“Dropshippers”: atypical, low-skilled entrepreneurs who buy and sell online

“I discovered dropshipping while doing online searches for things like ‘how to make money’”.

A brief internet search led Anthony*, like many others, to discover this new form of e-commerce. As defined by the French General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), dropshipping is the practice of:

“Online commerce in which the seller is only responsible for marketing and selling the product”.

Like some amateurs and autodidacts who have entered business markets previously reserved for professionals, Anthony and the other entrepreneurs we talked to operate at international level without the usual costs involved. They sell cosmetics, clothes, accessories, small electronic devices and other such items, often found on the Chinese website Aliexpress, but without handling stocks, orders or shipments.

How is this possible? Through the structure and technological resources of “simplified”, digital platforms such as Shopify, which allow users to create an online store without needing to know the secrets of computer code

At the click of a button, digital commerce promises financial autonomy to budding entrepreneurs, backed by the success stories of already-established dropshippers such as Yomi Denzel who go from being “penniless students to millionaires in less than a year”.

But is this a true reflection of reality? Is dropshipping really an effortless way to earn money with a modest start-up capital and no particular skills? To answer these questions, we analysed the results of an interview survey conducted over two years with dropshippers aged between 20 and 30, based in Seine-et-Marne and Seine-Saint-Denis.

Easy money?

Firstly, our survey showed that all our respondents followed “training”. After an online search, aspiring dropshippers generally take part in free webinars and sign up to one of the online training courses available at a cost of around €1,500. These courses, offered by dropshipping influencers such as Yomi Denzel and Adnoune, attracted our respondents due to the success stories of their creators’ business ventures.

Given the cost of the course, some participants team up with others to share access: one respondent obtained a valid username and password from a forum, while others said they received a discount.

However, following training is not sufficient to get started. Entrepreneurs have to “observe the market” and hours are spent analysing existing online shops, the products they offer, how they are presented and what prices are charged.

The budding entrepreneurs proceed by trial and error, hesitating between imitating the competition and standing out from the crowd. On a trip to Bali, Nader spotted some rattan bags. Back in France, he looked for similar products on Aliexpress. Some obtain advice via online discussion groups on the Discord messaging platform, such as how to choose products, how to “avoid” taxes, where to set up (Malta is a popular destination among dropshipper influencers), how to delegate store management at least cost, etc.

To influence or not to influence?

The next thing to consider is the website. For this, the Shopify platform is ideal. It allows our respondents to present their products and manage orders and payments via the user interface. All that remains is for the dropshipper to add attractive photos, give their website a coherent aesthetic and set the selling prices.

However, one issue remains: how to promote an online store so that Internet users can find it? Should an influencer be used? If so, which one? This a key question.

Rémi called upon the services of an agency specialising in intermediation with influencers:

“We chose Camila, the girlfriend of Tarek, who is related to Nabilla. We paid €500 for an Instagram post that lasted 24 hours”.

However, using an influencer is not a popular choice with all dropshippers, some of whom consider it unprofitable. Others prefer Facebook ads, which allow them to invest smaller amounts. But there again, expenditure needs to be closely monitored:

“We started with €40 a day on Facebook and Instagram, but after a month, we stopped as we were making a loss!”

For those who persevere, the next challenge to address is search engine optimisation. The grail, of course, is to no longer need to pay for advertising or to use influencers. To achieve this, shops have to appear in the first few results brought up by search engines. Again, online courses and advice picked up in discussion groups can help with this.

Popular entrepreneurship

Like the people who work on transport or delivery platforms, dropshippers are among those who, since the French law of 1 January 2009 creating the self-employed “autoentrepreneur” status, are shaping the business creation landscape. Unlike conventional entrepreneurs, they can access this sector through a combination of technological progress, which considerably reduces start-up costs, and tax incentives that encourage individual initiatives.

Some dropshippers, like Yanis, affirm that the promise of easy money was a key factor in their decision:

“The main reason was that you didn't need much start-up capital to get going, and people said it was very lucrative”.

The profiles of our respondents show that this type of argument carries particular weight with individuals seeking to rectify unsatisfactory careers or education levels.

The dropshippers questioned in this survey are also digital natives, recruited from young working-class categories. For some of them, particularly those with few or no qualifications, the choice of self-employment was inspired by their erratic career paths and resultant employment situations. They are factory workers and are or have been order pickers, maintenance workers, forklift drivers, etc.

The common factor among all these profiles is their low level of education and dissatisfaction with their working conditions and income, as confirmed by Nader:

“I quit education at the end of compulsory schooling. School was never really my thing. I’ve done all the low-paid jobs and been everyone’s slave”.

For these people, an entrepreneurial foray into dropshipping is an opportunity to adjust their career paths and a shortcut to social ascension.

“Working for myself”

Another category of dropshippers is students. Part way through their higher education studies, they try dropshipping as a way to achieve a working ideal that they cannot envisage in the salaried work awaiting them or that they have already experienced alongside their studies. People in this category are generally hostile to subordination and other constraints associated with salaried work and are looking for autonomy and independence.

For Mourad, for example, the trigger was a work placement:

“I could no longer see myself being a management assistant, or working in accounting, or anything. I saw myself more as a manager. What I like is being free and independent”.

Rémi expressed the same aspirations:

“I'm not someone who really likes working for others. I know that, in the long run, I’d like to work for myself, be independent”.

Some seek to combine work and interests, such as travel, and they believe this occupation will allow them to spend time outside of France. This was true for Nader:

“If I can earn €600 a month, I can live on the road. It's amazing!”

For some of our respondents, however, the entrepreneurial adventure of dropshipping did not lead to the desired results. Faced with disillusionment, two profiles stand out: the resigned and the persevering. Nevertheless, all of them consider that the skills acquired are transferable to other areas, particularly in the professional sphere.

“Platform” capitalism

At a time when entrepreneurship is seen very positively, dropshipping, which is one of the most accessible forms, is often viewed in a negative light. This is probably because there is nothing “traditional” about it: the training leads to no specific qualifications; the paths to success are different to those of seasoned entrepreneurs; its links with the world of social media and influencers are sometimes discrediting; lastly, the products sold and their quality are not to everybody’s taste, particularly those from more socially or economically advantaged backgrounds.

However, the survey shows that skills development and investment in work are commonly exhibited among these would-be entrepreneurs. Another question to ask would be whether the stigmatisation of dropshipping could be, in part, a stigmatisation of the social characteristics of the individuals who engage in or promote it.

Finally, it is also important to consider the place of these new entrepreneurs in the world of so-called “platform” capitalism. Like in other “platformised” sectors, it is not those carrying out these activities who make the most profit, but those who own the platforms.

*Names have been changed (except for influencers' pseudonyms). Brice El Alami, Master’s student in Corporate Communication and Social Media at Université Gustave Eiffel, contributed to the writing of this article.