Need Real Talk: How do YOU test products without bleeding money?

Hey legends

I’ve been diving deep into BHW threads for weeks now — absolute goldmine, respect to all the OGs here
Now I’ve reached the “stop scrolling, start asking” stage. So here’s me, humble & hungry:

My context:
- Total newbie to Facebook Ads & Dropshipping
- Budget: ~$100 to test ideas (yeah, I know, tight)
- Skills: Decent with copy, memes, and Canva — but not a coder/designer
- Goal: Find 1 winning product, break even or small profit, then reinvest & scale slow

My questions to the warriors here:

1. **If you had $100 and a limited Meta Ads budget, how would you approach product testing?**
(CBO or ABO? Broad or niche? Creative first or product first?)

2. **Do you recommend testing via PPE > Conversion, or just go straight to Purchase?**
(I've seen both takes — curious which works for you guys in 2025)

3. **How important is it to have a proper brand/landing page vs. a simple Shopify template at first?**
(Should I polish or just launch ugly & fast?)

4. **Do you run ads from fresh BM + pixel, or buy warm aged ones? Worth it?**

5. **If you had to pick ONE mistake to avoid when starting with FB Ads, what would it be?**

I’m not here to ask for a plug-n-play guide, just real-world advice.
Even 1 answer to 1 question above would mean a ton

And once I launch my first campaign, I’ll open a public Journey thread to share the madness. Fail or fly, it’ll be real.

Thanks fam!

Really respect the honesty here—testing with a tight budget is tough and not talked about enough. Sounds like you’ve got the right mindset though, especially leaning on your copy and design skills. Starting small and keeping things simple is usually the way to go. Definitely curious to see how your first $100 plays out—keep us updated!