Strategy

Private Label

Buying generic product from a manufacturer and putting your own brand on it. The graduation step from AliExpress dropshipping to a defensible brand.

Private label is the model where you buy a generic product from a manufacturer (typically on Alibaba) and put your own brand, packaging, and sometimes light product modifications on it. It's the step between pure AliExpress dropshipping and full custom product development.

Economics: private-label COGS is typically 40-70% lower than the equivalent AliExpress listing, shipping times drop to 3-7 days once stocked, branding/packaging is customizable, and the product becomes defensible (competitors can't just copy-paste your AliExpress listing).

Trade-offs: MOQs (usually 300-1,000 units), upfront capital commitment, 30-60 day lead times on reorders, and all the operational work of inventory forecasting and 3PL management.

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The ranking and recommendation logic that decides which ads and organic posts a user sees. Every platform's algorithm is a moving target you optimize against.
Cohort
A group of customers who first purchased in the same window (e.g., "January buyers"). Tracking cohorts over time reveals how retention is actually trending.
DMCA
The US copyright law used to take down content that infringes on intellectual property. Dropshipping stores get hit with DMCAs for copied product images, copied ads, and copied branding.
FTC
The US Federal Trade Commission — the agency that regulates advertising truthfulness, "Made in USA" claims, subscription-billing practices, and influencer disclosure.
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