Is Dropshipping Legit? - Dropshipping Explained & The History of Dropshipping

Is dropshipping a scam? Is dropshipping a legitimate way to make sustainable income online passively like many people on the internet are claiming? That's exactly what I'm going to uncover in today's post, and I'm also going to explain the history of dropshipping.




Dropshipping has become a pretty popular topic in the world of ecommerce, and interest in it is still steadily rising in 2023. And it's understandable why. Many people on the internet are claiming you can make a lot of money if you become a dropshipper, which leads me to my first question.


Is Dropshipping Profitable?

Dropshipping always has and always will be profitable. People have been making money dropshipping for a very long time. In fact, it began in the 1960s, well before the internet. The internet just improved it heavily.

Many people think of dropshipping as some new strange idea that blew up on YouTube one day. And while this misconception is far from the truth, it's completely understandable. The way many people online present dropshipping makes it out to be a get-rich-quick scheme. 



We've all seen the advertisements on YouTube offering to sell you some $2,000 course that will make you an instant dropshipping success. And we've all seen the advertisements offering to give you a 'free' dropshipping store, but when you visit their website, they try to upsell you $500 for "the best results", and you "only have 10 minutes to join before time is up or your spot is taken".

These people tend to give dropshipping a bad name, because they set you up for disappointment by giving you false hope. People desperate to break free from their boring day jobs see these offers, and they spend thousands of dollars. Then, when they're not making $5,000 a day immediately, they realize they've been scammed. However, instead of only calling out the course creator, they blame dropshipping itself.

Dropshipping is not the problem, and it's not a scam. It's simply an order fulfillment method. However, it's increasingly being used to scam people. And that tends to make it look bad to people who aren't familiar with it.

(Note: Not all course creators are scammers. I'm only referring to courses that promise immediate success.)


Can Dropshipping Make You Rich?

Dropshipping can, in fact, make you rich. However, it is extremely unlikely to make you a millionaire overnight. Just like I said in my post about print on demand, this is a business, and businesses take a long time to build. And when you're getting into anything for the first time, you need to give yourself time to learn. 

This is especially for those of you who weren't even in the ecommerce space to begin with. Selling online by itself takes most people a long time to get the hang of. You have to learn how to get really good at the following steps:

  • How to find a profitable target market/audience (or 'niche').
  • How to source great products that your target audience will love.
  • How to put those products in front of your target audience.
  • How to actually convince customers to purchase.

This all takes a lot of research and experience to get good at.



If you are willing to learn and you truly dedicate yourself, you will eventually become rich. This is because you can only get better. The more you make mistakes and the more you learn, the better you get. But most people give up early. Some people even give up just before they find their winning product. If you want to be rich, don't be one of those people. 

The majority of people try every business model imaginable, and expect overnight success. Once they don't get that, they look for a method that "actually works". Whether you become a dropshipper, or a print on demand seller, etc. that will never work. 

For most people, becoming successful with any business model takes years. While that may sound like a bummer, that time is going to pass by whether you take action or not. So ask yourself where you want to be when that time goes by. Would you rather be working the same boring day job, or would you rather be financially free.


A Brief History Of Dropshipping

I touched on this subject a little bit in the previous question. I mentioned dropshipping started well before the internet. Instead of online stores, product listings were presented in mail-order catalog booklets. Customers would place their orders by phone call.



However, the internet would greatly simplify the process of dropshipping. This is because, as many of you know, apps have been developed that semi-automate the process. Today, you can set up a fully-functioning and semi-passive dropshipping business in less than an hour. (It wouldn't be the best, but the point is, it's a lot easier to get started now.)

However, many YouTube creators and bloggers tend to overemphasize these benefits and leave out the important details, and this causes people to be greatly disappointed when everything doesn't run smoothly, and they're not an overnight success. Then they move on to the next YouTube video promising to make them a millionaire in the span of a week.

Dropshipping, and ecommerce in general, have certainly come a very long way. It's become much more accessible, and that's worth celebrating. It will never be a way to 'get rich quick', but if you give yourself the time to learn, it's well worth the wait.



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