{"id":4078,"date":"2020-12-31T10:40:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T10:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/?p=4078"},"modified":"2022-02-11T08:27:38","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T08:27:38","slug":"dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html","title":{"rendered":"How I Made $126,927 from Dropshipping during Covid-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">In February 2020, full of determination and enthusiasm, Mary, a young girl from Colorado, got started with dropshipping. She was a newbie, but that didn&#8217;t stop her from learning and succeeding in the industry. Her performance was nothing short of incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">From February to June 2020, in only 4 months, Mary made $126,927 from her dropshipping business, which generated about 40 orders per day, worth approximately $1000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4080 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1024x722.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1024x722.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-768x542.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0.png 1117w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Those numbers are amazing, yet do not let them fool you into believing that the journey is smooth and straightforward. Let us turn our attention to the insider to understand what she has done, and how she has managed to earn over $126,927.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">This dropshipping case study was originally published on Maryshares.medium.com.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Hi. I&#8217;m Mary, 27. I didn&#8217;t graduate from the so-called dropshipping courses and had no idea about how to get rich quickly, as you might be thinking right now. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I lost my job. I couldn&#8217;t even get out of my house because of the lockdowns in my country, which left me no choice but to find another job, one that was online-based.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_55 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Menu:<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-680c9c8251353\"><span class=\"\"><span style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-680c9c8251353\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#How_I_got_started_with_dropshipping\" title=\"How I got started with dropshipping?\">How I got started with dropshipping?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#1_Pick_a_dropshipping_niche_that_works_for_you\" title=\"1. Pick a dropshipping niche that works for you\">1. Pick a dropshipping niche that works for you<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#I_love_it\" title=\"I love it.\">I love it.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#I_know_it_well\" title=\"I know it well.\">I know it well.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#2_Get_in_touch_with_dropshipping_suppliers_effectively\" title=\"2. Get in touch with dropshipping suppliers effectively\">2. Get in touch with dropshipping suppliers effectively<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#AliExpress_is_not_a_good_idea\" title=\"AliExpress is not a good idea\">AliExpress is not a good idea<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#4_criteria_to_choose_suppliers\" title=\"4 criteria to choose suppliers\">4 criteria to choose suppliers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Get_in_touch_with_suppliers_wisely\" title=\"Get in touch with suppliers wisely\">Get in touch with suppliers wisely<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#3_Sell_on_your_own_dropshipping_store_rather_than_marketplaces\" title=\"3. Sell on your own dropshipping store rather than marketplaces\">3. Sell on your own dropshipping store rather than marketplaces<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#4_Optimize_a_storefront_that_sells\" title=\"4. Optimize a storefront that sells\">4. Optimize a storefront that sells<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Homepage\" title=\"Homepage\">Homepage<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Brand_name_and_logo\" title=\"Brand name and logo\">Brand name and logo<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Product_description\" title=\"Product description\">Product description<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#5_Select_payment_gateways_that_suit_your_dropshipping_business\" title=\"5. Select payment gateways that suit your dropshipping business\">5. Select payment gateways that suit your dropshipping business<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#6_Don%E2%80%99t_use_influencer_marketing_if_you_are_on_a_tight_budget\" title=\"6. Don\u2019t use influencer marketing if you are on a tight budget\">6. Don\u2019t use influencer marketing if you are on a tight budget<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#7_Win_customers_with_Facebook_ads\" title=\"7. Win customers with Facebook ads\">7. Win customers with Facebook ads<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Campaign_objective_Conversions\" title=\"Campaign objective: Conversions\">Campaign objective: Conversions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Demographics_Targeting_strategy\" title=\"Demographics &amp; Targeting strategy\">Demographics &amp; Targeting strategy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Targeting_strategy\" title=\"Targeting strategy\">Targeting strategy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Placement\" title=\"Placement\">Placement<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Ads_copy\" title=\"Ads copy\">Ads copy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#Budget\" title=\"Budget\">Budget<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/dropshipping-case-study-make-money-during-pandemic.html\/#8_What_did_my_final_result_look_like\" title=\"8. What did my final result look like?\">8. What did my final result look like?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_I_got_started_with_dropshipping\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">How I got started with dropshipping?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Back then, I learned everything about dropshipping on the Internet. I joined almost every e-commerce\/dropshipping group on Facebook and Reddit, but they were not as helpful as I expected. Fortunately, I came across several valuable stories on experienced sellers&#8217; blogs in which they illustrated the whole journey they went through. I scrutinized the stories, deducted the most important lessons, and implemented them in my own ways. I adapted them to my circumstances along the way, which eventually led to the numbers that you have seen above.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4081\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1-1024x629.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"924\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1-1024x629.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1-300x184.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1-768x472.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1.png 1113w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Currently, I have not quite caught up with the respectful sellers from whom I have earned my lessons; they are certainly a long way ahead of me. However, as &#8220;the more we share, the more we have&#8221; is the mantra I always live by, I would like to share my meager knowledge with you all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">My journey towards today&#8217;s achievement can be summed up in the following 7 steps. I hope my dropshipping case study today will be somehow valuable, and may adequately inspire some of you to get a fresh start and be your own boss with dropshipping.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Also, I never waited until when the time seems ripe: dropshipping is all about working, not about waiting. So, if any of you are looking into establishing your own business, CREATE IT NOW or never.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Now. Let&#8217;s get started!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/?utm_source=cs&amp;utm_medium=sbblog&amp;utm_campaign=mary-case-study\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5614 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_11-1024x298.png\" alt=\"How I got started with dropshipping?\" width=\"1024\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_11-1024x298.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_11-300x87.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_11-768x223.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_11.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Pick_a_dropshipping_niche_that_works_for_you\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>1. Pick a dropshipping niche that works for you<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">At first, when I just got started, I picked \u201cwomen bags\u201d as my niche, as I thought the market would be easy to enter and I would be profitable quickly. However, it was a grave mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The niche has always been full of big players, with whom I had no chance to compete. Furthermore, I had no idea about the latest fashion trend, and I even had no personal interest in that sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Of course, I failed. But that didn\u2019t stop me from starting over again, this time with another niche market that has always been my great interest, even now: Cats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You might be wondering why I chose that niche. Here are my answers:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"I_love_it\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>I love it.<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I am the only child in my family, and I have been friends with the family cats ever since I was small. When I was in high school, we adopted a cat called White, who has been with me since then.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">White and I were so close that my mom let her move out with me when I had to move and study away from home. Since then, we have welcomed 3 more kittens to my little apartment, and so I become the young mom of 4 little cats and take care of them all on my own.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"I_know_it_well\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>I know it well.<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I am exactly what my target customers are. Maybe there are a few differences between us, but they don&#8217;t amount to much because we all love cats. We follow cat Instagram accounts, join cat lovers\u2019 groups on social media, talk about cats, and laugh at cat memes all day long.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, my advice for this section is <\/span><b>just do it, but do what you love<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Pick the niche that you love, and you\u2019ll get the passion to get going and succeed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do what you love and money will follow<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you are still not convinced about the choice you made, find some data to back it up. Do some internal research about what other people have already done, and how you can do it differently. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Search main keywords on search engine tools, like Google.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Observe the big players in the niche (website, Instagram, Facebook pages)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Do market research on the revenue and profit margin of the niche in the last few years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4082 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image2-1024x506.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image2-1024x506.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image2-300x148.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image2-768x379.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image2.png 1443w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The search volume for the keyword \u2018cat products\u2019 throughout the year 2019, according to Google Trend.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Get_in_touch_with_dropshipping_suppliers_effectively\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>2. Get in touch with dropshipping suppliers effectively<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Suppliers are the go-to solution for those who do not manufacture merchandise themselves. They will help source your products, and pack and ship them directly to your customers. That means all you need to do is get your products sold, and your suppliers will take care of the rest. However, suppliers don&#8217;t handily approach you: you have to find them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"AliExpress_is_not_a_good_idea\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">AliExpress is not a good idea<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">At first, I started sourcing from AliExpress, but it didn&#8217;t take me too long to realize that AliExpress suppliers provide terrible descriptions and images. Not only that, I could find their products on hundreds of other websites, which negates any edge I may have over other sellers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Another decision I must have made was on the location of my supplier, and I chose to rely on US-based suppliers, instead of China-based ones. While it&#8217;s true that I could get a better deal from Chinese companies, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, shipments from China could be delayed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_criteria_to_choose_suppliers\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">4 criteria to choose suppliers<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I did my due diligence carefully before approaching companies that I thought to be the best fit for my early-stage dropshipping business. What I looked for in those companies were:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Return and refund policies must be crystal clear and straightforward, and beneficial for me.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Minimum order quantity required must be acceptable for me.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Product quality, images, and descriptions must be clear and well-written, at least.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">They didn&#8217;t receive too many negative reviews.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Get_in_touch_with_suppliers_wisely\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Get in touch with suppliers wisely<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">After the due diligence, I found several names that seemed potential.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">However, getting in touch with US suppliers via email could be a nightmare, even though we speak the same language. You should reach out to them by calling and talking directly to their representatives. I found that to be the most efficient way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Eventually, there was only one supplier that I could enter a partnership with. Fortunately, we are still cooperating, in addition to 2 other suppliers that I have found along the way who fit my criteria.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Sell_on_your_own_dropshipping_store_rather_than_marketplaces\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>3. Sell on your own dropshipping store rather than marketplaces<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">It\u2019s often hard to find a home for your goods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Back then, fortunately, I made a wise decision when I decided to create my own storefront on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/\">ShopBase<\/a>. You know why?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The profit margin of the products I sold was really low. If I sold them on marketplaces, like Amazon, or eBay, I would have to split my tiny profit with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, <\/span><b>I chose to sell on my own site<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To be honest, back then, my budget was tight (only $3000), so I had to reduce my cost in every way I could. I decided to use ShopBase, which offered my a 14-day trial, free marketing tools, and a storefront template. As I am not a computer whiz, I always get bogged down by technical tasks, but with ShopBase, I was surprised at how quickly it took me to create a ready-to-sell webshop.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/?utm_source=cs&amp;utm_medium=sbblog&amp;utm_campaign=mary-case-study\">&gt;&gt; Create your store and split the profit with no one!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I also considered Shopify due to its well-known diverse app system, but the subscription fee was too high for me to afford. Many of the apps are also paid apps, increasing the cost further.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Optimize_a_storefront_that_sells\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>4. Optimize a storefront that sells<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">As I have mentioned above, the dropshipping storefront provided by ShopBase was already well-optimized for selling. However, as I\u2019m a perfectionist, I wanted my storefront to be more than just well-optimized: I wanted it to show my personality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">However, in those days, I had no idea about how a perfect storefront looked like. I tried to display as many products on the front page as possible, in hope that customers visiting the site would immediately see what they needed in the list. In reality, no one did. My storefront looked like a mess.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Fortunately I myself recognized the problem and decided that I needed experienced advice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I posted my site URL on dropshipping groups\/forums and asked whether someone could give me a few comments on how my website looked. I did the same thing on the ShopBase community. Above all, I visited big brands&#8217; websites that sell cat\/pet products to see how they organized their pages. By combining all of what I had learned, I established a formula for creating a good storefront for myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Homepage\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Homepage<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>The homepage is important<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because it gives visitors the first impression of your store. Therefore, it has to <\/span><b>be related to your niche, professional, and impress the audiences at first glance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">First is the main photo, the first thing customers will see when they visit your website. I spent quite a lot of time choosing the photo that I was going to post on the homepage. I ended up picking the photo of my 4 cute Scottish cats, which my close friend, Adam, a professional photographer, had helped me shoot and retouch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Next, the slogan. It has to be short, yet catchy and easy to memorize.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I also added a CTA button on the image that would take my visitors straight to my products. Here is what my homepage looks like:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brand_name_and_logo\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4083 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-8-gigapixel-scale-2_00x.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"3838\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-8-gigapixel-scale-2_00x.png 3838w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-8-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-300x99.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-8-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-768x253.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-8-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-1024x337.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3838px) 100vw, 3838px\" \/><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Brand name and logo<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Like with the slogan thing, it\u2019s hard to come up with a brand name that works.\u00a0 After coming up with none that would satisfy me, I finally decided to rely on a tool called <a href=\"https:\/\/namelix.com\/\">Namelix<\/a> to help me. Also, I got a premade logo for the brand name I picked, all free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The 3 criteria that the tool needed to generate a brand name for me are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Brand keywords: cat + shop + buddie<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Name length: I chose medium with 6-12 letters.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Name style: I chose a brandable name, which is the most picked option.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The tool gave me quite a truckload of brand names, each of which came with a specific font, size, and color. I ended up picking <strong>CATBUDDIE<\/strong> with 4 different colors in the logo. Personally, I think it\u2019s perfect: short, simple, easy to memorize.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you cannot find the logo you like using Namelix, consider using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiverr.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fiverr.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With just $5, you can hire a professional designer to draw up the logo that fits your requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, another tool for brand name generation that I have found to be quite helpful is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/whoer.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">whoer.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Product_description\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Product description<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">As I mentioned earlier, I used to dropship handbags. At that time, I invested a lot of time into creating \u2018king\u2019 content, especially for product descriptions because I was sure that fancy descriptions would generate sales.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, when I switched to the cat product niche, that approach didn\u2019t work. It took me quite a while to realize that product description for cat products didn\u2019t need to be fancy. Instead, you should <\/span><b>go straight to the point, and keep it short and clear:<\/b> <b>What are the most valuable features of the product, and how are they going to benefit the customers?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I also invested in product photography. I tried to display my products with catchy, high-resolution photos in many different angles, and use videos if possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;A picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Select_payment_gateways_that_suit_your_dropshipping_business\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>5. Select payment gateways that suit your dropshipping business<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">There are many payment gateways that you can choose to get paid through, but the two most popular ones are PayPal and Stripe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I started out with both of them. In general, it took me more time and effort to get a Stripe account than PayPal. But Stripe is way easier to use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">My money once got held for 6 months by PayPal, because it was Christmas time, and the total transaction value surged. I ended up getting my whole amount of money back 6 months later, but it was such a tough time, and my dropshipping business was about to collapse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Unlike PayPal, Stripe held money for 3 months only, which allowed small businesses like mine to retain the cash flow and get going.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That being said, my advice is to <\/span><b>use both payment gateways simultaneously.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> That will greatly decrease the risk that one out of those gateways breaks down.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Don%E2%80%99t_use_influencer_marketing_if_you_are_on_a_tight_budget\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>6. Don\u2019t use influencer marketing if you are on a tight budget<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Someone told me that the 3 most crucial things to get a dropshipping website up and running are product niche, payment gateway, and traffic and I totally agree with him. It\u2019s time to turn our attention to website traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">First, I observed key players in the animal product niche and realized that they all succeeded with influencer marketing, so I tried to follow their footsteps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">(By the way, in case some of you might wonder how to find key players in your niche, my method is to ask Google)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4087 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image3-1024x568.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image3-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image3-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image3-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image3.png 1137w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">And here is Google&#8217;s answer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4088 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image7-1024x440.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image7-1024x440.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image7-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image7-768x330.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image7.png 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Or:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4094\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image5-1-1024x584.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1015\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image5-1-1024x584.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image5-1-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image5-1-768x438.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image5-1.png 1435w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1015px) 100vw, 1015px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Those sellers often had an eCommerce website and an Instagram account. They promoted influencer marketing by giving influencers (one whose Instagram account boasted over 5K followers) a free code for them to distribute to their followers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">They posted the products, tagged the brand name, and gave the free code to their audiences on Instagram. Once a customer used those codes to buy products on the eCommerce site, the influencer got paid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I copied exactly what they did: contacted 10 influencers (whom I found through viewing the tag section on the brands&#8217; Instagram), gave them free codes, and waited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">After half a month into my influencer marketing campaign, my revenue reached $2,000, but the cost exceeded that. The approach did work and I got my first sales very quickly, but there was not much left on the table. The marketing&#8217;s cost was so high that it cut into my profit margins. I realized that influencer marketing only went well with big brands who had money to burn, not mine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In short, following the leading players is an excellent way to progress. However, before imitating them, you need to t<\/span><b>ake a step back and ask whether such strategy fits your business or not<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If your brand-new business is too different from them, you might consider not to adopt their activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-binding\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/en\/ecommerce-influencer-marketing\/\">&gt;&gt; Wise men learn by other men\u2019s mistakes: Read this guide to activate the fullest potential of influencer marketing to your business<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Again, I raised the question \u201chow to effectively get traffic for a small dropshipping business?\u201d on Facebook groups\/eCommerce forums, and I finally got my answer:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Win_customers_with_Facebook_ads\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>7. Win customers with Facebook ads<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I wish I had known these before using Facebook ads to get website traffic\/sales:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Be open-minded. I used to assume so many things instead of testing them. Do not write off an idea just because it\u2019s simple, weird, or unconventional. TEST EVERYTHING!<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Target your list. Build a contact list of your customers\/subscribers. With Facebook Custom Audiences, you can easily upload your list and run ads that target these people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Be patient. Ads won\u2019t turn into sales overnight. It takes time and money. Keep monitoring your ad performance, and adjust your ad setup until you have targeted the right audience.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">&gt;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/?utm_source=cs&amp;utm_medium=sbblog&amp;utm_campaign=mary-case-study\">Run Facebook ads and drive customers towards your store now!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Campaign_objective_Conversions\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Campaign objective: Conversions<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The very first step to run a Facebook ad campaign is to set the objective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">At first, I was confused between the 2 goal options: traffic vs. conversions. I picked the latter as my target, rather randomly. Only now did I realize that my decision was the correct one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Why? One may ask.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">It&#8217;s because Facebook&#8217;s algorithm is extremely smart. If you set conversions as your objective, Facebook will target exactly those who have made a purchase via\/on the platform. That greatly increases the likelihood of the customers buying your promoted items.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if your objective is an increased amount of traffic, the platform will target those who actively like, share, comment on previous posts, regardless of whether they actually bought anything or not, (and according to my experience, in most cases, they don\u2019t).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>My advice here is to always set conversions as your campaign objective. And I mean always.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4095 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image4-1024x651.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image4-1024x651.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image4-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image4-768x488.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image4.png 1380w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Demographics_Targeting_strategy\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Demographics &amp; Targeting strategy<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I did a lot of research on what my target customer may look like. Then I set ads like the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Locations: I targeted people living in the 4 countries that I thought to be wealthy above average: my homeland (US), the UK, Canada, and Australia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Age: 18 \u2013 65+. Even though people of all ages possibly can buy my products, only people aged over 18 can use credit card to make a purchase. Therefore, I set that as my lower bound.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender: Instead of <\/span><b>All, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I chose <\/span><b>women <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.retailcustomerexperience.com\/news\/women-like-online-shopping-more-than-men-claims-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">women like online shopping more than men<\/span><\/a> and therefore are more likely to buy my items.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>As my budget was quite tight, I had to set the target audience carefully,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to make sure that every penny spent on advertising counted. I often tested 3 or 4 ad sets in a week. Once any of them proved to be viable and seemed scalable, I switched the ads to targeting all genders in all countries around the world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4096 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_3-1024x402.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_3-1024x402.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_3-300x118.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_3-768x301.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_3.png 1137w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Targeting_strategy\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Targeting strategy<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If I targeted those people who were interested in cats in general, the number of targeted people would be huge &#8211; about 59 million. However, that would be a waste of advertisement, as the criteria were too general. Therefore, I chose to target the people who are interested in the four most popular and most petted cat breeds (American Shorthair cat, Maine Coon cat, Persian cat, Siamese cat) in the four nations that I targeted (see above). This way, I trimmed the number of targeted audiences down to 3 million, which allowed my ads to be much more effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Placement\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Placement<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I targeted mobile devices as people mostly browse Facebook on their cell phones. For both Facebook and Instagram, I chose Feeds and Stories ads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4098 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image10.png 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ads_copy\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Ads copy<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Below was my very first ad set, which I had assumed to be too short, too simple, and too bland to be able to attract any Facebook users\u2019 attention. However, eventually and surprisingly, it did generate a not inconsiderable number of sales for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4099 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-1024x653.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-1024x653.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-gigapixel-scale-2_00x-768x490.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-gigapixel-scale-2_00x.png 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">So, what&#8217;s the moral of the story?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is,<\/span><b> you have to test over and over<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You never know which ad set is going to work, and which simply won&#8217;t. Just keep testing and testing until you find the one that can achieve the best performance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Furthermore, it took me months of testing to realize that ad copy doesn&#8217;t have to be long and fancy. Research shows that it takes only 2 seconds on average for a Facebook user to decide whether or not to click on an ad. It means that within those 2 seconds unless ad viewers get your point on why they should buy your product, your ad will get neglected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">So, the right question should be: what could help the audience get your point immediately? Would that entail funny words and icons, a discount, an offer, or something else?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">According to my experience, promotion comes first. The bigger discount, the easier it is to attract people&#8217;s attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">However, you can\u2019t run flash sales all the time, or you would burn through your money faster than you could say &#8220;advertisement&#8221;. Therefore, the second most important thing is your capstone sentence. Your ad copy must begin with something that your audience can relate to, such as a popular quote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Another attention-grabber is free shipping for customers, even if that means you have to increase the products&#8217; price by a little bit to accommodate the increased cost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Last but not least, and most importantly, don&#8217;t <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">add a product link that is clickable. You don&#8217;t want to upload useless ads that don&#8217;t let customers access your products.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4100 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image1.jpg\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image1-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Budget\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>Budget<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">All in all, running a CBO campaign costs me $20 per day. In 3 days, I tested 3 different ad sets, each of them gearing towards different targets. After that, I chose the ones that generated the most sales for scaling and stopped the others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Surely many of you will have the same question that I had back then, which is \u201cshould you set a bid cap for your ad?\u201d \u2013 well, it depends. If your business is backed by deep-pocket investors and can afford to spend about $1,000 on ads per day, go ahead and bid. Otherwise, bidding is not necessary yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4102 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_5-1.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"541\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_5-1.png 541w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_5-1-300x166.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_What_did_my_final_result_look_like\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>8. What did my final result look like?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The initial amount of capital I put into my dropshipping business was about $3,000. It might not be a great fortune but nevertheless, it was still a large amount of hard-earned money for me. You might need more or less to enter the sector I&#8217;m doing right now, but if someone tells you that it doesn&#8217;t cost that much to do it, he or she must be lying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">In my case, it definitely costs more than that. I was lucky not to be broke. Cash kept flowing in and out, and today\u2019s revenue would inevitably be spent tomorrow. It is an unceasing cycle of earning and spending, in which I needed to correctly determine where I should invest my money so that it would not go down the drain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Nevertheless, all hard work paid off. Here was a chart of my performance from Feb till the end of May 2020:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4080 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1024x722.png\" alt=\"Dropshipping case study 2021 How I made $126,927 with dropshipping during Covid-19 pandemic\" width=\"1024\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-1024x722.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-768x542.png 768w, https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0.png 1117w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">$126,927 revenue for 4 months (from Feb to the end of May 2020).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I have shared all my accumulated experience earlier in this post. That being said, I would like the share one last comment on the one thing that matters the most in the way I operate my dropshipping business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t be hesitant to do what you want to do. If you want to be like me, you need to take action immediately. <\/span><b>Find your niche, research your target audience, craft a website, and sell globally<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Don\u2019t be afraid of making mistakes, because indeed, I made more mistakes than I could even count. It is what you do after you fall down that matters.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/accounts.shopbase.com\/sign-up\/?utm_source=cs&amp;utm_medium=sbblog&amp;utm_campaign=mary-case-study\">&gt;&gt; Kick-off your business and mark your own milestone now!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In February 2020, full of determination and enthusiasm, Mary, a young girl from Colorado, got started with dropshipping. She was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":5612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[6,2,4],"tags":[55,1018],"gutentor_comment":416,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4078"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10949,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions\/10949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopbase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}