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I Tried Dropshipping With $50 (Realistic Results)

Introduction

Last week, I embarked on a journey to see if it's possible to dropship with just $ 50. I came across a product—a stylish wheel watch—using a free method on TikTok and created my online store. My goal was to post 5 to 8 TikToks daily to drive organic sales. Here’s a detailed breakdown of my results:

Day 1: The Setup

On the first day, I invested a significant amount of time researching various TikTok strategies, focusing on optimal posting times and content type. One useful resource I found was a time zone converter to help schedule posts targeting US audiences while living in Europe. However, I only managed to post four TikToks, falling short of my target. Despite not meeting my goal, the views were decent on most of my videos, except for the last one. Sadly, my Shopify dashboard showed disappointing outcomes.

Day 2: Learning from Mistakes

On day two, I again posted four TikToks. Despite some views, most posts didn't perform well. However, one video did gain decent traction. I was still waiting for my first sale and had accumulated two add-to-carts, but with just 26 store sessions, the progress was minimal.

Day 3: A New Approach

Determined to improve, I sought to create engaging conversation-style TikToks. Frustratingly, TikTok’s text-to-speech only offered a single voice option, so I spent hours researching alternatives. Luckily, I stumbled upon a website that allowed me to generate customizable text-to-speech clips and download them. I created a bulk of TikToks, expanded to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, and launched another TikTok account, fearing that follower purchases might jeopardize my main account. One of my YouTube Shorts gained 11,000 views, but my Shopify dashboard still lacked positive results.

Day 4: Incremental Gains

On day four, I stepped up my game and uploaded eight TikToks. Two of them did well, which led to a noticeable increase in store sessions—40 sessions total—with three add-to-carts and three reach checkouts. Still no sales, but I felt we were getting closer.

Day 5: Seeking Expert Guidance

By day five, I felt lost and reached out to a knowledgeable figure in dropshipping, Jordan Welch, through his Discord server. I investigated whether my store setup or product was the problem; thankfully, they were not. The content was the issue. I analyzed my analytics and discovered that my TikToks were primarily viewed by Danish users, who couldn’t buy from the U.S. without high import taxes. This led me to research how to effectively reach U.S. customers from Europe. I attempted to set up a proper VPN, but realized I needed an American SIM card. Just when I was about to give up, I got my first sale!

Day 6: Reflecting on Progress

Day six entailed mostly planning and editing content, focusing on how to better target an American audience. I also reflected on the challenge and the education gained throughout this journey.

Day 7: The Final Tally

By the end of the week, here were the overall numbers:

  • Total Sales: $ 29.95
  • Expenses:
    • Shopify plan: $ 1
    • Domain: $ 15
    • Follower purchase: $ 3
    • Review app: $ 99.90
    • Product fulfillment: $ 17.26

This resulted in a loss of $ 16.21. Despite the loss, the knowledge gained about TikTok's algorithm, audience targeting, and text-to-speech tools made this challenge a success. I’m considering redoing the challenge with an American SIM card or testing paid ads. If you're interested, let me know in the comments!

Jordan Welch and his team appreciated my store's setup. I plan to share a step-by-step guide on creating a store, complete with a free copy of my blueprint for others to replicate.

Keywords

  • Dropshipping
  • TikTok
  • Shopify
  • Organic Sales
  • Content Strategy
  • Product Fulfillment
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Audience Targeting
  • E-commerce

FAQ

Q1: What product did you choose for dropshipping?
A1: I selected a wheel watch as the product for my dropshipping experiment.

Q2: How many TikToks did you post each day?
A2: I aimed to post 5 to 8 TikToks a day but often fell short, especially at the beginning.

Q3: Did you make any sales?
A3: Yes, I made a total of one sale by the end of week one.

Q4: What were your total expenses?
A4: My total expenses amounted to approximately $ 99.90, which included costs for Shopify, a domain, followers, a review app, and product fulfillment.

Q5: What did you learn from this challenge?
A5: I learned valuable lessons about TikTok's algorithm, audience targeting strategies, and how to effectively create engaging content.

Q6: Will you try this challenge again?
A6: I am considering running the challenge again, potentially with an American SIM card or testing paid ads to see different results.

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