Do you think about buying eCom Elites? Perhaps you have seen the webinars and want to find an alternative. Today we will be discussing both the webinars and which course you should choose to buy.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I have been reviewing dropship programs for over three years. I am the owner and operator of my own eCommerce and affiliate business. When dropshipping was less than $500, I was already on version 1.0. Version 7 is now available and can be purchased for thousands of dollars.
I understand the difference between profit and revenue. I don’t believe those Shopify dashboard screenshots which don’t show the cost of goods sold.
Now that you know me, let us get to the point. A comparison and review of which lifestyle is best, eCom Elites vs Drop Ship Lifestyle.
Niche/Product Selection
This type of content is common in courses so we will do the same. After reviewing both courses, I can confirm that eCom Elites focuses on dropshipping products from Aliexpress or China. Although there is some content about using local suppliers, the main focus of the course is China dropshippers.
Drop Ship Lifestyle (DSL) is a way to use dropshippers based in the USA only. You can also use local suppliers from your country. DSL has a major problem. They don’t mention this on the sales page, webinars, or in free training.
Once you are in, you will quickly realize that to work with a US company you need a reseller ID. This is only for US citizens and US businesses. Although it is not difficult to set up a US-based business, it can cause problems with your tax and legal obligations.
Anton Kraly does not look at Chinese dropshippers. Instead, he refers to it in his Youtube videos as “cheap junk”. It’s quite funny, considering that 99% of the products Kraly recommends you sell were made in China. However, someone else did the import for you. Dropshipping to the USA has tighter margins.
eCom Elites offers a low-cost entry level way to select niches and products. Anybody can sell products from China with no restrictions, and any location in the world.
You can find high-quality products from Chinese suppliers. This is a huge advantage.
Create a Store
Both courses recommend Shopify for starting your store. Although Anton’s training isn’t up-to-date in many years, Franklin has more recent content and is far more comprehensive. Both require over-the-shoulder training.
Franklin recommends that you use his premium theme eCom Turbo, which is available as an optional purchase for $97. You can read my review of that theme here. Anton also includes a theme that is meant for larger stores. This is included in the course for no cost.
Both themes can be customized easily. You can change the text but make sure to keep it simple. One thing I noticed about Anton’s theme is that all sites looked the exact same. This meant that if you search Google for one site, you will find them all. This makes it easy to have someone steal your winning products.
Both courses include a free extended trial.
Facebook Ads
eCom Elites is a well-known course in Facebook Ads. Franklin has created over 50 videos about the whole process. It is difficult to update these every time Facebook changes their platform, but Franklin manages it. This course is divided into two modules, which include both normal Facebook ads and advanced Facebook ads.
As if watching 50 videos was not enough, you can also find real-life case studies that show how to put what’s learned into practice.
Drop Ship Lifestyle does not offer training on Facebook Ads. Instead, opt for Google Ads.
Google Ads and Shopping
DSL was the pioneer in this area, and they were the first course that focused exclusively on Google Shopping and Google Ads. This is great if your product works well with the traffic, but not all products do. People often buy impulse products at low prices on social media because they don’t realize they need it until they see it.
It’s almost like a funny T-shirt. It’s not like searching for ‘funny T-shirt’. Instead, you look at an ad for one and then buy it.
Anton has focused his course on these platforms and provides a complete overview. But I felt that there were many things missing or out-of-date.
eCom Elites Version 2 was launched earlier in the year and included Google Ads as well as Google Shopping. You will find over 20 videos covering the topic, from setting up to running ads. It is also up-to-date as of mid 2019.
Both courses provide training on the platform.
Other paid + free traffic
The courses cover free traffic as well as paid traffic methods using DSL. 11 videos are available on how to generate traffic through the standard course.
This video will give you an overview of the course. It includes one video about Bing Ads and one on search engine optimization. One video is on Facebook Ads. You’re clearly on your own in this course. What can you expect to learn in just 13 minutes?
eCom Elites, on the other hand, provides detailed information about topics like Bing, Snapchat and Twitter as well as free traffic generation strategies for each. One example is posting on Facebook pages or liking pages, and sharing content that helps users.
You can find more than 20 videos in eCom Elites vs. 11 in Drop Ship Lifestyle.
Scaling, Optimization, and Automation
This section seems biased towards eCom Elites, as Anton’s course focuses more on Google Ads, which can be much harder to scale. You can create lookalike audiences with a winning product using Facebook Ads and then use different techniques to scale quickly.
Anton’s course focuses more on conversion optimization and how you can increase sales in this manner. It covers order fulfillment and automating your store. Similar EE uses apps and virtual assistants for scaling.
These three points are covered in great detail by both courses.
Using Sales Funnels
Franklin Hatchett is a fan of his sales funnels. He has twice made over a million dollars with Clickfunnels. On the official website, you can view a photo of him or visit his social media channels. DSL used to exclude sales funnel content, but they now do.
Both courses offer a different level of detail. EE has 20 videos that are dedicated to creating funnels, and how to customize them. These videos will also show you how to connect these with Shopify. You can also import share funnels into your account in just one click.
DSL comes with one 17-minute video about creating an hourglass funnel. That’s all. There’s nothing more.
Content Verdict
Drop Ship Lifestyle is a 7-year-old course. It’s a great course, but I feel it lacks a lot of advanced and basic content that would make it one the most popular dropshipping courses. There are times when the information is outdated or incomplete. Some videos were rushed or missing.
The main difference is how many video lessons you have access to, almost three times as many with eCom Elites. Anton’s course doesn’t cover Instagram Ads or Facebook Ads, but Franklin does. You can decide whether to go with Franklin or Google Ads.
It is clear that the videos don’t get updated in DSL because some videos are very old. However, in EE the content appears to be updated each time there is a major change to the way things work, whether it’s Facebook Ads platform.
DSL is a drop shipping service that focuses on the USA. This can be great for Americans. It’s hard to start a business in the USA if you are not an American. A tax advisor may be required to help you ensure that your legal and tax obligations are correctly set up.
EE focuses on Aliexpress, which has its pros and cons. Shipping from China can take longer, but this can be avoided if you have a reliable supplier. Dropshippers based in China are also free to use.
Facebook & Community Masterminds
EE has a Facebook group that includes over 5,500 students around the globe. Sign up by simply using your email address to join the group
DSL has its own forum. To communicate with others, you will need to log in to the platform. Although they claim 10,000 members, it is not clear how many have joined the forum or are still active. I would say that there are very few.
Both platforms seem to be very active. DSL doesn’t have the same stats as Facebook so I can’t give you an estimate of how active they are. This week, there were 100 new posts in EE.
Coaching & Support
DSL has coaches who match you up once you sign-up. Drop Ship Lifestyle members may offer support and coaching. This is important because Anton doesn’t do the coaching.
Spend all that money, and you may get a coach who makes no money running their own business. Franklin does not offer coaching due to the low cost of the course. It is not a good idea to transfer students to coaches as this can lead to conflicts and allow the coach to steal your ideas.
You’ll find a lot of negative feedback about coaching with DSL. Many are negative comments from coaches who don’t offer value for money. Others are hard selling coaches trying to sell you the course.
Anton is able to afford coaches to help clients and sell packages due to the high cost of the course.
Franklin only offers email support and Facebook support
Course Pricing
Because it would be easy for people to compare one to the other based on price, I have deliberately kept pricing out of the article. DSL is almost 10 times more expensive that the premium plan offered through EE, and you don’t get any more value for your money.
We’ve found that eCom Elites has 3x as much content and more traffic sources than DSL. However, you get a premium theme and better coaching with DSL. But is it worth the $2000 extra? Remember that eCom Turbo costs only $97 and there are tons of premium themes available.
After you purchase the course, you will need to pay money for ads. Would you rather spend $2k on ads or spend $2k more to get started?
DSL started at $300 in the beginning. It was launched 7 years ago. The price gradually rose to $500, $1000 and $1500, respectively, before finally reaching $2,497.
EE was always $197, but the introduction of the $297 plan has changed that. It includes the sales funnel training as well as some exclusive bonuses.
Money Back Guarantee
Each course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, you must show proof that you have completed all training and attempted to open a store. Before purchasing either course, you will need to agree to the terms and conditions.
There have been dozens of complaints about DSL not honoring refunds. If you spent $2.5k on a course, and were unhappy with it, you are more likely to leave negative reviews online than if you purchased a $197 course.
You can’t just buy one course and then decide if you want to continue with the program. Before you make the leap, determine if this is something that interests you.
Final Verdict
eCom Elites is the clear winner in price. If I had the money, I wouldn’t buy DSL if there was a better and cheaper alternative.
Anton has been in the game for many years. He has a million-dollar ad spend to help you realize your dream of owning a business. He funnels you into webinars and you will be amazed at the luxury holidays, cars, and his annual retreat in Thailand.
You need to examine all of that and look at the course content to see if you can make your money back.
Dropshipping is a difficult business model for most people. Dropshipping is a common problem. Most people give up and consider it a scam. Would you prefer to lose $197 or $24,497? I know what 99 percent of people would do to find out if this is for them. Online business is not for everyone.
Content: eCom Elites again wins. There’s 3x as much content, and more content on related topics.
It’s a tie on community, as both offer amazing communities with thousands of members.
It goes to Anton on theme, but you can also buy a premium theme at no extra cost.
