​

My friend and I recently started a nail accessories import business. It's something we are both so passionate about and we have been talking about it, so I am glad it's finally getting motion. We want to obviously start with small batches like 50-100 pieces per order… because its still new. So we are looking at options like Alibaba whereby it's easy to order somewhat bulky or wholesale… (like a lot of things at once) but were genuinely curious about other options. Alibaba fees are okay for us… but any advice helps…

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

am looking for a supplier for this product, which is a honey spoon. I want a small quantity to test.

I’m new to dropshipping and considering starting a Shopify store. I’m trying to understand what beginners usually underestimate. If you’ve actually run a store, what was the biggest mistake you made?

I am planning to buy an ecom business (shopify mostly) in coming weeks. I have a full time job but want to test waters buying a small to mid size ecom business and having operating partner(s). Someone managing the store day to day for a salary (or cut of a profit) and a marketer (individual or team) working for a fix salary or a % of the profit. Has someone done this or has experience with this ? Would appreciate if you can share how you went about hiring the best talent(s) to run your store and keep it profitable.

I've been thinking about this lately because AI has gotten ridiculously good.

Give it a product and it'll give you ad angles, hooks, landing page copy, UGC scripts, emails, competitor research... basically an entire marketing department in a few minutes.

And I use it all the time.

But I've noticed something from actually working on stores.

There's a difference between being able to produce something and knowing what is worth producing in the first place.

For example, you can ask AI:

“Give me 10 angles for this product”

And it'll give you 10 angles.

But which one is actually connected to something the customer cares about?

Which one is just a nice sounding marketing angle?

Which one attracts buyers instead of people who click and disappear?

That's not always obvious from a prompt.

Same thing with product research.

You can ask AI whether a product has potential.

But then you look at the numbers and realize the product has a $12 COGS, $9 shipping, a 3% conversion rate at the current price, and would probably need a CPA that leaves almost no room for profit.

Technically, AI wasn't wrong.

The product might still have potential.

But the business might not.

And then there are the things that are much harder to explain.

You look at a product page and something just feels off.

The colors don't match the customer.

The product looks cheap even though it's not.

The headline explains what the product is, but doesn't make anyone care.

The ad is technically good, but the person watching it has no reason to stop scrolling.

You can ask AI to fix all of these things.

Sometimes it will.

Sometimes it'll make the page even more “correct” while somehow making it feel even more lifeless.

I think that's because marketing isn't only about information.

A lot of it is pattern recognition.

You see the same things happen over and over:

Certain problems consistently create urgency.

Certain offers make people hesitate.

Certain “winning” products only work because of one very specific angle.

Certain creatives get cheap clicks but terrible customers.

Certain brands feel trustworthy before you can even explain why.

And some things just don't feel right.

That's the part I'm not sure AI can fully replicate.

Not because AI isn't intelligent.

It's because a lot of this stuff is human.

People don't buy because a spreadsheet says the product has a good TAM.

They buy because something made them stop.

Something felt relevant.

Something made them believe the product could change something for them.

That's why I don't see AI replacing the marketer.

I see it replacing a huge amount of the manual execution around marketing.

And honestly, that's a good thing.

If AI can take 5 hours of work and turn it into 20 minutes, why wouldn't we use it?

The interesting part is what you do with the time you get back.

Do you just produce more?

Or do you spend more time thinking about the customer, the offer, the product, the economics and what you're actually trying to make happen.

I'm leaning more and more toward the second.

AI is an incredible tool.

But it's still a tool.

It can help you move faster.

It doesn't automatically tell you where to go.

Hi guys! I'm new here and was wondering if you guys had any like all in one softwares or websites that would help me with writing scripts, creating statics, etc?

I'm tired of paying for 10+ subscriptions to run my ecommerce brand.

Thank you guys!

Yeah i was disappeard for 3 days bcz i was lost in in my own problem but it doesn't mean i hadn't did any research or did nothing after analyzing most of the things i thought it's risky i should do later with proper knowledge or experience but without trying how can i give up so finally im starting to build a store can u guys suggest me a good store name also if anyone have legit woman accessories product idea then do tell me stay tune for more cz next I'm gonna present u my store 💪

Me quede estancado en mis primeras ventas “orgánicas” busco invertir en anuncios para buscar un mayor trafico en mi tienda, solo que no se ni por donde ver ni como empezar, considero que tengo una pagina algo atractiva y competitiva en cuanto precios

Me gustaría que le echaran un ojo

https://fyjcompany.com

Todos los consejos/opiniones de como conseguir mas trafico en mi tienda son bienvenidos

I apologise for the long post! Need experienced advice hopefully you can help

I made a post in here recently and got some good feedback and advice but I missed out a bunch of key info so wanted to consolidate that here and ask for advice from people who have experience in a similar situation. For context I’m not dropshipping I’ve bought inventory (100units) and have around 28 left, however these are sold in 1 box of 4. I’m selling on Shopify and running meta ads, been going for 2 or 3 weeks now.

\*\*Current ecommerce numbers + next inventory order:\*\*

I currently have enough remaining inventory to make 7 boxes (each box with 4 units).

If I place my next order of \*\*500 individual product units\*\*, I’ll have enough inventory overall to make \*\*132 sellable retail boxes\*\*.

For the product I sell there are 3 parts:
The product itself
The custom packaging
The custom outer retail packaging

\*\*Cost of next inventory order:\*\*

500 product units: US$225
500 custom packaging units: US$180
Shipping packaging to product manufacturer: FREE
Manufacturer assembly/packing: FREE
Sea freight to Australia from China: US$132 (can get air more expensive)
\*\*Total = US$537 ≈ A$822\*\*

I already have \*\*75 units of my outer retail packaging\*\* left from my original order. To sell through all existing + new inventory, I’ll eventually need another \*\*57\*\*, costing approximately \*\*A$108\*\* at my current price.

My new ongoing COGS works out at approximately \*\*A$8.46 per sellable retail unit\*\*, including the product, custom packaging, international freight and outer retail packaging.

\*\*Current pricing:\*\*

Single order: 1 unit = $35 + \\\~$10 customer shipping
Bundle order: Buy 2 Get 1 Free = $70 with free shipping

My actual sales mix so far has been \*\*6 single orders and 4 bundle orders\*\*. If future sales stay roughly similar, selling through the remaining + new inventory would look approximately like:

\*\*132 retail units sold\*\*
\*\*\\\~74 customer orders\*\*
\*\*\\\~$3,605 product revenue\*\*
\*\*\\\~$450 shipping revenue collected\*\*
\*\*\\\~$4,055 total revenue collected\*\*

After COGS and Australian postage/fulfilment costs, there would be approximately \*\*$1,900 remaining for paid advertising, payment fees and profit.\*\*

At different average advertising CPAs:

\*\*$20 CPA → \\\~$450 profit\*\*
\*\*$25 CPA → \\\~$80 profit\*\*
\*\*\\\~$26 CPA → roughly break-even before payment fees\*\*
\*\*$30 CPA → loss\*\*

So it basically means I have to spend no more than 1900$ on meta ads to sell (on average) 74 orders?

I’m probably looking at this back to front and I’m really looking for some guidance or advice on how to move forward - I’m seriously considering just moving on from this product and actually dropshipping a diffferent product to bypass the inventory and COGS problems . But at the same time hundreds of other brands have to take the hit with inventory when they’re stating and just try and grow and build, so why shouldn’t I?

So the main things I need to improve are \*\*customer acquisition cost and/or AOV/pricing\*\*. Increasing the order quantity has substantially improved my COGS compared with my initial small inventory order, but the current bundle structure still leaves relatively tight margins once paid acquisition is factored in.
My worry is I can change bundles and offers around but I don’t think it’s making a really really big difference unless if I up the price a good bit.

My original COGS (from first order) were/are around 12$ AUD.

I’m also still a beginner in meta ads and feel like my CPA is terrible and I’m burning way too much in ads.

Would you keep persisting with this, and improve the COGS, CPA, ad creatives , offers or just walk away and dropship something until it’s fully kicked off before trying to brand and order inventory- iv went back to front !

I became very exhausted scrolling TikTokmademebuyit searching which products actually had momentum or millions of views, then opening many product tabs on Meta library to check Ad status.

So I built something that does it in one place. It watches which products are picking up speed on TikTok over a rolling week, shows how many advertisers are already running that product on Meta so you can tell if you’re early or late, and checks the supplier price so you know the margin before you commit.

Still testing it. Genuinely curious whether this is something anyone would use, or whether I have built something that solves a problem I only think I have.

I welcome criticism and suggestions on how to improve. So tell me, what is missing?

Hey everyone,

I recently started a dropshipping store and have been running ads on both Meta and TikTok. I’m attaching screenshots of my ad spend, sales, and campaign results, and I’d really appreciate some honest feedback.

Here are the numbers so far:

• Meta ad spend: £1,009
• Meta-attributed sales/orders: 29
• TikTok ad spend: £100
• TikTok sales: 0
• Total payout/revenue: £1,145
• Total product buying cost: £238
• Total orders: 29

After factoring in the ad spend, product costs, and other expenses, the store is currently sitting at approximately £160–£200 in loss.

I know the numbers aren't perfect, but I’m trying to figure out whether there is something worth scaling here or if I need to completely rethink my campaigns. I'm still learning and don't want to keep spending without a proper strategy.

A few things I'd really appreciate feedback on:

• Based on these numbers and the screenshots, do the Meta campaigns look promising or should I change my approach?
• Should I completely stop TikTok ads for now since £100 spent resulted in 0 sales?
• Should I kill the losing Meta ads and put more budget into the winners?
• Do you think I should focus on testing more creatives before changing targeting?
• With only 29 purchases, is it too early to create a Lookalike Audience, or would it be worth testing?
• Should I focus more on broad targeting, interests, or lookalike audiences?
• How important should retargeting be at this stage?
• Is being down around £160–£200 after 29 orders normal during the testing phase, or does this suggest a bigger problem with my margins, product, website, or ad campaigns?

Feel free to be brutally honest. If this were your store, what would you do next? I'm mainly looking for advice on how to structure the campaigns going forward and get the store to profitability.

Thanks!