An AliExpress Dropshipping Story by Alex: From Zero to $6000 in Four Months
Please welcome another AliExpress dropshipping success story from our amazing customer!
This time, we asked our client Alex for a little interview, and he gladly agreed to share his dropshipping experience. We hope you will find his insights really useful!
Please tell a couple of words about you and your business.
Hi, my name is Alex, I’m 32.
I have no experience in trading in its classic format, but I was always interested in online sales technologies – that’s why I simply could not skip the offer of AliDropship and not make a try. My very first dropshipping store sells popular imitation jewelry and accessories.
Why did you decide to start dropshipping with AliExpress?
I’d been hearing a lot about the fast growing AliExpress giant that is slowly ousting Ebay and Amazon from online market. I was attracted by the idea of selling goods with a high margin but without a necessity to buy these goods first and store them somewhere. My average margin is 700-800% – just compare the prices for one and the same item on AliExpress and on my site:
In fact, this is a business model of trading without logistics (including the most complicated part of it – the products storage) which is extremely comfortable. The work with products assortment is also greatly simplified, since all goods are imported and published in just few clicks.
One more benefit is the opportunity to start a business without registering a company.
Why did you choose this niche?
I didn’t bother too much about selection of a good niche for my first store: with my humanitarian mindset and basic computer knowledge, I just wanted to practice in a webstore running and to learn all the processes. Still, the niche of imitation jewelry and accessories seemed quite promising to me, so I decided to begin with it.
When did you create your store, and how fast does your business grow?
My first webstore was launched in July, 2016. But its full-fledge operation began in August when the sales started. During the first month I paid very little attention to the store, its administration and promotion. By the middle of September I realized that this is a truly effective business tool with an unlimited potential. I started sparing much more time on it. In September my sales grew, and since the middle of October I’ve been devoting nearly all my time to dropshipping. I have built two more stores with the help of AliDropship plugin. As a result, by October 20 my revenue came to $6000.
What channels are now generating maximum traffic and sales for you?
The major part of my social traffic was attracted owing to a special plugin for webstores’ promotion in social networks (Social Rabbit) and to my own online activities.
I had no SMM experience before. I didn’t even have a Facebook account and always thought (and still think)) that social networks are, putting it mildly, not the best way of spending one’s time. Nevertheless, I learned their simple functional quickly and started using them for advertizing. I followed the instructions of a dropshipping store’s promotion on Facebook and Instagram given by AliDropship.
What are your sales-per-day and sales-per-week records?
Cannot say with an accuracy of a dollar, but the day’s record is about $900, and the week’s one is $2400.
What problems appeared the most complicated for you? How did you solve them?
At the very beginning people without a technical education and with small computer experience may think that one needs to obtain a huge volume of knowledge and skills to successfully manage a webstore. But it’s only the first impression: you should just begin – and things will turn easy to understand and to do.
I also want to stress how I appreciate the work of AliDropship support team for their fast and careful help, their ability to assist in any difficulties arising in a dropshipping business – including the store’s administration and social media activities.
I also worried about the long deliveries from AliExpress before, but with the ePacket shipping option it’s not a problem at all: the delivery takes just 10-20 days, and the receiver gets a tracking code helping to always be aware of the parcel’s location.
What are your future plans?
I already have three AliExpress dropshipping stores and now plan to optimize and polish all the processes and to boost my business. I’m already looking for assistants to delegate all the routine work to them. It will give me an opportunity to focus on the business itself, its strategy, growth and new businesses creation.