Is dropshipping passive income? This a question many newbies to dropshipping have and one of the main reasons dropshipping attracts people.
If you want to set up your dropshipping store then sit back and watch the money pour in, you’ve got the wrong idea about dropshipping. Yes, there are ways to make your store more automated, but it’s never going to be completely passive.
Google wants fresh, modern websites with up-to-date content. If your dropshipping store has a blog with old content that hasn’t been updated, Google will send you down the rankings and your customers won’t trust a dated website if they ever find you. The algorithm in the online world constantly changes, so you can’t expect your eCommerce store to relevant by letting it lay idol.
Daily Tasks for a Dropshipping Store Owner
- Fulfilling orders in the back end.
- Customer service generally includes complaints and queries.
- Updating any site issues.
- Uploading any changes to product variants from your supplier. eg. New products, updating models, different sizes, different colors, etc.
- Optimizing ads.
How to make your Dropshipping store more passive
Hiring a VA (Virtual assistant)will be one of the best ways to help take some of the workload off of you.
This can be one of the best things you can do for your business and one of the worst depending on the VA you pick. I’ve heard some people say they don’t know why they didn’t hire a VA sooner and don’t know how they managed without them.
I’ve also heard horror stories of VA’s abusing customers and ripping them off. So take time when picking the right VA for you and check up on them regularly so they perform their duties to the same standard as you would.
You can hire and train a VA to take on a large part of the responsibilities. But even still they can’t do everything. They could assist with.
-Fulfilling orders.
-Some customer service.
-Upload new products.
-Updating some new variants with products.
However, you’re going to have to be regularly in contact with your VA. They will however save you a lot of time which enables you to work on other aspects of your business.
Best sites to hire a VA
Upwork
Fiverr
Passive Products
If making your business as passive as possible is important to you then the product you choose to dropship will be important. Some products are far more likely to break, some are more complex, some will just need to be returned because they’re not what the customer expected. The amount of customer service will vary greatly depending on the type of product.
Think if you were dropshipping drones. Drones are fragile and can break easily during shipping or by customers and people are going to have questions before and after the purchase. Compare that with a kayak. As long as they know what it’s made of and the size specifications, that’s really it. No moving fiddly parts or instructions on how to use it.
Along with the type of product, the price point of a product can help with making your business more passive. The cheaper the product you sell, the more sales volume generally which makes more customer service. If you’re going to make 100k a year selling $15 products, that’s going to become a lot of work. If you’re making 100k a year selling $800 products, the workload will be far less.
If you’re still working and want to do dropshipping as a side hustle, check out this article.
Reliable Dropshipping Suppliers
Sourcing trustworthy reliable suppliers will dramatically reduce the workload on your end. This is much easier said than done as there are many shady suppliers out there wanting to take your money.
If your dropshipping from Aliexpress using Chinese suppliers it’s hit and miss whether they will be reliable. There are many suppliers in China that will not only cause much more work for you but will also cause you a great deal of stress. The good news is there are many Chinese suppliers who are reliable and have a great reputation.
There are a few things to look for when finding a reliable Aliexpress supplier.
- How many years the company has been in business
- Checking their positive feedback score
- How many orders the supplier has made
- The supplier uses ePacket as a shipping option
- Product reviews for that specific supplier
Sourcing domestic suppliers are generally a safer bet for finding reliable suppliers, however running into some issues is inevitable. Building a relationship with a supplier and sorting out issues fast and easily will help make your business as passive as possible.
Using a dropship supplier directory such as Salehoo or Spocket will make finding reliable suppliers easier. These platforms take their suppliers through a screening process before accepting them as a supplier on their platform. They also act as a middleman between you and the supplier so you don’t have to deal directly with the supplier if there are any issues.
So you need to decide, if you’re after a completely passive income, is dropshipping right for you?
If you’re a beginner at dropshipping, check out my article Why do people buy from Dropshipping stores?
