The Dropship Unlocked Podcast

👉 Ready to explore building your own UK ecommerce business? Start here → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep210-how-dave-made-his-first-4500-sale

🗣 Lewis Smith and James Eardley sit down with Masterclass member Dave to talk about the journey from long corporate working days to building an ecommerce business around the life he wants. Dave shares his initial scepticism, the challenge of learning Google Ads and the moment regular orders began to make the business feel real.
He reports around £10,500 in turnover roughly three months after going live, and around £1,100 profit on one commercial order. Just as important to Dave is having more control over his time — including plans to work while travelling in his campervan.

🎥 Prefer to watch instead? Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/0DGdWRtZc3o

🧭 Topics Discussed
★ More Money, But No Time — Dave describes long working days in London and why even his own software business didn’t give him the freedom he wanted.
★ Getting Past The Initial Scepticism — What helped Dave move from doubts about online courses to joining the Masterclass.
★ Building The Foundations First — Why the depth of niche research surprised him, and how structure and community support helped.
★ Making Google Ads Feel Manageable — Dave’s biggest learning challenge and his approach of concentrating on the basics.
★ From The First Sale To Repeat Orders — Why several sales in a week meant more to Dave than the first notification alone.
★ The Commercial Order That Stood Out — Dave explains how one business-to-business sale grew through installation extras and generated around £1,100 in reported profit.
★ A Business That Fits Around Life — More control over his working hours, campervan travel plans and a consultation process designed to save time.
★ Listener Q&A: Where Do I Start? — Lewis answers Elizabeth’s question about taking the first step.

🛠 Links & Resources Mentioned
🛒 Shopify → https://dropshipunlocked.com/shopify
📞 Professional Phone Line → https://dropshipunlocked.com/circle
📣 Google Ads — Dave discusses learning to advertise his store and keeping the process simple.
🤝 Dropship Unlocked Masterclass — The structure, community and support Dave describes throughout his journey.

💡 Key Takeaways
★ Decide What You Want Your Business To Change — Dave wanted control over his time, not simply another way to work long hours.
★ Research Before You Build — He credits detailed niche research with giving the business stronger foundations.
★ Keep Learning The Unfamiliar Parts — Website building suited his background; Google Ads required more patience and practice.
★ Look Beyond A Single Sales Notification — Regular orders helped Dave feel that his store was beginning to work.
★ Learn Where Your Margins Come From — His experience with commercial customers is shaping his next business decisions.
★ Freedom Still Takes Work — Dave stresses the effort needed to set up the business and says it is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

📲 Follow Us
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dropshipunlocked/
X / Twitter → https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/company/dropship-unlocked
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/c/dropshipunlockedlewissmith
Website → https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🚀 Free Training
🌏 Want to create location, time, and financial freedom?
Watch our free training → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep210-how-dave-made-his-first-4500-sale

👉 Want to understand the numbers behind a UK dropshipping business? Start here → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep209-100k-in-dropshipping-sales-how-much-do-you-actually-keep

🗣 A store makes £100,000 in sales — but how much is actually left? Lewis Smith and James Eardley work through an illustrative month, looking at VAT, supplier costs, advertising, payment processing and the other costs of running a high-ticket ecommerce business.
They discuss the assumptions behind their roughly £25,000 example, why your own results could look very different, and which decisions can improve or reduce your margins. Plus, they answer a listener’s question about starting with one Performance Max campaign or splitting campaigns by brand.

🎥 Prefer to watch instead? Watch on YouTube →  https://youtu.be/FDssjKrc-xE

🧭 Topics Discussed
★ What The Sales Figure Leaves Out — Why a Shopify sales notification is only the starting point when you’re working out what remains in the business.
★ VAT And Supplier Costs — Lewis and James explain the difference between VAT-inclusive sales, sales excluding VAT and the amount left after paying for products.
★ The Advertising Lesson They Learned The Hard Way — How their early experiences with low-ticket products showed them the importance of leaving enough margin to acquire a customer.
★ The Costs Beyond Products And Ads — Payment processing, Shopify, email, apps and a professional phone line all feature in the example.
★ Why The Same Revenue Can Produce Different Results — How supplier terms, ad efficiency, product mix and unnecessary costs can change the outcome.
★ Listener Q&A: One Performance Max Campaign Or Several? — Lewis explains his approach of starting simply, gathering data and separating strong performers later.

🛠 Links & Resources Mentioned
🛒 Shopify → https://dropshipunlocked.com/shopify
📞 Professional Phone Line → https://dropshipunlocked.com/circle
📊 Dropship Unlocked Profit Tracker — The member tool Lewis and James discuss for checking order margins and VAT.
📣 Google Ads / Performance Max — Discussed in the advertising breakdown and listener Q&A.
🛍 AliExpress — Mentioned in Lewis and James’s experiences with low-ticket products.
📧 Google Workspace — Mentioned as part of the store’s running costs.

💡 Key Takeaways
★ Revenue Is Only Part Of The Story — Look beyond the sales total and understand what remains after the costs discussed.
★ Know Your Supplier Margins — Product costs account for a large part of the example, making supplier relationships and negotiated terms worth paying attention to.
★ Leave Room To Acquire The Sale — Lewis and James’s low-ticket experiences show how advertising can absorb the margin you expected to keep.
★ Treat The Example As An Example — The hosts stress that their roughly £25,000 result depends on assumptions and is not a fixed profit margin.
★ Let Campaign Data Guide The Next Step — Lewis recommends starting with one Performance Max campaign for suitable products, then using the results to identify what deserves its own budget.

📲 Follow Us
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dropshipunlocked/
X / Twitter → https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/company/dropship-unlocked
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/c/dropshipunlockedlewissmith
Website → https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🚀 Free Training
🌏 Want to create location, time, and financial freedom?
Watch our free training → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep209-100k-in-dropshipping-sales-how-much-do-you-actually-keep

👉 Ready to build something of your own alongside your job? Start here → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep208-can-you-build-an-online-business-with-a-full-time-job

🗣 Can you build an online business when your full-time job already takes up most of the week? Lewis Smith and James Eardley share how they approached that challenge themselves — and why keeping your salary can give you room to make better decisions.
They discuss finding time without relying on motivation, choosing a business model that fits your goals, and building systems that can eventually reduce your day-to-day workload. Plus, they answer a listener’s question about telling your employer you’re starting an ecommerce business.

🎥 Prefer to watch instead? Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/cIWZAJbWijA

🧭 Topics Discussed
★ Your Salary Can Give You Breathing Room — Why Lewis and James see keeping a job as a way to build patiently, rather than rushing decisions because you need immediate income.
★ Finding Time You Can Actually Protect — How a time audit, a look at your phone’s screen time and one clear task per session can help you make steady progress.
★ Choosing The Right Business Model — Lewis explains the importance of considering time, capital, scalability and whether you want to be the face of a brand.
★ Learning From The Wrong Starting Point — James shares what happened when he sold low-ticket products from overseas, including delivery delays, unhappy customers and difficulty scaling profitably.
★ Building Beyond Your Own Working Hours — How AI tools, repeatable processes and eventually a virtual assistant can help with the work around the business.
★ The Motivation Behind Making A Change — Lewis and James reflect on their former jobs, early-morning work sessions and the desire to regain control of their time.
★ Listener Q&A: Should You Tell Your Employer? — Lewis shares his view, while stressing the need to read your contract and check your own circumstances.

🛠 Links & Resources Mentioned
🛒 Shopify → https://dropshipunlocked.com/shopify
📞 Professional Phone Line → https://dropshipunlocked.com/circle
📖 The 4-Hour Workweek — The book James mentions when discussing Lewis’s route into online business.
🤖 ChatGPT Work — Lewis and James discuss using AI agents to help with business tasks.
🛍 AliExpress — James shares his experience of sourcing low-ticket products through the platform.

💡 Key Takeaways
★ Give Yourself Room To Get The Foundations Right — A salary can reduce the pressure to rush niche research, build a store too quickly or launch ads before you’re ready.
★ Make Each Work Session Count — A specific task, such as uploading products or working on your website, gives limited time a clear purpose.
★ Choose A Model That Fits Your Life — Consider how the business uses your time, what it costs to start and whether it can grow beyond your own hours.
★ Build The System Before Expecting Freedom — Lewis and James describe the upfront work involved before tools, processes and support can reduce your involvement.
★ Know Why You Want To Do This — A clear reason for wanting more autonomy can help you keep showing up when learning something new feels uncomfortable.

📲 Follow Us
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dropshipunlocked/
X / Twitter → https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/company/dropship-unlocked
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/c/dropshipunlockedlewissmith
Website → https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🚀 Free Training
🌏 Want to create location, time, and financial freedom?
Watch our free training → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep208-can-you-build-an-online-business-with-a-full-time-job

👉 Ready to start your own online store? Start here → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep207-why-people-buy-from-dropshippers-everyday-not-amazon

🗣 In this episode, Lewis Smith and James Eardley tackle one of the biggest doubts new ecommerce entrepreneurs have — why would anyone buy from my new online store when they could just go to Amazon?
They explain why high-ticket customers often actively seek out specialist retailers, how niche stores can offer expertise and service that huge marketplaces struggle to match, and why you only need a tiny slice of an existing market to build a highly profitable ecommerce business.

🎥 Prefer to watch instead? Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/mkFg9u73fQI

🧭 Topics Discussed
★ Why Customers Don't Always Choose Amazon — When buying specialist, higher-value products, customers care about more than simply finding the biggest retailer.
★ Your Niche Is Your Competitive Advantage — Why specialising in one category allows you to understand the customer, answer their questions and provide an experience a general marketplace can't easily replicate.
★ How A New Store Builds Trust — From reviews and social proof to UK suppliers, fast delivery, live chat, phone support and familiar payment methods, Lewis and James explain the signals that give customers confidence to buy.
★ Why Google Can Put You In Front Of Buyers First — How Google Shopping and Search ads allow specialist stores to appear when somebody is already actively searching for the product they sell.
★ You Only Need A Tiny Slice Of The Market — Why high-ticket ecommerce doesn't require thousands of daily customers — a relatively small number of valuable orders can create a substantial business.
★ Listener Q&A: Getting Through To The Right Supplier Contact — How to bypass gatekeepers, find the person responsible for new trade or retail accounts and improve your chances of signing a supplier.

🛠 Links & Resources Mentioned
Shopify £1-for-3-months Offer → https://dropshipunlocked.com/shopify
Free Trial of a Professional Phone Line → https://dropshipunlocked.com/circle
🎧 Listen to Episode 155: Is Dropshipping Saturated?

💡 Key Takeaways
★ You Don't Need To Beat Amazon — The goal isn't to become another everything-store. A specialist retailer competes on expertise, service and relevance rather than sheer scale.
★ Niching Down Can Make You More Valuable — Customers making significant purchases often want confidence that they're buying from people who genuinely understand the products they're selling.
★ Give Customers Reasons To Trust You — A professional store, clear reviews, UK suppliers, fast delivery and accessible customer support can give shoppers the confidence to spend thousands with a retailer they've never used before.
★ You Don't Need The Whole Market — Lewis and James explain how even a tiny fraction of an established high-ticket market can be enough to build an income-replacing ecommerce business.
★ Validate Demand Before You Enter — Rather than guessing whether people want your products, validate the niche first and then focus on capturing a small share of demand that's already there.

📲 Follow Us
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dropshipunlocked/
X / Twitter → https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/company/dropship-unlocked
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/c/dropshipunlockedlewissmith
Website → https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🚀 Free Training
🌏 Want to create location, time, and financial freedom?
Watch our free training →
https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep207-why-people-buy-from-dropshippers-everyday-not-amazon

👉 Ready to start your own online store? Start here → https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep206-the-budget-is-coming-how-were-building-income-we-actually-control

🗣 In this episode, Lewis Smith and James Eardley discuss why the upcoming UK Budget is a timely reminder of how little control can come from relying on a single salary — and what they’ve done differently to take greater ownership of their income.
Drawing on their own experiences of leaving nine-to-five careers and building ecommerce businesses, they explore the difference between earning a salary and owning an income-producing asset, why high-ticket ecommerce gives them greater flexibility, and how you can start building something alongside your existing job without needing to quit first.

🎥 Prefer to watch instead? Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/zKNCemQnvzQ

🧭 Topics Discussed
★ Why A Single Salary Can Feel Out Of Your Control — How changes to taxes, costs, employment and the wider economy can quickly affect people who depend entirely on one source of income.
★ Renting Your Income vs Owning The Asset — Lewis explains why a salary stops when you stop showing up, while a business can become an asset capable of generating income beyond your own working hours.
★ Why Ownership Creates More Options — How owning a business can give you greater control over reinvestment, growth and how the money generated by your work is used.
★ Why High-Ticket Ecommerce Fits The Goal — How stronger margins, UK suppliers, fast delivery and lower overheads can create a more resilient business model.
★ The Skills Nobody Can Take Away From You — Why learning supplier negotiation, paid advertising, systems, customer service and ecommerce can create value far beyond one individual business.
★ Starting Without Quitting Your Job — Why Lewis and James recommend building alongside your existing income, taking a long-term approach and developing the foundations before considering leaving employment.
★ Listener Q&A: Can You Use An Existing Limited Company? — What to consider if you already own a UK limited company and want to use it for your new ecommerce business.

🛠 Links & Resources Mentioned
Shopify £1-for-3-months Offer → https://dropshipunlocked.com/shopify
Free Trial of a Professional Phone Line → https://dropshipunlocked.com/circle

💡 Key Takeaways
★ Build Something You Own — You may not be able to control government policy or the wider economy, but you can work towards owning an asset and developing additional sources of income.
★ Ownership Gives You More Options — A business can give you greater flexibility over how income is generated, reinvested and ultimately used.
★ Higher Margins Create Breathing Room — High-ticket products can generate hundreds or even thousands of pounds per sale, helping a business absorb rising operating costs more easily.
★ Your Skills Are An Asset Too — Learning how to sell online, negotiate with suppliers, run ads and build systems gives you transferable skills that can compound throughout your career.
★ You Don't Need To Quit Your Job Tomorrow — Building alongside employment can give you the financial stability and time needed to make sensible long-term decisions rather than chasing overnight results.

📲 Follow Us
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dropshipunlocked/
X / Twitter → https://twitter.com/DropshipUnlockd
LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/company/dropship-unlocked
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/c/dropshipunlockedlewissmith
Website → https://www.dropshipunlocked.com/

🚀 Free Training
🌏 Want to create location, time, and financial freedom?
Watch our free training →
https://dropshipunlocked.com/start?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep206-the-budget-is-coming-how-were-building-income-we-actually-control