How to Buy a Shopify Store: Due Diligence and Transfer Guide

1. Decide what kind of store you want

• Dropshipping stores: products shipped by suppliers, usually rely on paid ads
• Private label or own-brand stores: stronger brand, more control, more stock risk
• Print-on-demand stores: lower stock risk, depends on design and marketing
• Starter stores: low price, but little or no sales history

2. Verify sales and profit in Shopify admin

Ask for a live screen-share of Shopify Analytics covering at least 12 months. Compare gross sales with refunds, product costs, shipping, app fees and advertising to work out the real profit.

3. Review advertising performance

Many stores depend on Meta or Google ads. Look at ad spend, cost per purchase and return on ad spend over time. A store that only stays profitable with heavy ad spending is riskier than one with organic, email or returning-customer sales.

4. Check suppliers and fulfillment

• Who the suppliers are and whether they will work with you
• Average shipping times and delivery problems
• Product quality and return rates
• Any stock that is included in the sale

5. Look at customers and reputation

Read product reviews, customer emails and chargeback history. Check that the brand name is not copying a trademark and that products follow the rules of the payment providers and ad platforms.

6. List everything included in the sale

• Shopify store and theme
• Domain name
• Email list and customer data, where legally allowed
• Social media pages and ad accounts where transferable
• Logos, product photos and supplier contacts

7. Transfer the store

Shopify lets a store owner transfer ownership to another person from the store settings. The domain is moved to your registrar account, and payment providers are reconnected to your own business details. Change all passwords once you have control.

8. Pay through escrow

On Buy Any Asset, marketplace purchases are handled through escrow, so the seller only receives payment after the store and its assets have been handed over to you.