The chances are high that you've seen a paid dropshipping course before. Maybe you've even purchased one before or thought about purchasing.
In this article, I'll cover everything that you need to know about these "gurus," why they are selling courses, and whether or not purchasing a paid course is the only way to learn about dropshipping.
Quick note:
I don't sell anything on this blog. I just use some affiliate links (not for courses!) and advertisements to keep the blog running. This way, I hope you will understand that this is an unbiased overview and not a list of reasons, and then a quick plug at the end with "purchase this course now." Enjoy!
One more thing, I also suggest you read 6 Things That Dropshipping Gurus Do Not Tell You As Beginner.
Is dropshipping easy money? Like these "gurus" advertise it to be?
If you’re new to dropshipping, then you probably think that “dropshipping equals getting rich fast” or “dropshipping equals easy money,” or something to that effect.
Well…
Let me burst those dreams for you.
A lot of so-called “gurus” talk about this, but do you know what they all have in common? They've got a course to sell (and most are not even that cheap)!
Maybe you should buy their course and follow them step-by-step to get rich, right?
Please don’t!
Follow me in this article to learn everything about why you should not bother with these paid dropshipping courses.
Plus, you can check out this article here if you're wondering how fast you can earn money with dropshipping.
What are "gurus"?
Let's start with learning what a "guru" is.
One of the definitions related to this is this one:
A guru is a person with knowledge or expertise
From Merriam-Webster
Do you know why I put guru in quotation marks?
Because most are just using this guru title to sell you something, but you will find out about that later in this article!
I will leave a quick note here for you: there are legit YouTubers out there, but there are just so many bad ones that I just had to write this article. For example, I personally believe Zach Inman is one of the "good apples":
The same goes for these courses. There are great paid courses available online.
Think about a paid marketing or paid video editing course where you can see that the creator is legit and not just trying to get your money.
Plus, it's great if you want a course and they've got a refund policy, as then you can be 100% sure that they are not scamming you (because you can check it out yourself).
But yes, as I said above, there are a lot of "bad apples" in the guru space today.
For example, take a look at some of these great videos from Coffeezilla:
Or this one:
Plus, I suggest you watch the video below in case you want to know a few more red flags to see if you're looking at a fake guru:
Why do "gurus" sell dropshipping courses?
So, why do these "gurus" sell dropshipping courses?
There are a lot of “internet gurus” out there claiming you will be rich the next day (or very soon) if you purchase their course and follow them step-by-step.
Maybe you have met them before.
They are mostly found on YouTube.
The only goal that these gurus have is to sell you something, like a course. And trust me, a lot of people purchase these courses.
Let's do some "gurus" earnings math.
For example, a YouTube guru with a course has 100,000 subscribers.
Let’s say that 0.1% of these subscribers buy the course per month.
That’s 100 new purchases each and every month.
Now let’s say that the course is $500. That’s $50,000 in total.
Oh yeah, and a 0.1% conversion rate is pretty bad.
That sales number could be times 10!
So, with a 1% conversion rate, that's $500,000, not including any taxes.
Wow!
Plus, what do you think happens if they bring out a second course?
Oh, wait... one more thing.
What do you think about YouTube earnings?
100,000 subscribers must bring in some cash as well, right?
Yes, correct!
Look, for example, at this video from a YouTuber who reveals how much money he makes with 100,000 subscribers:
And don’t forget that they get new subscribers each and every day because more and more people are learning about dropshipping.
For example, see the screenshot below where you can see the trend of dropshipping worldwide for the past five years.
They make these people believe that they need their course in order to succeed with their dropshipping store.
No course? You can’t be rich!
Well…
I’m here to tell you that that’s absolutely not true.
If you're now convinced that you can learn dropshipping for free, then you can click here to scroll down.
Or you can continue reading!
Are "gurus" lying about their income screenshots?
There are many fake gurus out there who post photoshopped screenshots and fake sales.
This way, they try to make you believe that dropshipping is super profitable and that they got rich off it. (And that you can do the same if you purchase their course.)
Also, a screenshot of sales of, let’s say, $50,000 a month may be real, but that’s not all profit either.
They might be spending $40,000 on advertisement and product costs.
So their profit margin is around $10,000 a month, which is still not bad for not holding any inventory, but a lot less than the $50,000 earning they showed off with.
If you want more information about these fake income screenshots, I suggest checking out this article. And you can check out this article here!
So, should you care about these paid dropshipping courses or not?
Alright, you've almost made it to the end!
Congratulations!
So, are you wondering now, after reading all this, if you should bother with these paid dropshipping courses?
I will keep it short for you.
No!
I will include one more topic for you below, and that is how to learn dropshipping for free.
Do you know why?
Because most people that are looking for paid dropshipping courses think that these paid courses are the only way to learn dropshipping.
Alright, one thing to note with learning it for free: dropshipping itself is not free.
It's a real business that you're starting.
You're going to make mistakes, mistakes, and even more mistakes.
Mistakes will cost you money, but they will also give you a lot of information/skill upgrades!
Just take a look at this amazing quote:
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.
Neil Gaiman
If you're interested in learning more about the costs of starting/running a dropshipping business, I suggest reading Complete Guide: Can You Start Dropshipping Without Money?
Learning dropshipping for free
Do you see now that paid dropshipping courses are not worth your money in 2024?
If so, then you're probably wondering now:
"But then how am I going to learn more about dropshipping or marketing?"
No worries!
I've got some great guides for you where you can learn about dropshipping and a lot of other things, like marketing for free!
Just take a look at these articles:
- The 5 Best Free Print on Demand Courses
- Top 10 Ecommerce & Marketing Podcasts
- Top 10 Dropshipping & Ecommerce Blogs
- The 16 Best Free Ecommerce Courses for Entrepreneurs
- The 17 Best Free Dropshipping Courses
- How to Start Dropshipping for Free in 2024? (5 Unusual Tips)
You can get so much information from that already, and you haven't had to pay for anything.
Well, okay, maybe your internet connection!
If you're interested in learning more about dropshipping, then I suggest reading my complete Shopify dropshipping guide!
It's a huge article, but it contains everything that you need to know to create your own Shopify dropshipping store in 2024.
It's like one of these paid dropshipping courses, but free!
Reading this article will help you to get started and stay motivated while beginning and continuing your dropshipping journey!
Just don’t forget that success takes time. Keep improving each and every day!
Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store
Here are some of our best articles:
- AliExpress Dropshipping: A 20-Step Getting Started Guide (2024)
- Dropshipping Startup Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before Starting
- The Complete Guide: Can You Start Dropshipping Without Money in 2024?
- 12 Reasons Why Most People Fail With Dropshipping in 2024 | Beat Them!
Also, if you want to get started with Shopify, then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!
Conclusion
So, there you have it!
Everything you need to know about these dropshipping "gurus" and why most of them are selling a course.
I hope this article made you see that you don't need a paid dropshipping course to be successful or learn more about dropshipping.
Don't forget to read my other article as well. It's basically a really funny rant on these dropshipping "gurus," haha. You can find it here - enjoy!
If you have any suggestions for this article or if you've got any questions about dropshipping in general, let me know by commenting below or contacting me directly by pressing the “Contact Us” button at the top!
Also, do you still want to purchase a paid dropshipping course after reading this article? Or have you already purchased one?
Good luck with learning more about dropshipping! You can do it!
8 Comments
Hey Richard
Great article, this is something the dropshipping community needs to know. I started my venture into dropshipping about 6weeks ago and have been watching videos and reading articles, but not so much on these paid courses. Though I did watch a few in the beginning but I was lucky enough to pickup on this, I listened to that voice in my head and knew after watching 3or 4 of those videos it was a big scam. So from there on I’ve been teaching myself everything I can and even though it’s been a very slow process I know I will reach my goal eventually. I’ve built my website from scratch not knowing a single thing about building a site but thanks to the good guys on YouTube and guys like you I’ve learned quite a bit and though I’m still working on my store slowly and everyday, I’m learning new and valuable things from the honest people like you . The one thing I find I’m lacking other then being able to speed up my store opening and making sales is to be able to gain the company of other dropshippers and have them directly show me how to do things and ask and answer my questions. If you have any suggestions or ways I could get personal contact with others and learn from them please let me know as I’m very eager to learn everything I can. Thank you so much for the amazing and large amount of information you’ve offered I really appreciate what you do for the people who just want the truth and to learn. I only know one other honest online person who speaks the truth and that’s Chris Malta I’ve actually spoke to him but that’s another story. Anyway thank you again and if your interested and have any advice for me check out my website so far at *
Have a great day hope to hear back from you.
Hi Jason!
Thank you for your awesome comment. Great to hear that you didn’t fall for these “gurus”!
I suggest you check out the subreddit page dropship. That reddit page currently contains 53k dropshippers!
There are so many people asking questions there and answering questions from others.
Also, you can put your store for review on this subreddit, but I saw that you’re running a WordPress site. And I’m not sure if they accept that, but I thought it was still worth sharing with you.
Here is some feedback for you:
– Your store loads slow for me. When I checked GTmetrix, it showed me that it took around 6 seconds to load the homepage. That’s a long time! It’s best to get that under 3 seconds.
– I’m not your target audience, but I personally don’t like all these bright colors. It does look great, but for example, I’m not sure if the blue title and the green pricing text fits. Here is a great tool that helps you with the color picking! And again, that is just me personally, I’m not your target audience!
– I’m not sure which product you’re currently focusing on, but don’t forget to take some time to create product descriptions.
– I saw the word “blog” in your store, but I can’t find any posts. Try to write a few or remove that button!
I think my biggest tip is to look at your site speed because I really get that feeling of clicking away when I’m trying to click on another product. It takes so long.
I did remove the link to your store from your comment just in case you didn’t want to show it to everyone else, but I can put it back if you want!
I wish you the best with everything, and let me know if you ever have any questions or if you want more feedback on your store!
Can you suggest any dropshipping courses please.
Hi Hamza,
Not sure if you read the article (which covers why I think paid dropshipping courses aren’t worth your money), but if you did, then check out this article here.
That article contains the best free dropshipping courses. Good luck with everything!
– Richard
I agree 100%, even though there are also real gurus, who are certified by Shopify and Oberlo etc (well some aren’t but still real and give real value, but people should distinguish and use common sense throughout their dropshipping journey).
Hi,
Thank you for your comment! Great to hear that you agree, and I indeed know that there’s legit information everywhere, but I just hope that people stop falling for the ‘just buy my course and no worries anymore’ kind of thing.
Good luck with everything!
– Richard
Literally just got off a “live” webinar where the girl is selling her dropshipping courses that is originally 6,000+( or 9,000 don’t remember) but for this day it will be as low as 1,100. I was like… wait a minute and googled. Thankfully I found your site and you saved me from spending so much money. Thank you for not taking advantage of people trying to find a way to earn more income.
Hi,
Thank you for your amazing comment! That’s so great to hear that you found this article before committing to that course 😊
I wish you the best with everything!
– Richard