Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites Course Review – Is Dropshipping Still Worth Your Time?

I’ve taken many online courses on making money since I started in 2019. Many of those courses included e-commerce and dropshipping, one being Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites. Today, I’ll be sharing my Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites course review and in doing so, answer the question of whether dropshipping is still worth your time.

Let’s jump in!

What Is Ecom Elites?

I first came across the Ecom Elites course after failing several attempts to make money from dropshipping. I should have quit, but a desire to make money and the allure of big money from e-commerce kept bringing me back.

On my third attempt, I researched more before buying another course. Yes, I probably shouldn’t have gone for courses, but I was a little dumb back then and obsessed with completing courses.

Anyway, I searched for the “best dropshipping courses” and read reviews on various e-commerce programs.

One course kept popping up – Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites.

Many reviews had Ecom Elites listed as their number-one picks. They talked about how it was the best value for the money and how the content contained everything you needed to succeed in drop shipping.

Thus, I bought the course and took a look for myself.

Back then, making money online with e-commerce was all about dropshipping from China via sites like Aliexpress. Franklin (also referred to as Frank) Hatchett claimed that he was one of the pioneers of the strategy.

It’s a strategy where you advertise products for which you don’t hold any inventory. When you make sales, you will go to another site, in this case, Aliexpress, to buy the product at a much lower price and ship it directly to the customer.

Here’s an image courtesy of Ecom Elites for a visual representation of the business model:

Let’s look at what Ecom Elites teaches you to help you succeed in this business model.

Ecom Elites Course Curriculum Summary

The Ecom Elites course comes with ten modules plus an introductory section. First, the introductory section.

Ecom Introduction

Very self-explanatory. It’s an introduction to dropshipping from Aliexpress and who Frank Hatchett is. Not too much to be said.

Module 1. Setting Up Your Store

Module one is when things first get exciting. This is where you’re building your store, and it immediately shows how value-packed Frank’s course is.

Compared to other courses, the setup is much more in-depth with content on general vs. niche stores, setting up Oberlo, abandoned checkout sequences, and even upsells in addition to all the basics.

Module 2. Sourcing Products & Research

Once you set up your store, the next logical step is to find products to fill it. Again, Frank’s course has excellent tips and advice for doing so, with tons of strategies for finding winning products and clear action plans.

It is a detailed section with many strategies, from analyzing Aliexpress’s sales to watching what other stores are doing in the market.

Module 3. Facebook Traffic

This is the section that reviewers had the most praise for when I was researching the Ecom Elites course, and it truly is one of the most in-depth sections on Facebook advertising I have ever seen.

That said, it didn’t need to be this detailed, especially recently. Facebook’s machine learning system does an outstanding job getting you buyers as long as you have a good product and a convincing sales message, so it’s generally better to opt for a simple strategy.

Module 4. Instagram Traffic

Now, you might be surprised that Frank doesn’t include Instagram in his Facebook section. Instagram, after all, is owned by Facebook, and you run Instagram ads using a Facebook Business Manager.

The reason is that Frank’s strategy on Instagram is entirely separate from what he does on Facebook. Instead of running cold ads, he pays influencers to promote his products directly and uses Instagram ads as a retargeting strategy.

I love that Frank does this, and it’s one of the ways Ecom Elites differs from other courses.

Module 5. Email Marketing Blueprint

Once you get past modules three and four, the focus shifts from testing products and making your first sales to building a brand and making repeat sales. Email marketing is one of, if not the most powerful way to build a brand.

And just like the other sections, Frank does a great job teaching you how to set up email marketing for your site.

Module 6. ChatBot Profits

After email marketing, things get interesting. Frank has a module on setting up ChatBots in your store. This is something I rarely see other gurus do. It’s difficult to say how beneficial this section is, but the idea is to have a virtual sales assistant guiding your customers even when you’re not online.

Module 7. Building Sales Funnels

Moving on, we have a module on building sales funnels next. This is a potent strategy that I’m glad Frank touched on, as using sales funnels often gives you much higher conversion rates compared to typical stores.

However, I wish he had emphasized how to make sales funnels high-converting. This section spends a lot of time on creating sales funnels and using ClickFunnels and not enough time on things like VSLs, copywriting, and follow-up email sequences.

Module 8. Google Ads

Following the sales funnels module, Frank moves into Google Ads. Although not as detailed as the Facebook section, it is an excellent introduction to running Google Ads on your dropshipping store.

Module 9. Google Organic SEO Traffic

Along the same lines, the following module discusses Google traffic in the form of SEO. This section is all about ranking in Google search. Again, it’s not as detailed as the other advertising sections, but it is a good snippet of info.

Module 10. Increase Sales & Secret Videos

Finally, we have Module 10, a bonus module where Frank discusses miscellaneous tips and strategies for building a successful e-commerce store.

The content includes his strategies for increasing AOV, writing high-converting product descriptions, using virtual assistants to scale, and more.

What I Like About Ecom Elites

Now that we covered Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites course curriculum, it’s time to talk about what I like and don’t like about the course. First, what I like.

1. Jam-Packed With Content

Having taken many courses on making money online, I have to say that Ecom Elites is the best dropshipping one I have taken. It is filled with content and gives you many unique strategies if one thing does not work.

2. Good Value (Back Then)

With how much content Ecom Elites had, it was an excellent deal back then. The $197 ($297 for the Ultimate package) price made it very competitive compared to other courses that offered half the content for triple the price.

But that was back then. You might be surprised that I no longer recommend Frank Hatchett’s Ecom Elites course.

What I Don’t Like About Ecom Elites

1. Dropshipping With Aliexpress Is Dead

The problem with the Ecom Elites course is that dropshipping via Aliexpress is dead. The 30+-day shipping times are brutal, and consumers have begun to recognize that people are trying to sell them $2 products for 10X the price.

These two things have led to many Facebook advertising accounts being restricted due to negative feedback and made it very difficult for one to succeed with dropshipping.

2. Ecom Elites Is Not Active Anymore

And because dropshipping with Aliexpress is dead, Ecom Elites is not as active anymore. Frank Hatchett has stopped monitoring the private Facebook group you get access to with the course, and the content does not get updated.

For example, there are still videos on how to use Oberlo. Oberlo was a plugin that allowed dropshippers to add products and fulfill orders from Aliexpress quickly, but it was discontinued in 2022 as dropshipping started falling.

How Much Does Ecom Elites Cost, and Is It Worth It?

Ecom Elites comes in two packages – a standard package for $197 and an ultimate package for $297. Both are one-time payments and not worth it anymore.

When dropshipping with Aliexpress was still relevant, Ecom Elites may have been worth it. It is a course jam-packed with content and offers significantly more value than its dropshipping peers.

However, the reality is that dropshipping with Aliexpress is not a business model you should be getting into nowadays, and Ecom Elites has not innovated.

Thus, my verdict is that you should not buy Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites course.

Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites Course Review

Thank you for making it this far! I hope you enjoyed my Franklin Hatchett’s Ecom Elites course review and found it helpful in assessing whether you should buy.

While Ecom Elites was a great course back then, it is a shell of its former self. Dropshipping with Aliexpress is dead, and Ecom Elites has not been updated.

If you want to build an online business and follow training that continually stays relevant, I recommend you check out Wealthy Affiliate instead. This platform has been around for nearly 20 years and only continues to get better over time.

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You will have a much better chance of making money online with Wealthy Affiliate than with Ecom Elites.