This content explores the realities of successful dropshipping and e-commerce in 2026, featuring insights from experienced entrepreneurs on strategies, common pitfalls, and the evolving landscape, particularly with the rise of AI.
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Everyone claims they're a drop shipper,
but who's actually making eight figures
online? I'm in Dubai right now, the land
of supercars and multi-million dollar
brands. And I'm asking every millionaire
that I find the same question. [music]
[music]
Oh, that's good. So, if you're watching
this video today and you're a complete
beginner and you don't know how to start
drop shipping in 2026, this is going to
be the video for you. Make sure you
destroy the like button on this video
because the like goal is a thousand
likes. Before we get into the video, let
me introduce you to the guys we're interviewing.
interviewing.
Okay guys, I'm here with Defino. This
gentleman here has been blown up on
social media. I know a lot of you guys
have been watching a lot of his content.
Tell us a little bit about your journey
with drop shipping, how long you've been
doing it for, and the kind of numbers
that you're doing currently.
>> Uh my name is Stefano. I'm 23 years old.
I've been into ecom for 7 years right
now. Made my first million at 19. Went
broke at 21. brought everything back up
again from there. Currently, my whole
portfolio of nine brands doing about $6
million a month right now. Mostly active
in the health and supplement space in
the US market and embarrassing the
competition, bro. That's what I do.
>> All right, quick one. This is somebody
that I've actually known for a long
time, the ecom wizard. Now, he's
somebody that's been doing drop shipping
since 2019. So, what kind of numbers
have you done and what numbers are you
doing right now? So for this year, I
think we'll do high seven figures
specifically for 2025. And we've done
over 10 million in revenue, 20 million
in revenue since starting out with drop
shipping about 5 years ago now. So guys,
I'm now with Buoyen. So tell us a little
bit about your e-commerce drop shipping
journey and what you're currently doing
and the numbers and the brands that you
currently work with. I've been running a
email marketing agency for the last 6
years. Started off as a ads agency, but
then you know slowly pivoted to focus
exclusively on emails. Okay guys, we're
here with Mwan. So, I started drop
shipping back in 2018, mainly with the
YouTube videos that I have discovered
and also your YouTube channel that
really helped me in the beginning. We've
made more than $5 million in revenue and
then since 2022, I switched to SAS. Now,
I own different ecom SAS. Our users made
more than $60 million in revenue in extra
extra
>> $60 million in revenue only with our
if you had to start drop shipping again
in 2026 as a complete beginner with
$1,000, what would be the first thing
you do?
>> Well, I'm a big fan of [music] rushing
the testing phase and doing deep dive
research into your avatar. Who is it
actually that you're trying to sell to?
What are [music] their emotional pain
points, their triggers, their desires,
their dream outcomes, and what is the
transformation that you're trying to
sell? I always see it as this. I grab a
blank piece of paper and I write before
on the left. I draw a line in the middle
and I write after on the right. The
before and after that bridge is the
transformation you're selling. That's
what your product should do. And the
bigger the transformation, the bigger
the emotional aspect inside [music] of
transformation, the easier you'll get
paid. Firstly, I'd probably buy
something like calod data. This will
help you find, you know, Tik Tok shop
products that are trending. After that,
I'd probably go ahead open a Shopify
store and buy a domain. And I'd probably
end up spending probably $250 on a
product test. That way, you've got four
good products that you can go ahead and
test with Shopify. I mean, obviously
$1,000 is not a huge amount of budget,
which basically limits your risk. I
would literally just pay someone a
couple hundred bucks, spy on Facebook
ads libraries. Also, get into their
Facebook ad accounts to see what the
metrics look like, how much revenue
they're generating. If it's a good
store, I would rip it. Literally, just
run it like that. Build up some more
cash and then actually go ahead and
build a brand. Is it ethical? No. But
that's why you should try and change as
much as you can to make it ethical. But
it's one of the most proven ways to find
a [music] winning product. First of all,
I would probably start a course, get as
much information as I can, probably join
a community so I can learn from the
mistake of others and find people who
have the same mindset as me. And I would
probably like just start organic just to
[music] get um comfortable with the
ecosystem, how to build a Shopify store,
how to create ads, how [music] to work
with creators and everything.
>> Now, can these communities be free or do
they need to be paid ones? It could be
free in the beginning especially because
you you would need to learn how to
create a website, how to, you know, how
to install your Facebook pixel, basic
stuff, but once you get there, I think
would be great to go to paid
communities. This is where the value is.
What was the moment when you realized
that drop shipping and e-commerce
actually makes money and it's not a gimmick?
gimmick?
>> As soon as I signed my first client,
really, I was like, damn, like this is
really printing for them.
>> I made my first million at 19 by doing
drop shipping. They just fulfill your
orders from a random agent. You hope
they arrive and they arrive in shitty
quality and not what you've promised to
your customer. And as soon as I stopped
doing that and as soon as I started
building a brand that actually is
sustainable, that actually lasts and has
predictable results, [music] then things
started skyrocketing because I finally
had momentum. And that's where the real
money is at. I remember going back in
the day and using something like called
Black Hat World. It was a forum from
back in the day when I was, you know, a
lot younger than I am now. And that was
when we used to see screenshots of like
the old 2018 2017 type screenshots.
Didn't actually start then but I knew
people could make money with it for the
first 6 months and to 9 months it was
just grinding you know lost a lot of
money and after that ended up eventually
making it work with the first few sales
back when we were selling like pet
products and those types of things. So I
remember back in 2021 we have [music]
paid like uh some influencers on
Instagram uh around like $10,000 and in
24 hours we have made like more than
$120,000 in revenue. So at this moment I
knew I had to quit my job and I you know
I had to take this more seriously. That
was a lot of profit because you only had
to pay the influencer. Right. >> Exactly.
>> Exactly.
>> E-commerce at the higher levels is a
very turbulent game. For example, one of
my friends, he had a legit subscription
supplements brand. In one month, a lot
of their MR got wiped out. Shopify
payments got banned and they were
scaling previously on a 1x rorowaz. So,
you can imagine it's like sometimes cash
flows is quite tough to manage. But
overall, it's a it's a really great
vehicle in my opinion to build wealth.
>> Watch is fire, by the way.
>> You like it?
>> You're the one with the Rolexes, bro.
I'm just here with some [ __ ]
>> I don't [ __ ] know these watches.
That's why they're at my price range.
Now, one of the biggest mistakes that I
still see beginners doing when they
launch their stores in 2026 is using the
wrong domain name for their online
store. If you want your drop shipping
store to stand out in 2026, one of the
best ways to do it is by using a
dotstore domain name in 2026. Now,
here's the interesting part. Studies
show that stores with dostore domain
names get 87% more visitors and more
visibility on the Google search engine.
Let's say hypothetically they're looking
for a pet grooming product and they see
a website on the Google search engine
called pet grooming goodgoods.tore. That
clearly tells them that that website is
selling products, not just a blog or
another type of website. And the crazy
thing is studies also show that having a
dosstore domain name makes your ad cost
12% cheaper. So, when you're running
Facebook ads, Google ads, just by having
a dosstore domain name, you're going to
be spending less money and you're going
to get better quality results on the ad
platforms. So, when you launch your next
drop shipping store or e-commerce brand,
make sure you get yourself a dotstore
domain name by clicking the link in the
description below and in the pin
comment. And if you use my exclusive
link, you're going to get your dotstore
domain name for just 99. So, it blows
all the other competition out the way.
And it also is crazy. What's the biggest
lie that beginners still believe about
drop shipping in 2026?
>> That you need high investment to start
with. I was the same guy. I was 16, 17
years old. I bought inventory because I
didn't know what I was doing. You know,
you don't need high investment to start.
You need nothing more than $1,000, a
Shopify free trial, and some [ __ ]
balls to make it work. You know, just go
all in. Don't make [music] excuses and
just get it done. Just do what must be done.
done.
>> Drop shipping is not easy. Anyone that's
done drop shipping knows that drop
shipping isn't easy. It takes time. It
takes energy. It takes investment. and
it has to be run just like any other
business, you know. [music] So, yeah, it
isn't easy. Don't worry about like
people flexing thinking that you can
start overnight and make money. It's a
lot harder than people make it seem. I
think reading data is something that's
very underestimated. You know, some
people look at a triple goal and they
have no idea what they're staring at. If
you're able to read data and know what
you're doing and and actually explain a
person [music] why things are working
and why, especially things are not
working and you know what metrics to
look at to take action and actually fix
your funnel, [music] make sure things
convert. That's your secret right there.
If you're a beginner getting started,
I'd say definitely just [music] focus on
learning how to write good scripts and
put together good B-roll and and make
good creatives that convert. What's the
biggest mistake that cost you the most
time or money in your journey as a beginner?
>> I'd personally say running a product
that has bad quality. Like you'll learn
sooner when it comes to the scaling. If
you have a bad product, you're not going
to get repeat customers. You're not
going to get customers that are going to
have a high LTV or that come back and
buy again. And if you got a bad product,
people are going to dispute and you're
going to end up getting holds, which
again decrease your cash flow. And
you're also going to have to give out a
ton of refunds. So yeah, make sure you
go ahead and choose good quality
products. Shiny objects 100%. Like as in
you, you know, trying to pursue way too
many ventures at the same time, not
having enough focus on the primary one
or working at one project at a time.
>> Yeah, I would have to agree. Too many
beginners watching this will want to do
drop shipping, e-commerce, but then also
want to learn how to do crypto trading
or forex trading and then they don't
stick to one thing. So, I would
definitely agree with that. I think
hiring the wrong people to be honest.
You know, when you are just getting
started, you need to handle everything
by yourself and over time it gets like
super overwhelming. So, you need to
delegate the customer support, you know,
the partnership, negotiation with
influencer, everything. And my biggest
mistake was just hiring the wrong people
because [music] I didn't give them like
the right guidelines and everything.
ended up costing me like a lot of time,
you know.
>> Um, actually a recent mistake. I think
that's not this Black Friday, but last
Black Friday. I had poor understanding
of my [music] financials. I don't mean
like cash flow. I don't mean uh what's
in my bank account. I mean like cash
flow forecasting. [music] What can I put
down on ads? What can I put down on
inventory and how much can I actually
spend and how much is actually coming in.
in.
>> The numbers were so big that you might
spend a every single day on ads
>> but you don't know what's getting out of
it. I don't know. But you see a a a ROS
that's profitable. We don't know when to
spend. [music] Like being able to have a
good understanding of your P&L sheet,
your finances, your cash flow
forecasting. How much can you spend now?
How much can you spend in 5 days? That's
most important. How is AI changing the
way drop shipping and e-commerce stores
run in 2026?
>> Oh, massive. Like if you look at the top
performers in DTOC, a lot of their ads
are now made with AI. I think AI is
going to change up the content creation
game massively in terms of phasing out a
lot of UGC creators because the truth is
right UGC creators a lot of them are
just a pain in the ass to work with like
you have to send them product they
complain they don't shoot it the right
way whereas with AI you can kind of just
you know do everything in one sitting or
build a system of team members that
consistently churn it out for [music]
you. Back in my day,
>> not that
>> in 2018, if you were doing 100k a month,
you were on top. But now it's become
some people's daily daily numbers, which
is crazy. So for me personally, when it
comes to creatives, a lot of my ad
creatives now, when it comes to statics,
these are all done mostly by AI. You
know, chat GBT5 and all of these types
of kind of AI technologies, they can
literally create exactly what you want
with variations and the titles that you
want. So for creatives, for me, it's
really good. And also even website
designs like graphic designers of course
they're still very important like you
should still use them but even for a lot
of my website statics now where it comes
to like the offer photos or anything
like that again they're just designed
through AI and everything like that and
is AI beating real images and real
videos cuz I'm seeing loads of AI UGC
content AI imagery is it outperforming
real photos or videos or not? For me
personally not yet but I think it's
going to get there. So my view is that I
think in some time not that they'll
become obsolete or disappear like real
content is always very good but the
quality of things like I think it's
called Sora or something like that. Um,
also there's other ones I've used like
Arcads. They're very close to human, you
know. So, I don't think it'll be too
long within the next few years where we
start to see a decrease in actually real
kind of UGC compared to AI and stuff
like that. You know, when it comes to
the easy things, they are much easier,
but the hard things are still hard. For
example, marketing can never be ch like
replaced by AI because humans create the
the the new trends and you you have to
know them
>> like human psychology.
>> Exactly. So when it comes to the
marketing to the hard skills, I don't
think AI will replace it. But when it
comes to like soft skills like creating
a website and stuff like this, with AI,
it's much easier. So
>> So you think like image ads, maybe video
ads, uh the product pages and the
copywriting, the AI can do all of this. >> Exactly.
>> Exactly.
>> Who should not start e-commerce in drop
shipping in 2026?
>> Some people just don't like to be rich,
to be honest. I've met some of those
people. I'm friends with some of those
people. If you have a very strong
technical background, then maybe going
down the SAS route could be more aligned
with you. It just depends on what what
you want to do and the type of
businesses that you want to make. It
also depends on how much cash you have.
So, for example, if you're super super
cashstrapped and you're just morally not
okay what whatsoever with ripping
people, then you might want to try a
service business. Now, who should not
start drop shipping in 2026?
Good question. And I would say anyone
that doesn't have at least if you're
running paid ads, I think you should
have a budget of at least a,000 or 2,000
[music] to get started with ads. And
also anyone that isn't dedicated. Like
if you think drop shipping's easy and
you think it's a quick way to make money
overnight, do not start drop shipping.
Right? There's been times where we've
both been in the trenches for years on
years, been up some days, down some
months. You know, that's drop shipping
for you. So if you think it's going to
be quick, quick, easy money, don't
start. And also you need some budget to
get started as well.
>> Who should not start is anyone who
doesn't want to put the work. Everyone
who just finding excuses to be honest
like I mean you can literally get
started with no money for free and you
have all the information online. So if
you really don't want to put the work
and you want just to keep finding
excuses, it's not for you. Knowing
everything you know now, generating the
income you've generated, if you were to
start again tomorrow, what advice would
you give yourself? Respect money or
money won't respect you. Money is a very
important aspect. [music] Take care of
your financials and don't make any poor
decisions. Work with the wrong business
partners. Don't make any poor [music]
decisions too fast. You're young, you're
making money. That's not something
that's very usual to a lot of us. Keep
your head straight, man. That's it.
Understand the fact that it's not
actually that deep in my opinion to rip
because guess what? If you find a true
new winning product, you're going to get
ripped super quickly. The advice I would
give myself would be find a niche that
you're passionate about and stick to it
until it work.
>> Yeah. The best advice I can give when it
comes to the honest truth for drop
shipping is you're probably going to
lose a lot of money when you get
started. There's very few people, even
highle guys that have done it for years,
including myself, that do not lose money
when they're opening a store. Like I've
been thousands of dollars and pounds
down sometimes starting stores even at
the experience and kind of level I'm at.
So yeah, be prepared to lose a bit of
money. It's fine. It's all part of the
process. you will gain it back later as
long as you learn from your mistakes. So
yeah, good luck. Okay guys, so that was
Otus Coleman. I've known him since 2019
and I really appreciate those tips, bro.
That's some really good knowledge, man.
I appreciate you coming on. I really
appreciate it, bro. [music] And that was
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