Executive Summary
We analyzed 45 dropshipping communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: dropshipping communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 45
- Platforms
- 6
- Avg members
- 210K
- Median members
- 53K
Where Dropshipping Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 18 communities (40%)
- Facebook: 16 communities (36%)
- Discord: 5 communities (11%)
- Reddit: 3 communities (7%)
- Circle: 2 communities (4%)
- Slack: 1 communities (2%)
- 18(40%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 16(36%)
Facebook - 5(11%)
Discord - 3(7%)
Reddit - 2(4%)Circle
- 1(2%)
Slack
Format mix
- 37(82%)Forum / feed-based
- 6(13%)Chat communities
- 2(4%)Private membership
Most listings are forum / feed-based (82%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Facebook and Discord also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 0 communities (0%)
- Medium: 0 communities (0%)
- Large: 2 communities (4%)
- Huge: 24 communities (53%)
- Massive: 14 communities (31%)
- Gigantic: 2 communities (4%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 0(0%)Small20-100 members
- 0(0%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 2(4%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 24(53%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 14(31%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 2(4%)Gigantic1M+ members
3 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 37 communities (82%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 8 communities (18%)
The average is much higher than the median (210K vs 53K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Dropshipping Differs From Other Categories
Dropshipping is larger, and more chat-heavy, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Dropshipping | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 82% | 84% |
| Median members | 53K | 25K |
| Average members | 210K | 668K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 18% | 16% |
| Live chat | 100% | 41% |
| Discord share | 11% | 17% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 45 communities (100%)
- Forum: 25 communities (56%)
- Paid Community: 7 communities (16%)
- 100%Live Chat
- 56%Forum
- 16%Paid Community
Niche Features
- Courses: 4 communities (9%)
- Job Board: 1 communities (2%)
- Online/Offline Events: 1 communities (2%)
- Requires Application: 1 communities (2%)
- 9%Courses
- 2%Job Board
- 2%Online/Offline Events
- 2%Requires Application
Live Chat appears on 100% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 169
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 18 | 40% | 37 | 22% |
| 16 | 36% | 31 | 18% | |
| Discord | 5 | 11% | 94 | 56% |
| 3 | 7% | 3 | 2% | |
| Circle | 2 | 4% | 3 | 2% |
| Slack | 1 | 2% | 1 | 1% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 56% of clicks but only 11% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 95(56%)Chat communities
- 71(42%)Forum / feed-based
- 3(2%)Private membership
Most-clicked features
- 169(100%)Live Chat
- 61(36%)Forum
- 56(33%)Online/Offline Events
- 56(33%)Requires Application
- 41(24%)Paid Community
- 30(18%)Courses
Most-clicked size ranges
- 115(68%)Huge
- 36(21%)Massive
- 6(4%)Large
- 2(1%)Gigantic
Top-clicked listings
- 56(33%)Free eCom World
- 23(14%)Ecom Tools
- 21(12%)Shopify Experts
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2005: 1 communities (3%)
- 2009: 1 communities (3%)
- 2010: 2 communities (5%)
- 2011: 2 communities (5%)
- 2012: 2 communities (5%)
- 2013: 1 communities (3%)
- 2014: 4 communities (10%)
- 2015: 2 communities (5%)
- 2016: 4 communities (10%)
- 2017: 7 communities (18%)
- 2018: 4 communities (10%)
- 2019: 4 communities (10%)
- 2020: 3 communities (8%)
- 2021: 2 communities (5%)
6 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2017.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Dropshipping. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
Updated periodically