Today, dropshipping is one of the most profitable eCommerce models around, having exploded in popularity in the last few years. However, some have started doubting the model’s profitability. With so many people rushing to start their own dropshipping store, the competition is as tough as ever. We agree that competition does raise the level of entry for beginners and it can be more difficult to really see success with a new store. However, if you find the right niche and know how to find and reach your ideal customer, dropshipping is still very profitable.
With this in mind, you many be looking to start your own dropshipping business, but don’t know where to start. For learning anything, online courses have become the go-to solution. However, as the dropshipping model has become so popular, many dropshipping courses have also appeared. This has caused many to wonder, are dropshipping courses worth it. Many courses are quite expensive, so one would want to make sure that the course will actually give them useful information and help them start their own dropshipping store.
The short answer is: YES, dropshipping courses are worth it. A well-put-together course can help you skip the guesswork and quickly get started with your own store, while avoiding many common rookie mistakes.
However, it is important to find the right course. As mentioned, there are a lot of dropshipping courses out there, both free and paid courses. For every great course, there are multiple cheap unhelpful courses, that won’t be worth your money. In order to avoid wasting your money on overpriced paid courses, we will bring out the main things to look for in a dropshipping course.
Avoid taking the "guru" courses
There are a lot of dropshipping “gurus” out there selling paid courses to start your own store. Often times, these courses offered by “gurus” are very expensive and sadly, many of them are not worth the money they are charging.
While some “gurus” have integrity and truly build their courses to help their audience, many if not most have built their course just to get money from you. In this article, we will cover a few good courses to consider. These will actually be worth your money and help you start your business.
Gurus make money making youtube videos, not dropshipping
Most of the dropshipping gurus that are found on Youtube actually mainly focus on videos and selling paid courses as their primary source of income. Yes, they have some dropshipping experience they are speaking about, but they are no longer “in the game” of dropshipping. T here are also examples of gurusphotoshopping screenshots of earnings, which raises suspicions of whether they have actually ever made a penny from dropshipping.
Why do these gurus sell courses about dropshipping? There are a lot of internet gurus who say that if you buy their course and do everything they say, you will be rich the next day (or very soon). Maybe you've already seen them or their content. Most of them are on YouTube. Most of these so-called gurus want to sell you something, like a course. And a lot of people do buy them.
These gurus make most of their money with videos and courses. Let’s say that a Youtube dropshipping guru with 50K subscribers gets 0.1% of these subscribers to sign up for their course every month. That means that they get 50 new purchases every month.
Most guru courses go from $200 to $1000, so let’s take that our guru’s course sells for $500. That means that they make $ 25K every month from selling the course. The thing is that a 0.1% conversion rate is very bad and the rate could actually be much higher.
In addition to the paid course purchases, their videos are a source of income as well. It’s estimated that on average, YouTubers get paid $3 to $5 per 1000 views . Say our guru’s videos consistently get 5-7K views and they post every other day. That means they could be making over $300K every month from videos alone. While that is a best case scenario, it’s entirely feasible.
To be clear: there is no shame in making money from one’s work and it’s amazing in itself that these kinds of opportunities even exist for people. But this is still something that you should take into account, when deciding between whether to sign up for a course offered by one of these gurus.
Examples of Dropshipping Gurus
How to tell, who is a “good guru” and who is a “bad guru”? See if anyone else can back up that they are successful in dropshipping. If other sources can also confirm that the guru has made X amount of money and has a successful history in the dropshipping business, that’s a good sign.
Some gurus that we think can be trusted are:
- Alex “AC” Hampton
- Franklin Hatchet
- John Yoon (Verum Ecom)
However, some of the most popular dropshipping youtubers like Kevin David have been accused of scams and selling completely worthless courses. If in doubt, try to find what are other people’s experiences with a guru.
How to pick the right course?
So if gurus aren’t the best way to go, how to find the best dropshipping courses in 2022? Articles like this one are a great place to start. Search online for suggestions based on others’ experiences, be it by reading articles, reviews, comments, etc. Another great option is to ask about which courses have provided the most value to others via Facebook groups specifically for dropshippers.
A great dropshipping course should have these features:
- Easily accessed on whatever device. This can help you stay on track when going through the course.
- Regularly updated. The field is constantly changing, so a course that isn’t actively monitored and updated will just give you old information. This sets you up for unnecessary time loss, confusion and stress.
- Lifetime access. A good course will always be useful to come back to in order to review the material and freshen your memory.
- Support channels. There should be a way for you to quickly get in touch with the course’s providers in order to get help with any technical problems in regard to the course.
Benefits of dropshipping courses
A great dropshipping course will be useful for both absolute beginners and already experienced sellers. This makes sure the course will be useful for a longer time for you and there is a reason to come back to it regularly after completing it.
They provide step-by-step guidance
A great course will be thorough in explaining the intricate nuances and details of dropshipping. While the business model itself is quite simple at its core, there are a lot of details that make or break a new dropshipping business.
The course should provide a step-by-step guide on:
- How to find the right niche and product
- How to stand out from your competitors
- How to set up your store
- How to set up other processes like product delivery, payment, customer service, etc.
- How to market your product
- What are the biggest mistakes to look out for and how to avoid them as a beginner
They have customer support
A course can become your support system in this journey of starting an online business. The truth is that while starting a business is simple, it probably won’t always be easy. Having a support system to lean on for advice, certainty, and motivation will do a lot for you and help you keep going longer.
Surround yourself with a community of dropshippers
The best courses will also have a way to connect the learners into a tight community through a Facebook group, Discord group, or their own platform. This can be extremely beneficial, especially for beginners.
By surrounding yourself with a community of dropshippers, it’s no longer you against the world. You can lean on the community for support in whatever questions you may have about dropshipping or get help to deal with problems that may arise.
The community can also be a great source of inspiration, as you can see what kind of success others are having. This can broaden your view of what is even possible and help you get through the low points in your journey, which will inevitably come.
Another benefit of joining a community of dropshippers is that it creates the potential for collaborations to arise. Collaborating can mean anything from finding an accountability partner to help you stay on track with tasks to finding a new business partner to either join forces with or simply work together with on a specific project. In any case, the potential that actively engaged communities hold is immense.
Are there any free courses for dropshipping?
What if you don’t have the money to spare to buy a paid course to learn dropshipping? Are you left to figure everything out completely on your own?
The good news is that there are free dropshipping courses and helpful articles out there. While the paid courses will be able to pack in more useful info, free courses can still help you get off the ground and give you the most important essentials you need to get started with dropshipping.
Here are 3 of the best free dropshipping courses:
Oberlo’s Dropshipping 101
This is one of the best and most well-known free dropshipping courses out there. Dropshipping 101 is originally put together and offered by Oberlo, but it’s now hosted on Shopify Learn, as it’s become such a popular course for starting with dropshipping.
The course is taught by Jessica Guzik, an e-commerce business owner and educator. The course is over 2 hours long and consists of 29 lessons. While you won’t learn everything there is to know about dropshipping and you will most likely have to do some more research, this course will teach you the basics of getting started.
Dropshipping with Aliexpress: Build and Launch your Store!
This course is one of the highest-rated free dropshipping courses on Udemy. The course is just under 2 hours long. It focuses on setting up dropshipping with Aliexpress and promoting your store with Facebook ads.
How to Start a Dropshipping Business
A shorter free dropshipping course with 70 minutes worth of material. This is the course to choose, if you just want to get a small taste of what goes behind setting up a dropshipping store. This can be good to get a quick overview of dropshipping in order to decide, whether it is something you want to seriously pursue.
The course does teach skills that will be useful for any kind of entrepreneurship online. Even if you do decide that dropshipping isn’t for you, you will still have gained useful information.
What are the best paid dropshipping courses?
Project Verum: Ecom Foundations
Verum Ecom’s dropshipping course is one of the most well-known paid dropshipping courses out there, and for good reason, as it’s one of the most in-depth courses on dropshipping.
For $99, you get 12+ hours of content in seven modules, private Verum Ecom Facebook group access, and ongoing updates. The course is hosted on Kajabi, and it’s easy to view the course content on the go via mobile. There are no hidden fees, upsells, or other recurring expenses.
The course is mainly hosted by John Yoon, the face of Verum Ecom. John says that Project Verum: Ecom Foundations is a complete dropshipping blueprint that is based on more than $10 million spent on Facebook ads, 3 years of experience in eCommerce, and methods that have been tried and tested in more than 50 stores.
It's a course that shows you how to build a successful one-product dropshipping store and grow it to the moon from A to Z. It's also full of information and topics like customer service and system development that often aren’t talked about in other dropshipping courses.
If you’re interested in reading a more in-depth review, check out this review by Ippei.
Ecom Elites
Ecom Elites dropshipping course is packed with value. The course is one of the longest courses on dropshipping with over 30 hours of content.
The course is hosted by Franklin Hatchett, who has been doing dropshipping on Shopify since 2015, making him one of the earliest adopters of this business model’s current evolution. He started out by selling a solar-powered torch and a tactical backpack.
The course has two prices:
- Standard package for $197
- Ultimate package for $297
The course brings its students together with a private Facebook group that has over 8K members. This means that you get access to a huge private community to ask questions, discuss ideas, gather inspiration, and find potential business partners.
If for some reason you are not satisfied with the course, you have the option to ask for your money back for 30 days.
Supreme Ecom Blueprint
Supreme Ecom Blueprint is one of the best dropshipping courses of 2022 and has been a go-to dropshipping course for many reasons. The course is hosted by Alex “AC” Hampton, who has been in the dropshipping game since 2018. Over that time, it’s reported that his most successful stores earned $220K and $1.7 million in their first year. Alex speaks on this experience: how he was able to do it and how you can apply the same principles to your business.
The course consists of 8 modules, totaling over 30 videos and many extra materials. It has been recently updated in 2022, so you will be getting the most up to date info. Some of the biggest selling-points for the course are:
- You get a list of 950 winning products to gather inspiration from
- You’re taught how to set up an LLC and operate legally (good for people from the US)
- Weekly live seminars
The course also dives extensively into Facebook ads and email marketing.
The course itself costs $597, but tax will also be added based on your billing location.
Last Words
Are dropshipping courses worth it? YES, if you find the right one. There are a lot of courses out there and many of them will not be worth your money. However, there are also many courses that will be worth investing your time and money into, as they provide an in-depth guide to starting your own online dropshipping business.
Make sure to do your research. Read articles like this, read reviews of different courses, compare different courses to see what fits your needs the most. A good dropshipping course can help you eliminate the guesswork and significantly raises your chances of raising above the crowd.
