E-Commerce Workshop Reviews

Despite the cursed cough, I have not stopped living my life. I have attended a few talks and workshops to explore other avenues, gone for an Ultherapy session and just returned from a holiday trip. 

I shall start with reviewing the talks and workshops I have attended (fees are indicated in the brackets next to the course titles):

1) "How to earn $0.5 million in two years" by Pamela Lim ($3800)

2) Amazon FBA Preview by Five-Star Seller Academy

3) Amazon FBA by Benjamin Tan ($2136.79)

4) E-Commerce Mastery Workshop by Wealth Mastery ($756)

Of the workshops that I paid to attend, interestingly, I tried to google for reviews to no avail. If these course-makers have been successful entrepreneurs and millionaires, surely they would have amassed a huge number of followers and people who attended their workshops, right? Surely there would be reviews since most, if not all, attendees understand and speak English? 

To my utter surprise and puzzlement, there was and is ZERO review on these courses. So I was very much left on my own to make my own decision based on what these course-makers said.

One 'small' thing that bugs me is that these workshops call people who attend their workshops 'students'. I feel uneasy with this as I feel that we are at most 'attendees' who come for a workshop. Attending a workshop doesn't make us 'students' and there is a stark difference between 'attendees' and 'students'. I feel that a 'student' has a professional relationship with his teacher and it includes a period of fairly close mentorship while an 'attendee' simply attends a workshop or course without further commitment or vested interest from the course-maker, so it's inaccurate or inappropriate for the course-makers to label us as 'students'.

I give my review, to the best of my memory, in the most objective way I know how below:

1) "How to earn $0.5 million in two years" by Pamela Lim 

I first signed up for Pamela Lim's workshop back in June. 

Pamela usually posts long entries on the internet about her reflections on education and parenting. She is a pioneer of homeschooling in Singapore and I admired her courage to stand by her children when our education system could have stifled or suffocated them. I thought her to be a highly successful mother and felt that her parenting beliefs were sound.

So when she created a 'How to earn $0.5 million in two years' course, I was interested. I was sure that it was not a scam like how I would view other course sellers if they had given their workshop such a title.

However, as it was not cheap, I gave it careful considerations. I made a few enquiries about the stated homework. I told her I did not have any product to sell. She said that it was okay and 'just come'. I trusted that the parenting and education expert knew what she was doing and understood what her attendees needed since she is an 'award-winning entrepreneur' and has trained 10 years' worth of entrepreneurs, of whom many have gone on to become multi-millionaires. It gave me a lot of confidence in the course. So I paid up and waited eagerly for the September course to commence. 

The course included a two-day workshop held at SMU. 

The class was full at about 60 to 80 pax, mostly working adults and young parents in their 30s. A few like me were older.

Perhaps it was not a course for beginners. Pamela was after all a seasoned entrepreneur. All my questions were probably stupid questions that were instinctive and too basic for her, but it was a culture shock to me. I had problems following and had tons of questions in my head eg. Where to look for suppliers? Who to design my packaging for me? How to bring the packaging and product together? Where to store the product (if I ever have one)? Where to find a warehouse? How to ship the product?

At the end of the first day of workshop, we were given our homework: we were shown a bit.ly link and asked to set up a Shopify store and install a list of apps. 

We were also encouraged to pay for the service of setting up the Shopify store and logo creation for an additional $1200. At least half the class paid for it.

I didn't want to commit further at that point as I was starting to feel that the course was not what I had expected.

The next workshop would be a week later. I mulled over all the information given and the technicalities of setting up the Shopify store. I was stressed as I am quite a technophobic. In fact, I had a nightmare that week. I dreamt that I was travelling on the MRT with Baby. We were asked to alight and change to another train but the fast-moving train was taking us to somewhere unknown! I remember feeling scared and anxious in the dream. I woke up with a start.

I decided to ask my engineer brother for help. I briefed him on what to do and the apps to install and left his house for a few hours before I returned. And he did it within the time I was away.

Pamela set up a whatsapp group chat as a two-year course support by her and the other Ivy league university lecturer.

However, from my experience, the support was not as strong as I had imagined it would be. She might reply when someone from the group asks a question directed to her. We must bear in mind though that this is just one of her whatsapp group chats. She is probably busy with other groups of students as well.

I emailed her asking if I could withdraw from the two-year support and pay my dues for the two-day workshop which seemed to cost $1800. However, she said that it was not possible.

I would say the two-day workshop was at best a theoretical lecture on entrepreneurship. It educated you on what white labels, private labels are, different ways of earning money, the importance of branding and packaging, showed you a website or two on China suppliers, which other courses I later attend would too. 

There was a Learning Management System (LMS) platform like what the primary school system is using. The powerpoint slides used in class were posted on the platform. Guiding questions were used to help you set up your Shopify store if you so wish to set it up yourself.

Of all the methods of generating an income, Pamela advised against doing dropshipping as it brings in the least monies. 

Ironically, when one of the coursemates mentioned on the whatsapp group that she had started another chatgroup for those who were interested in dropshipping, half the class jumped onto it. It became apparent to me that most of the attendees did not have an idea of what to sell when they went to the workshop, like me.

I thought the highlight of the workshop was the talk conducted by one of Pamela's SMU students who became a successful entrepreneur by creating a diabetic-friendly rice product.  

Most of us went for the workshop hoping to earn half a million, but what this intelligent and inspiring young guy said towards the end of his presentation struck the head of the nail,"Nobody is going to buy from you just because you want to earn some extra money. If you go into a business when you see another guy earning millions from it, and think you could do it part-time, other companies will smell that you are not serious about the business from a mile away and run away from you. And you will start to think perhaps you should go back to your 9-to-5 job."

Perhaps I am the only one who feels that I didn't get much value out of the price I paid for as it seems to me some other coursemates are embarking on their entrepreneurial journey following the workshop.

2) Five-Star Seller Academy Preview on FBA Amazon

Following my first workshop which I was disappointed with, I went for a free talk by Five-Star Seller Academy or Acepro Academy in a room on the 10th floor of International Plaza on a Wednesday evening in early October. The talk was scheduled to start at 7.30pm and would end at 10pm.

It was a small crowd. Mostly adults or elderly ranging from 40s to 60s. 

The male presenter in his early thirties was animated and jovial. It didn't feel like a 2.5h talk at all. In fact, half way through the talk, I was whatsapping William telling him that I was interested to sign up and would find out how much it cost first. 

The guy shared how FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) worked and his own experiences of finding different income avenues. He started working at 23 and was based in Cambodia, organising tour activities for corporate events. However, he found that despite working for 3 years, he and his girlfriend did not have enough money to pay for the downpayment of a BTO (Build-to-order) flat. He decided to find other means of income. 

He tried MLM (Multi-level Marketing). 

The idea or concept of MLM is such that you recruit two good friends, who would in turn recruit two good friends each, and the four good friends of your two good friends would recruit eight good friends ... by doing so, you earn commission from what your downlines earn. It sounded simple and great so he tried it out. He joined 3 different companies over a course of 3 years. However, he only managed to recruit one person in three years, and that was his girlfriend (lol). His boss also advised him to wear branded stuff and look 'the part' so that others would think that he was doing well and want to join him. He thought,"Huh? Never earn money still have to pretend to do well ah? No lah."

To make things worse, each time he and his girlfriend joined a new company, they had to buy the company's products, often some health supplements, in bulk. The girlfriend's mother asked him why her daughter had to buy so many supplements despite being so much younger than she was (lol). 

He also explored other avenues. I can't recall all but the other one that impressed upon me was the 'buy multiple properties with zero cash' workshop but he knew it was not practical. 

Finally, he tried Amazon FBA and was delighted when it worked for him. He showed us pictures of him 'going anywhere I want', and flying First Class on Singapore Airlines.

Towards the end, he started to talk about the cost of the course. He gave us a list of things we would receive if we signed up for the course eg. product list, samples of introduction/negotiation letter with suppliers. And of course, these would cost tens of thousands, BUT ... he wanted to know who were the ones who were interested if there was a discount.

Well, if the course cost tens of thousands, I for sure would not think that even a 50% discount would be affordable, so I didn't indicate my interest by raising my hand. 

A few hands went up.

Then he said,"I will share what the discounted price is later with those who are interested."

And he started to walk to the back of the room and said,"Those who raise your hand, come with me. I will share the discounted price with you."

I was a bit shocked. Huh? Isn't it logical for you to share with everybody in the room? What's the big secret about?

As he gathered 'those who were interested', he handed clipboards with a form to them and said,"Cancel the price here. I will tell you what to write. Those who are not serious, just want to play play only ... is okay."

I was like "WTF? I spent 5 hours travelling to-and-fro and sat here listening to your crap and you said I am here to play play only?!!"

I left immediately.

3) Benjamin Tan's FBA (Fulfilment By Amazon)

This guy advertises heavily on youtube and Facebook. Since I had gone for an FBA talk by Five-Star, I decided there was nothing to lose if I went for his too.

By then, I already had some knowledge about what FBA was about, so I decided to sign up for it since my first workshop didn't work out for me.

After my payment was done, I was immediately sent a notification of what I had to download and the instructions of how to download prior to the workshop. I was quite impressed. It tells me that it wanted me to be prepared for the workshop.

A few days prior to the workshop, it sent a reminder again to download the chrome extension and create the accounts I needed and to remind me of the day and time of the workshop so that I wouldn't forget. Very impressed. 

The workshop was held over 3 days in a big room in Lee Kai House, with attendees totalling 90 thereabout, mostly consisting of older adults in their 40s and 50s. The number of male attendees easily outweighed the female ones.

I must say I went there thinking that it would have been worth the money even if it's to prove that Benjamin Tan was a scammer as alleged on the internet.

I was quite wrong.

This is a very intelligent guy who is successful in everything he does. He had a scholarship to study Computer Engineering in one of the local universities. However, he decided to drop out after doing very badly in his first year. Although he kept saying that he dropped out because he was lousy, I couldn't help but felt that he did not do well due to a lack of interest as the course was his father's choice rather than his.

He became a property agent and was successful at what he did. However, he wanted the time for his young family so he decided to seek other avenues. He paid for a $11000 FBA course back in 2017 and flew his wife (for her to have a leisure trip) and himself to America to learn about FBA from a then-top-fifty seller.

This guy proves himself to be exceptionally clever by knowing that making his wife happy would give him a happy life. Throughout the course, you can tell that he loves his wife and son very much. Even something as casual as someone mentioning 'when my water-bottle falls, it is still beautiful', he immediately said,"Like my wife, when she falls, she is still beautiful."

Of all the courses I attended, ironically, I felt that this course gave me the most value.

He prepared a thick A4-sized course material which documented all the powerpoint slides, essential links, video links and sample letters and speeches. He posted a link on the screen for us to ask questions so that he could address them at the beginning or towards the end of each day. He answered every single question ON THE SPOT and he did not beat around the bush for any question. It tells you how prepared and experienced he was. There was a quiz at the end of each day to test the content taught. 

Lunch was a strict one hour and it was a prepared bento for all of us so that no one left the venue, to save time.

Throughout the three days, he presented non-stop. The information was so dense and packed that my small brain can't contain all. Even now, when I come across unfamiliar words or materials that the internet mentions about FBA, I would think,"Hmm ... Benjamin didn't teach us that." and when I checked the workshop material, I would be shocked that he did! I just cannot retain the massive amount of information he gave out! 

He also gave relevant tips that I felt he did not need to give. My two coursemates seated next to me felt the same way. 

He kept urging us to take action and towards the end, he showed us what FBA has enabled him to do ie. bought a new local condo recently, invests in two overseas properties, drives a porsche. Note that he only shared these towards the end of the course, not during the preview to entice people to sign up for the course.

Of course, there were up-sells after the course.

The first up-sell was a China immersion trip which cost $5000. It promised to teach you negotiation skills with suppliers on the ground and bring you to places in China to source for products. He also advised NOT to go to Canton Fair which Pamela Lim recommended as it is not a place for newbies.

The second up-sell was a Mastermind Class (one-on-one coaching) which cost $12k for 6 months and $20k for 12 months which promised to shortcut your learning at an amazing rate and help you launch your product in about half the time required.

I didn't go for either as I was and am not ready to commit so much money into the course.

But for the $2136 course, I honestly feel it is the most comprehensive of all courses I attended and I learnt a lot over the 3 days.

It doesn't mean that by taking up the course, you will be as successful as Benjamin Tan. He is an exceptionally intelligent guy so I am sure other than all these basic knowledge, there are other things you need to master in order to reach his level, if you ever, but this course, in my opinion, is good enough to start you on the FBA journey if you so wish.

For the $2000 I paid, I felt he gave a complete syllabus of the course. It was a course for total newbies and despite his relatively young age, Benjamin put many experienced lecturers to shame with his ability to make complex things easy to understand and had impressive organisational skills for a workshop for the masses. He had this short and simple but effective ice-breaker activity at the beginning of the workshop and he encouraged us to share and help our neighbours should any of us could not follow. We felt that he made full use of every minute to educate us on FBA and did not try to waste time or do unproductive things as time-fillers like many workshops do.

It was a workshop I enjoyed going for all three days, without trepidation and stress. 

4) E-Commerce Mastery by Calvin and Patricia

The two presenters were Calvin and Max, two young guys probably in their thirties.

Very humorous and spoke good English. 

It was a workshop on dropshipping and it was held at a small ballroom in Suntec City Conference Centre. About 80 attendees in total and the ages range from 30s to 60s. Most attendees were female. 

The workshop handheld us on setting up a Shopify store, step by step for the first day. The most eye-opening module though, was the Facebook advertising module. I had learnt that Facebook advertising is complex and not easy. The workshop taught us how to set up an advertisement on Facebook and how to target audience, fundamentally.

There were some 'Aha' moments, like 'people buy things for themselves eg. parents pay for tuition to buy themselves the assurance that they have done their best for their children' and 'people buy out of emotion and back it up with logic'. I felt that these guys really do very well in the buyer psychology department!

I felt that the workshop offered good value for the things they taught as well. A bound book which consisted of powerpoint slides and step-by-step guide was included. However, the workshop, being a $754 workshop, was not enough to start you on a dropshipping business. It was introductory at best. 

They did have up-sells: 3 levels of courses that ranged from $5k to $15k after the workshop, with the $15k course being the most comprehensive.

Of course, I didn't commit further as I felt that the course prices were out of my budget, although I was really interested.

It was later that I heard from coursemates who paid for the up-sells that they were offered a $2k discount and instalment plans but it bothered me (a lot) why they didn't mention it upfront on stage that I did not enquire further.

Let's just call it 'a lack of affinity'.

So that wrapped up my reviews of the 3 or 4 courses I had been to this year. 

Why did I go for these workshops? I wanted to explore something different, out of my comfort zone. I am not sure if anything would come to fruition but I thought it was better for me to find out what these things on my Facebook were than wondered for eternity what they were about.

For all my experiences of these workshops, I hope that my review helps to give a glimpse into the workshops for those who were searching for reviews like me.