Are you looking for the best Shopify stores for sale? Then this post is for you.
Coming up with unique Shopify designs is sometimes a bit complex. You not only have to create a good landing page but also set up the technical aspect, including shipping, payment gateway, additional functionality, and so on.
While you can use a drag-and-drop page builder for designing the entire Shopify store without knowing any code, you still need to think of brand aesthetics to showcase your product and spread awareness.
We have compiled the most unique ways to help you locate the best places to find Shopify stores for sale. But before that, here are some quick pointers to help you find your favorite dropshipping business.
- Business model – You need to look for a business model that is both low-risk and provides a high ROI. Usually, a dropshipping or print-on-demand store offers a lower risk than an inventory business.
- Investment – Check the entire business model to see how much the investment is after all the additional charges.
- Revenue and profit margin – Look at the store details on the online marketplace or use site analysis tool to see the monthly visitors, revenue, marketing strategies, and other specs.
Now that you know the quick details, let’s get started.
6 ways to find the best Shopify stores for sale in 2023
1. Use a buy/sell marketplace
When searching for Shopify stores for sale, there’s no better place than a broker marketplace or buy/sell marketplace. You can find everything from a starter store to highly profitable Shopify businesses.
These marketplaces not only pre-verify the store but also make the purchase or transaction process smoother. Plus, there are filters, like business types (eCommerce/blog/SaaS), niches, monthly visitors, monthly profit, budgets, a revenue multiple, and more. All this makes it easy to find a good Shopify store that fits your budget.
- Flippa – It is a global online marketplace helping entrepreneurs buy and sell their businesses. You can find thousands of dropshipping and inventory stores on Flippa.
- Empire Flippers – It is one of the most popular, vetted marketplaces for buying and selling unique eCommerce businesses, including dropshipping, Amazon FBA, and more. You can get your hands on high-profit Shopify stores for sale.
- Exchange Marketplace – This is a platform dedicated to Shopify stores for sale. Although Shopify has disconnected the Exchange Marketplace, there’s still a way to find great Shopify businesses (I’ll explain that below).
2. Create a brand new Shopify store
Shopify has an integrated online store builder that allows you to set up the store in a few minutes with simple drag and drop. They also have free tools like Hatchful logo maker (for creating logos), Burst (free stock images), and free apps for additional dynamic functionality. Plus, they have 24/7 support via chat, phone, and email.
If you are short on budget or want better insight into your target niche, then creating a store with reverse engineering is way better than buying Shopify stores for sale. Here’s a quick blueprint for starting a Shopify store with a higher chance of success.
2.1 Look for the top dropshipping stores in your niche
When starting up your online store, learn from the competitors in your niche. This will make you one step ahead directly from the beginning.
Use inverted commas (“YOUR Niche”) in Google search operators to find specific queries on search engines. For example, if your niche is clothing dropshipping, you can search – Best Shopify “clothing” stores. Or visit the online marketplaces to find the best fit for you.
2.2 Perform product research and reverse engineer the store –
Once you have checked out a few stores for inspiration, it’s time to perform product research. Most of the time, a Shopify store will have one of the following sources –
- Spocket dropshipping – Spocket is an online dropshipping platform that connects high-quality suppliers from the USA, Europe, and other locations. You can find unique products designed by independent brands. There are also other platforms similar to Spocket, like Modalyst, Syncee, and more.
- AliExpress dropshipping – You can use any product sourcing app on Shopify to find the best-selling items from AliExpress and alternate marketplaces.
- Branded dropshipping – If you are looking for high-ticket dropshipping, search for the product and top brands for that supplier. A great way to do this is by looking on Google Shopping and finding the list of brands that sell that specific product. You can then funnel out the retailers and brands, and, in most cases, the brands work with retailers to sell the product. After that, you simply contact the product manufacturer directly for a retail and dropshipping partnership.
- Print on demand dropshipping – Print on demand is where you design the products, and the company takes care of product manufacturing and shipping. It is one of the most popular business models among Shopify merchants.
2.3 Create your own Shopify store
Once you have the product(s) in mind and have researched the audience base, start creating your Shopify store by selecting a business name. You can check out the buy/sell eCommerce marketplaces for inspiration. A Shopify theme detector can assist you if you are still figuring out which theme your store will use. You can also hire a Shopify store designer to help with store creation.
3. Buy a pre-made Shopify store from an agency
If you want to avoid getting into the nitty-gritty of building a Shopify store from scratch, then you can acquire a pre-made store from Shopify website designing services.
These turnkey-store providers will include the following in most cases –
- Custom store design with a unique landing page
- Integrated features like payment gateways and SSL
- Top-rated dropshipping suppliers from the USA, United Kingdom, Europe, and other countries
- Preloaded best-selling dropshipping products
- Automated dropshipping setup installation
- Search engine optimization and responsiveness (all device compatibility)
- Shopify store marketing ebooks (add-ons)
Most website development services will cost anywhere from $200 to $500, depending on the services you choose. You can easily find agencies selling Shopify stores. Alternatively, you can also contact us, as we have a team of dedicated Shopify store builders for launching dropshipping businesses for as low as $100.
4. Using a freelance marketplace
If you are looking for starter Shopify stores for sales that are well-built, budget-friendly, and ready to launch, then you can use an online services marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr. Upwork is a platform for posting jobs and hiring employees, which is ideal if you want a long-term Shopify store manager.
Fiverr is also an online marketplace for buying and selling services. You can find tons of Shopify store creators on this platform. But make sure you choose an experienced web designer with verifiable references who can create an effective landing page for conversions.
5. Use Exchange Marketplace with Wayback Machine
While the Exchange Marketplace is no longer available, you can still access the old pages to research top-performing products and create a better version of that store using Shopify.
All you have to do is use Wayback Machine, a digital archive of the World Wide Web. You can find historical pages of any site on the internet.
Next, enter the URL for Exchange Marketplace on Wayback Machine. You can then access different Shopify stores for sale. Either copy the products to your new store or reach out to the store to see if it’s available for sale.
6. Reach out to successful Shopify stores
If you have a sizable investment and want to buy a big business with higher revenue, you can send cold pitches to the best Shopify stores in your niche.
Simply search for the top Shopify stores, “YOUR NICHE,” on Google, and it will show you a list of profitable stores. Next, send cold emails; you don’t necessarily have to follow a script, but an official format will make your email more effective.
To give you an idea, here’s an email received from one of the Shopify stores we created –
Know that this will be a cold pitch, so you will have a lower response rate. Once you get a positive response, head on to an online business evaluation tool and check the required details, send the required details, and discuss the next steps with an e-meet.
Conclusion
That was my take on Shopify stores for sale. You can find dropshipping, print on demand, and inventory business options.
If you are creating your own store, you can always hire someone for product research or use Shopify product research tools to find the best sellers. You can also find brick-and-mortar stores in sale ads and other offline platforms.
Please let us know in the comments below if you need any help launching your Shopify store.
