HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE – SHOPIFY DROPSHIPPING
Overview
When we hear someone say “I’m starting a business,” 9/10 we tend to assume they mean that they’ll be selling either a product or service. That is, after all the traditional model. The internet has created new ways to earn money, for sure, but selling physical products still seems to captivate our imaginations in a special way. But what if you don’t have the money on hand to purchase products to sell? In that case, you might be able able to make money with Shopify dropshipping.
Dropshipping makes it possible for you to sell physical products online without holding inventory. Here’s the basic idea:
- Build a website using the Shopify platform.
- Find a supplier of the product you want to sell.
- List that product on your site at a retail price.
- When you get a sale, place the order with the supplier who ships directly to the consumer charging you their wholesale price.
- Keep the difference as your profit.
Not too shabby! Using this method, you can make money with Shopify without too much upfront cost. Let’s jump in and look at this model a little more closely.
What is Shopify?
If you’ve ever done any sort of research in the eCommerce space, Shopify is probably a brand you’re familiar with. For those of you who are just beginning to explore, here is a brief introduction to what Shopify provides.
Like other website building platforms (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc.), Shopify makes it possible for anyone comfortable with basic computer software to create a fully functioning, highly customizable website.
Similar to other platforms, Shopify also offers pre-built themes. Using one of these themes as the skeleton for your site ensures that you have a solid design from the start.
Unlike other website-building services, Shopify’s primary focus is on eCommerce. Now, that’s not to say that you can’t launch a successful online store with other platforms, but Shopify makes this their number one priority. As a result, many of the “Apps” that can be added to your site are created for the sole purpose of helping you succeed in selling products.
Getting started with Shopify is extremely easy. You can start with a 14-day free trial to ensure this is a path you want to go down. This is more than enough time to get your site designed and find some products to have available at launch. (If nothing else, learning to create the website is great practice for any future eCommerce endeavors.)
What is Dropshipping?
While Shopify can be used to sell just about any product, including those that you make, store, and ship yourself, it is an excellent platform for dropshipping.
In my article on Amazon FBA, I discussed using Amazon’s shipping centers to store the products you buy from suppliers until someone purchases them through Amazon. At that point, Amazon ships the product on your behalf. Dropshipping is similar, but removes what is probably the most expensive and risky step in the FBA model.
With FBA, you must purchase your products in bulk from suppliers and have them shipped to Amazon for storage and distribution. This means a big investment upfront. The upside is that you can leverage Amazon’s gigantic audience to sell your product. But, not everyone can make that investment. And, some people want to be able to sell more than one product immediately. That’s what makes dropshipping a great option.
With dropshipping, you locate wholesale suppliers for products you want to sell and list those products on your site at retail prices that you set. When someone orders a product from your site, you forward that order to your supplier and keep the difference in price. You never buy a product you haven’t already been paid for, and you never handle any inventory.
As simple as this method to make money with Shopify is, some of you may be questioning how much hands-on work is involved. Fortunately, Shopify has several Apps that make the entire process almost hands-free. Done correctly, this can become a fairly passive stream of income.
How Will I Make Money With Shopify Dropshipping?
As I mentioned before, you make money with Shopify based on your pricing vs. your supplier’s pricing. If you find a product that is inexpensive to produce, but in high enough demand, you can secure a pretty good profit margin.
Remember, your website will receive your customer’s payments before forwarding the order to suppliers, so there should not be any out-of-pocket expense in placing customer orders.
How Much Does It Cost To Get Started?
As I mentioned before, getting started is essentially free for 14 days. After that, you’ll need to purchase one of Shopify’s paid plans. The good news is that they are pretty inexpensive.
A Basic Plan is only $29/month. This is what Shopify recommends for anyone beginning their online business. With any luck, it will be paying for itself before too long.
Other costs are really going to be up to you. Some of the Apps you’ll probably want to use will be paid Apps. You’ll also almost certainly need to plan to spend some money on advertising (Facebook, Google, etc.). You may also want to invest in some branding (or use Canva to do it yourself). It may be helpful to take an online course if you want to get really serious and skip some of the learning curve.
Bottom line: to make money with Shopify dropshipping, it’s going to be a minimum of $29/month, plus any additional but optional purchases you want to make.
Pros and Cons
I mentioned this before, but one of the huge benefits of Amazon FBA is the preexisting traffic on Amazon. People are already visiting the website and already coming to make a purchase. They’re in shopping mode. If you list and optimize your product correctly, you could be just a few Amazon ads away from some pretty good numbers.
In contrast, when you build a Shopify store, you are creating a brand new website that no one knows exists. You will have zero traffic if you don’t drive people there. That means learning how to use social media organically, social media ads, Google SEO, and any other types of ad services you can think of to get your site in front of people. Keep in mind: people do this successfully all the time. But, it takes work!
Much of your work with Shopify will actually be in other platforms, working to get people to your site. If you don’t mind learning a lot of information about what’s going on behind the scenes online, this can be a fun experience.
If that idea scares you, just know, you’ve been warned.
Conclusion
Alright, let’s lay this dropshipping method out one more time here:
- Build a website using the Shopify platform.
- Find a supplier of the product you want to sell.
- List that product on your site at a retail price.
- When you get a sale, place the order with the supplier who ships directly to the consumer charging you their wholesale price.
- Keep the difference as your profit.
As I said, not too difficult to understand. The challenge will come from getting your site and your product in front of the right eyes at the right time. If you are ready to learn a little bit about online advertising, this may be a great option for you to jump into the world of selling physical products online!
And as always, regardless of your money goals, you can “Bank on a Budget” to get you from where you are to where you want to be!
If you are ready to learn a little bit about online advertising, this may be a great option for you to jump into the world of selling physical products online!
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