Want to start Drop Shipping? Meet Shopify!

Generally, Shopify has been an awesome service. I was able to build many sites with it. Ecommerce and Drop shipping is very easy with Shopify. With Shopify, I didn't have to bother about hosting my store or making my site secure. All these were taken care of by Shopify. It's ease of use for drop shipping is second to none, and I didn't have to be a programmer to enjoy it. The only turn off I had while starting was the initial cost because I wanted to start on a very lean budget. It's ease of use is beautiful. Using Shopify is fun.

Pros

I love many things about Shopify. Honestly, I've not fallen in love with any other alternative as much as I have with Shopify. The pros of Shopify includes: 1. No Hosting required: This is a beautiful part of Shopify. With Shopify, I never had to worry about purchasing a hosting plan. Shopify hosts all merchant accounts on their server. 2. Free SSL: I love this a lot. With some other alternatives, a user may need to purchase an SSL certificate to keep his/her site safe, but not with Shopify. Shopify provides free SSL for all users. 3. Easy to use: With Shopify, I was able to get up and running in about half an hour. No programming skills required. Customising and tweaking everything can be done in about an hour. This is beautiful compared to alternatives. 4. Free trials: Shopify allows a new user to tryout it's services for complete two weeks without paying any money if the user desires. Being curious, I had to try the free service before deciding to make any purchase. 5. Easy to install apps: Shopify have apps to help users add functionalities to their websites. The apps are very easy to install. Their are both free and premium apps on Shopify. 6. Easy payment collection: Shopify has it's own payment system for users. This allows users collect payment for products and services from their customers. The payment processing fee varies from plan to plan. 7. Easy to integrate with drop shipping services: A large chunk of Shopify users are drop shippers. This is a plus.

Cons

Inasmuch as I so much love Shopify, honestly, there are a few turn offs. They include: 1. Expensive: For a starter, Shopify may be very expensive compared to alternatives like woocommerce. With woocommerce, a user can build a free forever ecommerce/ drop shipping site. The user only need to purchase a hosting service and an SSL certificate if need be. 2. Some apps are not available: I opted to using another payment gateway other than Shopify's. The issue I had was that I couldn't find the app for my desired payment processor on the App store. By this, I was compelled to use another payment processor. 3. Premium Apps: Shopify apps helps users add features to their websites. The con here is that many of the apps are premium apps, and should be paid for. This means that apart from the money one have to pay to use Shopify, the one still need to pay some more to have his/her desired apps installed. This can be a turn off for newbies, and others users. Apart from those cons, Shopify is a beautiful app to use.

The only platform I would use for Ecommerce

I work with a lot of websites that are ecommerce-based, and the headaches you'd expect to come with complex ecosystems are so much less frequent with Shopify than they are with Magento, BigCommerce, etc. While other systems frustrate me to a point where I say "eh, I just won't even try to do 'task x' ", Shopify has a simple enough engine and vast enough app store that I feel like very few tasks are insurmountable.

Pros

From startup stores to enterprise solutions, Shopify has a structure that any site can use (and excel with). The templates available give each store a 'custom' feel, and the platform-side checkout solution prevents a lot of hiccups and downtime that would be caused by inexperienced developers trying to manipulate that crucial step in the funnel.

Cons

Lately (fall 2019), Shopify has had quite a bit of downtime. Because they host so many stores, it appears their servers can get overwhelmed during heavy seasons, causing slower responses and even causing stores to crash. Since the stores are all somewhat linked, this can cause issues for a large amount of stores, killing sales and harming customer reputation.

Shopify is easy to launch and manage

My overall experience has been positive using Shopify as my shopping cart for my store. I felt the transition from Magento was pretty simple - although I did not do the migration that is an option, I ended up starting a brand new site.

Pros

I currently use Shopify for my side hustle business - selling retro and vintage style dresses online - www.retrovintagedresses.com I previously used Magento for my shopping cart before switching over to Shopify. I like that its an easy platform to get set up on and deploy. Also, I love that you can easily create a catalog on business manager to sell products on Facebook and Instagram. Definitely easy to use.

Cons

I dont have any cons that I can think of with Shopify. Ive been using it for over 2 years and have not had any major issues or set backs.

Thought I was signing up for an Integrated POS System and Website

Feels like Shopify sucks you in and is not transparent. When you realize what the system doesnt do...they apologize and are very kind but not very helpful. There are a bunch of awkward apps you can buy to fix the problems but they dont work very well. Wish someone would just make an easy functioning system that met business that sell inventory on line and in person.

Pros

It is easy to get a website up and running. Adding products is easy.

Cons

WHERE DO I BEGIN: -inventory records only go back three months...I was horrified to find out I lost 4 months of inventory records. -to print a receipt...you need to buy and download an app...it is awkward to use and takes a couple minutes for the receipt to upload before you can print it. -to have employees log in you need to download and app and pay monthly -you can not do a credit on someones account if they return something...You need to either return their money or give them a gift card it is awkward and difficult to use. -if you mark an order pending payment you cannot take payment on the POS system. -you cannot add any vender information that is not visible to your customers. -the duplicate feature when adding products doesnt work properly....to hard to explain what should be duplicated and what shouldnt but trust me it wasnt created by someone that understands business

Why I chose Shopify (but also use other platforms, too)

I'm a fan - their customer service is excellent, and I've never had any issues with downtime or anything like that.

Pros

I have an online shop to support my podcast on Tudor history. I originally set up my shop thinking I'd sell some fun leggings using print on demand vendors. And it's grown into a bit of a behemoth. Which is great! Here's the thing - lots of creators use Redbubble and Spreadshirt and other places like that, which is fine, but the difference is that when you do that, they handle the entire sales process. This is fine if you don't want to know your customers, but if you're running an online business, then being able to capture that sales information, and get mailing list sign ups, is crucial . You can still use print on demand vendors, only this time you control the entire sales process. Everything is branded for your business. The tags in the leggings are branded for you. The mailing address is your company. It's all yours. Of course, the downside is that you also have to handle the customer service questions that would normally go to the Zazzle equivalent. But if you are really wanting to build a business around your customers, you want that touch point. And you get to keep all the profits. With all the apps, you can have a store that really expresses who you are, and lets you control the entire sales process.

Cons

I'm not a fan of how much is only included in the more expensive options, and how much is only available through paid apps. Of course it's great to have the options at all, but it's very easy to start to run up high bills. At one point I was paying close to $100/mo for all my various apps! I also still use other marketplaces like Etsy because it's the distinction between selling at a church craft fair and setting up your own shop. At the church craft fair you're pretty much guaranteed some kind of traffic. With setting up on your own you have more control over the feel, and ownership of the shop, but it's up to you to go out and get all the traffic.