Many people today are earning money online without leaving their homes. One popular way they do this is by using dropshipping. In dropshipping, a person sells products online without keeping any of the products in stock. Instead, when someone buys from their store, another company ships the product directly to the customer.
This article explains how someone tried to build a dropshipping store using free AI tools and only $1. It was a fun challenge to see if they could create a working Shopify store quickly, easily, and on a tiny budget.
The Challenge: Build a Store With $1
The person gave themselves three rules:
- Use only free AI tools and keep total costs under $1.
- Do everything on a laptop.
- Finish the whole store in under one hour.
Step 1: Choose a Free AI Tool
They chose a tool called Build Your Store. This tool creates an online store for you on Shopify. You don’t need to buy or store any products. The AI handles the setup and helps you choose what to sell.
Here’s how it works:
- You choose a type of product (called a “niche”).
- The tool builds a store with items in that category.
- When someone buys a product, it’s shipped straight from the supplier to the customer.
Step 2: Pick a Niche (Product Category)
They had to choose from categories like:
- Fashion
- Pets
- Electronics
- Home and garden
- Sports and fitness
They chose sports and fitness because many people—especially young people—are interested in exercise and gym gear. It’s important to pick a category where lots of people are already shopping.
Step 3: Customize the Store Look
The AI tool offered different banner designs for the store homepage. A good banner should:
- Show the types of products you sell
- Appeal to everyone (not just one gender)
- Make a strong first impression
They chose a banner that showed both men and women using sports gear.
Step 4: Set Up a Free Shopify Account
Shopify is the platform that runs the online store.
They signed up for a free trial and chose a basic plan. Even though it costs $1 per month after the trial, that payment wouldn’t count until later—so it still fit within the $1 budget.
Step 5: Let AI Build the Store
They added the Build Your Store app to Shopify. The AI began creating the website, adding images, setting up product pages, and making the store easy to navigate. The goal was to finish this as quickly as possible, using the power of automation.
Step 6: Add Products with AutoDS
Now it was time to choose what to sell. They used another tool called AutoDS, which:
- Finds popular items that already sell well
- Adds photos and sets prices
- Automatically ships items when someone buys
They chose a $0.99 trial plan to stay within their $1 budget.
Some of the products the AI added included:
- A breathing trainer (used for fitness training)
- Golf club clips (protects golf clubs from damage)
- A resistance band
- A warm jogging hat
They also showed how to explore more trending products and add them with just one click.
Step 7: Launch the Store
The final step was to go live. They turned off the password protection on Shopify so anyone could visit the website. The store was now open and ready for visitors.
They were impressed with how it looked:
- The banner was in place.
- Buttons helped customers browse easily.
- The product pages looked clean and professional.
Final Thoughts
This test showed that it is possible to build an online dropshipping store using AI tools and almost no money. Even though this kind of business might sound too good to be true, tools like Build Your Store and AutoDS make it easier than ever for beginners.
However, success still depends on:
- Picking the right products
- Making your store look trustworthy
- Helping customers find what they need
While AI helps a lot, it’s still important to think carefully and make smart choices.