It can be difficult to launch an online business. It’s not an easy task. You need to choose a company name and design your online store. Find products you want to sell. Develop marketing strategies. This is especially difficult if you are a beginner.
It would be amazing if you could only purchase a store with a proven track record. Shopify Exchange Marketplace makes this possible. You can purchase and sell Shopify storefronts through the Exchange Marketplace. There are thousands of pre-made businesses available on the platform, covering a broad range of niches. Exchange can help you purchase a Shopify shop, or browse drop-shipping companies for sale.
You can use Exchange to help entrepreneurs jumpstart your eCommerce business or transfer your existing store to another entrepreneur for cash. This cash can be used to invest in new ventures or keep the profit. This article will explain all you need to know about Exchange, and how to buy a Shopify Store in this marketplace. Let’s now get into the details about how to purchase a Shopify Store.
How does the Shopify Exchange Marketplace work?
The Shopify Exchange Market allows entrepreneurs with all levels of experience to find, buy and sell Shopify-based online businesses. What’s the secret to this market being so successful?
Exchange provides accurate metrics for each listing. These metrics can be used to determine how much traffic a business has generated and how many business sales it has made. Below is an example of the Exchange Market.
Exchange only lists data from whitelisted source. This allows you to be sure that the data is correct before every listing is published. This is great news for all Shopify customers.
Exchange allows you to list all the shops for sale on one marketplace. However, the owner may no longer be running marketing campaigns.
The Exchange Marketplace also has stores in all sizes. Starter stores are available starting at a few hundred dollars. Established companies can sell for over six figures. You can search the site to find new listings every day.
Search for Listings on Exchange
The Exchange Marketplace allows you to search for any type of listing, whether you are looking for a starter shop, an established business, or a dropshipping site. First, go to the Exchange homepage. Here’s what the page will look like when you land on it:
The Exchange Marketplace allows you to search for new shops, established stores, and dropshipping businesses. You can start by going to the Exchange homepage. Here’s what the page will look like once you arrive on it:
There are four options to search for Shopify stores on the Exchange marketplace.
Check out the latest listings
Click on the New Listings tab near the top of this page. This will take you to the page showing the 24 most recent Exchange Marketplace listings. This will allow you to browse the most recent online stores on Exchange.
Categories
To search for listings, you can also use the Categories filter. This tab is located at the top of this page. Click here to search for drop-shipping companies for sale.
Search Function
Exchange has a search function that allows you to search for unique keywords. This is great if you have an idea of what you are searching for. This feature will also be at the top. You can search for your keyword and hit enter to be taken to an assortment of online businesses that are available for purchase.
Sorting Parameters
The Exchange website has a number of sorting parameters. You can use these to narrow down your search by price, age, type, and many other factors. This feature is great and will help you narrow down your search results to find eCommerce companies that meet your criteria.
If you are interested in the Marketplace, I recommend that you visit their website and try out the features mentioned above. You’ll find the right one for you among the many online shops.
Things to do before buying a business
Reduce your requirements
There are thousands of Shopify stores on the Exchange Marketplace. It’s worth narrowing down your search criteria before you begin looking for stores to buy. You need to decide what type of store you want to buy and what financial commitment you are willing to make.
You must first establish a budget. How much money are you willing to invest? For sites that are fully functional, but not yet profitable, the Exchange Marketplace listing price can be as low as $50. It could go up to hundreds of thousands for sites that generate tens of thousand of dollars per month. The Exchange Marketplace stores that make the highest monthly profits are, as you might guess, the most costly.
Next, determine how much time you are willing to devote to the daily operations of the company you are about to buy. While many online businesses, especially drop-ship ones, may operate to a large extent, others will require significant effort in terms of marketing, PR, and business. You may want to avoid the latter category if you don’t have enough time or you are looking for a profitable business.
You should also think about the type of products you are most confident marketing for. Do you have any niches you are particularly familiar with or areas you would rather avoid? Do you have ethical concerns about where dropshipping suppliers source their goods? Clear vision is key to identifying the product you need before you begin searching for stores on the Exchange Marketplace. This will allow you to find the right opportunity faster.
Do your research
Once you know how much time you are willing to spend on a store you purchase online, and have an idea of the type of business you want to buy, you can start browsing Shopify’s Trade Marketplace Platform to do preliminary research into stores that might suit your needs.
Exchange Marketplace allows you to search for stores by using the following filters
- Price
- Age at the store
- Revenue
- Business type (dropshipping, inventory, print-on-demand, etc.)
- Industry
These filters can be combined with your previously narrowed requirements to find potential stores to purchase.
You may have several competitors. Now, take a look at the information for each store to determine if it is a safe buy. There are four sections at the top of every store page on Exchange Marketplace that will take to you to the main store details. These sections are listed below and should be reviewed in detail:
Description
This section provides information about the Exchange Marketplace Listing.
- A brief overview of the business
- It is a good idea to buy it
- Here are some suggestions on how to grow your business
- An overview of the labor that went into the building of the store
- It takes approximately one week to run the business.
It is important to remember that all the information above is provided by the current owner. This information is straight from the business owner. You will be able judge the qualities of this seller to a certain extent.
Is the seller trustworthy? Is it possible to tell if the seller is trustworthy.
You’ve read reviews about the platform and you feel confident that you are dealing with someone you can trust.
Performance
The Performance tab displays the monthly sales and traffic for the Shopify store. This data is not altered by the seller and comes straight from Shopify. You can therefore be certain that it is authentic and cannot be modified.
Shopify’s Exchange Marketplace pulls performance information directly from the store that you are interested in purchasing. The store owner cannot edit the figures. It is important to remember that revenue doesn’t necessarily equate with profit and that traffic does not equal organic traffic. You will need to do your research to find out the source of the income and how it was earned. These stats will give you an idea of the site’s performance. Let’s now buy a Shopify store from the exchange marketplace.
Expenses
This section of the listing will show you how much it cost to acquire the business’s achievements. It will also help you to get an idea of what the monthly profit is in relation to the revenue.
You should look for positive results (i.e. high income rates without correspondingly high expenditures) and red flags that might alarm you (is there an expense that should not be there but isn’t? ).
Sale includes
The “Sale includes” segment gives a summary of the items included in a sale, such as product, domain, social follow-up, support after-sales, and so forth.
The data can be used to evaluate two things. First, the price of the product (are the features you want to use it to grow your business) and second, how efficient the business is. The second is how efficient your business is (social stats will provide you with an indication).
You can determine if a store is worth your time and effort by looking at each part. If you feel you have found a winner, it is time to do your research.
Do your due diligence
Once you have identified strong candidates for a purchase it is time to do your research. This is the most crucial aspect of buying a Shopify store. It is also the most important. Shopify’s Exchange Marketplace allows buyers to interact with vendors directly via anonymous email. These are the most important questions to ask when doing this:
From where is your website traffic?
Site traffic can be divided into two types: organic traffic (via advertising) or paid traffic (via search engines). For obvious reasons, organic traffic is more important than you think. You must be clear about where your seller’s traffic comes from. This is the most important question you should ask the seller of the company you are interested in buying. Continue to dig down until you get a detailed answer.
You will need to be able replicate the paid advertising strategy used by the seller to attract customers. When you buy a store, it is important to understand the details and budgets involved. You should also be prepared to provide you with an overview of the current advertising process and some support after the sale.
If the seller feels that most of their site traffic comes from organic sources, please verify this by checking the Google Analytics reports. You should temporarily be added as a reader to the seller’s Google Analytics account in order to have direct access to the data. This will eliminate the possibility that a seller might offer you a PDF manipulated by organic search results.
To test the backlink profile for the store, you can use a tool such as Ahrefs while analysing organic traffic to the website. Ahrefs allows you to check the backlink profile for any domain by simply entering the URL.
If there aren’t many backlinks to the site you’re considering purchasing, it might be worth reconsidering. If there are a lot of backlinks to the website, but they’re all spammy or low quality, it’s worth questioning the sale. While suspicious link building techniques can temporarily increase the site’s performance in search results, Google algorithms can detect them and cause a drop in traffic within minutes. If you find a lot of high-quality backlinks to your shop, this can be a strong indicator that your new store will rank well in search results.
How to buy a Shopify Store from Exchange
Once you have agreed to buy a store on the Exchange Marketplace, then you will need to create an account. You can log in using your existing Google account or Facebook account. Next, go to the listing. You can immediately contact the seller if you are trying to purchase a store less than $5,000. If you list exceeds $5,000, you will need to verify that you are a registered user before you contact the seller.
The verification process is easy, so don’t be alarmed. All you have to do is provide some information about yourself and select the type of company that you are interested in purchasing. This is done to allow Exchange to show you the best online companies to buy.
You will need to link your LinkedIn profile to Shopify if you want to purchase a Shopify business that is listed on Exchange. This was done to enable trust between the seller and you. Next, use the Request Information feature.
You can ask questions and discuss the listing’s price. You can negotiate with the seller to get a better price.
After you reach a price agreement with the seller, Exchange will allow you to pay for the store. Exchange has partnered with Escrow to make it easier for you to pay for the store via Exchange. This safe payment network has processed more than $3.5 Billion in payments. This platform will be used if you buy a Shopify store.
To use Escrow, sellers will need to list their terms (what is included in the sale), and then set a time limit (how long the buyer must search the store after making the purchase).
Once the customer accepts these terms, Escrow will pay the money. Escrow will keep the money until both parties have agreed to the terms. Escrow is essentially a middleman who ensures that all parties are legally bound.
Once you have established the terms of sale, it is time to hand over the items to the store. Exchange will help you navigate the process. This usually takes between 3-5 days. If you have any questions during the Shopify Store purchase process, you can always reach out to their support.
Dropshipping Businesses for Sale on Exchange
You’re in luck if you are interested in purchasing a drop-shipping company for sale. You can find a lot of drop shipping companies on the Exchange Marketplace.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you purchase a Shopify shop that uses drop-shipping, inventory will not be transferred to you during the shop handover process. Dropshipping companies don’t manage inventory. Instead, the manufacturers handle shipping and handling. Dropshipping companies purchased on Exchange can still be used to get branding properties, domain names and website information.
Last words
Shopify will support you in many ways during your inspection period. A dedicated team at the Exchange Marketplace will guide you through this process and answer any questions you might have. They cannot tell you if a business is a good buy. They can only help you with the online store purchasing process by sharing best practices.
This article should have provided you with clear guidance on how to purchase a Shopify store. You can now put what you have learned into practice to create a Shopify store. Good luck!
