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Everywhere you look online, people are claiming they’re making thousands — even hundreds of thousands of dollars — each month in passive income through dropshipping using AI-powered Shopify stores. Some boast of $500 a day from anywhere in the world. Others flash six-figure screenshots.
But is this all just hype?
I decided to find out for myself. Armed with nothing but a laptop, free AI tools, and a strict $1 budget, I set out to create a dropshipping store from scratch — and see if it could actually make money.
Here’s what happened.
The Challenge: 3 Rules Only
Before I started, I set three simple rules:
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Use only free AI tools. The entire store must cost less than $1 to build.
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Laptop-only setup. No special gear or tech tools.
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Time limit: under one hour to get the store up and running.
Let’s hit start on the timer.
Step 1: Choosing a Niche with AI Help
The first thing I needed was a smart, free AI tool to build my Shopify store. After testing a few, the winner was Build Your Store — a free service that builds an entire Shopify dropshipping store for you in minutes.
It works like this:
- You choose a niche
- The AI designs your store
- It adds products you don’t own (dropshipping!)
- Orders are automatically fulfilled and shipped to customers
No inventory. No design skills. No stress.
Picking a Niche
Build Your Store gives you six solid options:
- Fashion & Apparel
- Pets
- Electronics & Gadgets
- Home & Garden
- Sports & Fitness
- “I’m Not Sure”
I picked Sports & Fitness, because it’s a massive market with consistent demand. Plus, my son is into boxing and gym gear, so I already know the space well. It helps to choose something you understand.
Step 2: Customizing the Store Design
The AI gave me six banner options to set the vibe of the store. I skipped the ones that seemed too specific or too feminine (you want the design to appeal to a broad customer base).
I ended up choosing a sunset-themed fitness banner — it was vibrant, attention-grabbing, and gave the store a strong first impression.
Quick tip: The banner is the first thing shoppers see. Make sure it reflects your niche and your vibe.
Step 3: Setting Up Shopify (for Free)
Next up, I created a Shopify account using the free trial. The only thing I had to input was:
- Password
- Business name
After that, I selected the “Basic” plan, which is perfect for solo entrepreneurs. It’s free for 3 days, then $1/month for the next three months, so it didn’t count against my budget... yet.
With Shopify ready, I went back to Build Your Store and installed the app with one click. From there, it started automatically generating the entire store.
Step 4: Finding Winning Products (AutoDS)
With the store built, I needed products that sell — and fast. That’s where AutoDS came in.
AutoDS is a product sourcing and fulfillment tool for dropshippers. It:
- Finds trending products with high sales
- Uploads them to your store with images and descriptions
- Handles pricing, shipping, and fulfillment
I signed up for the Starter 500 plan (99 cents for 30 days), which brought my total budget spend to exactly $1.
So what did I get?
Products like:
- Breathing trainers (for cardio)
- Golf bag clips
- Resistance bands
- Jogging hats
All solid, fitness-related products with decent markups and demand.
Step 5: Tweaking the Website for Better Sales
AI did most of the work, but I still made a few manual improvements:
- Changed the domain to something clean and memorable: TilburyFitness.store
- Filled out the Terms & Conditions and Shipping pages
- Linked social media accounts
- Double-checked product images and pricing
One standout product: the breathing trainer. It costs me $3.95 and sells for $13.42 — giving me nearly $7 in profit per sale.
Not huge, but scalable.
Step 6: Promoting the Store with Micro-Influencers
You can have the best products in the world — but without traffic, you won’t sell a thing.
So I turned to influencer marketing. But instead of spending $1,000s on big names, I went with micro-influencers — accounts with 10k–50k followers and high engagement.
Why micro?
- 60% more engagement than macro-influencers
- 20% higher conversion rates
- Way cheaper
I paid $50 to the Gray Brothers (14.5k Instagram followers) to create a short story video promoting the breathing trainer. It was quirky, fun, and perfect for Instagram.
Step 7: The Results — Did It Actually Work?
After 24 hours, the results were in…
✅ 12 breathing trainers sold
- 2 were test orders from me
- 10 were legit customer purchases
Revenue: $170.85
Costs:
- Product: $39.50
- Influencer: $50
- Shopify: $1
Not bad for something that took one hour to build, cost $1 to launch, and used AI to automate nearly everything.
So… Is AI Dropshipping Too Good to Be True?
Here’s the honest truth: it works — but only if you do it right.
If I had more time to:
- Test multiple products
- Scale influencer campaigns
- Run ads or build an email list
…I could easily see this turning into $500+ per day.
So no, it’s not too good to be true — but it’s also not totally passive or “free money.” You still need smart tools, some hustle, and a solid niche.
Final Thoughts: Can You Do It Too?
If you’ve got:
- A laptop
- An hour
- $1
...you can absolutely replicate this setup.
Use:
- Build Your Store AI to design your Shopify store
- AutoDS to find winning products
- Micro-influencers to drive sales
Want to see a follow-up post where I scale this up to multiple products? Let me know in the comments or share this with someone who’s been thinking about starting a side hustle.
And hey — if you want more real-world tests of passive income strategies, check out my next post right here.
Let’s grow that wealth — one smart hustle at a time.