About Me

Hi, Welcome to Dropshipping Hustle!

My name is Thomas Sleeth, I am the owner and content creator of Dropshipping Hustle.

My Story

I always had grand plans to start a business, I even obtained my Bachelor of Business Degree. However, circumstances changed and I fell into the rat race like many others.

I had the same full-time job for 14 years and knew I had to make a change otherwise I may have ended up there for the remainder of my career. The job I had wasn’t bad, but I had completely lost the motivation for it. I had been going through the motions day in, day out, for years.

The main reason I hated having a job as an employee was I always loathed the idea that someone else had control over my life. With rigid work hours, colleagues I wasn’t on the same page with and mundane tasks all in the hands of my employer, I felt tied down and was on autopilot.

No matter how hard I worked, the pay cheque remained stagnant with little incentive to really push myself. I got to a point where I had to make a change.

I first heard about dropshipping when I read an article about an 18-year-old who was making millions from dropshipping. Straight away I was curious as I had been looking for an escape from my day job for a few years at this point. I then started reading about the whole concept of dropshipping and it intrigued me.

The hard part for me was I had a family and a mortgage so I had to keep working whilst I pursued dropshipping. This made finding time difficult but I decided it was non-negotiable and I would find the time.

I barely socialized, I stopped watching TV and I found any spare time possible to read, watch videos and listen to podcasts on dropshipping. Luckily, my job had a fair bit of downtime which enabled me to make it work and balance both pursuits at once.

I completely immersed myself in dropshipping for several months. I purchased a few courses, most of which, were not that helpful. After a couple of months, I decided to launch my first dropshipping business.

Following several failed attempts with dropshipping, I eventually hit success. At this point, I still didn’t quit my job for almost a year, which worked out well, as my dropshipping business had many ups and downs. Dropshipping turned out to be far more stressful than I anticipated for the first 4 to 5 months. If I hadn’t had my job as a backup, it certainly would have been even more stressful.

This is why I think dropshipping seems to be dominated by younger people. They are generally in a position where they have more time and far less responsibility in terms of family and mortgages, etc.

After only a couple of years, my life was completely different! I was earning far more money than I ever could from my full-time job and I was happy, full-filled and enjoying the challenges and rewards of dropshipping.

I now have over 7 years of experience with dropshipping and have created several successful stores. The beauty of dropshipping is once you have learned all the necessary steps and found a formula that works, it’s just a matter of replicating the process.

During the period when I quit work and started making a substantial income, my friends and family became very curious about my sudden success.

How was I able to stay at home in my PJ’s, work fewer hours and make more money than them?

I explain the concept, which is relatively simple, but I’m then bombarded with questions.

Is that legal?

Will dropshipping work in X country?

How do you find suppliers?

Which products are best to dropship?

How do you handle returns?

Is it hard to create a website?

Some of the questions I was receiving had simple, straightforward answers you could find answers to on Google. Others would differ depending on which dropshipping guru you listened to. Dropshipping, particularly for beginners, can be confusing and pose many hurdles and forks in the road.

The problem is, most dropshipping gurus are selling courses and they want you to buy from them. They want to differentiate themselves from the other gurus to make you feel like they have the secret formula. This is why it can be hard to trust anyone who is selling a course.

I am NOT selling a course and any information I give in my articles is mine, from my experiences. I have tried to be as honest and unbiased as possible whilst giving my opinion on what I think works and doesn’t work.

The only money I make from this blog is from affiliate links and ads (Sorry I know they’re annoying). On my recommended resources page, I give recommendations on products and services I use and endorse. These links help support the Dropshipping Hustle website and enable me to continue to write free articles to help dropshippers.

My Credentials: Why Trust Me?

Why should you even listen to me and take my advice? That’s a fair question. The truth is, not everyone should take my advice. If I was a complete beginner in the e-commerce and dropshipping space, I too would be wary of much of the advice being given.

For example, I may not be the best person to learn from if you’re looking to dropship on eBay or do Amazon FBA. Whilst I have some knowledge in these areas, there are people online who can probably provide you with better advice than me.

Initially, I started off like many beginners dropshipping from AliExpress in 2016 and primarily using Facebook ads. I tried different platforms including Weebly, Wix, and WooCommerce to sell my products before eventually deciding Shopify was the best choice for me.

I then moved to high ticket dropshipping in Australia and the US using domestic suppliers. Although it was still dropshipping, it was a very different business to AliExpress dropshipping.

I had several stores selling products such as luxury pet beds, metal detectors, home decor products and high-ticket outdoor products.

Eventually, I went back to sourcing products from China. Whilst I used AliExpress again, I only used it in the short term for testing. I focused on buying in bulk and working with manufacturers and agents based in China. This gave me a lot of insight into how product production and logistics work in China.

Apart from my Bachelor of Business Degree, I have learned so much since 2016, below are my main credentials, skills and experience.

How I Do Product and Market Research

As well as an understanding of the necessary steps required to do product research and understand my market, I have gained the knowledge that enables me to identify the right product and market without taking the usual steps.

It’s often far more important to find the right audience of buyers first, understand their needs and fulfill their needs with a unique product.

My Supplier Communication and Negotiation Tactics

I have experience negotiating and communicating with domestic and Chinese suppliers.

Onboarding domestic suppliers to allow me to resell their brands was something I struggled with in the early stages but over time it was a skill that allowed me to secure many top suppliers.

Communicating and negotiating with Chinese suppliers and manufacturers was one of the most important factors in the success of my businesses. I received much better product quality, pricing, shipping and much more, simply based on the relationships I built.

How I Source Products and Suppliers

I assumed to find the best suppliers you simply type into Google or Alibaba the product you’re looking for and your supplier will show up. I now realize finding and identifying the best suppliers and manufacturers is a skill I had to develop.

There are millions of different types of suppliers on Alibaba and I’m now able to identify and vet which supplier will be the best match for my business.

How I Create Persuasive and Compelling Ads

I’ve tried it all when it comes to marketing my products. I predominantly used Facebook ads for advertising my dropshipping business and eventually moved over to Google ads for my high ticket stores.

I also have experience using TikTok and Instagram ads as well many free advertising methods including Pinterest, SEO, email marketing and more.

My Branding Knowledge

I found building a brand became a more important factor for me the further down my dropshipping journey I went. This was partially due to me realizing the importance of branding and the increase in competition made it vital to stand out.

I found building a brand was one of the keys to mitigating a lot of the online copycats replicating my exact business strategy.

My Experience Designing Shopify Stores

Whilst I am not a tech-savvy person, I have a lot of experience with Shopify and have become very familiar with their platform. Designing a professional Shopify store is a skill I have developed and is a reasonably easy platform to use.

As well as the above credentials, I have a lot of experience in copywriting, store optimization, scaling a business, direct response marketing and more.

How to Contact Me

There are several methods of contacting me, you can use my contact form and send me a message. I also have 3 separate email addresses:

My goal is to create a blog that answers the most common questions dropshippers have. If you have any questions about dropshipping, send me an email and I’ll do my best to write as many articles as I can on topics people want to know and learn more about.

I also have several social media accounts, however, I try to stay off social media as much as possible so it may not be the best way to communicate with me.

Thank you for your support, it really is appreciated. All the very best for your journey ahead!

Happy Dropshipping!!

Thomas Sleeth

Hi, Welcome to Dropshipping Hustle!

Email: [email protected]

Address: 3/9 Desertpea road, Beeliar, Western Australia, 6164, Australia

Gender: Male

Job Title: Founder and Author

Thomas Sleeth. Founder and writer of Dropshipping Hustle

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