Online storefronts are a little bit like real estate.
Just like real estate, you can buy them and invest in them. Many are incredibly profitable, too, when it comes time to sell them.
And out of all the e-commerce sites online right now, I think one of the best ones is Shopify. That’s why I’m going to take the time today to answer the question, is buying a Shopify store worth it?
I’ll also be sharing with you my success story with, so you can see for yourself.
What is Dropshipping?
If this is your first time looking into dropshipping, you might not have a good idea of what it is or how it works.
Before I get into the details of my experience buying a Shopify site, I’m going to give you some background on dropshipping. That way, you’ll have a better understanding of what my story means for you.
So, what is dropshipping? Put simply, it’s picking a reputable brand to work with and advertising their products using proven methods.
By using reliable strategies like consistent Google ads and well-designed sites, I’m able to sell high-ticket items with a big profit margin. Then, once a customer orders from my site, the supplier ships the order to them.
We get deeper into the basics of dropshipping our dropshipping basics post right here.
You can also click here if you’d like to learn more about what high-ticket items are.
Read Also: Dropshipping vs FBA
Going From Spending 9K to Earning 9K a Day
UPDATE APRIL 24 2020:
Here’s a screenshot of how this story is doing so far this year. It’s grown A LOT. Now it’s doing a lot better than $9,000 in sales per day.
Like you guessed from the title of this post, I went from spending $9,000 to earning that much in a day. How did that happen?
Let me explain.
Buying the Shopify Store
I started by buying the Shopify store as a sort of experiment. I’d been talking to this person who had approached me with a deal: they wanted to sell their site for $9,000.
This isn’t something I just jump into. When someone approaches me with an offer like that, I take a look at their site first.
Usually, when someone is struggling with their dropship site and asks me what to do next, I give them the same advice: add more suppliers. It broadens the scope for your customers by giving them more options.
But I didn’t need to add any suppliers to this site. The fix was actually pretty simple, and this was the perfect time to test my strategies to see how well they work.
Read Also: Is Dropshipping Legal? How to Avoid Getting Sued Selling on Shopify
Making Some Minor Tweaks
After some initial research, I decided to buy the Shopify site and dig a little deeper. I looked at which of their products was selling the best, then I looked at their ad history in Google.
What I was looking for was more information on how they were making use of their budget.
One thing I see a lot for dropship sites is that they have something that’s selling really well…and yet, a lot of their budget goes towards advertising other things.
So one quick tweak I made was rebuilding the structure and focus of the site’s ads. Instead of focusing on products that weren’t selling as well, I pointed them towards the products that were selling well.
Then, I gave the site a professional makeover, so it looked a bit better. I also added some assets designed to increase the conversion rate, which I talk about in more detail in our Build Assets Online program.
Read Also: Influencer Marketing for Shopify Doesn’t Work (Do This Instead)
Is Buying a Shopify Store Worth it: My Verdict
I’ll get straight to the point here before I add some more detail.
Is buying a Shopify store worth it? The answer, as you probably guessed, is absolutely.
Now I’ll back up my answer with those details I just mentioned.
By making the easy changes I talked about previously, I was able to turn the site around. In just three months, I made back the $9,000 I spent on it – basically, it paid for itself.
At the beginning of this post, I said that these sites are like real estate. They are real assets that you can add to your portfolio, whether it’s an FBA website, a dropshipping site, or a Kindle publishing site.
It varies, but on average, you can sell a website for between $20,000-30,000. For a well-established website, you could potentially sell it for anywhere from $36,000-50,000.
I’ve perfected the process of making websites into sellable assets. Over the years, I’ve learned that you may not even need to add more suppliers to turn a site around.
You could make those simple tweaks, just like I did with the Shopify site I bought. The right combination of strategies can lead to a huge degree of success.
Read about our profit margins in our post on our own Dropshipping Profit Margin.
I also recommend giving a listen to our podcast. We had an interview with Jon Dykstra from Fat Stacks about successful advertising.
Want to try Shopify for free? Grab a free trial here.
Read Also: Dropshipping vs Affiliate Marketing – What’s Better for Beginners?
Wrap Up
What I ultimately want you to take away from my experiment is that if you’re struggling with your store, the fixes you need to make could be easy. You may not need to bring in more suppliers, or in the worst-case scenario, give up on it just yet.
Pay attention to your ad structure. Make sure you’re using targeted keywords, and that you’re allocating your budget towards the keywords that are going to make you money.
Look at your site. Be prepared to redesign it a little so it looks professional.
You also want to ensure you have things that increase your conversation rate. An example is having something on your site that tells people to call you with questions, provided you have the ability to take those calls.
If a customer can call you, it instantly builds trust between you and the customer. Look at Amazon – you can’t just get on the phone easily to call them with questions.
But if they can call you quickly, then you’re immediately making yourself look like the expert. This sets you apart from the competition.
We personally hire people from the Philippines to take calls for us. This helps us build relationships with our customers.
The bottom line is, these strategies work, whether you’re making a new site or buying an old one.
We outline them in greater detail in our Build Assets Online course.
You can also take a look at our Online Assets Playbook for free right here.