Online Side Hustle #5 – Dropshipping

By now, anyone who uses the internet should have heard about Shopify. Unfortunately, many people talking about it make it sound like a bunch of ratchifee. The truth is that Shopify, and dropshipping in general, can be a good source of income for people if they understand how digital marketing works. To be realistic, though, most people who start and run dropshipping businesses don’t make enough income to shift over into having it as their full-time deal. If you’re just looking for a side hustle, however, dropshipping might be precisely what you want.
 
Dropshipping and Shopify
Dropshipping is the process of advertising products for a manufacturer, then letting them know when they’ve made a sale. You don’t have to buy or stockpile any goods inside your house. All inventory is shipped from the manufacturer to the buyer. You’re just the person running the storefront.

The reason Shopify gets a lot of coverage is that it’s relatively easy to use. Someone with only a basic understanding of eCommerce could set up a Shopify store in a matter of minutes. What’s more, Shopify even recognizes T&T as a valid location to operate from.

As popular as Shopify is, though, it’s not the only game in town.


Alternatives
While Shopify itself is pretty neat, there are several alternatives, although they require a bit more legwork. Among them are:

Woo Commerce: Woo Commerce offers similar stuff to Shopify in terms of a backend for checkouts that can be integrated directly into a WordPress website. However, it doesn’t offer those fancy themes you’d get with a Shopify store.

Amazon: The world’s largest retailer makes it easy to piggyback on their infrastructure, but you will require a way to receive payments through an American bank account since Amazon doesn’t pay out to PayPal. 🤑
 
Getting Hands-On With Dropshipping
Many experts advise that you purchase one copy of the product you intend to dropship, so you know what the client is getting at the very least. If you believe in a product, it’s easier to market it to others.

Stay tuned for the next installment in our online side hustle series: We’ll look at data entry and micro-tasking – two simple ways to earn money by doing easy tasks.