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How Much Money Do You Need to Start Dropshipping in 2019?

In this video, I answer a question that I get asked a lot, which is: How much money do you REALLY need to start a dropshipping business?

The actual startup costs of a dropshipping store are extremely low – all you really need is $50 for a Shopify plan + a domain name. The biggest expense is the marketing you need to drive traffic to your site.

I talk about 2 different marketing strategies you can use based on your starting budget: one strategy for a low budget, one strategy for a higher budget.

Low Budget ($200+) strategy

  • Minimum amount I recommend is $200 + a credit card
  • $29 for Shopify plan, $14 for domain name, free apps or free trials. Leaves you with ~$150 for promos. Main expense is marketing.
  • Credit card is necessary to have cash flow for fulfilling orders
  • With less than $1000, you can’t afford Facebook ads (unless you know exactly what you are doing)
  • Can start with cost-effective IG influencer posts instead
  • With IG influencer pages, you can negotiate, and your posts can go viral if you are clever with your marketing
  • High risk but high reward
  • Not all posts do well but some get crazy ROI
  • Good learning experience, and can start building up capital

Example ($200+) strategy

  • This is how I started Beauty Charcoal in 2017 with less than $500 in the bank
  • Found a cheap product that solves a problem and was starting to trend
  • Ran simple page influencer promotions, multiple went viral with 5X+ ROAS, some failed
  • Provided an amazing learning experience and helped build up capital

Pros & Cons – IG Influencers

Pros: Low barrier to entry, potential for high returns , good learning experience, can use data for FB ads later on

Cons: Competitive, inconsistent, less scaling potential

High Budget ($1000-$2000+)

  • If you have $2000 saved up, you can go straight into Facebook Ads instead
  • You must be willing to lose some of that money testing and learning, especially if you have no prior experience

Pros & Cons – Facebook Ads

Pros: More consistent than influencers, more scaling potential, better for long term growth

Cons: Expensive & difficult to master, steep learning curve, requires a lot more testing

5 Replies to “How Much Money Do You Need to Start Dropshipping in 2019?”

  1. Hello sir, I have question Why do I need credit card? it’s only required to pay for shopify? Can i pay by debit card for products from suppliers?

  2. Hello,i hawe some capital to invest in this business and i will do this with you!
    I pay tone money for coaches and mentors but you explain me very much in a couple videos on youtube thank you for that.

  3. Hi Gabriel,

    Thank you for the valuable content. If a new brand that started out and doesn’t have any follower. Do you recommend reaching out to influencer and promote the product or should I start building a following first?

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