From Selling Dog Collars to High-Ticket Sales

Ryan’s journey into ecommerce actually started long before building his current store.

Back in 2007, he experimented with dropshipping and built an online store selling dog collars.

The idea worked — he even started getting sales.

But there was a problem.

The products were low-priced, which meant he would need thousands of orders to build a real income.

Handling that kind of volume — customer support, returns, and fulfillment — quickly became overwhelming.

So the idea was put on the back burner for a while.

Years later, Ryan rediscovered ecommerce after finding Drop Ship Lifestyle and learning about high-ticket dropshipping.

The model immediately made sense.

Instead of processing thousands of small orders, the business could focus on fewer orders with higher profit margins.

Ryan committed to building a new store and launched it in 2020 with:

• 12 suppliers
• Over 500 products listed

Not long after turning on Google Ads, the first sale came in — while Ryan was attending his sister’s wedding in Montana.

In this interview, Ryan shares how he went from early ecommerce experiments to building a successful high-ticket store.

Inside this conversation, Ryan talks about:

• His early ecommerce attempt back in 2007
• Why low-ticket products didn’t work for him
• How he built a store with hundreds of products and suppliers
• The moment his first high-ticket sale came in
• Why adding personality to his website increased trust and conversions

One of Ryan’s biggest discoveries was the importance of making the store feel more personal and authentic.

Instead of a generic business page, he added photos of himself and his family enjoying the outdoor lifestyle connected to the products he sells.

That authenticity helped customers feel more comfortable purchasing from a real person rather than a faceless online store.

Combined with strong product descriptions and SEO optimization, this approach helped Ryan build a store that continues to grow today.