Why digital nomads have valuable advantages in dropshipping

04.06.2020, 08:00 a.m.
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The most technically mature web shop, a sophisticated marketing strategy, the best SEO – the passive income via dropshipping is ready. Really? Nah … Two factors determine success. Most people know one, few think of the other.

Dropshipping, or traditionally in German “route delivery”, is often cited by digital nomads when newbies ask about a possible source of income. “Doing dropshipping is easy, and you make a lot of money without doing anything.” Well, it’s not that easy. In theory, that sounds great – set up a web shop, advertise products, buy customers and the manufacturer takes care of the logistics. Everything automatically. No storage costs, no investments. And you collect a lot of coal without worrying about shipping.

If it were that easy …

Then why doesn’t everyone do it? Because it’s not that easy. Here you will find a detailed look at the matter. There are now a large number of e-commerce providers that actively promote and support dropshipping, including Shopify.de, of course. “Everything easy, everything online in ten minutes”. Again, why don’t all digital nomads do it, lie in the sun and count the money, but fight for poorly paid mini jobs on Upwork? Dropshipping is hard business and easy money is an illusion. My opinion. Successful e-commerce is not a kindergarten. From a technical as well as an entrepreneurial point of view. If you don’t have a knack for it, you’d better keep your hands off it.

Try anyway?

On the one hand, I think it’s very important how you scale dropshipping and integrate it into your income mix. Recommendation, if you are interested: Concentrate on your core competencies for the time being and consider dropshipping as a nice-to-have incidentally, as a hobby or test balloon. I guess many of you are like me:

For me, these are Bohemian villages. I can and must think entrepreneurially when I work for my customers, i.e. have ROI, CPC, CPO and so on in the back of my mind and with every concept. But I’m not an entrepreneur myself. Copywriting, planning, everything not an issue. But dropshipping? Huh? What? Not for me, I’m not the type for. I would have the best conditions for this. Why? Equal. First:

Niche markets!

It’s really no secret: Without USP or specialization in niche markets, you have lost business, regardless of whether online or offline. Of course, this also applies to dropshipping. Or what do you want to offer in your web shop that doesn’t also offer tens of thousands of other web shops? Service, quality and delivery times – there is little or no influence on dropshipping. So why should you shop in your web shop? Sure, with clever marketing and creative advertising, you can differentiate yourself a little from the competition. But only marginally. What now? How can dropshipping be promising for digital nomads?

Set up a webshop (easy), set up dropshipping (possibly with help) and make use of the advantages of digital nomadism:

You are trend and product scouts!

If you are on the way, you will have many aha and oho experiences. Be it through encounters with other digital nomads, expats or locals. You get to know products that you would otherwise never have found. Products that are virtually unknown in Germany, some of which are difficult to obtain or at very high prices. And these are products that are either ingenious or simply unique. You can then fill your web shop with it – after all, almost no one else has it on the screen or on offer, you don’t know that.

A lot of things in my backpacks are there, for example, only because I came across them by chance when I was traveling – in Moments of Truth. You probably know moments like this when you saw something on someone else’s vacation and thought to yourself: Great, I need that for my next vacation! Or you can find something you think in a small shop or in a market: I need it for at home! Here is your chance. After all, you are permanently on the road around the world and you will discover a lot. “What is the guy talking about?” You might be asking yourself now. Three examples that I encountered on the way and with which one could perhaps serve a huge niche market because nobody else does it …

Mosquitoes what else?

Sandflies, seaflies, bed bugs … I think it was on Koh Phangan in Thailand where I once went on vacation. In the evening I met two older men in a beach bar. And one looked horrible – stabbed to the point of being unrecognizable. But smiled and told me that everything would be okay, his buddy takes care of his 254 stitches every morning (they counted them). They noticed my astonished look and pulled a small device out of their pockets.

Bite away is an optical-mechanical device for the treatment of insect bites. It works immediately and permanently against itching, pain and swelling. Works only with concentrated heat, battery operated. In addition, it has been dermatologically tested and is used by the DLRG and the Wasserwacht, among others. That thing works! I can confirm from my own experience – great! Put it on the stitch, press the button, it will get a little warm until it beeps. Finished. It was explained to me why and why, something with enzymes or proteins or something that are killed by the heat, the stuff that causes the itching. Forgot it.

But I remembered my father, who, when I had any stings or bites as a child, went very close to the affected area with the flame of his lighter. This was what Ovambos had shown him when he lived in Africa. Same principle. No matter, I digress. Bite away is available at Amazon or in pharmacies, but only on order – they do not advertise it and pharmacies prefer to give away some expensive remedies about mosquito prophylaxis and treatment. I prefer yellow oil, but Bite Away is just a great product, especially for families with children. No chemistry, no oils or ointments.

Is it just for vacation? Not at all! The next summer comes in Germany, and with it the mosquitoes …

So, and now? Calculator! This is available online at Amazon from 30 euros. At Alibaba or Aliexpress from just ten euros … Nice margin for dropshipping.

Also applies to single-use mosquito wristbands: 30 days of complete mosquito protection on the whole body. It is also available as an ankle bracelet, baseball cap or bandana. Works with essential oils.

A friend of mine gave me when he had to go back to Germany. Great things. Calculator: Sales price in Germany via Amazon from six or seven euros. And between 15 and 35 cents for one-way and 50 to 80 cents for returnable at Alibaba. Compare that to the price of a bottle of Autan …

Sand, just sand everywhere!

Okay, also something for the holiday market, but at least: the Quicksand Mat. Always funny to watch, rarely funny to have to experience it yourself. Lying on the beach, going into the water, splashing, swimming and back on the towel. And after five minutes look like a breaded schnitzel. One knows. Since you can shake out the beach towel so often, it does nothing. Schnitzel. And you bring half the beach into your room. The Quicksandmat is new. Some new kind of web technology (from weaving, not internet!). All sand trickles through the mesh – the surface remains free of sand. The people who had such a mat next to me did not look breaded, just well roasted – had forgotten to apply cream. Calculator: The original online shop costs up to 130 Australian dollars. At Aliexpress: from 13 euros …

Cool thing!

Okay, one more thing about vacation, but is actually interesting for Germany all year round: Cooling Towels. Right now, as I write this, I have a scarf around. It is currently 37 degrees. I sweat No. Does the heat bother me? Nope Cooling towels are made from a special microfiber. You soak them completely in water, you can also be warm water, it makes no difference. Then you wring them vigorously and shake them vigorously through the air, popping them in the air. Only briefly. But then these towels cooled down to 15 degrees – in a matter of seconds. And for about two hours. Then you just repeat the procedure. The effect: If you put a towel around your neck or use it as a headscarf, the entire body is cooled down. No shit, that’s very pleasant. Also called Magic Towels. I discovered it when a Swiss man checked into my department on Koh Chang with something like that on his head. He explained it to me, I didn’t believe it, he demonstrated it to me, I was speechless.

At that time, things were only available in selected sports shops in Germany. But at prices around 25 to 40 euros. Meanwhile on Amazon from five to six euros. Purchase price at Aliexpress: from 25 cents. Margin, margin, margin … Cooling Towels are not just for holidays in tropical areas. Sports, fitness, gardening in Germany, the vulture knows.

No matter. But not quite

These were a few examples that I came across. Products that I didn’t know in and from Germany that I stumbled upon while traveling. I asked about it out of interest in the German specialist trade – the employees didn’t even know that they had something on their shelves … There are a number more, but that would be too much of a good thing here. Whether you want to do dropshipping with it or just want to use it for yourself – it’s your thing. What I just want to say: When you are told “do dropshipping”, do not only consider the legal, the technical, the organizational, the effort in relation to the yield and so on. Rather choose special products. Niches, unique selling points. Products that not everyone offers. With the 76.891 webshop for mobile phone accessories you only waste time. And you will find such special, new, innovative products when you are on the go. Many digital nomads are quite proud of their things and like to show them off. Where they found them, why they’re so cool, and so on.

Open eyes!

I mentioned it, as a digital nomad, you can see yourself as a trend scout. If anything in Southeast Asia or South America is the hottest shit on earth, or completely normal, that’s it. This does not automatically mean that everyone in Germany knows this. It often takes a long time for something to spill over to Europe. So you’re very far ahead – and that’s good for dropshipping, because you have little to no competition. Yes, the products described above are also available on Amazon. But who knows the products? If you use good marketing on your webshop, do good SEO, possibly have paid ads in social media, and do some buzz yourself, dropshipping can do something. As long as you get competition – imitators, then the market will become thinner. But then you are already further and discover the next great things. You could always be a nose ahead. If you keep your eyes open while traveling.

Cheers, Rob

Would you like to learn more about life as a digital nomad? No problem, at Rob’n’Roll around the World you read more!