How a Paddle Brand Made $1M Starting With Dropshipping

Today we’re diving into the story of Pickleball Professor. But this PhD isn’t a person. It’s a brand that started with dropshipping, smart market testing, and scaled to $1 million in just 7 months.

Here’s a quick look at the basics：

Now, let’s switch to Ryan’s first-person perspective to see how he built a 7-figure brand step by step:

Why I Bet on Pickleball

I’ve always loved sports. I played baseball in high school and on my college team. In 2022, a friend invited me to try pickleball—it was fun and social. I noticed everyone was playing. Courts were popping up everywhere. I realized: this is hottest product in the hottest game.

In college, I majored in business and built a fishing brand (another sport I’m into), so I knew how to run a business and move fast when I saw an opportunity.

That’s when “Professor Pickleball” was born—right there on my whiteboard. A character that could teach, promote, and grow with the sport. I believed in the idea, and I was ready to bring it to life.

How I Found a Competitive Gap for My Product?

Having a product with real potential wasn’t enough. I also needed a unique marketing plan to actually sell it.

At the time, big brands like JOOLA and Selkirk were dominating the market. They signed pro players and had strong exposure at major tournaments. So how could I beat them?

Then I noticed something: Most raw carbon fiber paddles cost between $150 and $250, and there were almost no high-quality paddles under $100. For everyday players who wanted a good-quality paddle, that price was just too high.

So my goal was to winning over everyday players. Our raw carbon fiber paddle sold for just $99 and beginner bundle launched at only $59–$79 (two paddles + two balls).

Test Market Without Blowing Budget

Started with Dropshipping

I wasn’t ready to drop tens of thousands on inventory, that was too risky. I decided to start with dropshipping. So I built a simple Shopify site first.

Then I took a paddle to the court and filmed a quick video ad—just me explaining why you need this paddle. I talked about how the grippy surface gives you nastier top spin and how it plays way better than your average Amazon paddle.

I ran some Facebook ads with a $5 to $10 budget a day. Honestly, I didn’t expect much at first, but within the first two days, I made 3–4 sales, totaling $250. That’s like getting $5 back for every $1. It was literally printing money.

Then came the small batch

After that successful test, I decided to place my first inventory order. It was 200 paddles, around $8,000. To my disbelief, all 200 paddles sold out in 10 days.

But then came the problem. I was about to run out of stock. The factory needed 30 days to make more paddles, and another 30 to ship them overseas. To avoid the worst situation, I had to place emergency reorders and airship them in, which cost me nearly 3x more.

Even though I’d been in business before, I was caught off guard several times in the first few months. But I still wasn’t ready to invest big.

This was the green light to scale

By the third small restock, I was done with the constant stress of being out of stock. I knew it was time to go all in. That’s when I placed my first big order: 2,000 paddles, a $60,000 inventory bet.

Products were stacking up. And this time, we also put it on Amazon, TikTok Shop.

What I Did for Marketing & Where I Focused?

From the very beginning, I planned to use the Professor Pickleball character to marketing. The idea was to offer a great-quality paddle at a good price. We started with Facebook and Instagram ads, but we also put a lot of focus on social media, photos and videos.

Six months after the product launch, sales started to slow down. I noticed that more than half of our sales were coming from Amazon. So, I decided to try running Facebook ads directly to my Amazon listings. The difference was immediate. It was clear that Amazon was outperforming our website and all other platforms.

From then on, I shifted my focus to driving traffic from Facebook and other platforms directly to Amazon, where the real sales were happening.

How I Found Supplier on Alibaba & Made My Product?

I started with Alibaba. It’s a great place to source suppliers, but you can’t fully trust what you see. I filtered for verified suppliers with actual factories in China. But even then, prices for the same type of paddle ranged from $10 to $50, which felt… sketchy.

To get more accurate quotes and real info, I made sure to send clear, detailed inquiries to each supplier, just to let them know I was serious.

Next, I moved the conversation to Skype or WhatsApp, where replies were way faster and more detailed. I contacted about 10 suppliers. Only 3 had solid communication and were actually willing to work with me.

It took about two weeks to get the first round sample, but it was a mess. Wrong specs and bad pricing. Only one supplier delivered something usable. So we kept testing and tweaking until I finally got a version I was happy with.

Takeaway: Ryan’s experience is something I believe many startups can relate to. There are thousands of suppliers on Alibaba, but it’s hard to find one who’s actually willing to work with you. That’s why it’s better to get the first version made and worry about price later.

How to expand the Paddle to a Full Product Line?

I handled customer service myself at first, which helped me know the questions consumers had while using the paddles. So we used that feedback to improve the product and build a list of frequently asked questions. We also asked customers what they wanted to see next.

So we launched more paddles, and expanded into pickleball backpacks, colorful overgrips, erasers, and other accessories.

Long term, I’d love to take the “Professor” brand into other sports too—Professor Baseball, Professor Basketball, Professor Golf. I’ve got friends in different sports spaces, and I think we could launch some awesome products together in the future.

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