Suppose you are thinking about starting a new dropshipping venture. In that case, you may have stumbled upon the possibility of buying a premade dropshipping store from one of the many websites that offer them.
Many discussions have been made about whether it is wise to purchase a premade dropshipping as a beginner. In this article, I will give you my thoughts!
In my opinion, it is better to build your dropshipping store from scratch rather than buying a premade dropshipping store. Making a store yourself will learn a lot, and you will know everything about your store! However, if you are committed to buying a premade dropshipping, be careful not to step into one of the many pitfalls!
First, let’s look at the different types of premade dropshipping stores you can buy.
Types of premade dropshipping stores
Starting a new dropshipping store involves several steps. This is why you will see different types of premade dropshipping stores available. Some have only run through the first few steps and don’t have sales yet. But, you will also find stores for sale with thousands of deals.
Suppose you are interested in the steps involved in creating a new dropshipping. In that case, you should check out this article, which covers every step of creating a brand-new dropshipping business yourself!
1. Brand-New Premade Dropshipping Store
The type of premade dropshipping store you will often see is the brand-new one. Here, the simplest steps to create your own business, like making a Shopify account, picking a domain, products, and designing your website, are already done.
This premade dropshipping store will cost you around 50 to 150 US dollars.
2. Turnkey Dropshipping Store
A turnkey dropshipping store is built to help beginners start their business quickly. Almost everything is already done on the website itself. It often includes good products, a premium domain name, product descriptions, etc.
The concept is to “turn the key” and start selling! Be careful, however, because sales don’t come by themselves and you will have to promote the store yourself. Many third-party sellers offer premade turnkey dropshipping stores.
This type of premade dropshipping store will cost you between 300 and 900 US dollars and, depending on the package you choose, will come with the following assets.
3. Already-Running Premade Dropshipping Stores
We have now covered premade dropshipping stores that don’t have any sales yet, but sometimes owners of existing and running dropshipping stores want to start a new project or focus on something else and will therefore sell their current store.
This is what we call already-running dropshipping stores!
And guess what? You can buy these dropshipping businesses!
The advantage of these types of premade dropshipping stores compared to the others is that you know that the product will sell; you have creatives for your advertisements, customer data, and social media accounts with followers.
These kinds of premade dropshipping stores will cost you anywhere from 1.000 to millions of US dollars for the most successful ones.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying Premade Dropshipping Stores
Now that you know what a premade dropshipping store is and what types of premade dropshipping stores exist, we will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of buying a premade dropshipping store to conclude whether or not it is worth it to buy one!
Advantages
Less work: You don’t have to pick a name, make a domain, choose your products, design your website.
Saves time: You will be able to start selling after just a couple of days. Most elements of your dropshipping business are already set up.
No worries about picking a name: Some people know what online store name they want from the get-go, but this is a difficult decision for most of us.
Disadvantages
No product research: You didn’t do your product research with a premade dropshipping store. Therefore, you won’t know who your audience is and if you have a winning product.
No unique website: When creating a dropshipping store yourself, you will have the chance to think about the design of your website. It would help if you tried to make it unique from other dropshipping stores to stand out. With a premade dropshipping store, the chances are that your store will look like a typical dropshipping store.
You won’t learn anything: You are missing out on a large learning experience by purchasing a premade dropshipping store. You will learn about product research, store design, and marketing when building your store.
No knowledge of previous activities: You don’t know how the previous owner has treated their customers. Maybe the store you are buying has a reputation for being a scam!
When weighing up these advantages and disadvantages, my opinion is that it is better to build your dropshipping store from scratch. You will learn so much more by doing everything yourself. You will also save yourself some money which you will be able to use later to market your store.
There is also no chance of getting scammed with a bad deal, and when you succeed with your dropshipping store, it will feel much better knowing that you’ve built and designed everything yourself!
Pitfalls of Buying a Premade Dropshipping Store
I’ve already told you about some of the disadvantages of buying a premade dropshipping store, and sadly I have to tell you that there are other issues you could experience when purchasing a premade dropshipping store. These are some of the pitfalls you will have to look out for!
Are the stats true?
Sometimes, people buy a premade dropshipping store, only to find out stats such as sales, profit/loss, and fake visitors.
Supplier issues
Be careful with this one; it could be why the previous owner decided to sell his dropshipping store.
Imagine buying a premade dropshipping store, getting some orders, and starting fulfilling them. But suddenly, after 1 or 2 weeks, you get a message from your supplier telling you they can not fulfill your orders and don’t want to support dropshippers anymore.
You will lose a lot of time, effort, and customers when this happens, as you will have to look for a new supplier and wait until they fulfill the remaining orders.
Lack of product research
Many people make it their “job” to make and try to sell as many premade dropshipping stores as possible in the shortest amount of time.
This means they will fill the store with any products they can find and won’t do any product research. I advise against buying one of these stores because the chance of succeeding is meager, in my opinion.
Who owns the social media accounts?
Be careful when you purchase a premade dropshipping store with included social media accounts because there are two ways you can get scammed here.
First, be sure that the seller will provide you with social media accounts. Also, keep in mind that even if the seller provides you with social media accounts, they can hijack them back a few days or weeks later.
For example, someone can claim back their Instagram account by contacting Instagram’s support and telling them their account was hacked.
Lack of knowledge about the competition
Be sure to research the competition in the premade dropshipping store’s niche you’re planning to buy.
Let’s say that, for example, you bought a store selling cheese graters, only to find out later that you have eight other direct competitors selling the same or a higher quality version of your product. You will need to work extra hard to overcome this competition and stay profitable!
Premade Dropshipping Stores: Conclusion
Hurray! You’ve made it to the end of the article. You now know what a premade dropshipping store is, what kinds of premade dropshipping stores exist, and the advantages and disadvantages of buying a premade dropshipping store.
In conclusion, I would advise against buying a premade dropshipping store for most people. However, if you are in an extreme hurry to acquire a dropshipping business and want to start selling immediately, it is a possible shortcut.
I also think that building a store is relatively simple; it is the marketing that you should ace. Also, don’t get stuck thinking inside the box and only advertising with Facebook and Instagram. Did you know you can advertise your dropshipping store with Pinterest too?
I suggest you create your dropshipping store rather than purchasing a premade dropshipping store.
Then, use that money to purchase video ads or pro photography for your product. A great ad is so helpful in generating more sales!
Have a nice day. Keep improving every day!
Private Agent for Dropshipping Success