Why I Stopped Dropshipping (And make more $$$ now)

Recently, I stopped dropshipping and selling items from Aliexpress.


I know what you’re thinking:

“Why?”

And the simple answer is, well, simply: Simplicity.

(See what I did there?)

But that’s not nearly the whole reasoning. In fact, that doesn’t explain much at all, so let me tell you why I stopped dropshipping and selling items from Aliexpress, even though it was profitable.

A Sustainable Business
I decided a while ago that I wanted a sustainable, reputable business that people would absolutely love. One that they would tell their friends about. It wasn’t until I did some intense researching and reflecting on how I could make my business better, both for me and for my customers, that I found why I hadn’t created the type of business I just described. But, the confusing part is that I also kind of did create the business I just described. Let me explain.

When I started my eCom store, I searched all over Aliexpress and other places to find the best products that I could sell to my customers. I tested some of them before I sold them (I should’ve obviously tested them all, but I’m a very impatient person) and I decided that these products would be perfect for my store, and my customers would love them. Well they did love them, but not for the reasons I wanted. The products were purchased, and many said that they enjoyed what they received, maybe even loved it. But, they didn’t truly love them. What? What does that even mean?

No Love, But a Little Love?
It means that people would come to my store, buy a product or two, and then be on their way. Many never to be seen or heard of again. People would sometimes comment, saying they are happy with their purchase, and occasionally they would come back to buy again, but not nearly as much as they should if they truly loved their original products. See, a customer can say that they like your products, even love them, but if their actions don’t follow their words, then it doesn’t matter. Don’t get me wrong, you definitely want a customer to be pleased by your product rather than hating it, but you also want more sales because of it. My customers were purchasing products and never coming back to purchase again, even after retargeting. A red flag should’ve popped up long ago, but it wasn’t until I truly analyzed everything that I found this problem.

Honestly, I think quality played a big part in the problem. Aliexpress isn’t known for it’s quality, but I always assumed that if the products I had received were good, then so were the ones that my customers received. This was a mistake (with some manufacturers – not all are like this). Any business owner should want their customers to get the best quality products and service. If your business exists solely so that you can make money selling shit products, then you shouldn’t be in business. Typing that even sounds a bit hypocritical after I received some product complaints of things breaking easily, not being adjustable, not being the right size, and so on… But my intention was never to sell them a bad product, of course. The products I found seemed to be the best on Aliexpress, but that doesn’t always say much. I want a business that sells things that will last a long time, virtually always be of the best quality (meaning that I understand that it’s impossible to never run into problems with a product) and something that people will proudly share with others, and even recommend. Recommendations are a powerful thing. More powerful than most people think. I’m just a random guy that wants you to buy a TV (example) and my opinion doesn’t mean much to you. But if your friend tells you that the TV is the best one he’s ever had, then you’re most likely going to give the TV a ton of thought, and probably buy that one.

Tedious Work
Honestly? I’m lazy. I’m not perfect, and I don’t want to spend even a half hour a day fulfilling orders, and I’m too cheap to hire a VA. I may work 40-100 hours a week, but I still consider myself incredibly lazy, which can sometimes even be a good thing when it comes to creating things. Being lazy means I will always find the best way to do something with the least amount of effort, benefiting not only myself, but all of the things that I create. That being said, having a print-on-demand business means that once an order comes in, I can just smile and continue to work, knowing I’ve made some money. I like this a lot more than getting a sale and knowing that I need to personally go in and fulfill it later. It’s disruptive, and like I said, I’m lazy. Honestly though, it’s not that bad fulfilling orders, especially when I know that I’m only doing it because I’m making money. It’s just more convenient to not have to do the tedious little things.

Profit $$$
Like I said, I was making money before I took my store and flipped it upside down. Why would I fix something that isn’t broken?

Well, as I said before, it was kind of broken. Sales were coming, but I wasn’t personally satisfied. And to be 100% transparent: print-on-demand has been more profitable for me.

Why is that? I have no freakin’ clue. Maybe I’m a hidden t-shirt selling ninja, or maybe I’ve just been insanely lucky, but so far I’ve been able to spend a single dollar to make $65+. If that’s not powerful, I don’t know what is.

And with more transparency, I honestly do not know why. I ran some ads that I thought might make a few sales while I went and researched more about selling print-on-demand items, and BOOM! it just happened. I’m currently stripping what I did apart to see exactly what was so profitable about the way I ran my first ads, and maybe in the future I will break it down for you.

Should You Make The Switch?
This big switch has made me rethink a ton of stores that others in the eCom industry run. Should everyone be switching to print-on-demand only?

Honestly, it depends. On so many different things.

The switch has been profitable for me, and it could be for you as well. It could also be a complete disaster, so make sure you consider everything and strictly evaluate your store and be as unbiased as possible when doing it. Everyone thinks their store is the greatest, but you need to be almost a cynic for a little bit to find those things that you may have overlooked.

I wish you and your stores the best, and remember, if you have any questions or need any help at all with anything eCom or business-related, hit me up!

Best wishes,

Lucas Johnson

 

Nice post. I am definitely seeing a lot of t-shirt ads on facebook these days. It must be hugely profitable. My big issue with drop shipping is that your company's reputation is at the mercy of whoever is doing the shipping.

 

The margins are usually pretty good, depending on what fulfillment company you use. And I feel the same way about dropshipping. You can find some really good suppliers that kill it though. So it's a bit of a battle. Dropshipping can have 200%+ margins, so if you get your stuff right, you may be in for a nice ride.

 

Your post is interesting but you are wrong when thinking that customers live your shop. They love nothing but your prices and next time they will buy somewhere else if they find cheaper prices.

 

I totally disagree, but of course, to each their own. It also depends on the type of store that you have. If your prices are cheap and you don't know how to make the products look valuable and high quality, along with your site, then you may have a few buyers, but never true aficionados of your brand. In that situation, you're 100% right. As soon as someone else has lower prices, you will be long forgotten.

If you create a truly amazing experience for your customer, and sincerely care about them and make them feel special, then they will be a fan for life unless you stop caring or lower your standards.

One makes a quick buck (maybe), and the other creates a lifelong brand that the owner, employees, and customers can be truly proud of. It really depends on one's goals.

 

When you specialize in one type of product or one market sector, it is definitely possible to get your customers to love your store. You can give them subtle and not so subtle reasons to keep coming back, but if as you are doing, you make the products look valuable and of high quality plus give them something extra, they are far more likely to come back.

For example, you quote 10 days delivery, and deliver in 5.

The products must live up to the appearance on your site, but more importantly, you should give more than the customer expects. I have even repaired a competitor's product, and not pointed that out until I returned it. There I had a customer for life.

Walter Hay

 

It would be amazing that you tell us what products apart from food customers will buy often enough on your store to pretend that they love you...

 

Can you give us examples of stuff you were selling?

 

It's not about the product. You can make someone love you and your brand selling any product, as long as you care about them.

I had never bought things from Amazon before, always in my local Target or Walmart, but I couldn't find the item in either store, so I decided to search online. Amazon had it, so I ordered the item and it said it would take 4 days. It arrived in 3. I was incredibly happy with them.
Soon after, I decided to buy some more things from them, again estimating a 4 day arrival. Again, it arrived in 3 days.
I've had questions about certain items and whether it was the right type of cord for my device, and I asked them, even though it's not their job to figure that stuff out (they're a marketplace, not an electronics store). I received a custom message from a representative an hour later (an HOUR?! This is a billion dollar corporation, why would they care about a little customer like me and respond that fast, with such care?) and he told me it was not the right cord, and that it was actually a different one. He sent me the link to it and told me that if he had any problems to email him personally. Also, he gave me free 2 day shipping for the "wait" (of an hour haha)

I will never order from another company online, as long as Amazon has the item in stock. I don't care about the price, because Amazon has treated me so well (like a human being) and I know that I can count on them 100% of the time if anything goes wrong.

This is also the same reason I still buy my musical instruments from a local store back home. They know me by name (they have 1000's of customers), every time I walked in they would greet me and show me their new stuff (not in a sales way either, because they knew that I didn't have any money for the first year that I hung out there), and the owner would come talk to me every time he was there. First it was all about music, but as I got into business we talked about that as well. He never expected me to buy anything, and with good reason, because for the first year I went there to hang out (almost every day), I would just find a guitar or piano and play for hours on end while talking to the staff. That store has my heart because the people running it care. They care more than any cheaper online music store ever has for me. They will always have my business.

 

I used to sell mostly jewelry that was niche-themed. So for a Corgi store, I would sell necklaces with corgis on them. Also bracelets, earrings, rings, stickers, and basically anything I could find related to that niche.

 

This post is AWESOME! I have been considering doing this... thanks for the inspiration.

 

Thank you Tigan! If you do it, let me know how it goes!

 

Unfortunately I haven't yet qualified to post Likes, but thanks!

Your account of your experience with Amazon proves the point. It's definitely not just the products, it has to be customer service, your attitude to customers and other factors. Price is way down the list.

When I started franchising my importing business it was hard to convince some of my franchisees that we should never sell on price, but instead sell on service and also provide a no questions asked guarantee. On one occasion a customer quoted the Pantone (PMS) colors specified by their organization's head office. I supplied 1,000 items precisely matching that PMS color, but they rejected them on delivery because the color didn't match the wrong color they had been using.

Clearly their mistake, but I replaced the 1,000 items at no charge. These items only cost me 40c each and I sold them for nearly $2.00 so I was way in front anyway, and I had 1,000 samples to give away, plus another customer for life.

It wasn't the product that got their repeat orders year after year. It was our attitude.

Walter Hay

 

It is good to see such a convincing account of making a sustainable business rather than one based on the high risk dropshipping model that is now so popular.

From what I read in posts promoting dropshipping, the big attraction currently is the big margins available through selling fake copies of big brand items. Not only is this illegal, it carries even higher risks than dropshipping through local suppliers. I have even seen one promoter suggesting registering websites on servers in countries that don't honour Intellectual Property Rights.

Walter Hay

 

Who cares your opinion about property right ? I sell fakes from all around the world to the whole wold and I am especially proud of it ! any problem ?

Also thinking that price is way down the list is just the opinion of someone who speaks more than he knows...

 

Most people who are happy to make a living by breaking the law don't care about anyone's opinion on IP rights.

What makes you think I am speaking more than I know? If I am wrong, please point out where I am wrong. I have a lifetime of experience in international shipping, exporting, importing, and marketing, so I have by experience and education learned a lot about the subject of product sourcing, importing, and selling.

Walter Hay

 

I'm using one and adding another to my woocommerce store https://astro-chologist.com/store-2/ with good results.

 

I am not providing legal advice, but I can guarantee that if anyone associated with Nike sees your Aries for women tank top you will be sued and could lose your shirt. Pun intended, but the risk is serious.

Walter Hay

 

I had more up I actually forgot that was there, because "Nike" and the "swoosh" are individually trademarked (even though Nike is the name of a mythological figure).

 

It's also considered a "Parody" shirt and technically supposed to be protected under fair use. My dropshipper didn't want any part of it though.