Steve Chou: Profitable Online Store Review, Scam or Legit?

So, you’ve been thinking about starting an online business and you’ve heard about the MyWifeQuitHerJob course. You may be wondering whether it’s worth your time and money, especially since the creator, Steve Chou, started his online business way back in 2007. 

Has his approach to e-commerce become outdated? And is he making more money selling courses than running his own online store?

Well, as an internet entrepreneur myself, I’ve had the chance to review many online business courses, and I’m happy to share my thoughts on MyWifeQuitHerJob with you. 

Before we dive in, I want to make it clear that I’m not affiliated with Steve Chou or his course, and I’m not being paid to write this review. So, you can expect an unbiased assessment.

In this review, I’ll cover what MyWifeQuitHerJob course offers and whether it’s still relevant in 2023. I’ll also share with you a better alternative that has helped me build a successful and passive online income. So, let’s get started!

Who is Steve Chou?

Steve Chou is a pro at creating online stores and importing products from Asia, and he’s been doing it for quite some time now. In fact, he was able to make over $100k in the first year of his store, Bumblebee Linens. Now, his store makes seven figures a year – pretty impressive, right?

Steve started his online business way back in 2007, which was a long time ago. Unlike many of the younger gurus out there, Steve is a rather mature guy. If you’ve watched other eCommerce gurus, you might have noticed that many of them are around 20 years old and like showing off their cars to sell you a particular lifestyle. But Steve is different.

He’s married and has kids, and he runs his own annual eCommerce conference called Sellers Summit. At this conference, top minds come together to discuss the latest strategies and tactics for growing online stores. Steve also started his own venture funding show, similar to Shark Tank, called the 5 Minute Pitch.

Steve has implemented everything he teaches in his own store and blogs about his success and failures on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. With his electrical engineering background, Steve isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and handles all his own technical issues, sales and marketing, and even writes his own WordPress plugins. Steve has taken all his techniques, tools, and hacks to run an eCommerce business and shared them in his course Create a Profitable Online Store.

If that’s not enough, Steve has been featured in some pretty big media outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times, MSNBC, ABC, Mixergy, Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn, and many more.

Steve is also quite active on YouTube. At the time of writing, his channel has around 203k subscribers. So, if you’re looking to learn more about creating successful online stores or importing products from Asia, Steve Chou might just be the guy for you.

To get a sense of his teaching style, you can watch the following video:

 

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

How does Profitable Online Store help you make money?

Profitable Store Online (also known as MyWifeQuitHerJob course) aims to teach you how to start an ecommerce business. 

The course includes 15 modules. You can get access to video tutorials and some PDF checklists. 

This course stands out because it offers free traffic tips and provides you with the opportunity to build your own website from scratch. 

• Learn more about ecommerce business. 

Profitable Online Store Course Breakdown

Here are the 15 modules included in the course.

Module 1: Find a Profitable Niche

Learn how to search for profitable niches and assess the competition. You’ll take the example of Steve’s niche, wedding handkerchiefs, which he makes seven figures with.

Module 2: Sourcing Products

In Module 2, you’ll learn where to get cheap and legit products from. You’ll learn about the retail supply chain, purchasing wholesale, identifying illegitimate products, importing products from overseas, and developing your product with Chinese factories.

Module 3: Set Up Your Online Store

Learn how to set up your website. Steve Chou shows you a way to make your own site for free using open-source software. However, if you prefer a ready-made platform, Shopify is an easy-to-use option.

Module 4: How To Sell On Amazon

Get some tips on selling on Amazon using Amazon’s FBA model. Discover how to write listings for sales conversion and how to get reviews on your products.

Module 5: How To Create Sales Funnels

Learn how to use sales funnels to increase conversion. Sales funnels help customers take standard steps to make a purchase.

Module 6: Make Your Business Legal

This module covers the legal paperwork you need to start a business.

Module 7: Market Your Online Store For Free

Get some suggestions for free marketing, including word of mouth and marketing to customers who have already purchased.

Module 8: Email Marketing

Learn how to set up an email autoresponder, build a contact list, and sell email lists that generate sales.

Module 9: Google Adwords And Google Shopping

Learn how to make sales with the Google Adwords (now known as Google Ads) and Google Shopping advertising platforms.

Module 10: Facebook Advertising

Facebook tends to be the preferred platform for advertising in the eCommerce industry. Learn how to launch a Facebook advertising campaign, retarget customers, and identify which ads work.

Module 11: Facebook Messenger Marketing

Learn how to make sales using Facebook Messenger by building your list for free and leveraging messenger.

Module 12: Optimize Your Store For Search Engines

Learn how to use search engine optimization (SEO) properly to get free traffic from Google.

Module 13: Price Your Products For Maximum Profit

Find out how to price your products for maximum sales and profits.

Module 14: Advanced Website Optimization

Learn how to give your website an overall professional look. You’ll learn about building a website, optimizing conversions with a call-to-action, using coupon codes, optimizing images, and closing sales.

Module 15: Customer Service

Master customer service and ensure that your business receives good reviews from customers.

Enroll in Profitable Store Online course to learn how to set up a profitable eCommerce store today.

Are Profitable Online Store students getting results?

Steve claims that 56% of students who have been enrolled in the course for over a year are earning at least 4 figures a month in revenue. But, can we really trust what he’s saying? 

I have found a number of success stories on the sales page. Here are some examples:

• Abby Walker, the creator of VivianLou.com, makes over 2.5 million dollars per year.
• Ron Eiger, the creator of SunnyDecals.com, makes 7 figures per year.
• Jen Depaoli, the creator of ShowerCurtainHQ.com, makes over $50k per month.
• TheOilCollection.com made $25k in its first 3 months and 6 figures in a single month during its first holiday season.
• Vizcosa.com makes 6 figures per year.
• LifeAndLimbGel.com makes 6 figures per year.

If that wasn’t enough, Steve also claims that 9% of students are making over $50k per month.

However, upon close inspection, I found the figures suspicious.

Let’s take VivianLou.com as an example. This website is selling weight-shifting insoles for high heels. A pair of classic insoles is sold at $29. With an annual income of $2.5 million, she has to sell 86,206 pairs a year.

Conventional wisdom says that a good conversion rate is somewhere around 2% to 5%.

Let’s take 5%. That means she needs 1.7 million visitors a year to reach her sales figure!

However, their Instagram page only has 50.3k visitors, and the store only has around 5k monthly traffic most of the time. That means around 60k visitors a year.

Of course, most of the traffic could have come from Facebook ads. But people don’t usually make impulse purchases these days. They would usually google your brand for more information.

So, I doubt if VivianLou.com really has a few million visitors in a year.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

How much does Profitable Store Online cost?

The course costs $1699, which is a significant investment. 

There are other eCommerce courses available at a lower price. For example, it only costs $997 to join Start and Scale. 

Based on our estimation, you can start a functional eCommerce business with as little as $630. 

Business models like dropshipping could require even less. 

If you possess numerous digital skills and have ample time, the cost could be even lower.

Refund Policy

Regarding the refund policy, you have 30 days to decide if the course is right for you. 

Although they claim to have a no-questions-asked refund policy, it’s essential to note that you might need to provide reasons for requesting a refund. 

There may also be specific criteria you must meet to prove the course didn’t work for you.

Praise for Profitable Online Store

1. Comprehensive Training

The course is incredibly comprehensive, covering a broad range of topics related to online stores and drop shipping without any fluff. 

It’s not just limited to one area, but rather encompasses portable subjects such as SEO, website optimization, and managing partner companies, which are applicable to other online businesses like affiliate marketing. You can expect to learn a lot of valuable information in a short amount of time.

2. Supportive Community

When you join Profitable Online Store, you’ll gain access to a friendly and supportive community of entrepreneurs who are on a similar journey. Not only will you be added to a private Facebook group, but you’ll also be placed in a group of four students for weekly focus group meetings.

During these sessions, you’ll exchange ideas, share tips, provide support, and keep each other accountable. 

Plus, you’ll have direct access to Steve’s knowledge and expertise through office hours, his private email address, and a private forum where you can ask Steve and other members any questions you may have.

3. Access to Expert Interviews and Webinars

You get lifetime access to interviews and webinars with not only Steve but also other industry experts. Steve frequently updates the content, ensuring that you always stay up to date with the latest trends and techniques in the e-commerce industry. This feature alone provides an excellent opportunity to learn from multiple sources and get a more holistic perspective on how to run a successful online store.

4. Personalized Video Critique of Your Online Store

If you’re committed to setting up your online store and actively participating in the program, Steve offers to review your website and provide a full video critique pointing out areas for improvement. This is an incredibly valuable service that you won’t find in many other courses.

Plus, you’ll have access to all the previous website critiques Steve has done, giving you a chance to learn from other students’ mistakes and successes. It’s an excellent way to get personalized feedback and insights from an experienced mentor to help you take your online store to the next level.

Criticism of Profitable Online Store

1. Pricey course

Let’s face it, the price of the Profitable Online Store course is quite high compared to other options available out there. Although it covers all the basics of starting an online business, you may find other courses at a lower price point that offer the same or even more features.

2. Outdated strategies

Steve Chou’s eCommerce store that sells wedding handkerchiefs has been running since 2007, and it’s a great success story. However, the strategies that he used for that store might not be as relevant in today’s market. 

Therefore, it is essential to keep in mind that the techniques taught in the course may not be up-to-date and may require additional research and experimentation to apply them to your business.

3. Testimonial Sales Figures Are Suspicious

The sales figures mentioned in the course testimonials seem a bit suspicious. Some students claimed to have made a lot of sales, but it’s hard to believe since their stores don’t have enough traffic to achieve the stated number of sales.

4. Course Information Can Be Found Online for Free

A significant amount of the information covered in the course can be found for free online. So if you’re willing to do some research, you might be able to gather the same knowledge on your own without having to pay for the course.

5. No Guaranteed Unique Strategies

Finally, the course doesn’t offer any unique strategies that guarantee your success. While the course does cover useful information, it doesn’t provide any ground-breaking or innovative ideas that will set you apart from the competition.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Is Steve Chou a scam?

Steve Chou is definitely not a scammer. He’s a seasoned eCommerce expert with a proven track record of success. His course is a great way to learn the basics of eCommerce.

However, the real question is whether you can make money from the course. Steve Chou has shifted his focus from eCommerce to selling online courses. While he may have had success with eCommerce in the past, his main income today comes from selling his courses.

Steve Chou’s eCommerce store was launched back in 2007 when the internet was simpler, and it was easier to get traffic from Google. So it’s unclear if his strategies will work in today’s more complex online environment.

Furthermore, Steve Chou recently helped his kids launch an eCommerce store selling kids’ t-shirts, which uses print-on-demand technology. However, it appears that the store is not successful at all, with very little traffic and signs of being abandoned for a while. This raises concerns about whether he can still replicate his earlier success.

Additionally, Steve Chou doesn’t talk about the challenges of eCommerce because he’s trying to sell you his course. If you’re new to online business, it’s important to understand that eCommerce is much more difficult than you may think.

In conclusion, Steve Chou’s Profitable Online Store course is not a scam, but you should be cautious about the promises it makes.

Best Alternative to Profitable Online Store

Start and Scale is the best alternative to the MyWifeQuitHerJob course. 

With the Start and Scale course, you’ll learn everything you need to know about building a sustainable eCommerce brand from scratch. And guess what? It’s the most popular eCommerce course in the world, with over 21,000 paid members!

The course is the brainchild of Gretta Van Riel, a young and successful entrepreneur from Australia who has built multiple eCommerce brands, including SkinnyMe Tea, the 5th, and Dropbottle. Gretta’s net worth is estimated to be $5 million, so you can trust her expertise in this field.

Unlike other eCommerce courses out there, “Start and Scale” doesn’t just focus on short-term success. It aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to create an online store that can generate a steady stream of passive income for years to come. Sounds great, right?

To make things even better, the course is now available at a discounted price of $997 (that’s $1000 off the regular price!). 

Plus, Gretta is the winner of the Shopify Build A Business Award, which means she knows how to build a Shopify store with the highest-grossing sales in a six-month period.

• Full review of Start and Scale

3 Biggest Challenges of eCommerce

1. Facebook Ads Are Not Always Effective

Facebook ads are a popular way to promote products in e-commerce. However, they are not always effective. Your ad can quickly exhaust the audience, and you may see a decline in your revenue. In fact, at best, the total Facebook ad cost will account for at least 30% of your total sales. Moreover, Facebook ad costs are increasing year-on-year, which could result in a net loss. 

Additionally, Facebook frequently changes its algorithm, making it challenging to keep up with the platform’s learning curve. If you run Facebook ads without any experience, your ad account may be banned for violating Facebook’s strict policies. Therefore, it’s essential to invest time and money in learning and testing Facebook Ads.

2. Poor Customer Reviews and Chargebacks

In e-commerce, you need to communicate with suppliers and deal with customer service. If your customer has any issues with the product, you have to wait for your supplier to help you. If your supplier is not helpful, you may have to bear the loss yourself. 

As a result, many e-commerce stores receive poor customer reviews and have no returning customers. In the worst-case scenario, you may experience many credit card chargebacks, which could risk getting your payment gateway shut down. Therefore, it’s crucial to have a reliable supplier and provide excellent customer service to avoid these issues.

3. The Need to Find New Products Constantly

To keep generating revenue, you need to find products that have the momentum to go viral so that the ads costs can be covered. However, most products in e-commerce reach their peak in one to two months or even weeks. 

This is because many competitors will steal your product and create a better ad or increase their budgets on Facebook ads to outbid you. Therefore, you need to keep finding new replacements to keep generating cash flow. Many people post revenues online, but they don’t tell you the net revenue. Some of them may be making money, but it’s not sustainable. 

The e-commerce business model is not as passive as you think. Most people who succeed in e-commerce are doing it full time because it requires you to keep finding new products, creating new stores, testing new ads, and looking for new suppliers to make your income stable.

Is there a better way to make money online?

If you’re new to online business, you might wonder if there’s a better business model that doesn’t need initial capital and can do it as a side hustle.

Of all the online business models I’ve tried, affiliate marketing is the easiest and most rewarding so far.  

In affiliate marketing, you can run your business at almost zero cost. Most importantly, you don’t need to invest in creating and developing any products.

Also, it is less time-consuming since you don’t have to manage inventory or handle customer service.

You can enjoy a steady stream of passive income while going on vacation or working a full-time job.

Since the world is full of uncertainty, I’d always choose a business model that has the lowest risk.

But How Much Can You Earn in Affiliate Marketing?

A 21-year-old student from my #1 recommended training platform of affiliate marketing was able to earn $7,395 in just 1 week, which means he made more than $1k a day…all while using free traffic methods and affiliate marketing.

For more information, you can check out my full review of Wealthy Affiliate. 

Where to Join Wealthy Affiliate?

Wealthy Affiliate has a very simple pricing scheme. It has a free and premium membership.

If you want to feel about Wealthy Affiliate, you can sign up for the starter membership here (no credit card required). You can select to be a free member with no time limit.

And as a starter member, you can get instant access to the community, live chat, over 500 training modules, 2 classrooms, networking, commenting, 1 free website, and access to the keyword tool.

You can enjoy all these values without paying a penny. 

So I strongly recommend you register a free account and see it yourself.

If you’d like to be the next success story and get the most out of Wealthy Affiliate, you can upgrade to the Premium Membership later. 

After that, you can get access to everything without the bother of any upsells.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative