in general, avoid the seller like the plague. You WILL get scammed and there's nothing you can do about it, apart from fuck your own asshole for a little while to make the butthurt seem a little less in comparison.

Often, sellers will conduct the bullshit scamming as described in Tip 2, and then setup a new shop with fake reviews, leaving them with 100% satisfaction rate. Understand; a 100% satisfaction rate is impossible. Hence, tip 4:
>If a seller has a 100% satisfaction rate, it's a scam - just fucking forget it and move on.

Lastly, for now, be aware that sellers who have only been open for a year or less, are more often than not scammers. The following tip is a rule I follow. Tip 5:
>If a seller has been open for less than a year, just fucking ignore it and move on

More tips to come, I hope they save you some time, effort, money and stress.

>>1729392
thanks agian for the tips. also kind of a dumb question but do you use your personal bank account when you start off, or did you make a new business account to receive the money?

does shoppify report your sales to IRS and at what point should i make a business registered with IRS?

>>1729396
I use multiple sellers. With Oberlo, this is a painless, simple process with absolutely no additional effort required. Oberlo also has a great chrome plugin which lets you 'Import' (importing products lets you then customize and change them for integration with your shopify site, as a finished product ready to sell) multiple products from any seller you'd like, with literally one click of a button.

For information on Oberlo, see this post: >>1729387

For information on how to get the best suppliers, see this post: >>1729400


>>1729397
I used Shopify's 14 day free trial to get my site up-and-running. I decided that I'd need to be able to fully process orders and refunds, fully customize my site, and be able to apply discounts/coupon codes.

Shopify's basic account ($29 USD p month) allows me to do this. I would recommend it to anyone starting out: It's just not necessary to pay for any more.

>>1729399
Zero sales.
The site launched (i.e., is ready to take orders) yesterday. I haven't announced the launch to any of my followers on instagram, and haven't advertised the live site yet. I'm going to do a little more marketing before that. The reason it's live now is so that you /biz/ guys can check it out, and so that I could get feedback from my friends.

The theme I used is the "Debut" theme from Shopify. I think it's the one that's applied by default, and it didn't cost me anything.

>>1729401
I used my personal bank account. I'm based in Australia, and only had to register an ABN - but this wasn't checked or verified (though I did use my legitimate details).

From what I've heard so far, it's completely unnecessary to register an LLC/open a business account etc. etc. for the rest of the world. Again, as stated in the original post, take this with a grain of salt against your own research, but at least everything I've read and seen indicates that there's no issues with just using your personal bank account and not bothering with the rest. The IRS has bigger fish to fry.

>>1729377
>>1729385
By the way, for those wanting to see exactly how I've marketed the brand, see the instagram page: instagram.com/lake.lace
(again, not shilling, just trying to help others with this whole process - most of you are never going to buy lingerie anyway, you're not my target demographic so there's no business benefit in shilling here)

>>1729405
thanks for posting quality OC anon, ill help spread you on insta

also another question, do you buy shit to test it out check quality for yourself? or just hope the product delivers? do the chink sellers give you good pics on ali?

Went to website. Seems creepy as fuck for some reason. I guess knowing the back story. Fuck it, looked good though

also are you worried about copyright laws with your pics of models and shit

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>>1729358
>Specific, little details that will save you a lot of time to learn now

Pt. 1/2

If you follow what I did, and ensure that shipping costs no more than around $4 to $6, then you should set your standard shipping price to $5.99
Any few cents that cost you on shipping will (or at least they damn well fucking should) be made up for in your profit margin. Configure shipping here:
>Navitage to Shopify Admin (whatever.myshopify.com/admin)
>Click the cog-wheel at the very bottom left of the screen
>Select Shipping from the pop-out menu
>Scroll down to "Zones and Rates"
>Click "edit" under "Standard Shipping"
>Change the value from the default $10.00 to $5.99

When you're working with product descriptions on Oberlo, there's a simple way to make details stand out (see pic related), and a common format that I've copied from major clothing sellers (your product may differ, but the same kinda concept applies. If it's not clothing, replace 'Colour' with 'Style' or 'Type', replace 'Size' with 'Size' or 'Weight' etc.)
>put categories in bold, followed by the description in regular text

Pt. 1/2

>>1729403
Thanks.

Do you contact the sellers on Aliexpress whose products you're listing? I've heard some people recommend you get in touch with the seller first to ensure that they do drop shipping. Is this necessary?

>>1729408
Thanks bro! Any feedback or help is welcomed and appreciated. If you ever need any help marketing or spreading your own dropshipping stuff, message me on the instagram account and I'm happy to help.

I'm glad you asked: Most dropshippers swear by holding the product in their hand. I've found that good product vetting can eliminate that need. Read >>1729374 for more details, and here's an extra tip:
Many legitimate reviewers will post photos of the items in reviews. You can filter AliExpress reviews to those with pictures - it's a great way to assess the real quality of the item.

My original plan was to:
a) Get a friend who pays for lingerie and photographers
b) Get a photographer student friend
c) Buy 1 of everything from the store
d) Give it to her for free, plus a free modelling shoot, on the condition that I use the pics for the site & instagram, and that she posts her favourite pics on instagram and tags the brand's instagram

I figured that (>>1729410 this is relevant to you) it'd kill marketing, advertising, branding and quality testing with one stone. However, it would have cost me too much and I'll save that plan for when (or if) the site turns over enough to make it viable.

>>1729416
Nah, not necessary. I don't think the issue is whether they'll do dropshipping, the issue is whether they'll actually deliver the product they advertise. To them, it just looks like "John Doe at 42, Wallaby Way, Sydney" has ordered another product again.

However in the description, I include a note that says "This is a dropshipping product - please, no promotions, thank you cards or marketing material". In regard to your point, this is probably something I should reconsider.

If I ever get a seller refuse to sell because of the dropshipping, I'll report back here and describe their issues, response, and my solution. Thanks for bringing it to light!

How do you deal with wrong sizes and people wanting to return it or exchange it?

>>1729415
Instead of including a note about how the clothing doesn't look purple in real life, why don't you just use Photoshop or GIMP to color correct it?

>>1729409
Thanks for the positive feedback. As for the 'creepy as fuck' part, do you think that's because of any of the particular imagery/text/branding that's used?

So, how exactly does customer get the product?
You are stocking this item or not?

Is it all automated or you "order" again at chinese vendor and act as agent?

>>1729422
Thanks anon, good tip. I'll go ahead and do that now.

I think that the time I figured that it'd just save me time and effort.

>>1729420
>1729420
lol im curious about this too. not just because of the used underwear aspect, but because shipping back and forth from china would take like 2 months

>>1729424
I have not a single item, or piece of stock in my hands, or premises, whatsoever, at all.

The way it works is that the customer places the order, and essentially believes that my site is the main supplier.

My site (or more precisely; Shopify) captures the customer's order data and payment. The order data gets sent directly to the seller on AliExpress, and the customer's payment lands directly in my bank account, through my site (Shopify). My credit card is charged the original seller's cost.

So say I'm selling Glass Ashtrays
>I find a supplier on AliExpress selling ashtrays for $5
>I start a website, selling Glass Ashtrays for $50
>A customer buys a Glass Ashtray from my site
>$5, and the customer's order details, get sent to the supplier
>$45 goes straight into my bank account
>The supplier makes, packs, and ships the Glass Ashtray straight to the customer

I hope this explains it, lemme know if there's any more details you'd like or if I went off on on the wrong tangent

>>1729424
he explained above, no he doesnt stock the item its a chinaman vendor

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>>1729423
No, not really. Just knowing what is actually going down gave me a chill for some reason. Not putting you down, is what it is. I think my wife would shop at a place like this. Not all the time, but for a special occasion.

>tfw lace lake might one day be on my bank statement

>>1729427
See
>>1729428

Remember; the seller ships directly to MY customer. I never once have to handle any items at all. If my customer wants a return or exchange, I tell them (in the Returns policy) that they'll have to sort it out directly with the manufacturer. The way I've worded it goes something like this:

>Please understand that our business model connects local and international designers, manufacturers and suppliers with our site. Therefore, when you purchase a product from our site, the corresponding supplier is responsible for shipping and quality. If there is an issue with an items delivery or quality, returns will have to be negotiated with the supplier directly. In the case that the supplier is uncooperative, we can help you. Should we decide to accept that the product is damaged or not as described, and the supplier is uncooperative, we may choose to issue you with store credit, or accept a return. Please note that when we accept returns, we charge a $15 shipping, handling & re-stocking fee. Please keep in mind that this means products bought for under $15 may not be viably refunded or returned if faulty.

It's a reeeeal shitty policy, but as stated in >>1729374 , I pretty much don't have the time to deal with returns/refunds etc.

>>1729428
>My credit card is charged the original seller's cost.
this brings up another question, i think if i start doing this type of shit i would want a separate credit card just for fraud protection, sure as hell wouldnt use a debit card


i think the biggest problem i see with dropshipping is the risk of getting fucked by the random sellers in china

>>1729434
since you use a personal bank account to get the money from orders, can customers see your real name and info on the order statements? i could see pissed of customers trying to hunt you down

>>1729432
Thanks for the positive feedback!

In the off-chance that your wife does want to order something, here's a discount code: CAMEFROMBIZ

Also, if there's ever any issues with the order, lemme know at: [email protected] and I'll refund the order, and throw in a free pair of underwear next time you buy something.

>>1729428
So your happy with your customers recieving their goods in chinese packaging? That seems like a deal killer for any successive orders from a customer

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>>1729435
This is why I would have thought it would be better to contact the seller, ask if he/she does drop shipping. Get an email address/phone number/whatever so you can contact him/her and build a business relationship.

It seems like this would lessen the chance of getting chinked.

>>1729435
So, for fraud protection, there's a solution called: SecurePay which is excellent, but I don't think it integrates with Shopify. For Shopify fraud protection, you'll need to consider getting a 100% Chargeback Guarantee app, such as this one: https://apps.shopify.com/signifyd

What it does is flag orders as suspicious (i.e., address and IP don't match, email looks suss or is blacklisted, for orders over a certain amount or by some other condition) and requests that customers agree to a 100% chargeback guarantee. That means that they won't be able to charge-you-back and scam you (at least, this is how I understand it - please do your own research and don't take my word for it!)

I currently use one of my other business' visa debit cards, can I ask why you wouldn't use a debit card?

>>1729441
I've tried to ensure (by looking through product photos and customer review photos) that the packaging isn't some chinese branded thing.

I also know that 89% of women don't care at all about the branding, or packaging of their lingerie. What they care about is (primarily) whether it looks good, and (secondly) whether it will last for a month.

It's a good point though, and something I considered, but there's not much work around that issue. This is a problem faced by many dropshippers. If you think of a viable workaround, share it with us!

>>1729443
debit card is money straight out of your bank account. if you get over charged/scammed by fraudulent sellers on aliexpress in china or eastern europe, thats straight cash you lost. which means less operating capital, and a hassle to go to the bank to get it back. and some banks might have different policies, like only giving your money back when they recover it. with credit card, you can dispute with company like visa, and say no, my order was only for $300 not $895 and say you got robbed and they will refund your credit line

no point in risking your own money when a huge company is willing to risk theirs for you

>>1729442
Chinks are the jews of asia, just remember that. As noted in this post: >>1729400 , plenty of sellers will build legitimate customer/seller relationships, just so they can get away with a few months of scamming. They'll then close the original store, and start up again.

Also, ALL AliExpress sellers provide their names, email, phone number, and other (QQ [some chink social media thing], facebook etc. accounts) contact details - but it doesn't mean shit when they simply don't reply to you.

If you look through the customer reviews that are negative, for shitty products, you'll see them say things like "texted seller, they laughed at me and called me stupid when I asked for my money back after they didn't deliver"

The BEST way to prevent this shit is to simply vet the seller/supplier first; see this post: >>1729374

For example, if you see a seller with a 98% satisfaction rate, selling a product with 3,000 orders and nothing but 5 & 4 star reviews, with customer reviews including photos showing good quality product, it's a safe bet you're not gonna get scammed.

But if you see a seller who's been around for less than a year, with an 85% satisfaction rate, selling a product with 30 orders with two 1 star reviews saying "product never arrived, seller never refunded money", you're gonna get scammed. And I bet that if you called and emailed the 1 star seller, they'd still be just as polite and seem as 'legitimate' on the phone as the 5 star seller.

Anyway, that's just my two cents - and your caution and risk aversion is a GOOD thing my friend, it will (and probably already has) save your ass a lot of time, effort and hard earned dollars. Good luck with it all.

>>1729428
Nah, you nailed it, tnx.

As for website feedback, try to uniform images somehow. Some have borders some not. The stock/insta pictures are ok imo.

I am getting started in cosmetics but its saturated af.

GL

>>1729444
the only workaround i can see would be flying to china and working out a deal with them where they use some western looking packaging, but the return address is always going to say guangoungxhiaou, cn lol so not much you can do

>>1729448
Oh, just realized, mine's a pre-loaded debit card. Still the same risk as you just described though.

I guess that the way I see it, the main risks are as follows:
1) >sellers don't actually ship products
This can be mitigated with returns policy
2) >fraudulent customers result in chargebacks
This is shit, and as you said; money out of your pocket. I suppose this can be mitigated with something like the app mentioned here: >>1729443 and something like SecurePay.
3) >shit quality results in a beatdown on social media/online, which kills customer purchases for a while
This can be mitigated by quality testing and stringent product vetting, one of which I've employed

Thanks for bringing that issue to my attention. I'm going to explore more solutions for chargeback/fraud prevention - particularly because Lingerie is really lucrative for fraudulent purchases (dunno why. This was noted by a prominent luxury Australian lingerie vendor).

Will report back on this thread when I have solutions for you and all readers.

>>1729451
Thanks, funny you mention the uniform images, I'm currenlty re-sizing all display images to be the same size. Great minds think alike.

If you ever want a shoutout on cosmetics stuff if you have an instagram page for it, message me on my insta account @lake.lace and I'm sure I can make something work. Good luck to you too bro

>>1729444

What if your customer gets a call from tax/customs office?

Let me explain.
The value of goods you can bring into EU from China is 22eur. Everything above that is subject to customs procedure (usually they let it through, but they still surcharge the procedure cost).

Since all your stuff goes directly from HK/China to end address, aren't you worried about that?
IE, you pose as an EU/aussie based shop, so client bona fidei order $100 or more stuff. They will get a letter from customs office 100%.

>>1729452
Yeah, not many *viable* solutions that I can think of.

I know one guy who dropships and gets custom boxes shipped to his suppliers, who then charge him extra in fulfilment costs to ship to his customers in the box.

I checked out the viability of this. For a nice looking box, with a logo sticker and custom colours, you're looking at around $17 AUD not including shipping. Including shipping to China is around $25 AUD each box. Including the shipping of whatever item you sell, this makes it around $29 AUD each item. So not much room for good margins unless you sell a luxury product, or some expensive shit (which is hard to sustain if you're using chinkware through AliExpress).

>>1729454
well its not without risks but i guess thats the tradeoff with this business model. its cheap and easy to start so you just have to accept you will lose a certain percent of profit to fraud

do you know if the sellers provide tracking or if they even have order tracking in china? or is it just a random waiting game for the buyer?

i feel like your site will do pretty well anon, you definitely put some work into it. much better than the other anon's store on one of the dropship threads where he sells 5 types of pineapple peelers and has a plain grey background

hey another question: about your domain name, did you buy it separetely and port it over to shopify or register it through them? what are the yearly fees on that?

>>1729457
Wasn't aware of this. So, a couple questions you can maybe help me with:
1) How the FUCK do customs know the value of the item?
2) If customs sends this letter to the recipient, then isn't this mean that the costs are inherently incumbent on them? and;
3) If I include a clause in my terms and conditions that all import taxes are the responsibility of the customer to pay, then shouldn't that cover it? If not, then are you aware of how other companies are dealing with this? The way I understand is that the customer received the 'invoice/bill/pay-up letter' from customs; so do they scan/send it to the seller of the item they've ordered? I've never heard of this before.

>>1729464
shit that guy brings up a good point i didnt even think about that

they dont know the value but its supposed to be written on a customs sticker or form on the package. im assuming the chinks will usually chink their way out of that by writing false statmeents like "for gift" or "value under x dollars" but customs will also randomly open shit to inspect. and if they see a false customs declaration form they will seize the item and require the person who the package is addressed to, to come pick up the package and pay the customs fee before releasing it

File: yearly costs.png (15KB, 695x208px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1729462
I think the small barrier to entry is a plus, perhaps one thing I should have considered is performing a real risk assessment (or at least spending some time assessing the risks against business outcomes, and how they can be mitigated, the cost of mitigation, or whether they should be ignored).

When you use Oberlo, you choose the shipping option upon checkout. By default I select E-Packet, which I think includes a tracking number. If you use China Air Mail Standard/Express, it includes a tracking number. If you use China Post Ordinary Small Packet Plus, I do not believe it includes a tracking number.

Oberlo will also automate the delivery of tracking numbers to customers, once received - which is handy!

Thanks for the feedback on the site! I'm glad it passes the 'common sense' test as to whether it looks shit or okay.

As for the domain registration; I registered the domain with GoDaddy (shit shit shit registrar, please go with BlueHost if you register a domain. I host 6+ websites with GoDaddy and the only reason I haven't transferred is because I'm certain they'll fuck my shit up accidentally during the process of migration).

Attached is a pic of costs associated with website hosting.

>>1729464
yeah the costs are incumbent on your customer to pick up the package, but you will have an angry customer who probably wont do repeat business with your store

but i guess the chinkshit model is not really based on repeat customers, more about tempting new ones into the risk with the rock bottom chink prices

>>1729462
>>1729468
Also, all costs are in AUD.

And when migrating from private domain with Shopify, there's a reeeally simple one-click utility that Shopify provides for GoDaddy customers (There were around 6 other providers who had this integration system, too). All I had to do was click a button, wait 10 seconds and it was done.

>>1729467
So I've just realized that larger orders can be mitigated if they purchase a number of seperate items, as they come from seperate suppliers.

I would assume that chinks would chink their way out of it.

However, in taking this advice, I will now include a clause in my terms and conditions that "all import/custom/inspection/tax fees, fines, costs etc. are the responsibility of the customer to pay. In no way will we be liable for these costs."

Thanks for the headsup and for raising this issue

>>1729469
So what about major brands like Nike, Target, Adidas, Victoria Secret, or any other major company, do they automatically cover the costs of import taxes? I'm sure they'd still require customers to pocket those costs, right?

>>1729464

Dont know how it is in AU, but the jist of it is this.

1) they try to curb the knock-offs
2) the HK chinkshit i ordedered (usually dx and aliexpres) was under 22eur

How our customs (slovenia) determines value, they take it face value on the package (chinks write the value of the package on the box), then if suspicous (value too low, not "real" even tho that's what you paid) they go online and search for similar items. Then they mention in a letter, that this package is waiting for you, but please declare (=prove by receipts, placed order etc) to us its "real" value. If you dont do that they aribrarily determine the value of the item and surcharge you 22% percent on top of that.

If you do you what you described in 3) you should be covered, but depends how it will reflect once angry customer lashes out.


Again, look around for AU specific, perhaps you guys have some trade deal with HK/China and this does not affect you as much.
Try googling import duty china/hk australia or similar.

>>1729468
holy shit $300?

>>1729474
i think they pay the import taxes when they bring their shit in on large cargo ships, they ship and sell locally from america or australia. when you buy shit on adidas.com they arent shipping the shoes to the customer from china, they are coming from some warehouse in the middle of nowhere america

>>1729478
Yerrrp. Sucks, don't go with GoDaddy.

With that being said, I'm going to cancel all my hosting, as I only need the domain registration now. That should save a fair bit of money.

>>1729488
yeah i was going to ask you about that , i thought i saw shopify has their own hosting included , which is nice

>>1729486
Oh yeah, worldwide warehouses - shit mang.

I guess I'll just wing it.

For everyone reading; if I have any issues with import taxes, I'll post the exact issues here, then post my/customer responses, and describe my solution/workaround and result.

Thanks to those who brought this issue up, and discussed it with me. I'll research solutions in the mean time.

damn now im wondering about the customs shit

>>1729435
>>1729437
>>1729443
>>1729448
>>1729462

OP here, just found out that SecurePay works with Shopify. Will protect all cards against fraudulent transactions:
https://www.securepay.com.au/pricing/payment-gateway-pricing/

Expensive, though. Probably worth investing in if you're losing over $300 a year in fraud, and making over $1,000 profit a year.

>>1729496
>>1729486
>>1729477
>>1729474
>>1729473
>>1729469
>>1729464
>>1729467
>>1729457
So Shopify answered our questions here: https://ecommerce.shopify.com/c/accounting-and-taxes/t/charging-vat-duties-and-fees-to-international-customers-323883

In summary:
>Customers who must pay tax, are responsible for paying tax, and it is typical/standard/expected of them to do so for any kind of import product
>There is no way for them to pay that tax ahead of time, through Shopify
>All companies in the world who import into that country rely on their customers to pay the tax upon receiving the item
>There is an app to help customers estimate taxes, here: (https://apps.shopify.com/pitney-bowes-clearpath-global-ecommerce-solutions)

Also, this thread will reassure you guys: https://ecommerce.shopify.com/c/payments-shipping-fulfilment/t/import-duty-calculation-316576
>Not all products get taxed
>Most small packages make it through fine

>>1729509
TO ANYONE WORRIED ABOUT CUSTOMS:
"Your customer will be responsible for any additional fees that are charged by customs. They usually will have to pay any additional fees at the time of delivery. It’s always a good idea to make sure to include this information in your policy page so customers aren’t hit with unexpected fees."

https://www.shopify.com.au/blog/14069585-the-beginners-guide-to-ecommerce-shipping-and-fulfillment

>>1729512
hmm, so basically just write a message somewhere near your checkout or cart page about possible import fees depending on location

>>1729514
Yep. With Shopify, you can't really customize the checkout page that much to include this information.

However, you should include it in your terms and services, and include it on the description of your products.

>>1729488
>>1729490
Was wondering this as well.

Isn't the main selling point of Shopify the fact that they handle domain registration, hosting and SSL certificates?

File: lakelace marketing popup.png (1MB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1729358
Hey guys OP here, forgot something important about marketing.

I use the app 'Privy' (https://apps.shopify.com/privy) which is a free email/sign-up/lead magnet generator, and it's excellent. The attached pic took me all of 3 minutes to create. I recommend you use it on your Shopify sites!

>>1729519
Yeah, all their domains are now SSL integrated which is cool.

I was so skeptical about shopify because of the price. But honestly, it's worth it. It's like a whole marketplace in itself now - kinda like Wordpress with all the plugins and themes etc.

What is "Lean startup" eric-ries equivalent book for ecommerce/marketing?

File: shopify chargeback prevention.png (143KB, 933x732px) Image search: [Google]

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FOR ALL THOSE CONCERNED WITH FRAUD, SEE THIS POST

Attached image shows how Shopify automatically detects and warns you about potentially fraudulent transactions. This is available on any plan, including the basic plan.

>>1729526
e-commerce and marketing are two entirely different buckets 'o dildos, my friend

>>1729529
Ontop of OP's post here, see this thread to determine rules for when to approve and when to flag a purchase for manual approval
http://www.fraudlabspro.com/tutorials/how-to-hold-a-fraud-order-on-shopify

I have to say, this is one of the most entertaining /biz/ posts in a long while.

Had no idea how extensive and intricate the drop shipping business is.

GG OP, I'd buy you a beer if I could.

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>>1729538
yfw dropshipping is chinkifying the west and shifting the economy to china and theres nothing we can do about it

File: Screenshot_20170113-231749.png (1MB, 2160x3840px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1729538
Instead of a beer, I can give you a tip.

I googled your website and nothing came up.

May be a good idea to invest in SEO to add legitimacy.

>>1729540
this is shit i would like to know how to do

>>1729540
Yep, I have not invested a single dime or second into SEO yet.

This is my next goal (wanted the site to be up and running). For SEO advice, here's some tips (>>1729542 this is relevant to you)

>Firstly, sign up for Google Webmaster (/www.google.com/webmasters/)
You will need to verify your site. This instantly tells google's algorithms that your site is more legitimate, higher quality and trustworthy than before
>The quickest way to boost easily create a boost to your SEO is to optimize your image alt tags. Alt tags are what your image is 'read' as by search engines, and the text that will be displayed if customers cannot load your image. You'll want to saturate your alt tags with as many relevant keywords as possible.
For example, if you're selling Instant Film Cameras, you'll want the alt tags of a fujifilm instax mini 8 to read something like "FujiFilm Instax Mini 8 Alt Tags". With Wordpress, this can be done through the "Media Library" section of the dashboard. For Shopify, use this app: https://apps.shopify.com/seo-image-optimizer

>Ensure that your headlines have as much relevant keywords as possible
For example, my headline should probably say "Lake Lace Lingerie" instead of "Lake Lace". My product pages could say "Underwear Lingerie" instead of "Underwear", or "Lingerie Bras" instead of "bras". Your header tags (<h1>, <h2>, <h3> etc.) are weighted heavier on keyword relevance by google's algorithms.

>integrate keywords into paragraphs naturally. Google knows when you're trying to spam keywords. Also, sites where pages have over 300+ words of text rank higher and score higher on quality/trustworthyness than sites with less than 300 words on each page. Keep this in mind.

>Backlinks are important, but only if they're good quality. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES hire some pajeet/gupti/ahmed to spam backlinks to your site; google with spank you mercilessly with the paddle of punishment. To get some high quality links, (pt. 1/2)

>>1729548
many thanks anon, ill try to work on a shop this weekend and post my results back here

>>1729548
(pt. 2/2) consider approaching bloggers within your field and offering to write (article/review) content for them, or offer them a product and if they like it, ask them to write a review on it and link to your site.

Also, comment on other blogger's sites and leave your website address where it's natural to do so (i.e., "Hey Greg, great article! Good to see the Lomo' Instant Wide at the top of the rating chart, where it belongs. I'm actually selling accessories for all the models you've mentioned here, if you're interested in them, check out our site: 'x'".

>Upload .xml sitemaps.
This tells google how to read your site, and also informs its algorithms that your site is legitimate and trustworthy.

>once complete, ask google to re-crawl your site.
This tells google to both index your site, and crawl all the pages to map them out. You can do this here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url

>Include a 'contact us', 'terms of service' and 'privacy policy' page on the footer of every page. This is important, and google will relentlessly rape your SEO score if you don't have these.

More tips to come. Thanks to all who have contributed.

>>1729539
Thanks for reading the thread. You can use "CAMEFROMBIZ" on my site for a discount, should your gf/wife want some nice shit for valentines day.

>>1729553
good luck mate, any questions or feedback/advice, I'm happy to help and glad to receive.

shoot me an email at [email protected] or msg me on @lake.lace at instagram if you want to get in touch. good luck and I look forward to hearing how your business goes!

>>1729420
See: >>1729434

>>1729437
Nah on statements it says "SHOP - LAKE LACE". Shopify lets you choose exactly what is displayed on the credit card statement, and all funds (as far as I know - please take this with a grain of salt and do your own research too) are charged to Shopify, who then internally deposits them (minus transactions fees) into my bank account.

>>1729367
reverse osmosis devices and water filters seem like a very nice niche in my language (it's saturated in english, but almost inexistent in my mother tongue).

how would you guys capitalize on this ?
Im thinking of a classic review website

>>1729582
In australia, there's heaps of people who are into alternative shopping and alot of those alternative stores have osmosis water filters and the like at severely overpriced rates. All you'd have to do is offer a similar product at a cheaper rate and market in the same ways mentioned above by OP and bobs your uncle you're in an unsaturated online market with shitloads of people who are keen to buy. Start approaching healthfood stores and drop flyers out, speak to the owners of said stores and see if they'll sell your product for kickbacks, etc, bam you've taken the niche in your corner of the world and it will market itself being on the shelves.

>>1729591
OP here, I've done amazon affiliate sites and here's some tips you should know:

>Amazon is a ruthless bitch on terms and conditions.
My site got cancelled with four figures worth of orders, all because I had a green button saying "Check Pricing & Availability" when any button or text linking to Amazon MUST be using their button.

>Using other bloggers in your niche is key.
Use some of the methods described in this post: >>1729556 to get in touch and get backlinks and traffic. Keep in mind that for affiliate sites; ranking is important but traffic is more important.

>For a great example of a successful amazon affiliate site, check out: pickmyshaver.com
It sold on Flippy for $60,000 USD the other month. It's simple and looks like shit, but it works.

>Products should be high priced.
When you start off, you'll be making only around 4% per product sold. Reverse osmosis filters are good as they retail for around $80 - $100 USD +. I hope you take my niche idea and make it work to your full advantage, bro.

>Include a Pro's AND Con's section for each review.
It's proven that people buy more when they receive some negative feedback. For example, when a restaurant advertised as "Small, but cozy atmosphere" they tripled bookings in comparison to advertising as "Spacious, great atmosphere".

>Be sure to include a 'Terms & Conditions', 'Privacy Policy' and 'Contact Us' page or amazon will shutdown your account.
Also, be sure to include the typical Amazon Affiliate disclosure, here is pickmyshaver.com's disclosure; literally copy paste and replace the URL with your own: http://pickmyshaver.com/amazon-affiliate-disclosure/

Keep us updated with how you go!

>>1729591
thanks anon, I will look into this.

>>1729600
thanks anon, i have the opportunity of exploring untapped niches because I fluently speak 3 languages.

However, I seem to get stuck in this never ending circle of reading and reading and reading, but never actually starting.

Your posts and your thread have inspired me to finally start.

>>1729582
Or, if you want to go with the drop-shipping concept (i.e., >>1729591), this approach is great.

The other day when I was in Perth, I was on the train and passed a shop called 'Water Filters Australia'. It would be easy to call such a shop up, pretend to be a customer and ask for their pricing. Work out how much profit you'd be making on an average sale, and estimate whether they can get it cheaper.

Then offer to supply direct to them at a lower margin. Directly walking in their and asking to take away their customers though, won't work.

One way to encourage healthy relationships is to ask similar businesses whether they have a website, and offer something like:
>A logo placement for a logo placement.
(This also improves backlinks and, thus; ranking)
>An offer as a secondary or recommended supplier when their products are out of stock (where you supply the same product), and vice-versa
>Content sharing on blogs, if they happen to have one (probably unlikely)
Where you could encourage writing an article on their site where it links to yours, and in turn they can write an article on your site where it links to theirs

You'd be surprised how many business owners are willing and keen to expand their visibility through this form of co-operation, where it's truly a neutral, noncompetitive arrangement. It's interesting how competitors can work together for their own benefit.

>>1729610
Not OP and currently in the same trap of reading a shitload but never going anywhere with it. This time is slightly different though. I'll be going to try it because for the most part the methodology of dropshipping requires little if any overheads. Hardest/most time consuming part would be marketing and growing organic followers.

OP is a good bloke for sharing all this information, I want to thank him and give him mad props.

>>1729610
Great! Congratulations on committing yourself to getting started.

From now on, see the previous things you've learned as the platform to launch you into action.

It's definitely good and advisable to read enough to understand what you're doing. If you ever have any questions in regards to dropshipping, amazon affiliate sites, marketing, e-commerce or branding, feel free to shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I'm only too happy to help. Two heads are better than one, and perhaps one day you'll know something I need to know.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

>>1729610
as far as selling goes as well, it is a small step once you gain traction to then employ yourself a salesperson on commission with a minimal retainer (minimum wage, part time, 15-25k a year) to sell your shit for you. Make sure you pick the right person.

>>1729615
Thanks bro, I hope it's helped people get the final pieces of information they need to make themselves some money.

If you ever need any advice or help, or have any questions or feedback, you can always shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I'm more than happy to help.

Keep us updated with how your projects/businesses/ventures go, I'm keen to see what you can make of it! Good luck

>>1729621
I've saved a copy of this thread to a doc on my HDD and when I get underway I'll shoot an email to you. I write a fair bit as well, so on that note I am keen to write reviews/articles/posts for your blog on chosen sites in exchange for linkbacks or some form of compensation. I'm fairly articulate and given that I post here too, you know that I either have plenty of time on my hands to write/research quality posts. If you need a copywriter to freelance for you, let me know, I'll flick you an email straight away and I'm happy to do a 3-500 word post for free and post wherever you want to demonstrate my ability.

Thanks again OP, good luck and I'll contact you either way once I get my shit underway.

>>1729629
Hey mate!

I'm really interested. I've actually just begun qualifying the viability of a new business, together with a business partner. We're based in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney and would be working an interesting model to Australia, and then worldwide.

One of the requirements for starting up is to get some good quality articles/blog posts/content, but we quite frankly struggle to find the time.

You're clearly articulate and an intelligent guy, and I'd be really interested in seeing how we can work together. I'm particularly keen on assessing how, in exchange for content/articles, we can help support and grow your business/projects, whatever they may be.

Please shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I'll get back to you by Monday, and we can flesh out some details then. Thanks for getting in touch!

>>1729621
alright, thanks man. Ill take note of your e-mail.


>>1729629
how do you save the thread in your hdd ?

>>1729655
Ctl+S on the thread, save the .html file

Or, use "screenshot --fullscreen" in firefox cmd if you have firefox

Or, alternatively; screenshot the thread a few times as you scroll down I guess!

Perhaps there's also a way to submit to 4chanarchive

OP (and everyone else) should join the Dropshipping/E-Commerce Discord server:

https://discord.gg/rsRrFtQ

>>1729672
Just joined, thanks for the invite anon!

>>1729638

I'll shoot through an email now.

I've got my own ideas that I'll share with you, but I'll do it after I do a free article for you and if you like what I can do for you, I'd be interested in sharing a niche idea in a MASSIVE market with high margins and literally millions of potential customers worldwide. If this is enough to wet the tip of your dick, just wait till you see what I send you about what I have in the email.

Why do I want to do it? I approached niche instagram handles with my handle in their name (100k and 800k+ followers respectively) to sell my handle for quick cash, cos I was lazy and wanted a cheap out to go travelling for a bit. One of them got back to me but didn't give me an offer, they're waiting for me to sell myself short, but I know the value of the handle and I want to come in aggressively and take their market share because I have a better handle for organics, therefore better branding for marketing.

Fuck em, I'm coming.

>>1729655
I copy paste to email or word/txt document

>>1729403
> lemme give u guys tips! I'll share all my secrets with u!
> zero sales

kek

>>1729940
"Yesterday my first dropshipping site launched"
"I have literally no experience what-so-ever in dropshipping in general"
"to re-iterate, I'm not at all experienced in this"

>expects a veteran expert moneymaking guarantee'd foolproof step-by-step cashmachine marketing guru course guide

There's always one

>>1729965
let's be honest here. the internet is not new at this point. gone are the days when people had no fucking idea how internet ordering/shipping/shopping worked.

now, you can find virtually anything on amazon prime and it'll be at your door in 2 FUCKING DAYS along with thousands of reviews, consumer protection, etc.

what am I saying? I'm saying buying anything from rando mcfuck's site for such a COMMON thing (underwear) you gotta be kidding me. 3 week shipping? hell nah.

never trust these pop up sites. big corporate all the way. got everything you need. no shady NEETs fucking with your CC info and dicking around trying to make an easy dollar.

these dropship sites are becoming a much of a meme as phillipino catfish looking for sugar daddys through email

>>1730019
>the internet is not new at this point
No shit? Did the internet have to be new for things like social media, or e-commerce in general? I could make the argument that trading items for currency isn't new either

>now, you can find virtually anything on amazon prime and it'll be at your door in 2 FUCKING DAYS
Amazon prime is for videos and movies, faggot. Also, no shit? How many years has e-commerce been going on for? See above

>I'm saying that buying anything from rando mcfuck's site for such a COMMON thing (underwear) you gotta be kidding me. 3 week shipping? hell nah.
So is that why there's over 30,000 purchases on one item of underwear from one supplier where there's only 1 month shipping provided, literally sold by 'Rando McFucktard' in Chinktakistan?
>these dropship sites are becoming a much of a meme as phillipino catfish looking for sugar daddys through email
Would you exploit a meme if it could entire supplement what little fucking income you do have?

Here's my predictions for this anon:
>wagecuck
>under 24
>literally always been a wagecuck
>dropped out of higher education
>has literally never, ever, owned an online business
>has literally never, ever, owned a business
>has literally never, ever, actually attempted to start a business

Explain why dropshipping sites make people five figures?
Explain why a shitty, ugly site like pickmyshaver.com could be making $30,000 a month?
Explain why Shopify, Oberlo, and Dropshipping in general has become such a huge industry within a few years?
Are you saying that dropshipping doesn't make money? If so; are you entirely fucking retarded?

come up with a better fact-check, faggot

Hey OP do you know if I can fulfill the orders with a debit card (not a CC) Also in my country (third world) I can't withdraw PayPal directly to my bank what other options do I have?

Great post anon. Followed and will keep watching. Quick suggestion on the site. I think you should change the whole mountains and "good view" theme. Not a fan of the logo. Has nothing to do with lingerie and its not really "sexy".

>>1729600
can confirm on amazons terms and conditions. got banned from becoming an amazon seller after 4 days.


>>1729610
What has helped me actually take action in pulling the trigger is buying at least $100 or more worth of inventory. That means I need to work at least $100 worth to break even.

>>1730102
As long as you have a Visa or MC logo on it, Alibaba and other wholesale websites will accept.

>>1730075
(1/2) I was introduced to dropshipping by Timothy Ferris. he had a product called "BrainQUICKEN" that he advertised in magazines, publications, for sports enthusiasts. because this was in the early days of the internet, there was no "major hub" of online purchasing, the internet represented more or less a real city in the sense of having to go to the right place for the right thing. there wasn't a single site that could fulfill all your needs.

keep in mind this was in tandem with a lack of information in general, which is why Ferris was able to sell a product for so much % markup. there was nothing "revolutionary" about the product, but the packaging, marketing, "niche" target was what made it a success.

foremost, you need to consider that any smart consumer will make distinctions between what is or isn't a quality product. the main problem with dropship, in my eyes is the complete "hands off" approach to what you are actually sending, selling, convincing people to buy. there is a fundamental weirdness i can't get over in CONVINCING someone to "BUY THIS" when I myself have absolutely no means of confirming it is as good, or superior to what is already available.

I guess this files under "exploit the normies"...because it is the normies who can be swayed by an "instagram campaign" or rush to buy something transparently endorsed by someone paid to do so. I am well past that, I have no illusions that "bulk shipments" coming from china will constitute a produce worth paying for.

the game of dropshipping is to create a slick looking website, that reels in the right gullible consumer, to buy something that, had they actually known the story behind, would most likely never buy.

>>1730075

you may say, how are companies like H&M any different? how is this different than any business?

well for one, I don't shop at somewhere obviously shitty and cheap as H&M. I can guarantee you though someone is re-marketing similar items on a trendy urban instagram.

and second, the reviews matter. amazon is handy in allowing the public en masse to confirm the validity or quality of a product BEFORE you buy. not testaments by the site owners that "YOU NEED THIS"

the only reason to venture outside of "confirmed channels" to buy products is if they truly offer something unique, un-replicable, quality, and ONLY through that site.

that, or they represent a deep discount on what is essentially the same product, (which has happened with companies like Harry's razors...somewhat a monopoly buster of companies like gilette)

>>1729358
What payment gateway do you use?

The main problems I have with this idea are

1) the neverending task of getting traffic to your personal site. Combine that with low buyers/visitors ratios and you're working for pennies.

2) What you're doing is not proprietary in any way so competition will always be cutthroat.

>>1730178
H&M has the capital to market, bankroll staff, and own brick and mortar stores. Drop shippers are guys in their underwear buying garbage from chinaland to sell to idiots
>>1730227
This. Like with many biz plans, yes, this shit can make you money. People have done it for a long time. But you always have to ask yourself-- how talented, skilled, and knowledgeable you are. Because this scheme is open for anyone else similar to you. And if you aren't offering a good or service that resulted from superior talent, skill, or knowledge (if you're just some fungible man in the middle who could easily be automated) there is NO security in your model. You just hope to be one of the lucky ones

I was wondering if selling on tumblr would be just as easy as setting up on wordpress would be.

Anyone got insight on this?

>>1730075

You'd have better odds getting into something else more profitable with your skill set.

> pickmyshaver.com

Been around since 2013.

Has 387 backlinks from 100 domains. Which in 2013 Google was all about those backlinks, now they could care less.

That website is also an Amazon affiliate.

https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/ultimate-guide-to-building-amazon-affiliate-niche-sites-that-are-insanely-profitable.687867/

Heavily talked about on BHW. Which is interesting.

Is it necessary for me to put a phone and post address on my dropshipping website when I start?
Are there any good services /biz/ would recommend for those?
I suppose I could use skype for forwarding calls, since I'm from outside of US. If you have any good alternative, I'd be glad to hear it.

>>1729403
>I use multiple sellers.

I just thought of something. Sorry if this has been mentioned previously but if you're using multiple sellers, what happens when a customer orders multiple products from different sellers?

Isn't it kind of a red flag when the customer receives their order in 3 seperate distinct packages several days apart?

nice job retard. just gave a step by step process for someone to steal your store. Lmao cuck.

>>1729367
how do you find other dropshippers?

>>1730208
I'm using Shopify's payment gateway. Shopify charges you 1-2% if you don't (pure evil)

>>1730330
It will be easier on wordpress, trust me. Tumblr doesn't have integrations for WooCommerce, or Shopify, or any of those things (as far as I know)?

Plus, it's just downright easier to build on a platform which is, itself, built for this purpose

>>1730600
Yes, you must do this. If you don't, they essentially have a good reason to cancel your account with money in it. Their fraud systems will compare the registered address on your credit card to your address. They'l compare your IP to your address, and compare your phone to the location on your card and address - essentially, customers are never going to see your details unless you let them, so just do it.

I'm highly conscious of my privacy and security; the risk is if Shopify gets hacked (probs will happen at some point but hey, what can you do).

>>1730747
Yeah, they will receive the products separately. I think it is a red-flag, and then the customer will go through a process of validation.

>I received the products separately, is this shit quality?
>Hmmm, the products aren't actually shit quality
>Hmmm, they all arrived within their described shipping times, it's fine

This is the ideal process. Otherwise, they might go
>What the fuck, it ships separately?
>What the fuck, it's bad quality?
>Never buying here again

and then onto the next customer.

>>1730909
As in, other suppliers? AliExpress, Oberlo's managed products, or http://www.wholesale2b.com/

If you're talking about other people who are getting into dropshipping, I don't really. Apart from /biz/

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>>1730102
If Paypal can't withdraw to your bank, this is fine - you can disable paypal payments on your site (see attached pic)

To get here, go:
>admin panel on shopify
>settings (cogwheel)
>payments
>scroll down to paypal
>click 'edit'
>click 'Deactivate'

>>1730141
Thanks for the feedback!

Yeah the logo was something I quickly came up with, definitely not related to lingerie and I agree that it doesn't 'feel' sexy. The main reason I wanted it was for something to put on instagram. The reason it's still on the site is because instagram users are familiar with the logo.

I think that once I announce the launch, I'll remove it and/or change it, and keep just a simple 'text logo' as the main logo.

Thanks again for the suggestions, I agree with you.

>>1730766
It's quality OC, you prefer shitposting?

>>1731136
i dont give a shit desu, just saying really retarded on his part. I guarantee u theres already another store exactly like his, word for word.

Hey man, I like your concept. I'm older than most on this board, and I think you're doing it right. I'm willing to invest some time and money to do this myself, and I already have relationships with a lot of suppliers in AE and other sites. My question is on shipping:

Do you limit your shipping to US only? What about the fear of shipping taking longer than expected (christmas rush, chinese holiday seasons, etc)? How often do delayed orders happen for you?

Again, I'm like 80% close to trying this out lol.. you made a great contribution, thanks.

>>1731174
herp derp faggot, okay go ahead and copy his store fucking dip fuck.

>>1731202
mad bro?

>>1731186
Hey mate, OP here.
I'm glad this has been of some value to you, and I'm glad you think I'm on the right track.

>Do you limit your shipping to US only?
Nope, I've now ensured that all products on the site ship worldwide. Generally, for my products, 'e-Packet' shipping costs no more than $6 at the most. I charge $5.99 shipping on all items, and any shipping costs are entirely recovered.

>What about the fear of shipping taking longer than expected
In my 'Shipping' page, I clearly state that we are not responsible for unforeseen delays in shipping. In the 'Returns' page, I have outlined my exact terms; here's them in summary:
>If you don't receive your product, or it's not as described or damaged, you'll need to get in touch with the corresponding supplier
>If they aren't cooperative, we may be able to help you with store credit
>If we need to have the item returned before credit is issued, we charge a $15 shipping/handling/restocking fee, so keep this in mind when buying items under $15
>How often do delayed orders happen for you?
Well I've still yet to announce the launch of the site, and haven't made a cent. I ordered a couple products before the site was live, and ordered one test product when the site was ready to go, and they all arrived fine.

If you want to kind of cover your ass in terms of shipping, returns, import tax and non-delivery, feel free to rip my terms and conditions.

>my shipping policy:
http://lakelace.com/pages/shipping

>my returns policy:
http://lakelace.com/pages/returns

>>1731217
>>1731186
Shit by the way, you'll need the password 'thankyou' to access. Shortlinks to those pages are on the footer of every page.

>>1731219
Disregard this

>>1731221

Thanks, I noticed in your google sheet, is EMS preferable over ePacket?

>>1731237
ePacket is best, should always go for it (if it's appropriate for your products). EMS is another carrier like UPS or FedEx, and inherently charge more.

The tradeoff is that a carrier will generally provide tracking, be more likely to ensure higher quality delivery, and you are less likely to lose items in the mail. That's just my opinion.

>>1731245
Wow man, this is fantastic stuff, do you have any other tips/suggestions/templates?

>>1731286
Wellp, I'm going to be posting more tips & tricks as I go along.

Today, I've announced my launch for Monday and placed three orders. I'll let you guys know the following:

>how my marketing has gone so far
>lessons learned from marketing
>what I'd do differently
>issues I've encountered that you can avoid

If there's any other tips on specific things that you'd like to know, ask me here because I'm going to be monitoring the thread all day, all weekend

>>1731302
I would have a domain email address instead of a gmail one, it just looks a lot more professional. I wouldn't shop at a store with a gmail address.

>>1731302
Thanks a lot man, I would love to see your item google doc to see how you rank the markups and seller ratings

>>1731309
Hey bro, I've just set up my domain email and have set it up as the store contact.

Thanks for your advice and I appreciate the feedback.

>>1731364
Cool, I'll upload the spreadsheet and make it public this evening.

I'll include an explanation in the spreadsheet itself to help readers understand exactly how I got there.

All the figures are automated, all you need to input is the Product Link, the Shipping cost, Item cost and Shipping time to generate the figures.

Of course, product review notes are all manual, as well.

>>1731401

Sounds good, I'd doublecheck your sizing chart, it goes, XS, then S twice, M twice, L twice, and you have 3X twice.

To me it seems easier to use Shopify's built in TOS and privacy policy

Shopify shilling their website again.

Shopify shilling their website again.

Shopify shilling their website again.

>>1731440
Oh damn, I didn't realize this - thanks so much for pointing it out. Gonna go and edit it now. You're a legend.

>>1731448
Faggots shitposting again.

Faggots shitposting again.

Faggots shitposting again.

OP here, some more tips based on questions I've received outside of the thread.

This advice applies to everyone, the method is the exact method I've used, but I've generalized the example from 'Lingerie' to 'Home Accessories'.

>How do I get instagram followers in my niche?

Well here's what I'd do. Let's just assume that you're selling basic home accessories.

>I'd go to instagram and find big successful pages focusing on home accessories
>I'd find their most successful and highest engaged posts
>I'd save them and schedule them in hootsuite

For example, when I search "#homeaccessories" hashtag, a big page is @liketoknow.it.home. Their most successful post (around 4.5x more engagements than normal) is this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPJuqosg2X4/

There's my first instagram post. I'd repeat till I find around 3 - 4 similar, high performing posts each page.

Then, I go and target that particular page's followers - for example, I'd look at all the people who actually commented on that high performing post I copied, and follow them (if they conform to my target demographic). I'd keep my instagram profile private, with a really enticing bio. For example, I might make my bio ("Take a peek at the world's most stylish, breathtaking home accessories").

Once they see I've followed them, they naturally wanna see who I am, so they click on my private profile.

Once they see the bio, they're enticed to follow back so they can see my content. Once you've got around 80 followers, go and unfollow all the people who didn't follow you back.

On your page, you post the most successful posts you've found - and schedule them 1 - 2 times a day. As your followers increase, your post engagement will increase. Eventually, I'd lead this into my launch plan - i.e., say "This ['x' accessory] is in stock and ready to go. Can't wait for our followers to get it in their hands!" with posts, and offer followers a discount ("You can use [myhashtag] for 10% off!") with different posts.

>>1730247
That's the problem with /biz/-people and most people in general. They will always answer the question
>how talented, skilled, and knowledgeable you are
with "My superior intellect and intuition combined with working harder, will give me an edge over the competition. The rest I will pick up as I go. You have to be in business to get good at business!".

The problem, to reiterate, is that everybody thinks this. I wouldn't be surprised if 90% of people think they are smarter than 90% of their peers.

>>1731640
OP here, glad you said it.

Ego isn't a business benefit.

>>1731642
What's your response to >>1730227 then?

OP

How are you gonna protect yourself from DDOS attacks?

>>1731662
Not OP, but I don't think it's anything you can control with Shopify. That said, I would assume Shopify manage that aspect of it, as they deal with the hosting.

For instance, if your site gets rekt, well there are likely many other shops hosted at the same IP, so they'll need to do something about it.

Though I suppose if it's consistent, it's possible they might just drop you as a customer if you're not worth it.

OP if that happens, I'd suggest your own site behind Cloudflare or similar service, though obviously that is more work.

>>1731112
Thank you for the feedback and all the info provided! I just started and I will post results in few weeks as a study case. Now there is still a lot of work to do, and the niche is a bit silly but we'll see.

>>1730227
>>1731643

>the task of getting traffic to your personal site
Isn't this true for any e-commerce site? The way I'm doing it is by highly targeted, personalized marketing to my stringently defined target demographic and audience.

>low buyers/visitors ratios, you're working for pennies
If I sell three average items, I make my money back with profit. My engagement ratios are currently sitting at 3.5x what I anticipated and expected them to be. If I continue this trend into the funnel, that's not working for pennies; that's pure autopilot cream.

>It's not proprietary in any way so competition will always be cutthroat
Tell me how many burgers joints there are in the world. Tell me how many cafe`s there are in the world. The first thing I identified was that competition was fierce and saturated, so I defined a niche customer segment and niche marketing plan, as opposed to a niche itself. I'm selling lingerie to anyone interested in lingerie, I'm selling the exact type of lingerie that an exact type of customer buys, and I've successfully created an exact marketing plan to deliver a higher-than-expected level of interest and engagement.

Essentially, the questions asked here apply to any e-commerce site in the world. These aren't even really 'problems', these are 'givens' and there are a million and one workarounds defined by the service/product you're offering.

For example; people selling tea. There's billion dollar conglomerates who don't dominate the market, they ARE the market. So how does an Aussie 17 year old make $10,000 a week selling tea? He has an extremely well defined target customer, a highly optimized marketing plan, and a thoroughly managed follow-up, up-sell and cross-sell dimension.

The point of this thread isn't to discuss the viability, planning, qualification and justification of business ideas and plans in general, it's to provide tips, tricks, walkthroughs and a general guide to dropshipping from planning to profit, real-time.

>>1731700
> I'm selling lingerie to anyone interested in lingerie, I'm selling the exact type of lingerie that an exact type of customer buys, and I've successfully created an exact marketing plan to deliver a higher-than-expected level of interest and engagement.

I meant to say "I'm NOT selling lingerie to just anyone interested in lingerie"

>>1731662
If I undertook a full risk assessment and identified the risk of DDOS, it would go in the 'ignore' category when balanced against likelihood, level of business disruption, cost to mitigate and cost to repair.

If I needed to do it though, it could be done through sinking malicious requests into a blackhole, immediately blocking and blacklisting IP ranges, immediately reporting the IP to blacklists, negotiating with Shopify hosting services/my own hosting services to negate the efforts, geo-blocking the specific regions as they arrive, re-hosting on my backup server, re-hosting on my managed server or by blocking certain types of requests altogether, or last-resort cloudflare/offline version whereby orders are cached to a local server and reprocessed when available.

I'd only mitigate this because I do cyber security consulting for my full-time job, otherwise I'd outsource. But for regular people, unless you seriously piss someone off or identify a real risk with high likelihood, don't even worry about it.

>>1731674
Thanks, glad you found the thread helpful! Best of luck with it. If there's anything I can help with, any tips/advice you need or any way I can help your dropshipping business grow, I'm always happy to help. Hit me up at [email protected] and we can chat.

>>1731640
>>1730247

Is that a reason not to try it though?

Dropshipping has very low startup costs and overheads. You just need to pay for a domain and a Shopify account which will cost you less that $400/year.

Even if you fail miserably you're not really down that much in terms of cash and you'll probably have learned a thing or two about running a business in the process.

The notion of buying cheap chinkshit and selling it at a markup for profit is nothing new. That's what virtually every successful business does. The hardest part is going to be marketing, brand design and generating traffic.

No matter what your business plan is, there will always be naysayers who will tell you that it can't be done and that you're better off just getting a 9-5 cubicle slave job like they did. Misery loves company.

>>1731780
OP here, I think this is the right attitude.

>>1731780
I'm not saying "it isn't possible". I'm simply saying that the expected revenue-to-effort ratio considering the risk (of losing time, not money) makes it not really worth it for me personally. I feel I have better options that give me a better objective edge. That's not to say it can't be worth it for you.

The whole cubicle-slave thing is complete projection on your part.

This thread should be archived

cool thread, liked it better than that first guy who did it like a month ago

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>>1731217
>$15 charge for returning an item
>you will have to contact the supplier to return the item
Your policies are retarded, I wouldnt buy anything from you if I was told that after I place my money into your hand if i dont get my order then I have to chase up some random 3rd party supplier regarding my order, since your products arent super expensive ( below a dollar) you should offer to resend the item for free if it gets lost and maybe offer free returns

I didn't even think models and girls would actually buy lingerie for $8 o_O

>>1730167
>the game of dropshipping is to create a slick looking website, that reels in the right gullible consumer, to buy something that, had they actually known the story behind, would most likely never buy.

Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't enjoy the product.

Only suggestion I have is to pay for a better logo when you get some money coming in and to put a link to your instagram somewhere on your page.

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>Jump in for any questions/help you need for dropshipping
https://discord.gg/Zs2gY5u
https://discord.gg/Zs2gY5u
https://discord.gg/Zs2gY5u

Dumb question of the day:

Why doesn't everyone just buy shit from aliexpress? It's a huge and well known corporation. If I could by lace panties from them for $0.99 why would I buy the same thing for $12?

Is it just sheer ignorance? Consumers don't know about it?

Also how is it possible to make money? I would imagine the market is absolutely saturated with drop shippers for every possible category and niche

>>1729361
>>>1731423 (OP)
>implying anyone here on butt-chan would utilize his services

Thanks for your help OP, I think I found a product I'm going to test out and to be honest, I can afford the costs/time so what else do I have to lose. Hope you get a chance to upload the google docs

>>1732389
Sheer ignorance, Consumers don't know about it, They're not comfortable (AliExpress doesn't feel like an e-commerce site) and it's not marketed towards end-consumers.

In the last dropshipping thread I noticed a comment from some guy saying his girlfriend knew full damn well about AliExpress, but still bought dropship products from stores because "meh" and she "preferred" it.

I think that's more of a psychological thing than a common-sense, or ignorance, or rational kinda thing, perhaps.

>>1732035
The policies are shit, and I'd probably not buy from a store with that policy - but that's me, and that's you; and we most likely think much differently to the girls who buy clothing online.

Out of all the girls I asked, every single one of them said they've literally never read a returns policy. Every single one said that if they buy an online item of clothing that's shit, they either try to sell it on ebay, give it to a friend or forget about it.

The reason the returns are $15 is because my time is valued at that - the way I worked it out is that;
a) I work full time and have very little spare time to work on this
b) I cannot be spending all my free days dealing with receiving, inspecting, shipping and re-shipping broken items

But, with your point; If the item costs me under $6 including shipping, I would simply send the customer a new one.

>>1732130
Out of all the girls I asked, here's the typical responses in regard to lingerie and pricing:

>How often do you buy lingerie?
"Around once a month"

>How much do you spend when you buy lingerie?
"Not much, around $50 to $60?"

>How many items do you usually get?
"Probably around 2 to 3?"

A lot of girls spend $100+ but those purchases are de-risked as they do it in-store, most of the time. For online purchases it's about finding a sweet-spot balance (I figured anyway) in terms of pricing. Every girl I've asked since the site is live to assess the orders has liked the prices and said they were more than good (this is for the Australian demographic, mind you).

>>1732356
Thanks anon, plan on getting a more 'text based' logo and less related to the one I have now. I wanted that one for instagram, but definitely need to invest in a new one when there's cash-flow. I'll use fiverr.

>>1732468
Hey bro glad you found the thread useful. I'm currently uploading the spreadsheet now, I'll update when it's up there.

Hey sup OP, dropshipper here too, made 2.6k in sales with my brand new store in 20 days.

You seem to be in a nice niche I might steal it hehe.

Anyway, do you use facebook ads? You need traffic.

>>1732786
Oh yeah, I'd also like to add that your store design looks like shit. I'd start out with picking a better, more responsive theme like Brooklyn.

Also get higher res. pictures, doesn't look professional.

Blue color and intimacy doesn't mix, go with black.

Also your store logo is something I would see on a fishing supplies site, change it to something more intimate.

Also "The view is GOOD" Is something a beer drinking, football game-catching redneck would say and you said that you present yourself as a woman. Change it too.

PRO TIP:

Can't go wrong with black and white layout

If you can't make up something 100% Catchy don't write anything, it will just sound shitty and cringy.

Hey all, excel spreadsheet is up on google docs here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BHrTaXJMRoX3npVJXSOZ5GaOyusLjmSbHxpuRdR2SsA/edit?usp=sharing

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>>1732786
>>1732794
t. moneyman

>>1732786
Hey good work with your site! Congrats.
How did you get sales? What was your marketing plan?

Feel free to steal this shit, because I'll just steal it back hehe. I hope you make a killing in whatever you do.

I don't personally think Lingerie is a niche at all, but I think that there's a niche target demographic, a niche way of marketing and a niche acquisition scheme.

Yesterday I set up Instagram ads, which have had a few clicks and likes which is good. I also claimed Shopify's $100 google adwords credit, and got that up and running.

Yesterday, I started a pinterest account but can't sell products directly as it requires store currency to be in USD (which I don't want to do).

Good luck with it all

>>1732794
Yep, Logo is on the top of the to-do list.

Higher-res pictures are hard for product pics, without buying one-of-each product and then getting my model & photographer friends to do their thing. It's on my to-do list when (or if) the site turns over enough revenue to pay for it.

I really appreciate the logo, slogan, colour scheme and copywright advice. Will revise today and update the thread with implemented changes.

>>1732759
I'm not saying you have to actually get them to return the product, just refund/resend the item, all businesses have losses

>>1732800
>>1732802
Do Facebook ads, Instagram ads aren't that good, hard to get good clicks, aim for 2-4% CTR in your ads.

The most important thing in this dropshipping game is targeting. Once you know how to target the right audience you will see big sales.

Website design-wise I'd suggest you make it so your collections page has 2-3 items per row, it will look more professional

ALSO THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE THAT WILL BOOST YOUR SALES TODAY.

CROP OUT ANY ASIAN FACES FROM YOUR PHOTOS. Use Shopify image editing tool, select crop, custom crop and just remove the face. Best case scenario you'd find a different photo for the same product but I know how difficult that could be.

Godspeed, get that money.

>>1732815
Good tip with the asian faces. I read from the previous dropshipping thread that neutral models perform best. I don't think I have any asian faces at the moment, but will be sure to go and remove all faces, all-together. Great tip thanks for sharing.

I'll get onto facebook ads now instead. I'll just get some images for the page, and then work on optimizing them.

I'll share with the page exactly how I optimized them, formatted them, their performance and what I'd do differently. I'm gonna spend some time analyzing other lingerie facebook ads to see what they're doing, and see what works.

Thanks good sir, you're a gentleman and a scholar.

>>1732389

One of the services dropship businesses supply is quality assurance. They'll only (hopefully) sell products that they've done their due diligence on, so the consumer doesn't need to worry about sifting through the tons of chink crap.

I think only the most stingy consumer would "reverse engineer" the product to find the Ali Express supplier and go directly to them.

>>1732861
When it's literally an 'image search' click it's not hard.
I'd say many do this - hence why it's such a high traffic and popular site.

Y'all Niggas talking about building rail roads but Ali is selling steel.

>>1732883
But the point is so many (girls, particularly) people don't do this. It's weird, but it's the way it is.

Savvy users like yourself and /biz/ in general, definitely would. This is notion is exemplified when we're assessing a dropshipping site with the concept of price, overheads, supplier source, margins and profit in mind. But to a girl who's just seen a really sexy piece of lingerie on instagram, and landed on the site, she's not thinking "I'll use tineye to reverse search this image, find the original manufacturer, set up an account and buy it there". She's thinking "I'm gonna get so many likes when my ass is in these panties on instagram, I'm going to get so many DM's with a booty pic in these, my boyfriend's gonna love it, I wonder if it's in my size? Yep, it is. I wonder how much shipping is? It's free if I buy one more product. Sweet, what else will I look fucking hot in?"

Never think your customers are stupid, but expect behaviour that you wouldn't anticipate - because at the end of the day you AREN'T your customer, no matter what.

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shopify dropshipper here, not a bad gig once you get traffic going. Took me like 7 months to get the organic traffic flowing, 2017 is lookin good!

I sell sex toys from aliexpress

>>1732998
Nice stuff!

How do you build on your organic traffic?

>>1733021

I wrote blog posts on my site to target popular/low-competition keywords. I used answerthepublic.com to find topics for my niche.

I also paid for a couple of backlinks on popular blogs related to my niche. That was key, I just wrote the blog owner to see if they'd give me a backlink. avg price was like $200 for a backlink, worth it IMO for the long-term traffic gains.

Now that I have traffic, it's just a matter of adding more products to find the shit that sells.

Also, be very agressive in collecting emails addresses from your site visitors. I use SumoMe to hit em with pop-ups. I offer like a 10% discount if they sign up. Emails lists are straight $$ to keep people coming back to your store.

I use Mailchimp for my email marketing, it's really cheap/free for most things.

>>1732998
>sell sex toys
>refunds:$3,000

>>1732998
30% of your orders are returned?

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OP HERE, UPDATES AND PLANS

Updates:
=======
>first two sales
Woo! Must have come from /biz/ or something, as they didn't come from social media. $30 sales, $25 profit.

>Started an instagram ad campaign
Two ads, some good engagements so far (see pics)

>claimed $100 free adwords advertising from Shopify, started a campaign. Next post will show engagement on it so far.

>started a Pinterest account, but can't sell directly as it requires store currency to be in USD.

TO DO:
======
>launch a facebook advertisement campaign
>launch Affiliate Marketing programs with as many affilaite networks I can find
>Implement a new marketing strategy to get likes and purchases. Will do a giveaway if followers like, re-post, follow, and tag 3 - 6 of their friends. Going to copy the exact format of another company's template I stumbled across when finding target audience.

>>1733040
Great advice, thanks for the awesome tip with answerthepublic.com and the great insights into the cost of a backlink.

Definitely something that's worth getting once a site becomes viable and generates enough revenue.

I've realized that re-marketing is a lot cheaper and requires less effort than acquiring new customers. I've got a free 10% discount voucher upon entering email, and I'm considering making sign-up's mandatory.

If I want to do this though, I'd want a social sign-up option (sign in with instagram, facebook etc.) to make it a one-click solution.

Signing up also represents a micro-commitment, and if customers do it; they're (statistically) more likely to follow through to checkout, and complete a purchase.

>>1733053

I have products that cost 3k. That individual case was a fraudulent buyer, shopify counted the sale, but paypal never went through, hence the 'refund'.

>>1733081
stop selling sybians

>>1733067
I've been thinking about making emails sign-up mandatory too. Would be interesting to run a test for a week to see the effect.

Main issue right now is my chink suppliers are MIA due to chinese new year. cmon boys!

>>1733093
Chink's gonna chink.

Have you had many orders not ship out? Should only last a week, right?

>>1733081
THREE THOUSAND DOLLAR DILDO

AS SEEN ON: THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

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OP HERE; WOOHOO! FIRST ORGANIC SALE!

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>>1733197
Who made your site and where did you get the pictures?

>>1733469
I made my site, using Shopify's Debut theme.

I got my product pictures from the sellers (with some photoshop to touch up things and remove store logos) and got my banner pics from google images lol

I used 'Google Advanced Search' for images, and set the size to the highest size (or close to it), chose 'Panoramic' as the layout, and filtered down by finding good photos and clicking the 'See More' option on google images from there

>>1733492

Grats on your first sale, must feel good.

How bout the Instagram pics? Just repost or did the supplier give them to you too?

>>1733505
Thanks! It does. Tonight's for whiskey only, no more work.

The instagram pics was a little intricate process, described here:
>>1731564

Essentially, I found popular page posts for lingerie, found their particular posts that outperformed every other, and posted them on my page - to start off, so that followers have something nice to look at and it's the 'cream of the crop' so to speak, so as to generate followers through quality content.

Then, I got the best looking photos from items in my store and slowly fed them through.

I use Hootsuite to schedule and post, and you should too! It's a great tool.

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>>1733197
Congrats on your first sale anon. I wish you great success.

Your thread has been really informative and motivating. We really need more posters like you rather than wagies and coin cucks.

Do keep us posted.

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>>1733797
Thanks anon! I hope I've helped. Again, any tips or questions you need/have, don't hesitate to hit me up ([email protected]), perhaps I know something you don't.

On a side note; SECOND ORGANIC SALE! WOO!

The instagram ads have officially payed themselves off, x4.

(p.s., yes I'm watching star wars - it's weird how old the luke skywalker actor is now)

Is this legal? Seems pretty shady to me - you're marking up items that are cheap and worthless, and not even stocking them in your own country - how can you ensure these Chink sellers don't ship with their own advertisements in the packaging?

Also, aren't people suspicious of it taking so fucking long to arrive (you said something like 20 days!) - surely any smart person (like me) realises it's just coming from China, and they can just buy it on Taobao or Aliexpress for a fraction of the cost themselves?

Also, reverse Google image search reveals your scam

>OP HERE EVERYONE

Tomorrow I'll be doing an analysis of my paid advertising, which has done really well so far. I'll explain:
>exactly how I decided what to write
>exactly how I decided what to post
>some tips for the process
(there's lots of technicalities which will save you lots of time)
>how to boost engagement on the ads and turn 'likes' into purchases
(there's a specific few actions I've been taking which has converted 'likes' into followers, and purchases)

>>1733812
Actually, I take that back - sorry OP :^)

When I thought about it more, basically any high street shop or Western website is doing the same shit, only actually holding stock themselves.

Anything you buy here is worthless shit that has been marked up enormously.

Might get into this myself actually

>>1733812
>is this legal?
Yes

>you're marking up items that are cheap and worthless
They're cheap, but not worthless. Rigorous vetting ensures it's actually decent quality (i.e., look at products with 30,000 purchases from a seller who's been around for 4+ years, and look at the 5,000 photos that buyers have posted in the reviews section, including reviews from the past week. If there's no 'damaged on arrival' or 'poor quality' or 'didn't arrive' reviews, you can have a safe bet that it's a good quality product)

>how can you ensure these Chink sellers don't ship with their own advertisements in the packaging?
there's two solutions to this. Firstly, assess the viability (given your markup) of getting custom product packaging. I found that the average high quality, labelled, designed and coloured product box will cost around $13 AUD. You then need to discuss with your supplier/fulfilment centre whether you can ship these boxes to them and arrange for them to pack products into the boxes.
Alternatively, you can ask the suppliers in the 'product notes' something like this: "This is a gift - please no marketing, price tags, labels, sales offers or thank you cards". They'll still include original packaging though, which probably will have chinkonese writing on it.

For me, this isn't so much of an issue - 89% of women don't care about the packaging and brand of their lingerie. Those who do, will shop at Victoria Secret, not my store.

>aren't people suspicious of it taking so fucking long to arrive
Well, apparently not otherwise they wouldn't buy it. In my own research, I found that for shirts/dresses/skirts/pants/tops, girls want the clothes ASAP. But for underwear, socks, bras, panties and lingerie, they're happy to wait up to a month IF (firstly) it looks good, and (secondly) it's a good price. My products are around 2.5x cheaper than the average retail store here in Australia, so that ticks at least one box.

>>1733812
>>1733819

For more detail on this, see this post:
>>1732889

>Also, reverse image search reveals your scam
Again, see this post >>1732889

>>1733819
Holy shit this is rare. An anon taking the time to understand and comprehend the concept and realize it ain't so bad! Bro, I wish you all the success in the world and best of luck. If you ever need any tips, have any questions, would like a review of your websites or think of a way I can help you succeed, shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I'm happy to help.

>>1733822
Fair enough.

My wife buys shit loads of stuff from Taobao (she is Chinese, so can use the site given it's all in Chinese) - honestly, some of the stuff on there is ridiculously cheap, but actually as good or better quality than stuff you'd find here.

Coats for example - she has a few coats that cost £20-£30, and you'd get the same thing in the UK for anywhere in the region of £70-£150.

>>1733815
What countries are you targeting?

>>1733853
Australia

>>1733880
Only Australia?

How about some of the European countries?
I think the US would be a hard market, since they got amazon and eBay and that would be hard to beat.

>>1729367
How do you (or your customers) handle returns?

why make it sounds more difficult that it actually is? ive been dropshipping goods for a little over a year now. im in the women's apparel niche. All my goods are manufactured in the USA and 15% of all profits go to portland womens crisis center..

My proccess:
1. find EMD related to niche
2. go to fiver and have 3 2,000 word articles typed up regarding niche related products
3. Use either magneto or WP with a hosting through godaddy.buy logos/theme through fivver
4. obtain SSL (crucial!!)
5. contact US based manufacturers
6. stock shop with products and all relevant info
7. use a godaddy coupon and spend $25 to get $100 of google ad credit
8. place relevant ads on google using keywords that i would be using if i were shopping for my good.
9. start fb page, post meme's to create a decent following, then post cool semi-unique niche related products.
10. set up a bot to check my emails from wp/magneto sales, set to obtain product ID and email or use wholesale form to/on corresponding suppliers site.
11. hire fivver personal to manage/update blog as this helps search rankings
12. start another site and do it all again.

entire process takes a week of waiting, mostly for manufacturers to respond. after that and a bit of tinkering with various themes/logo (provided by fiver) the entire sales process becomes automated and by using fiverr emps i don't have to write my own content to keep the site ranking well on top of it all.

simple as fuck, a child could do it.

>>1734083
EU is next, to gain traction & following on the IG page, it's easier to start off local and then expand imo! but will begin targeting USA/CAN/UK/NZ/EU soon.

OP would you use pics from reviews that girls have uploaded to aliexpress?

>>1734775
Yes, I actually sift through the pictures of girls posing in them to find ones that look really nice. Then I add them to the product page, and add "See the pics of our beautiful, satisfied customers :)" in tje description for legitimacy.

>tfw no credit card
>shopify locks account with password until i pick a plan

>tfw live in europe
>tfw we dont do that credit card meme for all poor fags here

How much have you earned so far?

>>1735887
>no credit card

You have to be at least 18 to post here.

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>>1736105
No further sales today.

Have just pushed out a promo offering free panties with purchases over $30.

I have two instagram ads, one of them has over 1,200 likes and has gained me 200+ followers in 2 days. Here's my tips for converting 'likes' on the ad, into 'followers'

>As soon as you receive a notification that someone's liked your ad, go straight to their profile and like their latest pic
>like three to four of their pics, and comment on one (I comment one 'love-eyes- emoji)
>request to follow
>9/10, particularly if it's straight after they like your ad, they'll follow you back
>boom, one potential customer acquired
>rinse and repeat

Also
>when people comment directly on your ad and their tag their friends, here's what I do
>create a coupon code with the instagram handle as the code
>make it 10% off
>directly comment on the post, tag them in it, and give them the code
>if someone else uses it before them, great. They'll ask you for another one, that's 2x the sales

Lads, give me one instance how I can dropship in construction

>>1736167
With this being said, I have to work out why there's no conversions with over 1,200 likes on the ad.

This tells me that the problem could be a few, or all of the following things:
>The site isn't optimized for converting sales
>The prices aren't in the sweet-spot
>The shipping is too long
>The site isn't what the customers expect to land on

From this, I decide what to work on like this:
>Forget about optimizing shipping times
I know that Shipping just can't be helped. I've done all I can to find the cheapest, quickest shipping; and charging $38 for 3 days quicker shipping on a pair of $10 panties isn't going to help.

>Focus on optimizing the site for conversions
I'm going to do everything I can to ensure that the offers on the site are too good to refuse. I've since dropped the prices on all best-sellers, I've offered an incentive for free panties on orders over $30, I've created 10% discount codes for email signups - I'll have a good think about what I can do to generate conversions, but for now I'm a little low on ideas.

>The prices aren't in the sweet spot
I'm going to consider dropping my margins from an average of 400%, to around 200% where viable. I'll update with how this goes. Perhaps I can push it as a "store-wide sale" and just keep the prices after the sale promotion finishes.

>the site isn't what customers expect to land on
I'll take some time to consider how my site could be designed differently. This is the aspect I've focused the least on, so I'm sure there's room for improvement.

>>1736171
OP here, what about helmets, work boots, hi-visibility vests, gloves, road-lights and safety tape?

bump for interest

>>1736171
Boots.

>>1736171
selling PPE is good, and guaranteed sellers

>>1736130
As he stated, we're not retarded - yet we are over 18.

>>1736183
>>1736230
>>1736233
Thanks bros, all good ideas

>>1729358
>dropshipping walkthrough thread
>Yesterday my first dropshipping site launched
come back when you actually make some sales

>>1736324
He did make sales, did you read the fucking thread? Best quality content re dropshipping in a while. OP is a champ.

>>1736337
oh shit

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>>1736337
watch it big guy

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>>1729358

>>1736402
DAMN fuck, thanks anon

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>>1736402
>>1736406
Fixed

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Also everyone, I need a new logo as discussed.

Been trying to come up with ideas, can't be fucked waiting for a fiverr designer to take 3 days to do it.

What about this kind of style? (not this actual logo; it's shit, but the simplistic kinda style in general)

>>1736408
no periods weirdo

>customer gets card saying "thx for purchase senpai, u buy more at my website"
>customer figures out you jewed them hard
>say they didn't get it or try and return it

>>1736417
Thanks for the tip, removed

>>1736428
Every order gets a note stating "this is a gift - please no bills, sales promotions, marketing material, or thank you cards." Even if they do, I know that 89% of girls don't even take a second glance at packaging or branding for their lingerie. They care if it (primarily) looks good, (secondly) is cheap, and (thirdly) lasts them more than a month. This point has been covered already and is true for any dropshipping site.

>>1729610
>thanks anon, i have the opportunity of exploring untapped niches because I fluently speak 3 languages.
How exactly does this help you? I actually speak 4 languages (Dutch, French, English, German) so I'm interested.

In one of those dropshipping courses I had at Udemy, the instructor advised that having a phone number displayed is a good idea, even though most customers never call, it's reassuring to have one.
Which service do you use?
The instructor said they used skype, but their business service seems pricey.

>>1736710
The only circumstance in which you would want to do this is if you can afford to hire Pajeet to answer your phone.

I don't want to be getting calls from customers at 3am or have the calls go unanswered which would only lessen trust between you and the customer.

>>1736409
Don't bother with a fiverr designer, 98% of them do a shit job anyway. Considering your business I'd go with a modern minimalistic design, no ribbons, it makes it look too outdated.

>>1736734
True, but there are online services with a virtual receptionist for a small fee. But I think best way is to have live chat enabled for now and see how much traffic I get. Thanks for input.

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>>1736409
I was thinking something more pic related.

>>1736783
He's selling underwear, not jewelry

Bump, need to save when I''h home

>>1736802
Yeah, I would like to design a propper logo if I catch some time. This is just a generic logo, but I thought it had a laceyish look about it.

>>1736955
Why make the first L backwards? Looks really dumb

>>1736783
Looks like a hip hop logo.

btw OP, which apps are you currently using on your store?

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>>1736409
why dont you have a pair of stockings making the "LL"? Just make the name of the company the logo

(Stocking)ake (Stocking)ace
pic related is 2 (backward) L's

I would like 5% stake in your company for the work i just did.

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>>1736964
No one cares

My current dropship site, www.paxandroid.com

Ran a few Facebook ads, shipping was set at $10 by accident but now it's fixed back to $1.

Besides advertising on Facebook and patiently waiting for someone to click on Google ads, what else can I do?

>>1737482
literally everything on sale. lol. makes it look like your stuff is shitty and never sales. and some cases going for $4? theres no way you're making any money on that.

>>1737482
you make any sales on this garbage?

>>1736438
Did you check personally the lingerie? what if you live with your mom? too awkward.

What else can I dropship? also why not stick to amazon?

>>1737526
because alibaba has low priced chink shit you can markup for a higher price

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This is ALL WRONG. ALL OF IT.
How do I know? I've run 5 dropshipping businesses in the past 3 years. 3 of them did 1mil+ in sales with a 20% margin of profit.

One did $100,000 in sales in three months with a 40% profit margin which left me at 40k in profit and I sold the store off 6 months in for 120k in profit.

The last one I'm running currently and it does on avg 30k in sales per month at 20% margin. I'll maybe one day make a post on how to properly do dropshipping but it sure as shit isn't doing it from Alibaba or Amazon.

>>1737551
stfu u fag atleast he trying and getting sales.

>>1737557
of course. Not to shit on him trying. It's chump change and not worth the effort.

if you want to get big traffic from instagram just pay a popular insta whore to shout out your product or post a pic of her wearing some of it. You can also give out free stuff aslong as they say they got it from your shop

>>1737551
screencaps of sales or gtfo. literally no reason you cant post em if you can type all that shit.

>>1737562
No because I don't care enough to. I have nothing to prove to you and you're welcome to discredit me for it. It is what it is though.

>>1737562
You are however welcome to ask me any questions. I'll answer up to 3.

>>1737573
1) Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
2) Who wants to try next?
3) Tell me about Bane, why does he wear the mask?

>>1737583
1. what?
2. you decide
3. he's sad.

I realize i said 'any' question, but i'll be more clear. Any dropshipping question. I won't answer the rest and it's only if you're truly serious about making money online through Dropshipping

>>1737573
how long till you made your first sale
are you sole proprietorship or llc
if not alibaba who do you supply from

>>1737590
>1. what?
>2. you decide
>3. he's sad.


kek

>>1737592
1. My very first store It took me 2 months to make my first sale.
2. I used to be sole prop when i started and then restructured to an S-Corp when I started doing over 30k
3. I contact actual suppliers of the brands i provide. Why go through a middleman?

>>1737598
aliexpress doesnt go thru middle man, you're buying direct from supplier.

>>1737605
You're still paying a commission. You think that service is for free? And you don't get access to suppliers that aren't using it as well.
AliBaba and AliExpress are designed for people who cannot pick up the phone and call suppliers.

If I'm selling Bauer hockey sticks, I'll pick up the phone and call Bauer.

>>1737598
do you have a kik or something? id like to add u as a contact.

>>1737610
Honestly if there was a way to PM it to you I would. I don't want 200+ requests.

>>1737616
heres an email. expires in 10 minutes

[email protected]

email me something

>>1737620
sent one from 'limitless....' something something at gmail.

>>1737551
how do you decide what to sell?
what do you use to advertise?

>>1737573

Do you use shopify as well? If not which platform do you use? Which are good dropshipper sites with suppliers that you recommend?

>>1737670
1. I do niche research based on non-apparel wear items and things with low return rates.
2. I use PLAs + Google AdWords Search Text Ads + Bing AdWords + PLAs

>>1737672
I use Shopify. I google all suppliers. I don't use any websites.

>>1737686
Thanks mate!

>>1737499
The $4 cases are marked up pretty well. Original price is usually 90 cents or a dollar.

Fug, figured there's work to be done. Btw I can't change the price setup, everything"looks" like its on "sale" but there's no way to remove the sale tag. It comes with the shopify theme

>>1737782
So change the theme

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>>1737551
Okay, so instead of just telling everyone how shit these methods/approaches/ideas are, why don't you actually provide some useful content and provide suggestions on how else it could be done.

As for contacting the suppliers directly; what, am I gonna hit up victoria secret and ask for $0.90 panties? Am I gonna call up Darkest Fox and ask for bodysuits for $4, including free shipping? On top of this, would they let me NOT order in bulk; and rather just order one at a time at that price?

Of course the fuck not. And by the way, before I went to AliExpress, I got in touch with 6 suppliers - both on the phone and email, who weren't interested unless I'm ordering over 3,000 items a month.

You tell me another way I can go straight to a supplier, and get their products.

In the mean time, I'll be going directly to suppliers, and getting their products (this is exactly what dropshipping is - I don't see a difference between your method and getting directly in touch with AliExpress suppliers, apart from AliExpress being more viable).

Updates on sales, day 3.

OP here, want to optimize conversions and implemented some solutions last night. Here's what I did:
>lowered most prices
>included push-promo's
>changed the logo, imagery, and 'feel' of the site
>stopped my advertising
>made one sale with 200 visitors today

So no real luck in actually making more conversions. I mean it's around 1 in 400 visitors buys a product.

Today, I got feedback from a girl on instagram who made a purchase, and said that the "prices are awesome" - so the price point isn't an issue. I suppose the site feel/theme improvements is hard to measure aside from feedback from people like you guys, though you aren't exactly my target audience. Push notifications encourage sales, I have a free shipping bar to help boost conversion, and a lead magnet pop-up which notifies customers of free-panties on orders over $30, and provides a free 10% off coupon. I've had 11 email sign-ups, but no more conversions
Going to focus on getting some social influence presence. Not keen on spending a single cent more on advertising, so I won't be making payed shoutouts. I have sent one pair of free panties to a sponsor with a large following of the ideal audience.

The way I've made sales is by directly messaging followers and people on instagram who have expressed a direct interest in the site and the products. I've offered them personalized discount codes and answered their questions, which has landed me the only sales so far.

I think I need to go through all my products, ensure their sizing/colour/variant/shipping details are all good. I have a feeling that there's just some missing information that is holding customers back from actually purchasing. I'm going to start writing simple (one/two sentence) descriptions for each product.

I'll update you guys on how this goes. Any advice, please let me know - I'm only too glad to hear it. Cheers

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>>1729391
What if you just took pictures of the products themselves?

Also, how much do you plan to make per month separate from your regular job?

>>1738272
How much money have you spent so far?

>>1738331
Well that was my plan: see >>1729417

However, it would exceed my expectations for a maximum spend before return. If (or when) the store makes enough revenue, I'll order 1 of every item and take professional modelling shots in them, and also get marketing/advertising, for free.

I'm yet to decide a target. I think ideally, the site would be making me $1,280 a month - enough to pay for my rent. That means an average of around 10 orders per week.

I'm willing to give the store 4 months to get at least two thirds of the way there, or else I'll re-assess and identify another niche to go into.

>>1738334
Real cold hard cash spending so far is around $80 AUD

My monthly spend is around $40 if I include shopify, and hosting.

>>1729423
>>1729432
I think I feel the same way as this anon. Knowing it's probably some sweaty guy in the Oz who's never touched a live boob peddling underwear to unsuspecting ladies gives me the shivers.

Also, the website seems a bit disingenuous, try either:
1. observing the way women speak online
2. hiring a social media girl

>>1738346
Thanks for the pointers.

I've asked like 10+ girls for review on the website (asked them to be brutally honest and told them I don't give a fuck if it's terrible, I just really need to know) and they said it was honestly fine.

I'm going to spend some time analyzing other online lingerie stores and really pick out what they've said, even literally copy their slogans/wording etc.

Will report back with what I've found

>>1738346
I checked out 'Darkest Fox' website, and got the following keywords

>elegant & seductive
>edgy & elegant
>effortless luxury
>deceptively simple
>irresistible ensemble
>sumptuous luxury
>expect the unexpected
>bold sexy element

This shit literally sounds like the crap that some basement dwelling virgin neckbeard autist lurker would masturbate to. But, apparently it's working for one of the most highly regarded lingerie apparel sellers out there.

Will try to find ways to integrate into my own site.

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>>1738369
Also, got another sale.

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>>1738358
>>1738369
Congrats on the sales, I'm starting to rub my hands together at the thought of having more money for car parts.

Let me be more specific; take a look at your social media and how you like to make comments. The website appears just fine, and those keywords from Darkest Fox you mentioned are excellent. But, just by reading your Instagram posts, I noticed a chink in your armour (pun not intended).

I would try to include those keywords in product descriptions, e-mails, headers and more.

>>1738390
Great advice. I'll try to see what other lingerie accounts are doing/saying, and how they're doing/saying it.

Much appreciated. If you ever want some tips or have any questions, or if there's any way I can help you get started in dropshipping, drop me a line ([email protected])

I really appreciate the feedback!

>>1738392
Providing you can take a photo or have a photographer friend, order a few sets of your product, put a promo up on your Ig looking for girls to model your product (The girls you choose getting free "Lake Lace" wear)

Instantly more traffic, can weed throug hand get some cuties to model off your product for your page, essentially for free, and then you don't have to deal with photoshopping out logos and shit.

After looking at your website I found it an eyesore to have pictures of your product that aren't all in one theme. They have different filters, image quality and a point of focus.

The neutral shots with white backgrounds look good, but on your bestsellers page right below them is a tacky mannequin with your shit on it.

Either get a photographer, or make a post saying that "You could be the face of lakelace" and take photos from the buyers in your product for use on your pages.

>>1738428
Had heaps of girls asking for sponsors, and I'd send them a cheap pair of underwear. Already got one on the way. For photography myself, I'd wait till profit turns over enough to pay for ordering in one of each, or one of a few new products.

Good idea with the sponsorships though I should probably pump out a few more. I'll aim to spend no more than $3 on a sponsor product, including shipping, and I'll send out 6 items.

Considering Shopify leaves little room for making your own content I guess onsite SEO is quite hard. So is everyone's site just ad driven?

>>1738443
I had two days worth of instagram ads, which provided heaps of traffic. Now, all my traffic is through instagram directly without ads.

If you're interested in some SEO tips you can still do, check this post: >>1729548

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:D

what are you doing about the fact that buyers get a aliexpress invoice within a box?

>>1732797
Hey buddy I just created my store. Using the minimal theme right now. Got some questions
1)how should I setup my store home page? What kind of images links or format should I use?
2) created a Facebook ad yesterday with a huge discount offer. How long before I start getting at least page views from that?
3)how does FB pixel work?Does it count pixel fires if I visited the store myself (but not through the bitly link in the ad)?

>>1738490
Congratulations!