The NEW Way to Start Dropshipping in 2026 (Step by Step)

0:00Most people who try drop shipping are

0:01doing it completely backwards, and I

0:03know this because I did that for years.

0:05Random products, stores that went

0:07nowhere, ads that just bled money. And

0:09every single time something didn't work,

0:11I would convince myself it was the

0:12product. So, I would scrap everything

0:14[music] and start over. New product, new

0:16store, new ads, just to get the same

0:18result. [music] And it took me way

0:19longer than it should have to figure out

0:21why. And once I did, everything changed.

0:23The store started working, the ads

0:25started converting, and it wasn't

0:26because I got better at finding

0:28products. So, in this video, I'm going

0:30to show you exactly how to start drop

0:31shipping from scratch in 2026, and I'm

0:34going to be doing it all on Wix so you

0:35can follow along. We're going to cover

0:36how to find your product, how to

0:38validate it, how to build a store and

0:39get it connected to a supplier, and

0:41drive traffic to it. Everything in

0:43order, everything from scratch. So,

0:45let's get into it. So, if you're brand

0:46new to this, here's the short version of

0:48what drop shipping actually is. You set

0:49up an online store, you list products

0:51you want to sell, and when someone buys,

0:53your supplier ships it directly to them.

0:55You never hold the inventory, you never

0:56buy anything up front, and you keep the

0:58margin between what the customer pays

1:00and what the supplier charges you. And

1:01the reason why I like this model,

1:03especially when you're just starting

1:04out, is that you're not putting a ton of

1:06money on the line before you know

1:08anything works. You're not ordering a

1:09thousand units of something and just

1:11hoping it sells. You find out if it

1:13works first, and then you can invest

1:15more into it. All right, so let's start

1:17with finding the right product, and

1:18specifically finding the right person to

1:20sell to before you even think about what

1:22to sell them. Let me show you how I do

1:23this. Most beginner guides on how to

1:25start drop shipping just jump straight

1:27into finding your product. They show you

1:28how to scroll TikTok, use a product

1:30research tool, look for something that's

1:32trending. And look, that approach can

1:34work, but here's the problem with it. By

1:36the time that you find something that's

1:37trending, you validate it, you get your

1:38store up and start running ads, there's

1:40a good chance that that window is

1:42already starting to close. So, you're

1:44essentially chasing something that

1:45someone else has found two weeks before

1:48you. And the deeper issue is this. When

1:49you start with the product, you spend

1:51the whole time guessing. You're guessing

1:53who's going to buy it, what angle to use

1:55in your ads, and what actually matters

1:56to the person on the other side of the

1:58screen. Now, the approach that I'm going

1:59to show you, it flips that. You find the

2:01person first, you understand their

2:03actual problem, and then the product

2:05becomes obvious because you already know

2:07exactly what they need. Now, when you do

2:08it in that order, your ads are sharper,

2:10your stores convert better, and you

2:12waste a lot less money figuring it out.

2:14So, let me show you how it works. So,

2:15the first place that I go to is Reddit,

2:17and I know that might sound a bit

2:18random, but here's why it works a lot

2:20better than any product research tool

2:22out there right now. Reddit is where

2:23people are completely [music]

2:25unfiltered. Nobody is performing trying

2:27to get followers, nobody's trying to

2:29build a brand or promote something.

2:30They're just genuinely stuck on

2:32something and just asking for help. And

2:34that honesty is exactly what makes it so

2:36valuable for this. So, what you're going

2:38to do is find a specific community. Not

2:39a broad topic, a specific subreddit. And

2:42I'm going to be using r-running as an

2:44example here. These people, they take

2:46running super seriously, everything from

2:48marathon training, long runs, the whole

2:50nine yards. They spend real money on

2:52gear, [music] and they have very strong

2:54opinions about what works and what

2:56doesn't. Now, what I'm going to do is

2:57I'm going to search for something super

2:59simple. Like, for example, water on

3:02runs. And the top result that comes back

3:04[music] is a post called what gear do

3:06you use to bring water on runs with a

3:07bunch of upvotes and a bunch of

3:09comments. Now, what we can do here is

3:11read what this person [music] wrote.

3:12They said, "I'm training for a marathon

3:14and on my long runs, I really feel like

3:16I need to be bringing water with me. The

3:18issue is that I don't want to just hold

3:20the water bottle in my hand the whole

3:21time, and I don't want to spend a ton of

3:23money on a vest, especially if I don't

3:25know if it'll work." So, [music] that

3:26one post right here, it tells us so

3:29much. It tells us that this person has a

3:31real problem, they've already thought

3:33through all the existing solutions that

3:35are out there, and every [music] option

3:36it either cost too much or it just feels

3:39wrong to them. Now, we can look at this

3:40one right here. 121 comments, everyone's

3:43recommending something different from

3:45Solomon [music] vests, Osprey packs.

3:47Someone else is literally tucking a

3:48water bottle in their shorts waistband

3:49[music]

3:50because nothing else seems to work well

3:52enough. A guy right here says, "The

3:54cheaper ones will chafe you." Another is

3:55saying, "I've been looking at these

3:58vests, but it's really [music]

3:59expensive. Any cheaper alternatives?"

4:01So, what is this really telling us? It's

4:02telling us that there's currently no

4:04affordable, comfortable solution for a

4:07regular runner who isn't doing ultra

4:09marathons, but still [music] needs to

4:11carry water on long training runs. So,

4:13that middle ground, which is the

4:15lightweight, affordable, non-chafing for

4:17the everyday marathon trainer, basically

4:20is unsolved. [music]

4:21And we can even pay attention to the

4:22language that people are using here.

4:24"Bouncing in my pockets, the cheaper

4:26ones will chafe you, it's a bit much to

4:28carry around." That is gold because

4:30that's the exact language that you're

4:31going to use in your ads. [music] And

4:33you don't have to guess at what

4:34resonates with these people because you

4:36literally just have to read it from

4:38them. All right, and then one last check

4:40before we build anything, there is a

4:41brand right here. As you can see,

4:43they're called FlipBelt. They make

4:45[music] running belts specifically

4:47designed for this problem. If we pull up

4:49the Meta Ad Library, and then we look at

4:51these start dates, some of these ads

4:53have [music] been running for weeks,

4:54even months, testing tons and tons of

4:57different creatives, different videos,

4:59different image ads, different copies.

5:01Now, nobody is going to keep spending

5:02money on these [music] ads if they

5:04aren't converting, aka if they're not

5:06making them money because it's simply

5:08too expensive to keep these ads running

5:10for this long. So, [music] if they have

5:12the same creative, same set of videos

5:14that have been running for three, four,

5:16five weeks, they're making money, plain

5:18and simple. That is going to be your

5:20green light. All right, so we've got our

5:21green light. FlipBelt has been running

5:23their ads for months and months on end.

5:26Clearly, there is money in this niche.

5:28Now, let's actually go ahead and build

5:30out our store. So, for this tutorial,

5:31I'm going to be using Wix specifically

5:34because they just dropped, as you can

5:35see right here, Wix Harmony, which is an

5:38AI store builder that combines vibe

5:41coding with drag and drop. Right here,

5:44you can see you simply describe what you

5:46want for the website [music] and it

5:48builds exactly that for you. So, I'll

5:51make sure to leave a link for you guys

5:52to access it below. We can just press

5:54chat with AI. And then from here, it

5:56says, "Hi, I'm Arya, your AI web design

5:58expert. I'm here to help you create your

6:00site. First, tell me about your site or

6:02your business." And here, you want to

6:03give a brief description of your

6:05website, your brand, the products that

6:07you're selling. So, I went ahead and

6:09already created a prompt for myself. I

6:11said, "I'm building a drop shipping

6:12store selling running accessories,

6:13specifically lightweight running belts

6:15for marathon training. My customers are

6:17serious runners who need to carry water,

6:19keys, and their phone on long runs

6:21without holding anything or spending

6:23$150 in a vest. Clean, minimal design."

6:26So, that is my prompt. Of course, you

6:27want to cater this prompt to whatever

6:30you're selling, whatever your brand is

6:32all about. So, I'm going to press next.

6:34And then right here, it says, "Do you

6:35have a business name in mind for your

6:38store? If you're still designing, here

6:40are a few ideas." And it gives you some

6:42ideas: Stride Belt, Pace Pack, Marathon

6:44Minimalist.

6:45So, it's actually a pretty good name.

6:47For the sake of this example, let's just

6:49go with that Stride Belt. And then we'll

6:51just input that. All right, now it says,

6:53"Based on what you shared about Stride

6:54Belt, I've updated your site description

6:56on the left. Feel free to edit. Okay,

6:58you have two great options: design with

7:00Arya, I'll generate fully tailored site

7:02based on your business vibe and goals,

7:04or you can explore the recommended

7:05templates I've selected for you." So,

7:07you can choose any of these templates

7:09right here to build off of. Now, you'll

7:12see that a lot of these templates are

7:14geared to a specific niche or style. You

7:17can see t-shirt store, a toy store, a

7:19home goods store, an electronics store.

7:21I'd rather just design it all with AI,

7:24so that's what we're going to do. So,

7:26based on the questions that we've

7:28answered, you can see that it has

7:29already created a prompt for us. So,

7:31we're going to go in and use AI to

7:34create the store itself. So, I'm going

7:35to press design with Arya. And then as

7:37you can see, it's starting to work on

7:39the brand colors, the typography, the

7:42site vision. It's doing all the building

7:44on the back end. So, here it says I put

7:46together a brand identity and business

7:48goals for your stride belts for your

7:50brand. I've selected sleek, technical,

7:52and minimalist visual profile. Nice,

7:54nice. To drive your business forward,

7:56we'll focus on these primary goals. Sell

7:58products, connect with clients. Nice.

7:59What do you think? Should we make

8:00adjustments? No, that for the most part

8:02sounds pretty good. So, we'll just go in

8:05with just say move on. And what's cool

8:07with this vibe coding type of interface,

8:10we can make any adjustments that we

8:12would like simply with chat. So, it's

8:14like having chat GPT or Claude

8:16integrated into your online store and it

8:19will do anything [music] that you would

8:21like it to do. So, it's going to ask you

8:22a couple follow-up questions. So, your

8:24business name, whether you want to add a

8:26store. So, just answer all these

8:28questions. Takes maybe 30 seconds. All

8:31right, now it has prepared everything.

8:33We're just going to press generate our

8:35site now. Now, it's starting to work on

8:37building out our store for us. We don't

8:39want to leave this tab because it's may

8:41screw things up on the back end. And

8:43bam, just like that, our site is in fact

8:46ready. This is exactly what it looks

8:48like. Just like it said, it built

8:50something that's clean, minimal, and

8:52this is what it looks like on mobile.

8:54That looks really good. I mean, this was

8:56within a few minutes. We click the drop

8:59down. We have all of our pages. So, we

9:01have the about, we have the product

9:03page, we have the category page, the

9:05cart page. All these pages that it'll

9:07direct us right here. So, this is the

9:10example product page that we have, just

9:12like so. Looks really clean. We have

9:15free will to change the background, the

9:18colors, the fonts, pretty much anything

9:21that we like. So, we can make pretty

9:22much any adjustment that we would like

9:24with the AI chat. So, you want to select

9:27something that you want to edit. So, for

9:28example, if I want to change this image

9:30right here, I select this image. Then we

9:31can go in and say that we want to change

9:34this image of of male runner to a female

9:36runner. And we'll have it do its thing.

9:38And then simply like that, we have made

9:40that change. Now we can go in and

9:42regenerate this entire site. If we don't

9:45like any of it, we can enhance it. We

9:47can do anything that we would like

9:49within this AI chat. So we're currently

9:52happy with what we have. All we have to

9:54do is press publish right here. All

9:56right, nice. Our store has been

9:58published. All right, so once you're on

10:00the dashboard where we're just editing

10:02the site, a few things that you want to

10:03do is go through this checklist and make

10:05sure that you check off each one of

10:07these. Shouldn't take you too long. So

10:09for example, if we want to connect a

10:10domain or have our own custom domain, if

10:13you know, our brand is called Stride

10:15Kits, we want to get the dot com. We

10:17could just type that in and press let's

10:19go. And then from here, it's going to

10:21direct us to Wix Domains where we can

10:23see if that brand name is in fact

10:26available. All right, so it looks like

10:27this one is taken. So let's just put

10:29Stride Kit Belts. Let's say you wanted

10:31to go with this. And since this one is

10:33available, all we have to do to claim

10:35this domain is press make it yours right

10:38here for $0 per year. And if you guys

10:41subscribe to Wix Premium, you can see

10:43that you can get the domain for free. If

10:45you don't want to drive, then you just

10:46go and buy the domain only. You guys

10:48don't have to do it for 3 years. If you

10:50just want to do a single year, it's only

10:51eight bucks. And that is going to be the

10:53URL that gets directed to your specific

10:56website. So someone types in Stride Belt

10:58Stride Kit Belts.com, they're going to

11:00be directed straight to your website

11:02that we just went ahead and built with

11:03Wix Harmony. All right, so the store is

11:05live. Now we need to actually these

11:07products onto our store. And this is

11:09actually something that I didn't expect

11:10from Wix. They have product sourcing

11:13built right into their dashboard. So you

11:16never actually have to leave the

11:17platform. The first thing that you want

11:19to do from the main dashboard, from your

11:21home page, is go right here to catalog.

11:25Then we'll go to store products. And

11:26then we'll go to find products to sell.

11:28So there's going to be two main options

11:30right here. There's going to be Modulus

11:32right here, which is going to be like

11:33the top created drop shipping products

11:36uh that you can simply just import with

11:38a single click like this. Now, this

11:41works totally fine if you just want to

11:42get something live super fast. And the

11:44difference really matters here because

11:45with Modulus right here, you're paying

11:48the retail drop shipping prices. But, if

11:49you're going straight to the source,

11:51which is going to be Alibaba in this

11:53case, you're going to get the same

11:54products. You're going to get better

11:55pricing, which, you know, in turn is

11:57going to be better margins for your

11:58brand. if we want to just sell all those

12:00running belts, we just go into explore

12:02products right here. And then we can

12:03literally type in running belt just like

12:06so. And then it's going to populate all

12:09the different running belts that we can

12:11sell. This one probably looks the most

12:12similar. And you'll see that the pricing

12:15is typically going to be a lot better

12:17from what we have on Modulus. Now, the

12:19only caveat here is that sometimes there

12:21will be an MOQ for these products, which

12:25is a minimum order quantity. You'll see

12:26this one is five. You'll see this one is

12:2850. However, there are some that are a

12:31single minimum order quantity. So, you

12:33just need to buy one, and that will get

12:35shipped over to your customer. Now, the

12:36reason why you might want to use Modulus

12:38is because the pricing is going to be

12:40better. So, you're kind of paying for

12:42the convenience. So, if we just go into

12:45add products right here. So, we'll just

12:47go right here into view more products on

12:48Modulus. And then we just type in

12:50something running belt. And then it

12:52looks like this is probably the closest

12:54variation to what we're looking like.

12:55The product cost actually isn't bad,

12:57285. Uh the retail we could probably

12:59sell it for more. I don't know why it

13:01has it at 850, but it is sourced from

13:03Alibaba. So, this is actually not a bad

13:06option right here. So, if you want to

13:07add this product right here to our

13:09online store, all we have to do is add

13:11to import list like this. You can also

13:13order a sample, and then we'll view it

13:15in our import list. And then we just

13:17change the name to whatever our brand

13:19name is, whatever we would like to name

13:22it. Pricing, we could change the pricing

13:23per unit, but I'll just leave it just

13:25like this. Now, all we have to do here

13:27is add this product to our store. We can

13:29change the product page as well on Wix

13:33Harmony, but the main thing is that when

13:35someone buys the product, it's going to

13:37be linked to this fulfillment right here

13:39at the product cost of 285. We can then

13:41select the shipping options that we

13:43would like, but the main thing is that

13:44the back end is now set up. Now, when

13:46someone orders your product, you just

13:48have to go to the Modulus dashboard,

13:50we'll go into orders, and then you will

13:51go and fulfill each of these orders

13:54individually. And then, what will happen

13:55is that supplier that you've chosen will

13:57then ship the product to your customer,

13:59so you don't have to touch or hold any

14:02of the inventory. That order will then

14:04get fulfilled, the tracking codes will

14:05get synced, and you'll be pretty much

14:07good to go. All right, so your store is

14:08live, the products are connected. Now,

14:10you need to actually get people to it,

14:11and there are two ways to drive traffic.

14:13You have paid ads or organic. Both work,

14:16but before we get into paid, I want to

14:17be real with you.

14:18>> [music]

14:18>> You are going to need some money set

14:20aside for this, somewhere between $250

14:22to $500 per product just to get an

14:24actual read on what is working. So, if

14:26that's not where you're currently at

14:28right now, organic is going to be your

14:30starting point. Just post consistently

14:31on TikTok and Instagram using the

14:33language that you pulled [music] from

14:35Reddit, and give it a few weeks. But, if

14:36you do have some budget, here's how I'd

14:38run it. One Facebook campaign, sales

14:39objective, and for the targeting, just

14:41keep it broad. Don't touch the interest

14:43settings. Don't try and get super clever

14:45with it. Literally, just select your

14:47country, and leave everything else

14:48alone. Facebook at this point has so

14:50much data that it's just better at

14:51finding your buyers than you are when

14:53you're just starting out. So, let it do

14:54that. $50 a day, load up anywhere from

14:56three to five different videos [music]

14:58inside of that one ad set. So, you have

15:01everything from the same product, the

15:02same text copy, but every video has a

15:04different hook or different way of

15:06opening on the problem that you have.

15:08So, you're not trying to figure out the

15:09perfect campaign setup here. You're just

15:11trying to figure out which version of

15:13the message actually gets someone to

15:14buy. Then, you just leave it, give it

15:16three to five days, and I know you're

15:17going to want to go in there and start

15:19tweaking things. Don't do that. Just

15:21simply let the data build up. Now, after

15:23that, you're going to want to check your

15:24cost per purchase. This is basically how

15:26much did it cost you to get one sale.

15:28You can compare that to what you're

15:29actually making per order. So, if you're

15:31spending less than you're making, you're

15:33good. Keep going. Let it run. If not,

15:35that's fine. That's literally what this

15:37test is going to be for. Now honestly,

15:39when it's not working, it's almost never

15:41the targeting or the budget. It's the

15:42video. It's the message didn't land. So,

15:44you want to go back, change the

15:46creative, and then run it again. Now if

15:47you're actually making those videos,

15:49don't start from scratch. Go back to the

15:51Meta Ad Library, the same place that we

15:53went and validated the product earlier,

15:55and find the ads that have been running

15:57for the longest period of time. [music]

15:58Actually go in there and study them. So,

16:00how do they open? What was the first

16:02thing that was said? What problem were

16:04they leading with? That's going to be

16:05your reference point because you're not

16:06copying it. You're just trying to figure

16:08out why it works, and then build

16:10something new on top of that. And then

16:11for the actual footage, your phone is

16:13completely fine. But, if you want to

16:15skip filming everything yourself

16:16entirely, which I do recommend when

16:18you're just starting out, better to use

16:20AI UGC right now at this moment. There

16:22are tools now where you basically feed

16:24in the script and it generates a

16:26realistic video of someone using the

16:28product. They have tools like Arc Ads,

16:30Hicksfield. Doesn't really matter what

16:32platform that you use. I actually made

16:33an in-depth video on exactly how to do

16:36that. So, if you guys are curious, you

16:37can just watch it right here. Because

16:38for testing angles early on, this is

16:40what works really well, really

16:42efficiently, and will help you gain that

16:45first mover's advantage. Look,

16:46everything I just walked you through,

16:47that is the foundation. And honestly, if

16:49you execute on it, you're already ahead

16:51of most people that are trying to do it.

16:52The part that I can't put into a YouTube

16:54video is the real-time judgment call.

16:56So, knowing whether the product that you

16:58found is actually worth testing or if

16:59you're just simply excited about it.

17:01Knowing if your ad numbers are telling

17:03you to keep going versus if they're

17:05telling you to pull the plug. That stuff

17:07only comes from doing it or having

17:08someone next to you who has already done

17:11it at scale. That's what my one-on-one

17:12program is. Me and my team are working

17:14through it directly with you. Now, this

17:16is not a course you just sit through and

17:18close a tab on. You bring your store,

17:20your numbers, and we figure out

17:21together. Now, if that sounds like

17:23something that you need right now, I'll

17:24leave a link below for you guys to learn

17:26more. Now, if you take one thing from

17:27this, go find your community first.

17:29Spend 20 minutes on Reddit. Read how

17:31people actually talk about a problem.

17:34Write down the exact words that they

17:35say, [music] and everything else flows

17:37from that. Other than that, thank you

17:38for watching. I'll see you guys in the

17:39next one. Peace.