Success With Sam is the brand name of a dropshipper from the UK named Sam. It is an educational platform that gives lessons on earning money online such as affiliate marketing, crypto and stocks investing, and dropshipping. This Success With Sam Review will cover the 2 dropshipping courses‌.
Sam claims that taking his courses will stop you from making the common mistakes of dropshippers. What are these mistakes? What are the pros and cons of Success With Sam and who is behind it? Are students of his program successful? Read along and find out.
Dropshipping is a business model that's slowly becoming obsolete as online marketplaces tighten their rules on selling. It's a high-risk business model that takes up a lot of your time. If you are looking for a business model that creates passive income, check out local lead generation. This business model works by creating and ranking sites on Google and renting out to local businesses. You don't have to worry about product stocks, profit margins, customers, or anything else that comes with selling online.
Top 9 Reasons 90% of Dropshippers Fail
Statistics say that about 90% of dropshippers fail. In a video he posted, Sam discusses the top reasons most dropshippers don't succeed.
1. Profit Margins - Dropshipping yields lower profits compared to wholesaling, as the price per unit you pay would be slightly higher. Dropshippers who don’t completely understand profit margins before spending on ads or pricing their items don’t make enough profit to succeed in the business.
2. Design - You need a well-designed site in order to build customer trust in order to persuade them to buy from your store. A poorly designed site can make a potential customer wary of the quality of your products. If you don’t know how to design your store, it’s an excellent investment to hire a professional freelancer to do it for you.
3. Project Research - You need to know how to do efficient research methods or how to use tools to find products that sell. Finding the right product should be the top priority for any online seller. You need to find a product in a niche you have knowledge or are interested in. You will need to do some research about the products to answer questions the customer may have.
4. Audience Research - Many dropshippers make the big mistake of not understanding their target audience. You need to consider the demographics of your target audience when choosing what type of advertising platform to use.
5. Optimized Ads - Understanding your product and audience will also help you optimize your ads. Many dropshippers make the mistake of just running poor ad choices without optimizing them.
6. Supplier Research - Many dropshippers make the big mistake of just getting the cheapest suppliers without checking the quality of their products, which leads to negative reviews. Focus on the quality of the product and shipping times instead of profit.
7. Obstacles - A lot of dropshippers quit when reaching an obstacle, such as payment processor issues or their ad account getting banned. There will be obstacles in any business, and you should keep going at it if you want to succeed.
8. Quick Money - Many dropshippers start their business thinking it's a get rich quick scheme and quit when faced with the reality. Dropshipping is a business that takes time and effort to reach success.
9. Dropshipping Forever - Most people start their dropshipping business intending to do it for a long time. Dropshipping is not a sustainable long-term business model, and there are many risks involved with it. Marketplaces, ad platforms, and even payment processors don’t allow dropshipping, and the more you sell, the higher your risk of getting banned. You need to eventually move to other models, such as wholesaling, in order to increase your profit margins and scale your business.
There are other dropshipping courses, each with their own strategies, if you want to check them out:
Low Hanging System by Rachel Rofe specializes in print-on-demand dropshipping.
Free Shopify dropshipping course with paid membership by Nathan Nazareth.
Pros and Cons of Success With Sam
Sam is a legit dropshipper. His YouTube channel has over 500 videos with very useful information, many of which are not on his course. He gives many tips, like email marketing and running ads on social media to supplement your business. His affiliate link also gives you a discount on tools you can use for dropshipping. You can definitely learn the needed skill plus a thing or two from Sam.
Pros
Sam has years of experience dropshipping on eBay and Shopify. His step-by-step training materials are complete and include effective strategies that he uses with his businesses.
He sets realistic expectations that immediate results is not guaranteed. He mentions dropshipping should not be the end goal but simply a way to start your ecommerce business.
His courses aren't too pricey and have a 14-day refund policy.
Cons
Video training only courses. There is no coaching or consulting available. You can reply to his videos or send him messages on his YouTube channel or Instagram account, but a reply is not a guarantee.
There are no support groups that you can join that you can discuss with other students and learn more.
It's hard to find more information on Sam aside from what he gives us. He doesn't give his last name, and there aren't any success stories or reviews of his course outside his official sites.
Price
Both courses are priced at $169.
Refund Policy
14-day refund with less than 30% of the course completed.
Origin
Success With Sam started in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Reputation
There isn't much information on Sam or reviews on his courses.
Who Is Sam?
Sam is a successful entrepreneur from London, England. He generates over £1.3 million in revenue by dropshipping on several eBay and Shopify stores that focus on different niches. Sam has been selling on eBay for over 10 years and on Shopify for over 6.
When he began dropshipping on eBay, Sam worked full time as an accountant for a big company in London. Today, he does his own accounting for his ecommerce business while managing a team. In 2020, he created his YouTube channel, Success With Sam, to post mostly eBay and Shopify tutorials. With over 46.4K subscribers and 500 videos, Sam also sells 2 online courses for dropshipping on eBay and Shopify.
Who Are the Success With Sam Courses for?
Sam’s 2 courses work for people in any country who want to sell on eBay or Shopify. His courses are for:
- The courses provide step-by-step guides that are perfect for beginners who have no knowledge of dropshipping on any platform
- Included in the courses are many strategies and methods that have proven effective with Sam's business. A current dropshipping business owner that is not performing well may find this helpful.
- This course has no time limit and can be taken by those who work full-time jobs. Dropshipping is a business model that you can do part-time. Sam started dropshipping while he was working a full-time job.
Project eBay Course
Project eBay is a step-by-step training program on how to dropship on eBay. The training materials are in short video format (mostly under 10 mins). The lessons are compiled into 13 sections.
The first section has 3 short videos of Sam explaining why he started the course and what you’ll get out of it. He also reveals his eBay sales revenue to give you an idea of what you can achieve.
This section is a 4 minute video that answers frequently asked questions on the basics of selling on eBay.
The 3rd section has 5 short videos that teach you how to create and set up your eBay seller account. You’ll be guided through the steps of signing up and you’ll learn all about eBay’s feedback rating and how to build your feedback score.
Sam also explains eBay’s selling limits and how you can increase it (new sellers are limited to 10 items with a total value of up to $500 per month). Lastly, you’ll learn about eBay shop subscriptions and which one you should go for.
This section is a 4 min lesson on how eBay managed payments work. With eBay managing your payments, your selling fees and other costs automatically be deducted from your payout.
In the 5th section, you’ll learn what types of items sell best on eBay. The lesson will go through effective ways of doing research to find profitable winning products. Sam teaches 4 ways of product research:
- Free methods such as using eBay’s Terapeak tool.
- Searching on your competitors eBay stores.
- How and where to search for trending products.
- A complete 20 min tutorial on how to use Zik Analytics.
Once you find a winning product to sell, you need to find suppliers and strike a good deal that will give you the best ROI. Section 6 lessons will teach you how to structure your emails to your supplier, and how to deal with their replies. You’ll also learn how to check Alibaba for products and suppliers.
The section will also cover the important lesson of calculating your ROI before proceeding with deals. Sam also provides you with a spreadsheet to use for your calculation. Lastly, you’ll learn the methods of transferring funds to your suppliers.
Branding is important to building a long-term business with repeat buyers. In this section, you’ll learn how to create a logo by hiring a freelancer or for free on Canva. You will also learn about eBay templates and why it is important to use them.
Now that you have your products and suppliers set, you’ll move on to listing them for sale in your store. You will learn how to create a listing picture using Canva and how to find eBay listing templates. Sam gives a step-by-step tutorial on editing an eBay listing template and how to rank your listing on the search results.
The 9th section starts with a list of the pros and cons of dropshipping on eBay. You’ll learn which suppliers are best to use when dropshipping on eBay. Sam also gives you a list of all the software and tools you’ll need to dropship on eBay as well as how to connect your eBay store to an automation software.
Next, you’ll learn about the risks you should avoid when dropshipping on eBay. The lesson also includes further lessons on product research, listing dropshipping products (single and bulk). Lastly, you’ll learn about dropshipping automations.
This section lists all the eBay fees you need to know about. You’ll also learn about import VAT and postage costs (UK).
This lesson is a 6 min video on Sam’s strategy to rank your listings high on the eBay algorithm.
You’ll learn about everything you need to know about eBay paid ads in this section.
Ratings are very important when selling items online. This last lesson will teach you all about product and customer reviews and how to get negative feedback removed by eBay.
Project Shopify Course
Project Shopify is a step-by-step training program on how to dropship on Shopify. The training materials are in short video format (mostly under 10 mins). The lessons are compiled into 7 sections.
The introduction has Sam explaining why he started the course and what you’ll get out of it. He also reveals his Shopify sales revenue to give you an idea of what you can achieve.
In this section, Sam explains why dropshipping is better on Shopify as compared to other models that require you to hold inventory. You’ll also learn the difference between one product store and general stores and which one would be the better choice.
Finding the right products that would prove profitable is important. This section walks you through the methods of finding winning products. You will learn how to use CJ dropshipping to find suppliers from the United States, and methods of finding products in Alibaba. In addition, you’ll also learn how to check if products are available to sell on Aliexpress and Alibaba.
In section 4, you’ll learn how and where to find the best suppliers and how to contact them. You’ll learn how to deal with their replies. You will also learn how to calculate your ROI.
This section is a step-by-step course on building your Shopify store from the ground up. The first lesson is about how to choose a good domain for your store. You’ll then have a walkthrough on how to sign up and connect your domain to Shopify. Sam also suggests that you pay a freelancer to create your logo. The section includes an outdated lesson on how to connect your Shopify to Oberlo, which you can skip.
In the next part of the section, you’ll learn how to connect your products to the store, how to list your products manually, and how to update your product images and descriptions. You will then go through the step-by-step process of choosing your Shopify theme, editing your footer, adding a free menu app, and adding pages such as About Us and Contact Us. Lastly, you will learn to pick what Shopify plan to choose.
The section begins with a comparison between Google and Facebook ads. Sam will then teach you the different types of Google ads. You will then learn the process of how to set up your Google Merchant Center and Google AdSense and how to link them together.
You’ll also learn how to connect your Google Shopping app to Google Merchant Center and how to set up your conversion tracking for your store. Lastly, you’ll learn how to set up your first ad campaign on Google Shopping.
The last section will teach you how to optimize your Google ads to save money on ad spending. You will receive a step-by-step walkthrough on how to optimize your Google ads.
Are Students of Success With Sam Successful?
There are a few video testimonials on his site, along with 3 screenshots. Other sources provide no information about the effectiveness of his course, so take this with a grain of salt.
Is Dropshipping Worth it in 2024?
Dropshipping is a risky business to start in 2024. Many of the big marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Shopify have strict rules against dropshipping. You can only get away with dropshipping for some time, but as you achieve success and your business grows, you need to move to less risky methods of selling online.
Many people choose dropshipping because you don't need a large amount of capital to start. But the risk of your account getting suspended or banned is constantly rising. As Sam says, you can use dropshipping as a stepping stone to earn capital to move to wholesaling. Dropshipping also has the lowest ROI profit margins compared to other online selling business models.
The Best Passive Income Business Model in 2024
Dropshipping is definitely not a passive income business model. You need to constantly look for winning products and suppliers, and design and run optimized ads. You need to hire and pay a team to automate your business. There's also the ever-increasing risks of getting banned for dropshipping.
I've done dropshipping and wholesaling, among others, and I found the best business model for making money online to be local lead generation. By creating and ranking your site on Google using tactics like SEO, you can rent it out to local businesses. This creates a predictable stream of passive income.
With local lead generation, you don't have to worry about dealing with customers, suppliers, or shipping issues. There are no sellers' or listing fees. You get to keep the entire income. All you have to do to scale your business is to repeat the process. Learn more about Local Lead Generation for a business that can bring you time and financial freedom.
