Are you looking for a side hustle? If your answer is “YES!” then I bet you want to find out how much money could be made through dropshipping. So, how much can you make dropshipping?
Once you factor in the 10–30% margins, you can expect to make between $1000-$3000 monthly in your first year of dropshipping.
What is dropshipping: How do dropshippers make money?
Dropshipping is a type of retail fulfillment method for online stores. However, instead of warehousing inventory, you’ll be purchasing products from third-party suppliers as your customers make orders.
After receiving an order, the products are shipped directly to the customer. This means that your business doesn't actually keep the products it sells in stock.
Cheaper items can be marked up anywhere from double to 10 times the wholesale price. This is referred to as low-ticket dropshipping. You can sell cheap jewelry, cell phone cases, footwear, and clothes. Basically, you can go after whatever is trending that will only cost you a few dollars.
Do you want to make money dropshipping?
On the other hand, you can sell high-quality, high-end, more expensive products for a low-price margin. This is called high-ticket dropshipping. It poses a higher risk but could yield bigger profit. Imagine luxury watches, appliances, or furniture.
These may be more expensive to ship because of the weight and the fact that it might need special handling. The good thing about selling high-ticket products is that it can help you avoid market oversaturation. You’ll also make more money per unit when you sell high-ticket items.
Is dropshipping dead? Pros and Cons
Is dropshipping dead? No way! In fact, the global dropshipping market size was estimated at $149.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $557.9 billion in 2025.
However, you need to know and be prepared for whatever you are getting into. To help you out, let me give you a short list of the pros and cons of dropshipping.
Pros of dropshipping
Low barrier to entry
Dropshipping requires a low capital to start. You can launch a dropshipping business with zero inventory and start making money right away. This is compared to investing a lot of cash in inventory and hoping it sells. 🤞
Uncomplicated
The dropshipping business model is simple, you don’t have to worry about freight or inventory. In order to fulfill orders, you typically need to store, arrange, track, label, pick and pack, and ship your product.
Dropshipping enables a third party to handle everything. That’s one less thing to think about.
Less risk
Dropshipping lets you sell and test more products with less risk. Without the limits of a physical inventory and the costs connected with it, dropshipping allows you to change your inventory fast, conveniently, and at a low cost.
If you know a product is working well for another retailer or reseller, you can immediately offer it to your customers without waiting for it to arrive in your warehouse.
Now that you know the positive side of dropshipping, let’s take a look at some disadvantages.
Cons of dropshipping
Competitive
Because dropshipping is simple, anyone —even your grandmother— can sell the same thing you are selling.
It can get pretty oversaturated. This is why it’s a must to do your research and find a niche where you have a fighting chance.
Disconnected to customers
With dropshipping, you don’t really have a direct connection to customers. Even if you aren’t involved with the delivery or manufacturing of the products, expect to get the heat when your customer receives a crappy item.
You can easily get banned
Whether it’s receiving a crappy product or delayed shipping time, if your customer is dissatisfied you can end up getting banned because of negative reviews.
Platforms, like Facebook for example, will do anything to maintain a good user experience. They’d rather ban you than discouraging customers from buying from their platform.
Dropshipping is pretty lucrative. I kind of get why some people think it’s dead. Probably, they think dropshipping is getting too saturated. Another reason could be because ads are getting more and more expensive.
As I mentioned earlier, platforms like Facebook are getting pretty strict and regulated. Pretty much a pain in the ass.
However, selling products online is not a dying business. In fact, it’s thriving, because…who doesn’t order online these days?
Here are important steps you can follow to go from zero to hero in dropshipping:
1. Choose a Product
Look for something with a wow factor and solves a problem. What you need to think about is how your product reaches out to an audience on an emotional level. Think about the experience they would get with your product.
They won’t need much convincing at this point.
2. Build a good website
A website makes you reliable. It makes you less “scammy” and more relatable because potential buyers have somewhere to go to and learn more about the product.
3. Create a brand
Now that you have a product, it’s time to build your brand. Think about a creative name for your store that is easy to remember (and spell, don’t give people a hard time typing in the search box). Don’t forget to create your logo too!
4. Create an Ad
Get more reach with the help of ads. When creating an ad make sure to follow all the platform guidelines to make sure your ad is approved.
It’s pretty important to make sure your ad follows these guidelines to avoid getting your ads paused and wasting precious time your product could have gotten attention from potential buyers.
As long as you familiarize yourself with what you need in dropshipping, success can be pretty realistic. Take a look at Biaheza in this video.
He may not have hit his goal, but you can see that with a little bit of persistence you can earn a reasonable income with dropshipping.
How much money can you make dropshipping in 2024?
How much do dropshippers make? Can dropshipping make you rich? This is a reasonable question. I mean who doesn’t want to make it big, right?
How much can you make as a dropshipper? Is dropshipping still profitable? These are probably the questions lingering in your mind right now.
After a year, you can expect to make between $1000-$3000 per month dropshipping once you factor in the 10–30% margins.
“You can expect to make between $1000-$3000 monthly in your first year of dropshipping”
What’s the average dropshipping income?
Many dropshippers have lucrative dropshipping stores where they can earn up to $100,000 annually.
In order to achieve your goal of becoming a successful dropshipper and earning $100,000 a year, you have to take the time to pick the best suppliers and establish your brand.
Depending on the level of experience, dropshipping income falls into one of four categories. Let’s meet the 4 kinds of dropshippers who fall in these categories, shall we?
Beginner A: The Beginner with a brand new store
Ah, the newbie. These are dropshippers that are just starting out. They probably have a new store, and are inexperienced with the model. These guys typically make $1000 per month —or none at all.
Beginner B: The Beginner with the winning product
Beginner B is the kind of dropshipper who struck gold by discovering a successful product. But there’s a problem. They fail to completely comprehend the marketing. Dropshipping needs knowledge and experience before you can make serious sales.
Intermediate: The intermediate dropshipper who isn’t scaling
This dropshipper is someone who employs a variety of marketing strategies. They take the time to test their items and are beginning to establish their brand.
They are yet to scale ads and earn their potential which is anywhere between $1000 - $5000.
Advanced: The advanced dropshippers with automated business operations
Advanced dropshippers possess a thorough understanding of the business concept. They know they should offer in-demand goods and are skilled at using numerous platforms for marketing.
These dropshipping experts know when to scale and stop running ads and can expect to make up to $10,000 per month.
Type of dropshipper VS Average income per month
Beginner A ➜ $0-$1000
Beginners B ➜ $500-2500
Intermediate ➜ $1000-5000
Advanced ➜ $50,000-$100,000
How much can you make dropshipping on Amazon
With Amazon dropshipping, you can make anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000 on the site per month. Every dropshipper's income varies but this is your potential income if you are committed.
As long as you have a recognizable brand, and sell products that are high demand but low competition. You should also throw in professional customer service, and competitive pricing.
How much can you make dropshipping on Ebay
Dropshipping from eBay is another fantastic way to sell a range of goods for little or no cost. You also have more time to expand and grow your company internationally.
Statistics show that the typical eBay dropshipper makes $2.67 in profit for each sales order they complete. Additionally, the top 10% of eBay dropshippers generate an average monthly income of $7,731 and a yearly revenue of almost six figures.
Not bad. 👍
How much can you make dropshipping on Shopify
With Shopify, retailers can create and personalize an online store and sell on a variety of platforms. So how much can you make dropshipping with shopify? Shopify dropshipping stores can earn anything from $100 to $100,000 or more per month.
$1000 to $2000 is a more reasonable estimate though. But since Shopify dropshipping is easily scalable, you can earn so much more.
What are the costs of dropshipping?
Although dropshipping is a lucrative business, you need to understand that it isn’t a total walk in the park. How hard is it to start a dropshipping business?
Given that you can launch a dropshipping business for nothing, you can run into a lot of businesses that are offering the same goods for the same pricing (or much much cheaper). This is how launching a dropshipping business can get pretty gnarly.
Costs in dropshipping include the cost of product, (sourcing and shipping) marketing, payment processing fees, general expenses like platform and software subscriptions and any extras like apps and store themes.
How to start dropshipping for free? Well, you’re going to need to formulate a sound dropshipping business plan to pull it off.
If you stick with free trials and starter plans, it’s possible to start dropshipping for less than $100. This also means you shouldn't be picky with product quality either. But do you think you can achieve a six-figure business without investing much?
You might as well sell lemonade in your neighborhood. 🍋
Here is the list of expenses in running a dropshipping store you should prepare for:
- An ecommerce platform subscription
- Dropshipping Tool
- Your own domain
- Payment processing fees for product sales
- Ads
- Product validation costs
If you get into Shopify, for example, you can start with $29 a month subscription (this is their cheapest plan).
Next, a dropshipping tool like DSers can cost a minimum of $19.9 a month. It can help reduce ordering time, find the best suppliers, resolve user issues, provide support, and respond to inquiries at any time. Aside from Shopify, it also works with WooCommerce, and Wix.
If you’re serious with your store, buying a new domain can cost around $10-$20 a year. GoDaddy claims that you can register domains for as low as $0.99 with them (for the first year).
Starting a dropshipping store is not as expensive as other businesses. But this business model still needs some money from you before it puts money into your pocket.
Shopify - $19
DSers - $19.9
GoDaddy- $0.99
↓
Minimum cost: $39.89
Another cost you need to expect is processing fees are fees you incur on a per-sale basis that you are charged for using Stripe or PayPal.
Ads and Marketing Campaigns can greatly help you succeed in ecommerce. Even if there are free options, most of your marketing campaigns will involve cost.
I would advise allocating some time and money to try the items you'll be selling in your store. Making an order and investigating the vendors is a game changer.
After making an order, ask these questions: Is the product quality good? Are they quick to fulfill the orders? Considering quality and speed of fulfillment, would you buy it yourself?
Other things worth spending on include apps, themes, email marketing, and even design (logo).
How much do dropshippers actually profit?
Once you are aware of the dropshipping expenses, your average profit margins range from 10% to 45%. If you made $100,000 in sales, your profit ranged from $10,000 to $45,000.
Now, let’s talk about how much “profit” is really profit.
Let's say you earn $20 after taxes for working an hour. What if you end up spending 50 hours in your first month working on your dropshipping business?
If you earned a profit of $1000 after expenses, you didn’t really make a profit because it cost you $1000 worth of your time. This is because you could have made that money working a regular job.
That's what we call opportunity cost. This is only one of the things you should consider during your first few months of operation. Now as you invest more of your money into the business, you’ll be able to find ways to increase profit margins.
You’ll be able to generate more sales while decreasing costs. In turn, it will help you make more money.
Opportunity cost refers to the hidden cost associated with not taking an alternative course of action. This will help you decide if dropshipping is worth it for you or not.
Can dropshipping make you rich?
Because you are not in charge of manufacturing or shipping, dropshipping can be a successful business model for you. With the appropriate suppliers, you have the potential to generate a healthy profit margin with a low-risk business model.
This business model wouldn’t make you incur significant fees a wholesaler would typically have. But if you think this is a get-rich-quick scheme, you’re wrong.
It may seem like easy money but when you factor in all the drawbacks it can be pretty hard work. But with enough hard work and smart planning, you can be with the likes of Irwin Dominguez, or Biaheza.
Dominguez made $1,000,000 in profit within 8 months while Biaheza made $100k at 18 years old.
Irwin Dominguez was a success on his first try dropshipping. He was influenced by a friend who was earning a good income through ecommerce. Dominguez went ahead and created a Shopify account and simply Googled his way around it.
Most of his site traffic came from Facebook Ads. Like everyone else, Dominguez spent a LOT on ads and even admitted that this took away some of the excitement of that first sale. Nonetheless, he considers Facebook Ads as an integral part of his dropshipping journey.
Irwin Dominguez is now earning around $10,000 - $30,000.
How to make money dropshipping - can you still earn through it in 2024?
To put it simply, you make money dropshipping by adding a profit margin to your product. Dropshipping suppliers will give you their complete price and then you add anything you want to it as your profit earnings.
Just remember to keep in mind that, given how fiercely competitive e-commerce is, your profit margin must be reasonable.
Dropshipping Business Ideas
To make money dropshipping, there are 5 things ecommerce entrepreneurs need to do. This includes finding the right niche, establishing a strong brand, automating your store, attending e-commerce events, and offering amazing customer service.
Finding the right niche involves choosing something that enough potential buyers are passionate about. Aside from that, it should also be something YOU are passionate about. Otherwise, you’ll end up getting burned out and hating your business.
If you’re a coffee lover for example, you can decide to sell different kinds of coffee. Just make sure to choose a dropshipping supplier you share the same goals with.
How much can you make dropshipping coffee? There are many advantages of dropshipping coffee. First, coffee drinkers need to restock, it’s a surefire way to get repeat customers. Strong brand loyalty exists with coffee goods.
Now that you have picked a niche, it’s time to establish a strong brand. Your brand must be more powerful than any one of your individual products if you want to get the most from dropshipping.
Next, improve the efficiency of your day-to-day operations with automation. You'll be able to do more of the things that really provide value as a result. You can focus on sourcing amazing products, developing your brand, and interacting with customers.
You should also invest in learning and exposure. Consider attending e-commerce events and get inspired as well as get direct access to wholesalers. It’s a great opportunity to take advice from other profitable internet retailers.
You’ll also get the chance to speak with platform service providers or technicians in person. You'll have a thorough understanding of how various technologies operate and what advantages they have.
Finally, be the exception in a business where being disconnected with customers is a common problem. Offer great customer service and make your store stand out!
With the right knowledge you can definitely earn through dropshipping in 2024. As long as you know the pros and cons, the cost, what it takes to earn an income in dropshipping, and how much you should expect to earn.
How Much Can You Make Dropshipping
Thanks for reading until the end of this post. You probably got here after reading about different online business models to get started with.
There's been buzz around dropshipping for years for being a simple yet successful ecommerce strategy. I hope I was able to enlighten you and answer the question of: “How much can you make dropshipping?” and help you start on your dropshipping journey.
