Ryan, 19At a glance
Who
Ryan: “I’m 19 and I’m from USA” (0:04), and “right now I’m in community college” (0:12). The Real World’s caption also gives 19 and a US flag.
Starting point
“At first I started with stocks, because I had already had stocks originally” (0:47). “I didn’t do too well in there. So I switched to e-commerce.”
How Ryan found it
“I think it was from a TikTok of Andrew Tate” (0:21). “At first I thought it was a scam”, until “all these people that are staying in there” changed Ryan’s mind.
Timeline
“I joined The Real World about six months ago” and “started e-commerce maybe four months ago, three or four months ago”; “the last two months, it’s really taken off” (1:08). The video was on The Real World’s home page by 8 June 2023.
Result (video)
“I’ve made about 25,000 revenue, about seven grand in profit in the last two months” (1:21). Revenue and profit given separately; no currency.
Result (caption)
The Real World’s caption: “New revenue: $2k+/month”, and that Ryan “turned” a “struggling Ecommerce store into a revenue powerhouse, heading for $500,000 by the end of the year” (quoted without the pronoun).
Ryan and the caption don’t say the same thing. Ryan’s figures are about 25,000 in revenue and about 7,000 in profit over two months, roughly 12,500 a month in revenue and 3,500 in profit; the caption’s headline, “$2k+/month”, is below both. The caption’s “heading for $500,000 by the end of the year” isn’t in the video, and Ryan doesn’t call the store “struggling”; Ryan’s struggle was in stocks. The figures are Ryan’s and The Real World’s own; this site hasn’t seen the store’s accounts.
What Ryan said
6 lines from the interview, copied exactly, each with what it means in plain English. The times are where they fall in the video.
“At first I started with stocks, because I had already had stocks originally”
What it means: Ryan already held stocks before joining, so started there. Not a business; Ryan had no store before.
“I didn’t do too well in there. So I switched to e-commerce”
What it means: The first campus didn’t work out for Ryan. One membership covers every campus, so switching cost nothing extra.
“I joined The Real World about six months ago, I believe. But I started e-commerce maybe four months ago”
What it means: About two months in stocks, then three or four in e-commerce, by Ryan’s account.
“I’ve made about 25,000 revenue, about seven grand in profit in the last two months.”
What it means: Revenue and profit, kept apart. Two months, no currency. The caption’s figures differ; see the note above.
“you can get like real-time feedback about like what’s working, real strategies that are working right now”
What it means: What Ryan says sets it apart from other courses: you can ask questions and see “what other people are doing”.
“at first I thought it was a scam”
What it means: Ryan’s first reaction too, changed by seeing “all these people that are staying in there”.
What Ryan did, step by step
Ryan found The Real World on TikTok
“from a TikTok of Andrew Tate”, and “at first I thought it was a scam”.
In the video at 0:21
Ryan started with stocks
“because I had already had stocks originally”; “I didn’t do too well in there.”
In the video at 0:47
Ryan switched to e-commerce
“So I switched to e-commerce, and from there, everything’s just kind of grown.” That was “maybe four months ago, three or four months ago” (1:12).
In the video at 0:56
Ryan used the community
“you have the course, which is amazing”, “but then you also have the community”: “real-time feedback about like what’s working”.
In the video at 1:36
Ryan reports 25,000 revenue and 7,000 profit in two months
“the last two months, it’s really taken off. I’ve made about 25,000 revenue, about seven grand in profit in the last two months.”
In the video at 1:17
Full transcript
Read the full interview transcript (2 minutes)
Transcribed on 30 October 2026 from the interview audio with Whisper speech recognition (run locally): a first pass on 26 October, then two more full passes with the medium and small models; punctuation fixed, fillers dropped, nothing added. At 0:21 one reading hears “tech talk” for “TikTok”. “Mass Bay” (0:12) is the community college Ryan names, as heard. Speaker labels are ours. The interviewer is from The Real World, not a Tate. The $50 a month mentioned was the price at the time; today it is $99 a month on the official checkout, and there is no free trial.
0:00 Interviewer: So I see you're quite young. Would you be comfortable revealing your age?
0:04 Ryan: Yeah, so I'm 19 and I'm from USA, obviously.
0:08 Interviewer: Do you go to high school still, or university, or none of the above?
0:12 Ryan: Right now I'm in community college. I go to Mass Bay. So that's what I'm doing right now.
0:17 Interviewer: And how did you get involved with The Real World?
0:21 Ryan: So I first started, I think it was from a TikTok of Andrew Tate. He was like announcing it, and I thought it sounded interesting. I looked through it and, you know, at first I thought it was a scam. But then, like, it doesn't make sense if it's a scam, because there's all these people that are staying in there. So I joined, and that's basically how I got started.
0:42 Interviewer: Okay. And what campus did you choose to go into, and why?
0:47 Ryan: At first I started with stocks, because I had already had stocks originally and I was kind of like looking into stocks. But then after that, I didn't do too well in there. So I switched to e-commerce, and from there, everything's just kind of grown. It's been great doing e-commerce.
1:03 Interviewer: And when did you begin, and how much has it scaled to?
1:08 Ryan: So I joined The Real World about six months ago, I believe. But I started e-commerce maybe four months ago, three or four months ago. And the last two months, it's really taken off. I've made about 25,000 revenue, about seven grand in profit in the last two months. So that's been pretty good.
1:27 Interviewer: So in terms of The Real World, how different has the material been within the e-commerce campus compared to what's out there on the internet?
1:36 Ryan: Oh, so, like, other courses on the internet, I guess they're good. But, like, there's no community behind it. Like, with The Real World, you have the course, which is amazing, and you have so much knowledge in there. But then you also have the community. So with, like, a course on the internet, you can't really ask, like, the person who made the course a question. Whereas in The Real World, you can ask, you can get like real-time feedback about like what's working, real strategies that are working right now, what other people are doing. Whereas, like, a course is just kind of, they make it and then they send it out and a bunch of people buy it. But that's, I think, the main difference that really, like, sets it apart.
2:15 Interviewer: For people who may be thinking The Real World is a scam, like you used to think, what advice would you have to them if they're considering joining?
2:24 Ryan: I mean, just try it out. It's $50 a month. That's like nothing. Like I said earlier, you got to think of best and worst case scenario. Worst case, you lose $50. That's like nothing. You can just try it out for a month. Best case, you make a ton of money and you're financially free for the rest of your life.
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E-commerce in context
Ryan’s store is one business in a market that governments measure every quarter. The figures below are the latest official ones on 25 October 2026, with the date each was checked, because they move.
What it is
- E-commerce is selling goods or services where the order is placed online. The US Census Bureau counts sales “where the buyer places an order, or the price and terms of the sale are negotiated over an Internet, mobile device … or other comparable online system. Payment may or may not be made online.”
- Dropshipping is a way of running a store without holding stock: the supplier ships each order after the customer pays. Shopify’s definition: “Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where online stores sell products without keeping them in stock.” The campus’s first course is named for it: “Start Here: Learn how to start dropshipping”.
- Where Ryan fits. Ryan sells online through the Ecommerce campus and reports revenue and profit separately (1:21); the caption calls it an “Ecommerce store”. Ryan doesn’t name the platform, the products or how the sales come in. The campus teaches the store and the ads: its Store Setup course is “Learn how to build a high-converting Shopify store” and its Paid Traffic course “Learn how to get sales with Meta Ads”.
A short history
- 1999: the first official count. The US Census Bureau’s first estimate of retail e-commerce was $5.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 1999, 0.64% of US retail sales (released 2 March 2000).
- 2007 to 2025 in the UK: internet sales went from 3.4% of all retail sales to 27.5% (Office for National Statistics, series J4MC, released 23 October 2026).
- 2026: US e-commerce was 17.1% of retail sales in the second quarter (Census Bureau, 18 August 2026), and 28.3% of UK retail sales were online in September 2026 (ONS).
How much is spent
US online sales, Q2 2026
$340.2 billion (seasonally adjusted), 17.1% of all US retail sales. US Census Bureau, 18 August 2026; checked 25 October 2026.
UK retail sales made online
28.3% in September 2026; 27.5% for 2025 as a whole. ONS series J4MC, 23 October 2026; checked 25 October 2026.
Sales through Shopify
“$1 trillion+” of sales made by businesses on Shopify (Shopify’s own about page, checked 25 October 2026). Its Q2 2026 results reported “more than 30% growth in GMV” (5 August 2026).
What a new store earns
Nobody publishes it. The figures above are market totals, not what one store makes. The only member figures on this page are Ryan’s and the posts below, each one person’s own account.
The Census Bureau’s third-quarter figure is due on 19 November 2026 and the next ONS release on 20 November 2026.
What The Real World offers for e-commerce
What the Ecommerce campus looks like from a member’s account, how a new member starts, and what the support is like. The Ecommerce campus page covers what it teaches, and the Ecommerce campus review covers the costs and what can go wrong.
How you get started
Join and pick the Ecommerce campus
One membership covers every campus: $99 a month or $996 a year on the official checkout. Inside the app you choose a campus; the Ecommerce card reads “Learn how to start and scale an ecommerce business”.
Read #start-here
The first channel you see. Prof. Shuayb’s pinned post: “Start going through the courses by clicking below. More channels will open once you complete the COURSES.”
Work through the Learning Center in order
Six courses: Start Here (“Learn how to start dropshipping”), Branding (“Learn how to find winning products to sell”), Store Setup (“Learn how to build a high-converting Shopify store”), Paid Traffic (“Learn how to get sales with Meta Ads”), Artificial Intelligence Masterclass and Knowledge Hub. The later courses stay locked until the earlier ones are done.
Unlock more chats as you go
The roadmap in #start-here shows three stages, Introduction complete, Branding complete and Paid traffic complete, each opening more channels: “Complete courses to unlock more chats”.
Switch if your first campus doesn’t fit
Ryan started in stocks, “didn’t do too well in there” and switched to e-commerce (0:52), about two months after joining. One membership covers every campus. The member behind this site found the first product rarely works, so budget for more than one test.
What support is like
- Chats. From day one you see #start-here, #new-student-chat, #wins and #GM-daily; more open as you complete courses. Ryan: “you can ask, you can get like real-time feedback about like what’s working” and “what other people are doing” (1:59). That is Ryan’s account. The Real World publishes no response-time promise.
- Professor. Inside the app the Ecommerce campus is run by “Prof. Shuayb”, whose pinned post opens #start-here; the public campus page names no professor. Ryan doesn’t name a professor, but sets the campus apart from courses where “you can’t really ask, like, the person who made the course a question” (1:55).
- #wins channel. Members post their results there, and every post has to include a screenshot. The five posts below come from it.
- No guarantee. The Real World’s Terms of Use say it doesn’t guarantee any financial outcome. Every campus starts from the fundamentals and assumes no prior knowledge.
Real wins and reviews
Posts from the Ecommerce campus’s #wins channel, captured on 25 October 2026 from the owner’s own member account. Each is that member’s own post with its date; names and avatars are blurred. Tap any screenshot to see it full size. They are individual results, not typical ones, and not a promise: The Real World doesn’t publish average member earnings.
The next screenshot is so far today. The bounce back happened and I didn’t have to mess with anything. Sometimes less is more…
What members said on Trustpilot
Trustpilot has since removed The Real World’s profiles. These excerpts come from archived copies of those pages, read on 25 October 2026, with the reviewer’s first name, country and date as shown; “Invited” is Trustpilot’s label for reviews that came through a business link. The jointherealworld.com.de profile was not run by The Real World; reviewers used it anyway. They are other people’s words, not this site’s findings.
“The biggest thing for me, besides the lessons and the professors, is the community. You have a problem, ask a question in chat, fixed in 5 minutes.”
“after a month, I informed them that their services were not suitable for me. Despite my clear communication, they attempted to withdraw a significant amount of money from my credit card for an additional two months.”
The Real World replied: “turn off auto-renew before your next billing date.”
“Most the informaton you could find for free online in other places but you'll spend more time trying to find a simple step by step guide then using this platform.”
“Despite paying $49 per month (around $300 total), I didn't make any money or gain valuable insights. Much of the content was outdated and U.S.-focused”
“the campuses are also perfect if you are completely new to these methods of wealth creation but it'll take you some time before you see results.”
“The courses themselves are okay, but they're difficult to apply, and getting real clients is even harder. Overall, I don't think this works.”
For the record, the scores on 27 February 2025: the profile at trwstudent.com showed 2.9 from 23 reviews, and therealworldeducation.com showed 4.4 from 82, most of them invited through a business link over two days. Both profiles have since been removed.
Is this path for you?
It may suit you if
- You want to ask questions as you go. Ryan: “you can get like real-time feedback about like what’s working”.
- You are willing to switch if your first choice doesn’t work. Ryan started in stocks and moved to e-commerce.
- You are studying or young and have time to put in. Ryan was 19 and at community college.
- You have a small budget for a store and ads. The Real World groups Ecommerce with “a small budget and an interest in products”.
- You are patient and willing to test more than one product. The member behind this site found the first product rarely works.
It may not suit you if
- You have no budget at all. Hosting and ads cost money before any sales arrive; for no budget, The Real World points to Client Acquisition, Strategic Marketing or AI Automation instead.
- You want quick results. Testing products takes time, and one of the #wins posts above lost $450 on ads before its first orders.
- You take the caption’s “heading for $500,000” as Ryan’s result. Ryan’s own figures are about 25,000 in revenue and 7,000 in profit over two months.
- You need a guaranteed return. The Real World’s Terms of Use say it doesn’t guarantee any financial outcome, and Ryan’s figures are Ryan’s own.
Ryan’s numbers are one student’s account, given in an interview The Real World chose to publish. For the campus itself, read the Ecommerce campus review, written by a member who built a Shopify store with it.
What happens after you join
The member behind this site went through these steps himself. This is his own account, from 25 October 2026.
Choose a plan on the official checkout
You go to the official checkout and choose a plan. Only Conquer ($99 a month, or yearly at 17% off) can be bought now: Vanguard ($499 a month) shows “Sold Out” on the checkout (checked 25 October 2026).
Get the sign-in email
After you pay, you get an email with a link to sign in.
Set your password and log in
On the sign-in page you click “Forgot password”, which emails you a link to set your password. Then you log in.
Choose the Ecommerce campus
You choose your campus: Ecommerce, the one this page is about. Every campus is included.
Start the courses
You start the courses: watch the lessons and take notes. Finishing lessons unlocks the next sections and chats.
The choice is yours
Includes the Ecommerce campus and every other campus.
Take action
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- Chat groups for every campus
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Sources
- The Real World: Ryan’s student interview video (Cloudflare Stream) — transcribed October 30, 2026
- jointherealworld.com home page with the interview and its caption (Wayback Machine, June 8, 2023)
- Inside The Real World app: the Ecommerce campus Learning Center, #start-here and #wins channel (screenshots from the owner’s member account) — captured October 25, 2026
- The Real World: Ecommerce campus page — checked September 12, 2026
- The Real World Terms of Use (no guaranteed outcome) — checked September 14, 2026
- US Census Bureau: Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, 2nd Quarter 2026 (release CB26-133, August 18, 2026) — checked October 25, 2026
- US Census Bureau: Retail E-Commerce Sales for the Fourth Quarter 1999 (release CB00-40, March 2, 2000) — checked October 25, 2026
- Office for National Statistics: Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales (series J4MC, released October 23, 2026) — checked October 25, 2026
- Shopify: about page (“$1 trillion+” sales made by businesses on Shopify) — checked October 25, 2026
- Shopify: second quarter 2026 financial results (August 5, 2026) — checked October 25, 2026
- Shopify: What is dropshipping (updated November 21, 2025) — checked October 25, 2026
- Trustpilot reviews of trwstudent.com, archived February 27, 2025 (Wayback Machine) — read October 25, 2026
- Trustpilot reviews of therealworldeducation.com, archived February 27, 2025, pages 1 and 2 (Wayback Machine) — read October 25, 2026
- Trustpilot reviews of www.cobratate.com, archived December 28, 2022 (Wayback Machine) — read October 25, 2026
- Trustpilot reviews of jointherealworld.com.de (not run by The Real World), archived February 27, 2026 (Wayback Machine) — read October 25, 2026