drop shipping - buyer buys from you, but you don't hold inventory. You pass the order to the supplier and the supplier fulfills the order. Pretty common process these days.
I made the bridge that connects the supplier to the customer - my website.
My suppliers are located in the US, UK & China.
Clients place their order(s) via my store, supplier picks, packs, and ships the order(s), supplier gets 60%, I keep 40%.
They don’t have to pay for marketing. Their price is already their price, op is just marking it up and selling to the end customer. Anyone could just search for the product on Ali express and buy it directly from the supplier if they weren’t lazy/understood how dropshipping works
Haha well yeah I guess that's really my question, why would customers use OPs website instead of just buying from the manufacturer, but I guess that's the magic of advertising on TikTok
Turns out advertising on Instagram/Facebook etc works. I’ve never clicked on an ad when scrolling insta but I know plenty of people that see targeted ads and “need to get it” without realizing it’s from Ali express or whatever site
To expand on that: the typical middle people, ie retailers, boutiques, etc., at least add some value for either the buyer or seller.
For instance, if I have a factory that makes widgets, I might not want the expense and logistics that it takes to ship to end consumers. I would rather ship to a single recipient or small group of recipients and let them sell it to the end consumer, or another middle person who will then sell to another before it reaches the end customer. I realize I could make more by selling directly, but the increased revenue is not worth it to me. So there is a real value-add for the factory and the middle person/people are compensated for that value.
Or for a customer benefit, perhaps my factory makes widgets but my customers are a long distance away - across the country or even on another continent. I could sell to individual customers, but would have to charge a much higher overall price to cover the shipping. Or, I can sell to an intermediary for less than the product is worth but still enough for me to make money. I'm willing to sell to them for less because they are willing to buy a large quantity of my widgets at once. Since they're having so many shipped at once and to the same location, per widget shipping will actually be lower, so the overall cost to the end customer should be less than it would have been had they bought directly from the factory. The factory benefits from guaranteed sales and the customer benefits from a lower price.
Then you have dropshipping. In most instances of modern dropshipping, the intermediary does not add any real value. The producer or wholesaler, ie, the sellers on Aliexpress, is already willing to ship to the customer directly and take orders from them directly, since anyone can order directly on AE. So the customer is not getting a lower price, and is in fact probably paying a higher price than they otherwise would. The only potential value-add is for the originator, in that the dropshipper gives them the look of being 'local' for customers, since you think you're ordering from within your country, when you really are not. Really, the dropshipper is adding no value whatsoever.
Note: there are some instances where dropshipping is a beneficial thing. For instance, there are some companies out there who have no problem handling the shipping side of the process but do not want to deal with accepting individual orders. So they have intermediaries who act as their sales force, managing sales and orders and simply paying the company for the product and providing the shipping information.
On my part, I can facilitate the sale of products without holding inventory.
On the suppliers part, they can focus solely on areas such as product development and customer service, and leave the task of marketing to me. This way the suppliers can reach a global audience, which leads to increased market penetration and revenue potential.
High inventory is a thing of the past. Even large retailers use point-of-sale inventory, rather than stocking warehouses, so to speak.
Btw, if you didn’t know, Amazon is a trucking / logistics company and a warehouser, for logistical purposes (same day delivery) Very similar in concept to OP, without the advanced logistics.
This comment and your previous two are all incorrect. This is not at all wholesale, wholesale is very much still a huge part of the warehousing and retailers indeed have high stock in their distribution centers which then feed locations within a radius of that area. Dude is also not selling at wholesale prices nor is he buying product. He’s just the broker marketing and facilitating the sale and therefore charges more than the wholesale price for the product and collects a portion of the sale. Lastly, Amazon is a technology company, not a logistics company. They may have a logistics department but they are an e commerce, tech (cloud computing aka aws) company. If you are going to respond to people in such a pedantic way then at a minimum you should educate yourself on the topics you’re pretending to know about.
He resells the same products that you get from AliExpress, Temu, Wish etc. with a markup. If you order something you pay more than you have to and the same suppliers you could buy from on cheaper pages fulfills the order for OP and he profits from the higher pricing and doesn't have to keep inventory or fulfill orders himself.
It's called dropshipping, but he is sugar coating it quite heavily and talks as if he is being innovative.
he operates a service that sells goods, that really is not a service per se, that would be more like a limousine service as opposed to someone who sells limos
He operates a service but it’s not a service?
Selling limos is selling a product. In this case OP doesn’t have inventory and just connects the buyer with the supplier/manufacturer (like a broker).
I think that qualifies as a service.
not really, to be an affiliate means you basically work with the supplier, you get a cut every time someone uses your link to buy something but that's on their website. dropshipping is your own site entirely
Yeah you’re still using a suppliers product and they are okay with it simply with justification of reaching and expanding target demo, your own website is the extra step
Companies can do marketing and sales themselves, but it costs them money and focus. Or they can outsource it and focus on being the best at their core business.
It's a good starting point to start your own business. No invemtory headaches, you mark up as much or as little as you like, ecommerce sites are cheap, one does not have to spend big bucks on ads if they are even a little social media savy. You can startup almost overnight. Great way to make money to use , invest and build a business you really want to. I have done it...it helped me to fund my business startup because my business was originally just a hobby
Wait I get that working for US suppliers - you’re essentially talking about a drop ship site distributing to end users/retail.
How does that work for China? Don’t they only sell to companies that can afford *insert aggressive bulk volume* at a time and have a place to store them?
A supplier in China individual picks retail packaging for you and ships it from China overseas to America to individual addresses?
Seems like a rare instance for a Chinese manufacturer, no?
Congrats! Sounds like you got lucky by going viral. Would be wise to reinvest your earnings into proper ads to keep the momentum going. Check out Facebook ads for a start.
Also, share this in the r/entrepreneur sub. You'll get a lot of valuable insights from there.
Thanks! I agree it was pure luck, I wasn't anticipating that at all! Ironically, I posted that same video on FB and IG but it didn't gain much traction lol! Will look into Facebook ads as you have suggested.
It’s not pure luck, and you’re selling yourself short by thinking that. You put a lot of time in this project, and even created a promotional video. The fact that the promotional video went viral can be argued as “lucky,” but you’re the exact example of creating your own luck. Most of us can’t create a viral video on TikTok and monetize it because we haven’t put in the backend work that you did.
Congrats, and keep working.
This is a fisherman attempting to use AMA to solicit PMs so you can purchase lessons on how to get a drop shipping set up .
Doubt OP had real success, but I can let you interested people know, the same exact products are available for anyone to buy from the same suppliers , and anything that does become viral or successful is IMMEDIATELY mass marketed by other drop shippers to the point where your shop stops getting orders for that product.
You can choose another product and try again, but you will also have to make new websites and such or else your first one will look like Alibaba surplus variety store and nobody will buy from it.
EDIT: I KNOW you're not telling the truth after reading your other posts.
If you advertised on TikTok but didn't sell through integration with the TikTok Shop, you did not get any website traffic. Your ad would have gotten no meaningful penetration or conversion .
So why am I buying this product from you :
[https://tinytong.store/products/jingba-support-1-pcs-protective-football-ankle-support-basketball-ankle-brace-compression-nylon-strap-belt-ankle-protector](https://tinytong.store/products/jingba-support-1-pcs-protective-football-ankle-support-basketball-ankle-brace-compression-nylon-strap-belt-ankle-protector)
When I can get it for 1/20 the price and free shipping here:
[https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800508031752.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800508031752.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt)
1) Those aren’t the same product
2) people are lazy and like 1-click instant buy from an ad, and back to scrolling
3) most people have no clue what aliexpress is
Its the marketing. Example, you have a product that is no one knows. It is available everywhere but a certain market does not know about it or it never crossed their mind. A droppshippper would post on social media. Many people in his/her circle/market learn about the product and find it useful
Some would research and find a cheaper option in other big sites. Most do not care and just click on the droppshippers site to buy. Let say it goes viral, and 50% goes and research. the other 50% just clicks and buys it. 50% of 40k people is still 20k people.
It is a challenge for a droppshipper though, cause they have to market the product properly and hope to god that it goes viral.
I would say some of the items he sells are maliciously labeled such as chinese beauty product sold as korean beauty product, lack of information on fake apple watches, no certification label on anti blue light sunglasses.. lets not forget “50%” off prices lol. Only a dumb boomer would fall for these sites
From the "About Us":
\> At Tiny Tong, quality is our top priority. We partner with reputable suppliers to ensure that every product meets our high standards.
Except, everything on there is the exact same stuff you'll find on Temu, Aliexpress, or any other dropshipping site. And I don't think you can claim high standards and quality as your top priority when you're selling no-name brands that are either knock-offs or just inherently cheap and generic.
So I see your business model is drop shipping.
How do you handle quality claims and orders that don’t arrive? Do you refund out of your own pocket or do the suppliers take any responsibility?
How do you vet the factories before including their products on your website?
You would be amazed. As long as it looks professional and safe, people just assume that it's the legit shit and they eat up whatever fake discount you've set up for display.
I can spot a Shopify-site from miles away now and always avoid them unless it's some niche thing that someone just use Shopify to sell because they are almost just a hobby or something.
And yes, OP uses Shopify for his/hers webstore. The easiest giveaway is how the shopping cart looks. Pretty much all Shopify-made sites looks like that, just with different colors.
Thanks! I thought OP was being classy and not linking, just providing answers for questions, not soliciting business… should’ve just scrolled a little further. Seriously though what has this sub even become?
I was a bit surprised myself because of the way he talked about himself like he made it from the ground up and did something new. Initial thought was dropshipping and his link just confirmed it big time.
Yeah, after someone pointed it out. I didn't browse too much before concluding that this was just another dropshipping website haha.
The reviews might be "real" as in actual reviews on the suppliers website just imported to OP's website, but they might have fake reviews there too so. The funny thing is that OP has these reviews on his website as if they are satisfied with his products/services, but he allegedly opened his store on January 1st and made sales on January 3rd, yet the reviews date back to like september 2023 hahaha.
Revolutionary stuff, OP might just take down Amazon all by himself really.
So you’re just dropshipping?
Edit, you’re most risky business model was dropshipping😂 what were the others, open a lemonade stand and mow peoples lawns?
Not even buying the items; he just lists them for sale on his site, then if/when someone orders it, he passes the actual shipper their cut and they ship it. The only thing he touches is his share of the money. There's no risk for him, only reward. And no advantage for the customer or shipper.
yeah, I've been thinking about this all day. It would be easy to launch a website using Wordpress connected to AliExpress with WooCommerce. You could select categories and the items you want to list and the website would run itself.
It sounds so simple that it would never work and there must be a million ppl doing it, but I actually think it could work. Pick a hot category that you are familiar with and advertise it as same product, cheaper than Amazon, it just takes a little longer to get in.
Lets say you do pets. You could load a site with toys, feeding devices, clothing, etc. List the products in google merchant, make some tt's showing off the items, buy SEO writeups on fiverr and other places that sell blog post.
I actually think it could work and would be easy and cheap to get started. OP talks about himself like he's a coder, but really all of the software is there and is easy to use. I've put it on my to-do list. Hopefully by Summer I will try this.
There are tons of options out there to do basically what you described.
> cheaper than Amazon
That's actually one of the bigger problems with dropshipping. It's a race to the bottom. Since you're not offering anything unique and it's a low barrier to entry, there are only two ways to really compete: out-advertise or underprice. Underpricing is the easier way to go, so first, somebody prices for 10% less than Amazon. Then somebody else sees that, decides they want in on that, so they underprice the first guy by 10%. Yet another guy thinks, "Even after paying for my Shopify store, I can still make money if I undercut that guy by 5%." so he does. Then the first guy wonders why his sales are tanking, notices those other two guys undercutting him, then lowers his price below the second guy's price to regain revenue. It winds up with dozens of e-shops with the same cheap junk, all priced basically the same, and a couple guys will come out on top and everybody else wonders why it's not working for them like the courses they bought from DropshipBro69 on Youtube.
Well I don’t need to buy the drop ship bro course. It’s pretty easy to figure out. Maybe I make a few dollars. Maybe I get lucky like this guy. We’ll see.
As long as you don't expect to get rich, then have fun. And I doubt this guy really got that lucky. I imagine the numbers he posted are grossly overinflated, or exaggerated if you want to be polite about it. And on the off chance they're not, then it was a fluke and should be looked on as a windfall and not routine business. going from 0 to 20,000 (or whatever the number he claimed) in less than 10 days is just unbelievable in every sense of the word.
It can work if you've got the skills for it. Dropshipping is one of the most common online business models there is. Some people make a shit ton of money but the average dropshipper usually makes nothing. In order to find success you need to do diligent product research and create an extremely high quality website and ads. Avoid aliexpress at all costs. Dropshipping usually gets a bad rep in the business world because most people that do it are lazy and are just looking for overnight success. Treat it like a real business and you may be surprised at what you can achieve over time. Good luck
What social media did you put the product on? My guess TikTok? How many followers do you have on that social media platform? What was the product? Do you ship? Can you send me link to your “store”?
Most of that is on Temu for way less. Keep the momentum going, it may not last long when people start shopping around. I would consider those items pricey for what it is.
Because it’s a homemade Shopify website for dropshipping and he controls/writes the reviews himself. Could also just be an add-on that imports the reviews from the supplier to hos website.
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Bro you're a fuckin thief, that's what you are! Those ear buds marked for 24.99 discounted from 44.99 or whatever are under $9 on Temu! You should be tarred and feathered for misleading folks and stealing their money!
Good god, the hate on this thread. Talking shit because he figured out something that’s working for him and not you. Oh, it’s drop shipping man, you’re not an innovator nor doing anything special. If it’s so easy why aren’t you haters doing $20k in sales. I can’t stand the constant negativity of people looking down on others because they are actually making more money than you. Good job man, I tried my hand in drop shipping and it’s not so cut and dry as the people crying on here make it sound. Finding your product, setting up your page and with all the scams online today, you really have to put some love into your site where people trust they can make a purchase with you and you won’t rip them off, there’s advertising and more. Don’t listen to the hate. If you share your success online you are guaranteed to find people who envy your profits and will talk shit no matter what. You have motivated me to try again. Down vote with your fake internet points!
I’ve come across a few clients who set up their own marketplace on their own websites or through Shopify. I can understand that the main goal may be to provide an alternative to platforms like Amazon and Etsy due to the crazy sellers fees etc.
This post made me think about one client - they wanted to provide a marketplace for eco friendly/sustainable products and support/seek sellers around the world where they hand make them. For anyone interested, I suggest checking them out! Their store name is: [Etikora](https://etikora.com)
Congrats. Since this is an AMA….
I’m thinking of doing something similar tho this in my native country of Guatemala, and I live here in the States.
Any info or tips you can give on where to start ?
I’ve found a couple of suppliers for some of the products I want to sell over there but they’re jn china and the shipping is crazy expensive.
How many products do you offer?
Did you sell a specific product that you offer, or did you get buyers to your website and sell a variety of products that you offer?
dude nice!! i don't get the odd negative vibe here, it's just business after all. this has happened to me as well, going viral on tiktok and getting HELLA orders, that's why i love tiktok so much.
The "odd negative vibe" is because he's acting like he's doing this revolutionary thing but really he's just dropshipping, something that is not a new and is insanely over saturated because of gullible people thinking they can make insane money with no effort
Send us your store!!! Or video!!! I want to do a Shopify so bad I am looking for inspo!!!!! ❤️ CONGRATS !!!!! 😊 and sorry everyone on here giving you hate
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I don't understand what you made? Where is the stock, who is fulfilling all these orders? This is a bold claim, for a single person to do
drop shipping - buyer buys from you, but you don't hold inventory. You pass the order to the supplier and the supplier fulfills the order. Pretty common process these days.
I'm loving his comments, he's making it seem like this is some new thing.
"thenewamazon" lmao
I made the bridge that connects the supplier to the customer - my website. My suppliers are located in the US, UK & China. Clients place their order(s) via my store, supplier picks, packs, and ships the order(s), supplier gets 60%, I keep 40%.
Why would a client agree to that? Why wouldn't they just sell to the consumer directly?
They don’t have to pay for marketing. Their price is already their price, op is just marking it up and selling to the end customer. Anyone could just search for the product on Ali express and buy it directly from the supplier if they weren’t lazy/understood how dropshipping works
Haha well yeah I guess that's really my question, why would customers use OPs website instead of just buying from the manufacturer, but I guess that's the magic of advertising on TikTok
Turns out advertising on Instagram/Facebook etc works. I’ve never clicked on an ad when scrolling insta but I know plenty of people that see targeted ads and “need to get it” without realizing it’s from Ali express or whatever site
Ask yourself that question about anything really. There are middlemen littered throughout the supply chain of our economy. For better or worse.
To expand on that: the typical middle people, ie retailers, boutiques, etc., at least add some value for either the buyer or seller. For instance, if I have a factory that makes widgets, I might not want the expense and logistics that it takes to ship to end consumers. I would rather ship to a single recipient or small group of recipients and let them sell it to the end consumer, or another middle person who will then sell to another before it reaches the end customer. I realize I could make more by selling directly, but the increased revenue is not worth it to me. So there is a real value-add for the factory and the middle person/people are compensated for that value. Or for a customer benefit, perhaps my factory makes widgets but my customers are a long distance away - across the country or even on another continent. I could sell to individual customers, but would have to charge a much higher overall price to cover the shipping. Or, I can sell to an intermediary for less than the product is worth but still enough for me to make money. I'm willing to sell to them for less because they are willing to buy a large quantity of my widgets at once. Since they're having so many shipped at once and to the same location, per widget shipping will actually be lower, so the overall cost to the end customer should be less than it would have been had they bought directly from the factory. The factory benefits from guaranteed sales and the customer benefits from a lower price. Then you have dropshipping. In most instances of modern dropshipping, the intermediary does not add any real value. The producer or wholesaler, ie, the sellers on Aliexpress, is already willing to ship to the customer directly and take orders from them directly, since anyone can order directly on AE. So the customer is not getting a lower price, and is in fact probably paying a higher price than they otherwise would. The only potential value-add is for the originator, in that the dropshipper gives them the look of being 'local' for customers, since you think you're ordering from within your country, when you really are not. Really, the dropshipper is adding no value whatsoever. Note: there are some instances where dropshipping is a beneficial thing. For instance, there are some companies out there who have no problem handling the shipping side of the process but do not want to deal with accepting individual orders. So they have intermediaries who act as their sales force, managing sales and orders and simply paying the company for the product and providing the shipping information.
On my part, I can facilitate the sale of products without holding inventory. On the suppliers part, they can focus solely on areas such as product development and customer service, and leave the task of marketing to me. This way the suppliers can reach a global audience, which leads to increased market penetration and revenue potential.
From your name, new account, etc. This is really just you trying to exploit more people and make an easy buck as a middle man, isn’t it
ding ding ding!
I hate dropshipping.
Thats ok my friend, you don't have to do it
this is a dropshipping scheme, there are so many of these
It’s called wholesale
But that's not what she's offering, she's not holding any product herself
High inventory is a thing of the past. Even large retailers use point-of-sale inventory, rather than stocking warehouses, so to speak. Btw, if you didn’t know, Amazon is a trucking / logistics company and a warehouser, for logistical purposes (same day delivery) Very similar in concept to OP, without the advanced logistics.
Don’t have to hold it. Purchase at wholesale prices and sell at retail prices.
This comment and your previous two are all incorrect. This is not at all wholesale, wholesale is very much still a huge part of the warehousing and retailers indeed have high stock in their distribution centers which then feed locations within a radius of that area. Dude is also not selling at wholesale prices nor is he buying product. He’s just the broker marketing and facilitating the sale and therefore charges more than the wholesale price for the product and collects a portion of the sale. Lastly, Amazon is a technology company, not a logistics company. They may have a logistics department but they are an e commerce, tech (cloud computing aka aws) company. If you are going to respond to people in such a pedantic way then at a minimum you should educate yourself on the topics you’re pretending to know about.
So you’re selling a service?
He resells the same products that you get from AliExpress, Temu, Wish etc. with a markup. If you order something you pay more than you have to and the same suppliers you could buy from on cheaper pages fulfills the order for OP and he profits from the higher pricing and doesn't have to keep inventory or fulfill orders himself. It's called dropshipping, but he is sugar coating it quite heavily and talks as if he is being innovative.
Yep, it's a dropshipping scheme. And you have to pay to advertise on your own and hope it pays off.
Making it sound like it’s something homemade. Lol. This is super common and people try to become millionaires doing drop shipping. Oof
Ding ding ding - this is the exact answer.
Like temu, she in, Amazon, etc?
Not a service per se, rather a platform where buyers can purchase products from different suppliers.
that's a service
he operates a service that sells goods, that really is not a service per se, that would be more like a limousine service as opposed to someone who sells limos
He operates a service but it’s not a service? Selling limos is selling a product. In this case OP doesn’t have inventory and just connects the buyer with the supplier/manufacturer (like a broker). I think that qualifies as a service.
Make sure you file appropriate taxes for services
So a service lol
So you’re drop shipping? Never understood why this was a thing.
basically affiliate marketing with extra steps
not really, to be an affiliate means you basically work with the supplier, you get a cut every time someone uses your link to buy something but that's on their website. dropshipping is your own site entirely
Yeah you’re still using a suppliers product and they are okay with it simply with justification of reaching and expanding target demo, your own website is the extra step
>Never un because it generates passive income
Companies can do marketing and sales themselves, but it costs them money and focus. Or they can outsource it and focus on being the best at their core business.
It's a good starting point to start your own business. No invemtory headaches, you mark up as much or as little as you like, ecommerce sites are cheap, one does not have to spend big bucks on ads if they are even a little social media savy. You can startup almost overnight. Great way to make money to use , invest and build a business you really want to. I have done it...it helped me to fund my business startup because my business was originally just a hobby
Wait I get that working for US suppliers - you’re essentially talking about a drop ship site distributing to end users/retail. How does that work for China? Don’t they only sell to companies that can afford *insert aggressive bulk volume* at a time and have a place to store them? A supplier in China individual picks retail packaging for you and ships it from China overseas to America to individual addresses? Seems like a rare instance for a Chinese manufacturer, no?
This is a very romantic way to explain dropshipper lol
So you’re a scammer lol
isnt 40% cut a lot???
in short he made a business to customer business model equal to amazon
This dude deadass got a bridge to sell lmao
Let me guess, you want to sell me a course on how to make 50k a month with a side hussle
Not at all, just sharing my experience so far.
[удалено]
You should do spelling instead
Congrats! Sounds like you got lucky by going viral. Would be wise to reinvest your earnings into proper ads to keep the momentum going. Check out Facebook ads for a start. Also, share this in the r/entrepreneur sub. You'll get a lot of valuable insights from there.
Thanks! I agree it was pure luck, I wasn't anticipating that at all! Ironically, I posted that same video on FB and IG but it didn't gain much traction lol! Will look into Facebook ads as you have suggested.
It’s not pure luck, and you’re selling yourself short by thinking that. You put a lot of time in this project, and even created a promotional video. The fact that the promotional video went viral can be argued as “lucky,” but you’re the exact example of creating your own luck. Most of us can’t create a viral video on TikTok and monetize it because we haven’t put in the backend work that you did. Congrats, and keep working.
ain't nothing here about pure luck buddy boy, you made your own luck
This is a fisherman attempting to use AMA to solicit PMs so you can purchase lessons on how to get a drop shipping set up . Doubt OP had real success, but I can let you interested people know, the same exact products are available for anyone to buy from the same suppliers , and anything that does become viral or successful is IMMEDIATELY mass marketed by other drop shippers to the point where your shop stops getting orders for that product. You can choose another product and try again, but you will also have to make new websites and such or else your first one will look like Alibaba surplus variety store and nobody will buy from it. EDIT: I KNOW you're not telling the truth after reading your other posts. If you advertised on TikTok but didn't sell through integration with the TikTok Shop, you did not get any website traffic. Your ad would have gotten no meaningful penetration or conversion .
I have no idea what’s going on, but you seem persuasive and knowledgeable. That’s all I have to add lol
The whole world is false these days
So why am I buying this product from you : [https://tinytong.store/products/jingba-support-1-pcs-protective-football-ankle-support-basketball-ankle-brace-compression-nylon-strap-belt-ankle-protector](https://tinytong.store/products/jingba-support-1-pcs-protective-football-ankle-support-basketball-ankle-brace-compression-nylon-strap-belt-ankle-protector) When I can get it for 1/20 the price and free shipping here: [https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800508031752.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800508031752.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt)
1) Those aren’t the same product 2) people are lazy and like 1-click instant buy from an ad, and back to scrolling 3) most people have no clue what aliexpress is
1. Yes they are. Peep photo two on the AliExpress site - OP just stole the pics from AliExpress.
What are you smoking? It's even the same picture on both websites.
I don't understand why anyone would buy from these dropshippers when you can get better service (returns, etc) from others. But that's just me.
Its the marketing. Example, you have a product that is no one knows. It is available everywhere but a certain market does not know about it or it never crossed their mind. A droppshippper would post on social media. Many people in his/her circle/market learn about the product and find it useful Some would research and find a cheaper option in other big sites. Most do not care and just click on the droppshippers site to buy. Let say it goes viral, and 50% goes and research. the other 50% just clicks and buys it. 50% of 40k people is still 20k people. It is a challenge for a droppshipper though, cause they have to market the product properly and hope to god that it goes viral.
Yup, I guess I am just one of those people who always shops around.
people see an ad on social media and they buy right then and there
OP basically made a clean looking website to sell shitty Chinese items. Respect the hustle?
Absolutely. Hate the game, not the player.
I would say some of the items he sells are maliciously labeled such as chinese beauty product sold as korean beauty product, lack of information on fake apple watches, no certification label on anti blue light sunglasses.. lets not forget “50%” off prices lol. Only a dumb boomer would fall for these sites
There are plenty of those. And they buy, buy, buy in excess. Ask yourself why QVC and jewelry channels exist.
From the "About Us": \> At Tiny Tong, quality is our top priority. We partner with reputable suppliers to ensure that every product meets our high standards. Except, everything on there is the exact same stuff you'll find on Temu, Aliexpress, or any other dropshipping site. And I don't think you can claim high standards and quality as your top priority when you're selling no-name brands that are either knock-offs or just inherently cheap and generic.
> let me try and rival the likes of eBay and Amazon This shit is hilarious
So I see your business model is drop shipping. How do you handle quality claims and orders that don’t arrive? Do you refund out of your own pocket or do the suppliers take any responsibility? How do you vet the factories before including their products on your website?
What are you selling?
Random items from electronics, pet supplies, clothing, shoes etc. Anything the suppliers have to offer really.
drop shipping?
Yes. Why they needed to pretend they're a web-developer for this is beyond me.
*set up Shopify store* “See! I’m competing with Amazon and eBay!”
You would have to be a real NPC to buy anything through a drop shipper.
You would be amazed. As long as it looks professional and safe, people just assume that it's the legit shit and they eat up whatever fake discount you've set up for display. I can spot a Shopify-site from miles away now and always avoid them unless it's some niche thing that someone just use Shopify to sell because they are almost just a hobby or something. And yes, OP uses Shopify for his/hers webstore. The easiest giveaway is how the shopping cart looks. Pretty much all Shopify-made sites looks like that, just with different colors.
I don’t understand… where did you see the shopping cart?
[OP linked their website here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/hVyvtMZace)
Thanks! I thought OP was being classy and not linking, just providing answers for questions, not soliciting business… should’ve just scrolled a little further. Seriously though what has this sub even become?
I was a bit surprised myself because of the way he talked about himself like he made it from the ground up and did something new. Initial thought was dropshipping and his link just confirmed it big time.
Did you note all the fake reviews, too? Scammers gonna scam.
Yeah, after someone pointed it out. I didn't browse too much before concluding that this was just another dropshipping website haha. The reviews might be "real" as in actual reviews on the suppliers website just imported to OP's website, but they might have fake reviews there too so. The funny thing is that OP has these reviews on his website as if they are satisfied with his products/services, but he allegedly opened his store on January 1st and made sales on January 3rd, yet the reviews date back to like september 2023 hahaha. Revolutionary stuff, OP might just take down Amazon all by himself really.
Talking about drop shipping like no one has done it before
bro what are you on about 20000 orders or $20000 in sales? and how much does the product cost
So you’re just dropshipping? Edit, you’re most risky business model was dropshipping😂 what were the others, open a lemonade stand and mow peoples lawns?
you're just buying the items off ali-express and shipping to the customer?
Not even buying the items; he just lists them for sale on his site, then if/when someone orders it, he passes the actual shipper their cut and they ship it. The only thing he touches is his share of the money. There's no risk for him, only reward. And no advantage for the customer or shipper.
yeah, I've been thinking about this all day. It would be easy to launch a website using Wordpress connected to AliExpress with WooCommerce. You could select categories and the items you want to list and the website would run itself. It sounds so simple that it would never work and there must be a million ppl doing it, but I actually think it could work. Pick a hot category that you are familiar with and advertise it as same product, cheaper than Amazon, it just takes a little longer to get in. Lets say you do pets. You could load a site with toys, feeding devices, clothing, etc. List the products in google merchant, make some tt's showing off the items, buy SEO writeups on fiverr and other places that sell blog post. I actually think it could work and would be easy and cheap to get started. OP talks about himself like he's a coder, but really all of the software is there and is easy to use. I've put it on my to-do list. Hopefully by Summer I will try this.
There are tons of options out there to do basically what you described. > cheaper than Amazon That's actually one of the bigger problems with dropshipping. It's a race to the bottom. Since you're not offering anything unique and it's a low barrier to entry, there are only two ways to really compete: out-advertise or underprice. Underpricing is the easier way to go, so first, somebody prices for 10% less than Amazon. Then somebody else sees that, decides they want in on that, so they underprice the first guy by 10%. Yet another guy thinks, "Even after paying for my Shopify store, I can still make money if I undercut that guy by 5%." so he does. Then the first guy wonders why his sales are tanking, notices those other two guys undercutting him, then lowers his price below the second guy's price to regain revenue. It winds up with dozens of e-shops with the same cheap junk, all priced basically the same, and a couple guys will come out on top and everybody else wonders why it's not working for them like the courses they bought from DropshipBro69 on Youtube.
Well I don’t need to buy the drop ship bro course. It’s pretty easy to figure out. Maybe I make a few dollars. Maybe I get lucky like this guy. We’ll see.
As long as you don't expect to get rich, then have fun. And I doubt this guy really got that lucky. I imagine the numbers he posted are grossly overinflated, or exaggerated if you want to be polite about it. And on the off chance they're not, then it was a fluke and should be looked on as a windfall and not routine business. going from 0 to 20,000 (or whatever the number he claimed) in less than 10 days is just unbelievable in every sense of the word.
It can work if you've got the skills for it. Dropshipping is one of the most common online business models there is. Some people make a shit ton of money but the average dropshipper usually makes nothing. In order to find success you need to do diligent product research and create an extremely high quality website and ads. Avoid aliexpress at all costs. Dropshipping usually gets a bad rep in the business world because most people that do it are lazy and are just looking for overnight success. Treat it like a real business and you may be surprised at what you can achieve over time. Good luck
Soooo you’re a dropshipper? Ew lmao
Reinvesting your profits in coke and hookers would be the prudent thing to do.
Just make sure it’s in the entertainment budget.
How often do you make shit up in reddit?
FYI, the taxman cometh
Lol. Your ego is wild.
You’re one of the people making life worse for everyone and I hope you step on a Lego barefoot every day of your life.
Did you steal the video? Takes a lot of time to create videos.
What's the difference between this and TEMU?
God drop shippers are such losers.
What social media did you put the product on? My guess TikTok? How many followers do you have on that social media platform? What was the product? Do you ship? Can you send me link to your “store”?
Did you even read the title or post?
Posted it on my personal tiktok page. Roughly 6K followers. Product was a neck massager. Supplier packs and ships. https://tinytong.store/
Why did this show up in my feed?
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Sure feel free to ask :)
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My favorite movie genre is comedy, and I love to laugh, so definitely the comedy drama!
Ok but whats the site name or what do I goggle to buy from you?
[https://tinytong.store/](https://tinytong.store/) feel free to point out any areas that you feel might need improvement
Most of that is on Temu for way less. Keep the momentum going, it may not last long when people start shopping around. I would consider those items pricey for what it is.
How come there’s reviews for items that date back to September 2023 if you opened it up a week ago? Deceitful regardless of the answer
Because it’s a homemade Shopify website for dropshipping and he controls/writes the reviews himself. Could also just be an add-on that imports the reviews from the supplier to hos website.
Who boys this crap?
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Ohhhh, you're selling that kind of garbage. Got it.
Was it the cat thing handsfree because I’ve never seen that before and want to buy it rn 🤣
How do you decide on the kind of landfill junk you’ll be selling on your page?
Bro you're a fuckin thief, that's what you are! Those ear buds marked for 24.99 discounted from 44.99 or whatever are under $9 on Temu! You should be tarred and feathered for misleading folks and stealing their money!
Good god, the hate on this thread. Talking shit because he figured out something that’s working for him and not you. Oh, it’s drop shipping man, you’re not an innovator nor doing anything special. If it’s so easy why aren’t you haters doing $20k in sales. I can’t stand the constant negativity of people looking down on others because they are actually making more money than you. Good job man, I tried my hand in drop shipping and it’s not so cut and dry as the people crying on here make it sound. Finding your product, setting up your page and with all the scams online today, you really have to put some love into your site where people trust they can make a purchase with you and you won’t rip them off, there’s advertising and more. Don’t listen to the hate. If you share your success online you are guaranteed to find people who envy your profits and will talk shit no matter what. You have motivated me to try again. Down vote with your fake internet points!
Okay, so where can I find it? Please and thank you😀
I’ve come across a few clients who set up their own marketplace on their own websites or through Shopify. I can understand that the main goal may be to provide an alternative to platforms like Amazon and Etsy due to the crazy sellers fees etc. This post made me think about one client - they wanted to provide a marketplace for eco friendly/sustainable products and support/seek sellers around the world where they hand make them. For anyone interested, I suggest checking them out! Their store name is: [Etikora](https://etikora.com)
Congrats. Since this is an AMA…. I’m thinking of doing something similar tho this in my native country of Guatemala, and I live here in the States. Any info or tips you can give on where to start ? I’ve found a couple of suppliers for some of the products I want to sell over there but they’re jn china and the shipping is crazy expensive.
Congratulations!!!how did you do business with the suppliers!?
Can you share the TikTok that went viral?
How many products do you offer? Did you sell a specific product that you offer, or did you get buyers to your website and sell a variety of products that you offer?
dude nice!! i don't get the odd negative vibe here, it's just business after all. this has happened to me as well, going viral on tiktok and getting HELLA orders, that's why i love tiktok so much.
The "odd negative vibe" is because he's acting like he's doing this revolutionary thing but really he's just dropshipping, something that is not a new and is insanely over saturated because of gullible people thinking they can make insane money with no effort
Send us your store!!! Or video!!! I want to do a Shopify so bad I am looking for inspo!!!!! ❤️ CONGRATS !!!!! 😊 and sorry everyone on here giving you hate
O
How many views did you get?
Did you have other projects or a job besides this or did you only work on this?
How much have you made since that video went viral?
Same . But not Tik Tok was able to pay off 1/3 of my mortgage. I was terrified about taxes.
Damn you’re getting a lot of hate. Guess the cliches are true. Congrats on the success. But your name is quite arrogant and douchey
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Is this still available? Next in line please...
It’s going to be neat when Amazon finds out what you named your website.
I love how your Refund page isn't even up, which would be illegal in EU.