Meet the 18-year-old entrepreneur making $50K a MONTH selling items on eBay via ‘dropshipping’

A teenager who used to work at McDonald’s is now enjoying a life of designer clothes, international travel and top restaurants thanks to selling ‘trendy’ products on eBay. 

Olivia Percoco, from Melbourne, launched an e-commerce eBay store in 2020 before Covid hit Australia, but said the online business ‘took off’ mid-2021. 

The 18-year-old told Daily Mail Australia she uses the ‘dropshipping’ business model which involves shipping products from the manufacturer directly to the customer without the retailer ever seeing it. 

She claims to have turned over more than $500,000 in just two years  – including $50,000 in one month alone – by tracking social media to see the products most in demand. 

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Olivia Percoco (pictured) launched an eBay store in 2020 before Covid hit Australia, but said the online business ‘took off’ mid-2021 

In one month alone she turned over a staggering $50,000 selling ‘trendy’ products, which has transformed her lifestyle

In her free time during Melbourne’s first Covid lockdown, Olivia taught herself ‘everything she knows’ about dropshipping by watching YouTube videos.

Prior to launching her online store she was working at McDonald’s and was ‘completely broke’. 

‘I hated working (at McDonald’s), it wasn’t fun, so I googled ways to make money online and came across dropshipping,’ she said. 

After noticing others were making money fast, she felt motivated to start an online store of her own. 

Initially she tried the popular e-commerce platform Shopify but wasn’t satisfied with the sales she was making and turned to eBay. 

Olivia doesn’t limit her business to one niche and sells products from a range of categories. 

Some of the products she sells include coffee machines, desks, DIY supplies, gardening items, mouse pads, phone cases and home organisation products. 

Last year Olivia’s best selling product was the reversible octopus plush toy seen all over TikTok, while this year the Starbucks coffee pod machine is the number one best seller. 

The key to making sales using the dropshipping method is to research the popularity and demand of a product, research the competitors then decide if it’s worth adding inventory to your own store. 

Olivia doesn’t limit her business to one niche and sells products from a range of categories. At the moment one of the most popular items selling online is a Starbucks pod coffee machine (pictured, right)

‘A lot of time goes into product research first – I look at what’s trending on TikTok by searching through hashtags,’ she said. 

‘On eBay I’m able to list 40 items at a time and not limit myself to one niche.’ 

Once deciding on a product, she then finds a supplier that’s usually in Australia to reduce delivery time. 

Olivia never sees any of the stock as it’s shipped directly to the customer.  

She chose eBay as a platform because it’s reliable and has a huge number of customers from around the world.

Today Olivia is able to support herself full-time while funding her luxe lifestyle, which she boasts about on TikTok. 

She buys designer bags, travels in business class overseas and attends fancy restaurants. 

In future, she hopes to transform what she’s learnt via dropshipping to create another profitable branded business and possibly study marketing at university. 

Today Olivia is able to support herself full-time while funding her luxe lifestyle, which she boasts about on TikTok

When asked if anyone can learn how to do dropshipping themselves, Olivia said ‘absolutely’. 

‘It’s super easy but you need to be persistent – you’re not going to see results straight away but that shouldn’t deter you if you really want it,’ she said. 

‘You need tunnel vision and to have a motivator, otherwise it’s easy to lose sight of what you want to achieve. 

‘Two years ago I never imagined I’d be able to afford staying in nice hotels and fly across Australia, it’s opened my eyes to what’s possible.’