You may have seen lots of ads on Oberlo showcasing people making tons of money with their websites through it and wondered how it’s all possible as well as how it works.
Well in this review of Oberlo, I’m going to cover that as well as the most important things you need to know, including:
- If it’s really a scam or if it’s legitimate.
- How it really works.
- The pros and cons.
- How much you can expect to spend if you buy it.
- And if there’s better alternatives (in my opinion, there is a BETTER option, but more on that later).
The quick overview:
- Name: Oberlo.
- Owners: Andrius Slimas and Tomas Slimas.
- Pricing: 30 day free trial, then up to $79.90/month.
- More costs required? Yes: Signing up with Shopify (14 day trial, then plans from $79 and up to $299 a month). Ad costs too.
- What is it? An app connected to Shopify that helps you succeed with drop shipping by finding quality offers to promote.
- Is it a scam? No, but in many cases, I believe it’s quality has decreased since it first came out.
- Rating: 40 out of 100 points.
Do I recommend Oberlo? Not really:
I think Oberlo has many positive uses and can help you succeed with dropshipping through making a Shopify store, but there are several things I personally think hold me back from recommending it, the main ones being:
1) I think dropshipping/Shopify is more for advanced users. Setting up a store is easy, but it’s everything else (paid ads, driving traffic to your site, ect…) that’s tough (and expensive).
2) Cost wise, it’s not just Oberlo you need to get. You also need to sign up with Shopify and then in most cases, spend money on ads to drive traffic to your store (this requires experience, and of course a lot of money). You can expect to pay $100’s and possibly $1,000s if ad costs are included so if you are tight on money to begin with, you have to understand this.
3) I have seen a number of users say that the quality of Oberlo has decreased over the years (source provided further below).
Better alternatives? Yes (More info on that below).
Back to the Oberlo review:
Summary of the program:
Oberlo is a program designed to work together with Shopify to help you build and run a successful eCommerce/dropshipping business.
In order to fully understand how Oberlo works, it’s important to first explain how dropshipping and Shopify work, so if you’re new to these platforms/terms, here’s a quick explanation of how it all works:
What is Shopify? Shopify is a service which helps you make your own ecommerce website (an online store).
What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a type of online business where you sell products on an ecommerce website (like one that’s made through Shopify) but you don’t own actually own the items.
You advertise your store and it’s items through things like online ads, drive visitors to your site, and when they place orders on your site, you will then order that same item/s from a wholeseller for less money, so you keep a larger profit.
For example:
- You sell a laptop for $1,000 on your ecommerce site (made through Shopify).
- A visitor to your site buys it (you get paid $1,000), but that’s revenue.
- You then order the same laptop for $700 from a wholeseller and send it to the same visitor.
- You keep $300 profit from this.
This in a nutshell is how very basic dropshipping and Shopify work.
How does Oberlo tie into all of this?
Oberlo basically makes it easier to create a Shopify store, find wholesellers who sell the products you want to put on your ecommerce site and they also provide tutorials and courses on ecommerce business success, all of which is meant to help you learn the business and potentially see success faster.
Typically without a service like Oberlo, new users have to go about it themselves and “figure it out” on their own. In order to use Oberlo, you must first sign up with Shopify, and then connect the app to it so you can begin using it.
Pros:
- I do think Oberlo is a legit/helpful service for anyone looking to do ecommerce.
- They have a free trial.
- There is also decent and free content to help you build your ecommerce business.
Cons:
- Using this service requires you also use Shopify and it can get very expensive every month.
- I don’t think this type of online business is beginner friendly.
- Paid ads might be the best way to succeed here, but the risk is that it’s potentially $100s, $1,000s extra in costs.
- Reviews are very mixed on Trustpilot.com (2.8 out of 5 stars with many similar complaints).
My final thoughts on Oberlo:
If you are a total beginner to online business and are considering starting a Shopify store, doing ecommerce and/or using Oberlo, you need to understand that it’s often not as easy as it looks.
Many people think that just by having an online store, that those who visit the site will just buy stuff in droves and the money will just magically come in, but in truth, there’s so much more to the process that determines that outcome. For example:
You need to know how to drive quality traffic to your online store: One of the best methods for that is paid ads, but that can cost A LOT of money if you’re new or tight on cash to begin with (I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re in either category).
You need to know what types of products to offer to even get this started: You have to know niche markets, how to attract them and so forth. This is basic marketing 101 knowledge that most beginners do not have down when they start.
Yes Oberlo makes parts of this process easier, but at the end of the day, fundamental knowledge of marketing, paid ads and other traffic generating methods is what truly determines the success of your online business.
Long story short, like I said earlier: If you are a beginner to online business or someone who isn’t ready to spend $100s every month or even $1,000s (if you use paid ads), then there are other types of online businesses you need to consider over this.
Alternatives? Yep! Why the Wealthy Affiliate program is my top choice:
Wealthy Affiliate is in my opinion an excellent alternative to Oberlo in that it is best suited for people who are total beginners to making money online (or those who don’t have a lot to invest).
What it MAINLY teaches people is how to build profitable affiliate websites on passions they have in life and drive free traffic to them through blogging.
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting other people’s products and driving visitors to their offers (you don’t need to make your own Shopify store or use dropshipping, you earn commissions from promoting other people’s stuff).
Later on (in the advanced stages), Wealthy Affiliate also teaches their members how to do paid ads, ecommerce and other methods of marketing (to become well rounded and successful online business people).
Here’s why it’s better than Oberlo in my opinion:
- It’s also free to test drive (no CC needed to get started).
- It’s great if you’re a total beginner to online business.
- Better on YOUR wallet ($0 to try, then $49/month).
- It teaches multiple ways to do online business.
- It has more success stories (and members) than Oberlo.
- Excellent program for people who want to transform a passion into an online business.
- You get the best support including expert coaching.
- 4.9 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot (400+ reviews).
- And there’s much more.
Bottom line: You don’t have to invest crazy money with Wealthy Affiliate (or in general to succeed online). It’s free to test drive and only $49/month if you decide to stick around the program. An optional $99/month program is also offered but the $49/month one gives you everything you need to build your online business in your passion.
Here’s a side by side comparison of Wealthy Affiliate vs Oberlo:
My recommendation? Wealthy Affiliate (here’s how to get started):
The value of the Wealthy Affiliate (WA) speaks for itself and if you have any doubt (which is totally normal), test drive them risk free (there’s literally no credit card required).
Here’s what you get when you try the program today (all included):
- Access to the Starter Membership of Wealthy Affiliate.
- 10 lesson getting started course.
- 1 website included.
- 7 day access to the WA community (help/support).
- 7 days coaching from me, Vitaliy (one of WA’s top experts).
- And much more (join WA today and see it all for yourself).
The program does have an optional upgrade called Premium after the Starter Membership that I do highly recommend, but more than that, I recommend you first:
- Try the Starter Membership (it’s risk free).
- Immerse yourself in the program so you get the most out of it.
- Use my 7 day coaching! You can contact me directly inside WA.
Wealthy Affiliate works, but it is also not a get rich quick scheme.
It will teach you how to build a REAL online business of your dreams and if you apply the training they have and work hard, you will become one of it’s MANY success stories.
And frankly speaking, I want to see you do just that. As your coach, one of my goals is to see just hat and I’ll help you along your journey there too).
Thanks for reading my personal views of Oberlo and if there are ANY questions about either program, feel free to ask me in the comments below!