Political-Themed Dropshipping: Your Ultimate Guide to Getting Started

In this article, I will provide you with information on how to succeed in dropshipping political products. This includes: 

• Why it is a good idea to dropship socio-political themed product
• The right marketing strategy for political items
• Rules on advertising political products 

In the end, you will have a basic foundation of the challenges that lay ahead of you if you want to penetrate the political landscape of dropshipping. 

Overall, this article will give you a complete guide to political-themed dropshipping.  

Why Penetrate the Political Niche?

The political niche is a hot topic in many countries. Though it is also sensitive, there are ways by which you can go around it without violating the common terms and conditions of advertising platforms. Apart from being a hot subject matter, are there other reasons that make the political niche attractive to dropshippers? 

1. The Political Niche Has A Huge Market Size

Aristotle once said that man is a political animal. If you observe enough, you will know that there is truth to this—watch the news and you will realize that it contains more bits about politics than other social events. If you go out and talk to people, there is always someone who wants to banter about politics.  

There is a big market in politics, especially in the United States where they tackle so many social issues. If you look at the numbers, the voter turnout in the 2020 election was 66%, which was the highest voter turnout since the 1900s. 

In addition, let us take a look at how people around the world respond to political YouTube channels: 

The biggest, by far, is BBC in India with 17.7 million subs, followed by mostly American channels with millions of subscribers and billions of views. 

These stats should tell us that there is interest in politics. In addition, statistical data shows that people, until today, spend up to three hours watching TV and that 41% of these respondents watch news sources only [1].    

2. The Political Niche Has An International Scope

The political niche is international. There is always something happening in the world—issues that you can capitalize on so you can reach a  global market. 

Here are some examples: 

• Ukraine-Russia War
• Palestine-Israel War
• Global Warming 
• Taiwan-China Conflict
• Trudeau Vs Truckers in Canada
• US Elections 2024
• Women’s Rights in Taliban-run in Afghanistan  
• Black Lives Matter in the US

All these people need t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, magnets, wall calendars, and so many more. You do not have to limit your products to a single country, but then I suggest that you concentrate heavily on the USA as it is where most political rallies happen—even for issues that do not directly affect their citizens.  

3. The Political Niche Always Has A Trend and Relevance

Time and time again, there is a new issue that political and social experts will debate. One hot topic today is transgender rights, especially in the US, where there is a serious debate about teenage health care concerning gender re-affirming medication.

All it takes to be at the top of these things is to subscribe to YouTube news channels from around the world. There is always a break out in local politics, such as Trudeau versus Poilievre in Canada, Trump versus Biden in the US, etc. 

You must follow the news to keep up with trends and be politically inclined enough to understand if a news item today is going to be a matter of significant relevance. 

For example, if there is a news breakout about Epstein’s list and Donald Trump, you can immediately tell that this is a big issue. As such, you have the power to create t-shirts or mugs related to that topic and be ahead of your competitors.

5 Best Political Niches for Dropshipping

1. National Election | Presidency

One of the best niches for political dropshipping is national politics. The best time to sell is during elections, as the whole country is your market. 

Even after the election, you can still make sales, provided that your store keeps reflecting what is going on in the nation. 

For example, the US is nearing its presidential elections in 2024. As early as now, you can capitalize on that by selling items in support of Joe Biden or Donald Trump. 

Let us say that you are supporting Biden and he lost. Is this the end of your dropshipping business? No, not at all. As Trump leads the country, there surely will be issues in his governance. Vice versa, if you supported Trump and he lost, there will be issues against Biden’s leadership. 

There is no end to the number of issues that will arise. For as long as you stay in tune with national politics, there will always be a situation you can leverage to sell dropshipping goods.

2. Gender Issue

The gender issue is a hot topic, and it will eventually become not only a US issue but a global one, especially in secular countries like Canada, the Philippines, the UK, and more. 

As of this time, there are two sides to this: 

• Those who believe that gender identity is crucial and that differently gendered people must have special rights
• Those who believe that there are only two genders: male and female

Whichever you support, there is a market for it. Republicans do not support gender rights, but Democrats do.

This political niche will not go away. For as long as there are human beings, there will always be people who are different from the social norms that the world has been used to. Of course, some people will want to preserve the status quo. 

So, there will always be two camps to this socio-political spectrum. Even if some states have already passed laws against gender-affirmative care, the fight is far from over. 

To make money off this political issue, you can create an online store that caters to the different genders. If you want to take the other side, you can build a print-on-demand dropshipping store, and then sell clothes and mugs with messages or slogans against the gender issue.  

3. Race Issue

Racism is a problem not only in the US but in many countries. However, this issue is much more palpable in the United States. 

Some deny it, and then some believe that there is systemic racial discrimination happening in the country. You can either support anti-racist groups or deny the existence of it such as Republicans.

If you go for the former, know that there are already many stores that sell products about racial inequality. For example, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization has its store. However, this should not stop you from building yours, like what Visibly Black did. 

Visibly Black is a store that supports the advocacies of BLM. They sell shirts, hoodies, pillows, posters, yard signs, and so much more. At best, I recommend that you use print-on-demand services for this such as Printful.  Although Printify is another choice, Printify has a lot of rules against socio-political designs, so I do not recommend it for this dropshipping niche. 

4. Feminism and Equality

Feminism is a never-ending issue, and rightfully so. Many women all over the world are still oppressed—they have no right to education and freedom. 

These countries, however, are not your target. Most of these countries are oppressed because of extreme beliefs coming from their leadership. It would be difficult for you to sell your product to these countries. 

Instead, you must target the United States where feminists are fighting for equal salaries. For example, the Women’s National Basketball Association has demanded that their basketball players be paid like the male players in the NBA. 

It is up to you to take which side you believe in. However, as far as business goes, it is better to take the side of the feminists. 

Why? Because they are the people willing to spend money to represent their beliefs. Those who do not support feminism usually could not care less. 

Here is an example of a feminist online store: 

This shop sells: 

• Mugs
• Coffee cups
• Postcards
• Hoodies
• Shirts
• Masks bags

Here is a screenshot of their gifts section:

5. War & Religion

Finally, you can capitalize on war and religion, there is always a war going on in the world. However, of all political niches, war is what I recommend the least. Once a war is over, you will no longer have a market. 

Religion is a better option, as you can target so many people who belong to that religion. The biggest religions are:

• Christianity – it has 2.4 billion followers 
• Islam – 1.9 billion followers  
• Hinduism – 1.2 billion followers

Should you decide to target the Islamic market, make sure you understand Arabic, as most Muslims prefer to wear clothes that have Arabic symbols in them, not English letters. 

If Christianity is your target market, prepare many inspiring bible verses and print them on all sorts of items that you can find in a print-on-demand supplier. Same thing with Hinduism.

Tips to Succeed in Political Dropshipping Niche

How will you succeed as a political dropshipper? Can you apply the same marketing tactics as you would in typical dropshipping? In this section, we will tackle some of the best approaches or tactics you can implement to be a successful dropshipper of political dropshipper.

1. Choose a Side

In ancient times, your government would have you executed if you sold swords and armor to both sides of the war. Today, it is your customers who will drop you if you are sitting on the fence.

To succeed in politics, even in business, you must take a hard stance in your beliefs. Forget about the potential customers on the other side—focus on one side only.

So, in the case of Trump and Biden, or Democrats and Republicans, or Palestine and Israel, pick one side and sell products that support the side you picked.    

2. Do not sell—inspire

Instead of marketing your t-shirts and mugs or refrigerator magnets, focus on inspiring political followers. You can do this by sharing posts or news that take the side of your party, or news that destroy the credibility of the other side. 

It is only this way that people will follow your social media pages. If they see nothing more than images of t-shirts, they will naturally think that you want nothing but money. 

On the other hand, feeding them information is key to building credibility. Keep in mind that your target customers are busy people, and they may not even know everything that is going on—you must keep them informed.

3. Be in the know

Subscribe to YouTube channels, Facebook pages, Twitter (X) accounts, and Instagram pages. Watch and read volumes of posts. Do this every day. Understand the opposition and solidify your political position or stance. 

The result? You will be a lot more knowledgeable, and you will be ahead of the curve. Ultimately, you can forecast how the political climate is going to be and you can take action. 

For example, one of the biggest issues in the US right now is gender-affirmative health care. If you follow this closely, you will know of things like:

• Cases where this affirmative care backfired against a child
• Children who reach adulthood and regret what they have done to themselves

Or you will find news about: 

• Children who had better mental health after the gender-affirming healthcare
• Studies about high satisfaction from patients  

Depending on where you stand politically, you can use these studies, facts, and opinions to your advantage. The more you know, the easier it is going to be for you to build authority and credibility.

4. Spread the word

Finally, spread the word about your political stance. Do this via social media and most importantly, through email marketing. 

No matter what platform you use (Shopify or WooCommerce), there is a way to get the email address of your target market and send them updates about what is going on. 

Do not send emails containing marketing stuff. Do not send images of your products and shirts. Concentrate on the news content.  

For example, if you are a Republican and Ben Shapiro demolished a Democrat in a debate, send a clip of that video to your subscribers. They will appreciate it and see your emails as something valuable, not marketing spam. 

Common Rules to Abide by When Dropshipping in Political Niches

The two major platforms you want to use for political dropshipping ads are Google and Facebook. It is easy to build a political niche dropshipping store, but marketing your products is where you must take caution. 

What we will discuss in this section has something to do with advertising. As far as laws are concerned, just avoid making hate statements that lean toward genocide, murder, etc. 

1. Facebook 

On Facebook, you must complete the authorization process that Meta requires. The only exception is if you are a news publisher, and that you have already been approved by Meta. In addition, the authorization process varies from one country to another. 

What does it mean? It means that you must secure authorization for the US, another for Canada, and then another for Israel, etc. You need one authorization for each country you advertise to. 

Once you apply for authorization, you must prepare the following things:       

• You must be the page admin
• You must have a confirmed identity on the FB platform
• You must submit a government ID   
• You must notarize the Facebook document (a form) and submit it
• The ID must be aligned with the country you want to target***

***You cannot advertise in the US about social and political issues if you cannot prove you are a US citizen. Your only alternative is to find a marketing agency in the US and add them as admin.  

2. Google

Google has similar rules about its advertising policies on politics. They require that advertisers be verified as citizens of the country they want to advertise to. 

In addition, Google restricts how ads reach specific audiences. To get verified, you must apply and meet the eligibility criteria plus your identity. 

So, what do you do now? 

The trick here is to create products that revolve around politics but do not directly support a candidate. For example, you can sell t-shirts that say, “America is a Free Country!” This type of messaging is easier to run ads for. 

On the other hand, prints like “MAGA Forever” or “Trump for President!” will put you in a difficult position. As such, avoid any slogan or print that has a direct relation to a candidate, a political organization, or a social issue. 

The one alternative to overcome these rules is to work with a marketing agency that works with political companies. You will make them an admin of your page and they will run the ads for you. 

The other option is to create political products and sell them on Etsy. Finally, you can create a political dropshipping store and not advertise at all. What you can do is build a community on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and ask your supporters to buy from your store. 

FAQ: Political-themed Dropshipping

Can I get sued while dropshipping political products?

It depends; to avoid being used, stick to common principles of morality like do not malign the character of people, do not use slogans or images that are not your own, etc. 

What is the best idea for political dropshipping?

The best idea is to support someone you truly believe in or support a cause or a fight that you understand. It would be easier to make an emotional appeal to your target market if you know what they want or what they are fighting for. 

What is the hardest thing about political dropshipping?

The hardest thing is the marketing. It is difficult to advertise on social media platforms for these products because they are wary of being accused of being partisan.  

How to find the hottest dropshipping political products?

My suggestion is to create your own by using print-on-demand systems like Printful and Printify. 

Summary

As of this time, I encourage you to do a deep self-search to understand which of these political niches are close to your heart. I would advise you not to choose a niche that you are not interested in, as you will fail if you do this. 

Next, use our tool, Dropship.IO, to spy on your competitors and find sales data. Use our tool to decide which products have a demand. This way, you will not sell products that nobody wants to buy. Sign up now for our 7-day free trial and experience what our system can do for your dropshipping business!