At Market Jack, we often meet ecommerce founders who feel like they’ve hit a wall. Maybe the sales have slowed. Maybe the suppliers ghosted. Maybe the dream just doesn’t feel worth it anymore.
That was the case in a recent strategy session with an electric scooter site owner. He’d done around $30,000 in revenue over the course of a year—but the momentum stalled. The issue wasn’t the site, the marketing, or even the product catalog. It was the backend. Warranties were getting messy. Vendors were inconsistent. Customer service was eating up time and energy. What started as a sleek dropshipping business was turning into a customer service nightmare.
But what if that pain point could become the path forward?
The Hidden Cost of Dropshipping
The original model was pure dropship. But when you sell $1,500 scooters and customers need help six months later, your reputation is only as strong as your weakest vendor. In this case, parts weren’t consistent, suppliers weren’t responsive, and support took a hit. That led to customer dissatisfaction, time-draining support issues, and burnout.
We had to ask: is it even worth it to keep dropshipping?
Pivoting the Business Model
Rather than walking away from the store entirely, we explored three directions:
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Leverage Shopify Collective or Carro – These platforms connect you with vetted suppliers inside a single interface. No more patchwork of plugins or broken inventory syncs. Shopify Collective, for instance, lets you both sell other people’s products and allow others to sell yours. It’s a smoother, more scalable version of dropshipping.
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Niche Down to Accessories – Instead of fighting warranty issues on big-ticket scooters, focus on parts and accessories. Batteries. Motors. Lights. Decals. These are easier to ship, less likely to create support nightmares, and they open the door to trust-building through content and customer education.
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Solve Pain, Sell Trust – This was the breakthrough moment. If scooter batteries were failing after six months, why not become the go-to source for replacements? Imagine a simple form on your site: “Upload a photo of your battery, and we’ll send you the right replacement.” That service-first ecommerce model puts you back in control.
Earning More Without Shipping More
Beyond physical product sales, we talked about affiliate marketing. Write blog posts like “Top 5 Scooters Under $2,000,” and link out to Amazon. Add affiliate links for accessories you don’t stock. Become the expert in a sub-niche—like headlight kits for dual-motor scooters—and users will keep coming back.
The Long Game: Land and Expand
There’s a lesson here for every ecommerce entrepreneur:
Start small. Dominate a niche. Build trust. Then expand.
We call this the Land and Expand Strategy. Instead of trying to sell everything to everyone, focus on being the best at one very specific thing. Like headlights for scooters. Once you own that category, add another. Then another. Eventually, you’ve got an entire ecosystem—and maybe your own private-label product line.
Next Steps (For You, Too)
Here’s the sprint-style roadmap we gave this founder—something you can borrow, too:
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Week 1: Explore Shopify Collective or Carro and onboard to one.
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Week 2: Define your niche product category and optimize a landing page for it.
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Week 3: Set up a form to collect customer info for replacement parts or troubleshooting.
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Week 4: Test a small Facebook or Instagram ad to drive traffic to that form.
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Ongoing: Create blog posts or YouTube videos answering common product questions and inserting affiliate links.
By the end of one month, you’ve tested a new product strategy, a new marketing angle, and a new customer engagement method—all without blowing up your current site.
Don’t Waste the Work You’ve Already Done
Even if your ecommerce site feels stalled, there’s value in the domain, the SEO history, and the customer base. Don’t abandon it—reposition it. And if you ever do want to sell it? Even a $30k/year site is worth listing on Flippa.
But more importantly: don’t give up just because it’s not a million-dollar brand today. Build smart. Build small. Then scale.
If you want help figuring out where your opportunity is hiding, let’s talk.
