Dropshipping is a fantastic business model for small business owners and solopreneurs, and Shopify is the ideal platform for it. Over 4.6 million global entrepreneurs use Shopify to reach a vast market without the need for inventory, storage space, or warehouse personnel. With Shopify, it’s easier than ever to launch a dropshipping business — website and all. What Shopify plan should you choose for dropshipping?
What Is the Best Shopify Plan for Dropshopping?
For most small-scale dropshipping businesses — especially startups — Shopify’s Basic Tier provides the perfect mix of functionality and price. For $19 a month, you get:
- A customizable website for your brand
- User-friendly tools for adding products, product collections, blogs, and other site content
- Complete cart, checkout, and payment processing features
- Templates and website themes
- Automated marketing tools and website analytics reports
In the past, Shopify limited lower tiers to a maximum of four inventory locations or suppliers, but those days are gone. Now, even Shopify Basic subscribers get access to 10 inventory locations, making it easier to source high-quality products that fit your dropshipping goals.
How To Decide What Shopify Plan To Choose
Shopify has three other subscription tiers called Shopify ($49/mo), Advanced ($299/mo), and Plus ($2,300/mo). The main difference between the Basic and Shopify tiers is five staff accounts (and lower transaction fees), which you don’t need unless your dropshipping operations include multiple employees.
Honestly, upgrading tiers is easy if you run into limitations, so don’t feel pressured to launch with an expensive plan.
Can You Dropship Using a Shopify Starter Plan?
If you’re a new user, the Shopify Starter Plan is a way to get your feet wet in the world of dropshipping. This plan doesn’t get you a custom website, but it lets you sell all the products you want on social media.
Here’s how you can use it:
- Dropship custom products on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
- Promote your products on YouTube and TikTok
- Send marketing emails to followers with a Shopify link for add-to-cart and checkout
- Add Shopify’s Linkpop to your bio, keeping all of your items in one place for easy selling
- Partner with print-on-demand suppliers to launch your own private-label product lines
- Manage orders, sales, and payments (not POS though)
These features make the Starter Plan a flexible dropshipping solution for influencers. It’s hard to beat just $5 a month for the ability to sell products online and grow your brand.
Keep in mind that the Starter Plan limits you to one theme, which isn’t the best if you need to stand out from thousands of other dropshipping businesses. The transaction fees are significantly higher, too (5%).
Be Successful No Matter Which Shopify Plan for Dropshipping That You Choose
Don’t think you have to spring for a $299 monthly subscription just to get better store functionality. Shopify’s 13,000 app integrations say hello.
The right apps streamline your business and supercharge your website’s capabilities — automated order fulfillment, bundles and upsells, print-on-demand, curated dropshipping suppliers, you name it. Discover a collection of popular apps that work with whatever Shopify plan you choose for dropshipping.