The Shopify + Facebook Method FAQ - All Questions Here Please.

[bojan92]

I have really learnt a lot from the replies and will therefore not ask any question for you have already answered them well. Dont tire in doing the good work. thanks

 

[nomansohail]

subscribing to this thread to read it later

 

[710fla]

Hi!
Shopify requires monthly payments! I was wondering if I could just set up an online website with a store? would that cost more or less?

I'm based in NZ would this be harder for me?

You can list up to 5 products for free on BigCartel.

I used to use Shopify but switched to BigCartel after seeing a lot of others using it, it's a bit cheaper and does the job just as good if better.

 

[Franklin Hattchet]

Hi!
Shopify requires monthly payments! I was wondering if I could just set up an online website with a store? would that cost more or less?

I'm based in NZ would this be harder for me?

This will work for anyone in any country that doesn't block paypal.

 

[Pwnageboy]

Mate your sites are nice, what theme did you use?
(but they make my core2 pc burn)

Also I think you dont have any conversion because on IE your sites look very cheap (without the moving background since IE blocks JS by default). They look great on FF though but you have to optimize them for IE which is the most used browser.
And cheap looking site = less conversions.

Thanks for your reply. I took a look and only 4% of the visitors used IE. I am sure going to optimize it for IE but i'm afraid that ain't the reason for having no sales. I actually used the Salient theme for Wordpress, deleted all the crap and made 3 pages ( homepage, order complete, order failed ).

I think i will try a new advertisement with a steady background website.

Thanks!

 

[Nargil]

I am having some issues here with suggested costs per conversion. Facebook estimates mine on around $30 per conversion, which is absolutely pathetic. My CPM is also getting quite out of hand, being at around 20 bucks all the time. Funny thing is, that this doesn't change no matter what niche I use.

There isn't much info about ads themselves. For example if you are selling those "dog led collars" or "fishing stuff" you mentioned before, what kind of ad image you use? Because I believe it forces you to use the product image in the advert. Especially with for example dog collars. That kind of ties your hands a bit. I read about various tricks here to improve the CTR, but i couldn't even get over 2% on NEWS FEED placement for desktops and mobiles with decent targeting and decent ads. There is something unbelievably wrong with the way I am doing things apprently.

Also, do you use existing posts or create new posts? I always wondered about this.

 

[rees9]

I've read every single word of this and all other threads on this topic. It seems very interesting and thanks to all who shared their stories and ideas.

I'm in the process of launching my own little store. I've selected an interesting niche geared towards women, especially housewives, coz they like to spend money on stuff ;]. My girlfriend enthusiastically approved my selection of niche! I've selected an item which will cost me $2.98 incl. 5-15 days ePacket shipping. I'll try to put it for $0.05 plus $9.90 shipping. On Amazon sellers charge from $5 to $15 for the same item, about 2/3 of them charge $10. So my product won't even be that overpriced.

I'm super tight on budget now, so I may not be able to afford ads, though. My money from another project is very late this time, just when I need it the most :/. I have barely enough money to get a domain and have some extra in case Paypal or bank holds my funds for a few days, in which case I'd need to order the product from my own pocket. Maybe for a couple cheap ads but I don't think it's worth it, because the point is to experiment with different ads at first, which can be expensive.

I'm thinking of using Bigcommerce as they seem to let you launch a store while on a 15-day trial. Can anyone confirm that?

Besides money, I don't have any big following on social media. So my starting position really isn't great but I'll try hard. I'm in the process of creating and warming-up social media accounts, getting some tools and bots ready. I also know somebody personally from the field, who may be willing to make a sales video for me for free, so I could upload it to YT and other sites for extra exposure.

Also, somebody has mentioned trying different markets other than Aliexpress. Are there any ones worth looking at?

Another very important thing is that some seler on Aliexpress state in their profiles that they'll only ship products to the address the user has registered. The seller I'm particularly interested in says "We will send to your registered address that shows on the site If any change, pls kindly tell us in time to avoid any inconvenience!".

Can't remember for sure, bot I think somebody said that you should simply edit 'your' address every time before ordering an item. Is that correct? Would sellers have a problem with that?

Everything else seems pretty clear to me for now, thanks to such in-depth discussions.

I really hope to launch my store within 30 hours, because it'll be weekend and thus potentially more happy customers. However, there's looads of work yet to be done. I'll keep ya updated boyz.

 

[Mr Stark]

How many visitors on average result in a sale? I'm running limited instagram promotion (just to see if it works, if I get a sale I'm going full throttle), got 60 visitors so far, 8 abandoned checkouts and no sales. I'm doing $7.99 price with a coupon that makes the price $0, and $8.99 shipping cost. I have a good and versatile niche, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or is it just a low traffic number.

 

[Javivi]

Change shopify to your own landing page with paypal/stripe and cut on overhead.

 

[Sythix]

ALMOST got my first refund.

I guess you just got to treat this like a real business, and keep it professional. I think I handled it well.

(This person messaged me on social media)

Them: Question.


Me: whats up?


Them: You recently did a giveaway for ******, right?


Me: Yes, have you not received your order?


Them: Unfortunately, I haven't received my order.


Me:Okay, under what name did you purchase?


Me: I will take a look.


Them: Justin ******


Me: **** (Address Details removed for protection)


Me: This is the correct address?


Them: Yes


Me: Ok.


Me: Okay Justin, the goods are coming from a warehouse that is overseas. I see you ordered on the 12th, not sure what is taking so long (holidays maybe?) but I can assure you it's on it's way and you will get it. I can do one of two things, we can wait it out a couple days, or I can refund you your total shipping cost right now.


Me: Which would you like?


Them: I guess I can wait it out a couple of days.


Me: Okay, if at any time you want a refund, just ask me. I have no problem doing it. I am sorry for the delay, but I appreciate your understanding and patience Justin.

Update:

This same customer just messaged me again today and said they received their item. I asked them how they liked it and they said they loved it and were super happy. This is the first feedback I've actually gotten so I am super pleased and probably going to stay with this same supplier for anything in this niche.

 

[anatho]

Really terrible method. It does not work and does not work, regardless how much I try, it does NOT work. 100 % bounce rate from product page with 4 seconds on-page time. That's ridiculous.
They click on my link from the fb ad so they want the product. They have already seen the product on fb, they have seen the price too. So what is the f**ing problem that they leave the product page after 4 seconds although they already have seen everything on fb ad.
It is simply that this bs facebook traffic does never convert, this is NOT buyer traffic. They come for looking and immediately leave again. This thread and also all the others about this method are full of people that got clicks to website but only abandoned carts and zero sales.
3-4 lucky people here made some money by pure chance, all the others made nothing and only burned their money for advertising.

 

[onelettershor]

How many visitors on average result in a sale? I'm running limited instagram promotion (just to see if it works, if I get a sale I'm going full throttle), got 60 visitors so far, 8 abandoned checkouts and no sales. I'm doing $7.99 price with a coupon that makes the price $0, and $8.99 shipping cost. I have a good and versatile niche, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or is it just a low traffic number.

How much are you spending with ADS?

 

[Sythix]

Really terrible method. It does not work and does not work, regardless how much I try, it does NOT work. 100 % bounce rate from product page with 4 seconds on-page time. That's ridiculous.
They click on my link from the fb ad so they want the product. They have already seen the product on fb, they have seen the price too. So what is the f**ing problem that they leave the product page after 4 seconds although they already have seen everything on fb ad.
It is simply that this bs facebook traffic does never convert, this is NOT buyer traffic. They come for looking and immediately leave again. This thread and also all the others about this method are full of people that got clicks to website but only abandoned carts and zero sales.
3-4 lucky people here made some money by pure chance, all the others made nothing and only burned their money for advertising.

For guys like you, who aren't having any success, why not try being completely transparent? Tell us your niche, your campaign, how much spent, every little detail. I know this forum likes to be so "secretive" about their niches like they are sitting on a fucking goldmine, but if you aren't making shit, then what do you have to lose? Be completely transparent and I guarantee we can help you. As frank said, majority of the time is poor niche selection. I can't explain your bounce rate, it could be as simple as someone accidentally clicking the ad, or people just simply clicking it expecting a larger picture of the item. Not all clicks will convert, obviously. My abandoned cart page is PAGES, and PAGES long.

 

[anatho]

For guys like you, who aren't having any success, why not try being completely transparent? Tell us your niche, your campaign, how much spent, every little detail. I know this forum likes to be so "secretive" about their niches like they are sitting on a fucking goldmine, but if you aren't making shit, then what do you have to lose? Be completely transparent and I guarantee we can help you. As frank said, majority of the time is poor niche selection. I can't explain your bounce rate, it could be as simple as someone accidentally clicking the ad, or people just simply clicking it expecting a larger picture of the item. Not all clicks will convert, obviously. My abandoned cart page is PAGES, and PAGES long.

Well, I do not think that the niche is bad. It is a product for fans of a particular pc game. It is played by about 80 million people. On fb target group is about 3 million. I did a broad target group for this ad and my ad was for post engagements. Daily budget $5. My CR is 8% and CPC is $0.05.
The product I am promoting, I sell for $19.99 with coupon code it is for free, plus $11.99 for shipping. But they do not even see the shipping fee because they did not go to checkout.
Some strange things, fb says I got 40 page engagements, but there are only 2 likes and 1 comments, so what are the other 37 engagements. And out of these 40 people only 4 actually went to the product link and then immediately left. Well, about bigger picture, the picture is the same as on fb ad, but there are additional 4 pictures of the item.
Abandoned carts, I think this is because there was no shipping fee mentioned on fb, so they leave because they expected the item to be for free. But in my case, I said on fb it is free with coupon code but one has to pay for S&H.

Also the ad itself works pretty well, very low CPC and high CR. But that does not help much if almost nobody goes to product page and the ones that go leave immediately. Or shall I try website conversions instead? But really not sure, because CPC will be way higher and if it already does not work with PE then I really do not know

 

[Bionaire]

Well, I do not think that the niche is bad. It is a product for fans of a particular pc game. It is played by about 80 million people. On fb target group is about 3 million. I did a broad target group for this ad and my ad was for post engagements. Daily budget $5. My CR is 8% and CPC is $0.05.
The product I am promoting, I sell for $19.99 with coupon code it is for free, plus $11.99 for shipping. But they do not even see the shipping fee because they did not go to checkout.
Some strange things, fb says I got 40 page engagements, but there are only 2 likes and 1 comments, so what are the other 37 engagements. And out of these 40 people only 4 actually went to the product link and then immediately left. Well, about bigger picture, the picture is the same as on fb ad, but there are additional 4 pictures of the item.
Abandoned carts, I think this is because there was no shipping fee mentioned on fb, so they leave because they expected the item to be for free. But in my case, I said on fb it is free with coupon code but one has to pay for S&H.

Also the ad itself works pretty well, very low CPC and high CR. But that does not help much if almost nobody goes to product page and the ones that go leave immediately. Or shall I try website conversions instead? But really not sure, because CPC will be way higher and if it already does not work with PE then I really do not know

Do you think that most of those who play the game are really passionate enough to pay $11.99 for shipping? Most gamers are casual gamers. Of course, it could just be a bad product too. Also, remember to split test your shipping prices.

 

[anatho]

Do you think that most of those who play the game are really passionate enough to pay $11.99 for shipping? Most gamers are casual gamers. Of course, it could just be a bad product too. Also, remember to split test your shipping prices.

Well I don't know. The product can be considered as some form of action figure. On ebay many have been sold, some sell several a day. Prices on ebay are about same as my shipping fee, the ones selling for lower use slow airmail and not epacket.
If I go lower on shipping I will not make a cent because I buy for about $7 plus fb ad cost.

Also remember I didn't state how much is shipping in my ad and also on product page you won't see it. You have to put the product in cart. But they leave from product page, so problem is not shipping. Also if the product was bad, then why even go to the link. They see a high res picture of it on fb already

About being passionate, well, I think fb ads simply aren't suited at all for selling physical products. FB users clicking on an ad are not willing to take out their wallets. FB is not ebay or Amazon. On ebay and Amazon people go for buying but on FB they only go for entertainment.

 

[stuckonthisrock]

Well I don't know. The product can be considered as some form of action figure. On ebay many have been sold, some sell several a day. Prices on ebay are about same as my shipping fee, the ones selling for lower use slow airmail and not epacket.
If I go lower on shipping I will not make a cent because I buy for about $7 plus fb ad cost.

Also remember I didn't state how much is shipping in my ad and also on product page you won't see it. You have to put the product in cart. But they leave from product page, so problem is not shipping. Also if the product was bad, then why even go to the link. They see a high res picture of it on fb already

About being passionate, well, I think fb ads simply aren't suited at all for selling physical products. FB users clicking on an ad are not willing to take out their wallets. FB is not ebay or Amazon. On ebay and Amazon people go for buying but on FB they only go for entertainment.

PM me your landing page. I'm sure there's something wrong on there. I've done ecommerce marketing for huge companies but I'm finally at a point where I'm tired of making others money.

 

[M4DM4X]

For a website with only a few products, shopify or another ecommerce platform is useless, just build a standard site and add paypal buttons. Free solution.

 

[Driezzie]

Ok I'm starting to get some results and sales. After a lot of testing and tweaking the Ads, Facebook Ads and the audience are the most important factor of this whole setup.

I'm a bit confused about my Facebook Pixel. Pixel Tester gives me all the green lights but when looking in Power Editor I get confused. For each sale I get 2 Conversion points... Is that normal?

Can someone please inform me or guide me if this is the correct way of implementing Facebook Pixel for Purchase when using Shopify?

SHOPIFY SETTINGS -> CHECK OUT -> ADDITIONAL CONTENT AND SCRIPTS

<!-- Facebook Pixel Code -->
<script>


!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,'script','//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');


fbq('init', '[MYCODE]');
fbq('track', "PageView");
fbq('track', 'Purchase', {value: '0.00', currency: 'USD'});


</script>
<noscript>


<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none"
src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=[MYCODE]&ev=PageView&noscript=1"/>


</noscript>
<!-- End Facebook Pixel Code -->

SHOULD I ALSO ADD THIS TO RULE 54 OF THEME.LIQUID OF THE SHOPIFY THEME? A.K.A. THE <HEAD> SECTION OF EACH PAGE/POST.

<!-- Facebook Pixel Code -->
<script>


!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,'script','//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');


fbq('init', '[MYCODE]');
fbq('track', "PageView");


</script>
<noscript>


<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none"
src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=[MYCODE]&ev=PageView&noscript=1"/>


</noscript>
<!-- End Facebook Pixel Code -->

I get confused about the usage of fbq commands that need to go between the script tags. Facebook is not very clear about it.

cheers

 

[zubidoo]

quick question about dropshipping from China in general - are your customers willing to wait 15 - 30 days for their orders?