Shopify Business Models (The Ultimate Cheat Sheet)

Shopify is more than just a store to sell items on. It is your own platform, a place where you have the freedom to create whatever business model you want. Don't limit yourself to buying from a wholesaler and shipping using fulfillment center. That is what many systems are teaching right now but it isn't the only way to make money with Shopify. The core of any successful store is great product. No matter what product you choose though it will be important to choose a business model that complements it.

The Low Cost Digital Book Store. Amazon's Kindle marketplace has lended some credibility to the idea of digital books as a product. You may remember when eBooks were mostly thought of as a scam or a get rich quick scheme. That is no longer the case as many established authors and publishers sell digital books. In this model, you will first need some books that you have the right to sell. You could write them yourself, hire someone to write on Fiverr, or buy and heavily edit some PLR on the subject. You don't need to have a great number of books for sale, that isn't the main goal here. Instead make sure you target a niche where the buyer would likely need more that just a digital book but perhaps coaching or online training. Examples are the make money online niche, personal development, and dating. When the user buys your digital book they will be added to your email autoresponder (unless they opt out), from there you can create a series of emails designed to up sell them video training or a coaching program. As an affiliate of that program you'll make a nice percentage off each sale.

How To Set Up Digital Products

Dropshipping + Amazon Affiliate. Droppshiping sounds great but is risky especially with high ticket items. Your payment processor might not be too happy if you receive thousands of dollars worth of charge backs dues to an unreliable supplier. One way to minimize risk is focus on low ticket items the problem is often the profit margin is slim. One way around this is cross promote with related high ticket items from Amazon. Of course you would have to find related high ticket items and feature them heavily in your store. You could also promote them in your newsletter.

How to Set Up Amazon Affiliate Products

The Free + Shipping Model. Exactly what it sounds like, you give items away for "free" but instead only charge a small fee for shipping. This model works great for video courses, interactive workbooks, photography books, and anything where someone would want a physical copy of the product. To make this work you need to have a low-cost product that you have the right to sell. If you plan to sell workbooks you want to get them printed in bulk to lower cost. If it is a video course or small workbook you may even be able to print or copy them on demand.

How To Setup Your Shopify Store for Free + Shipping

Customizable Tees and Mugs. Instead of designing tees and mugs and selling them online, you can let people design their own! That's right you could own a site very similar to CafePress or Zazzle. It does require a little technical know how to set up correctly but overall a great option if you're looking to get into the collectible business. Also, just because you're offering print on demand doesn't mean you can't sell your own designs as well.

How To Add Setup A Customizable T-shirt Store

White Label Products.  What are white label products? White label products are produced to be re-branded and sold for a markup. Some examples of white label products could be supplements, coffee, or other commodities. The original product is sold without any labeling or branding. It is then up to the retailer to create effective brand awareness and a marketing strategy. This strategy requires a solid marketing plan because competition in this market is fierce. The first step is to find white label products there is a market for and develop your unique selling proposition. If your marketing isn't unique it will be easy to get lost among the many sellers who are essentially selling the same product that you are.

Media Buy Back Store. You don't have any products but you want to get into selling music, DVDs, or video games? Why not start a trade-in store? The largest video game retailer in the US has built their empire on video game buy backs. You don't have to be a large retailer though for this model to work, you don't even need any inventory to get started. All you need is a list of items you'd like to buy back and at what prices. There is of course an app that makes it easier.

Vintage Clothing Model. It is exactly what it sounds like, you sell used clothes online. To make this one work I would focus certain highly sought after brands or styles. Great places to look for these are estate sales, goodwill stores (in trendy areas), or Craigslist curb alerts. The thing that is a pain about clothes is you need make them look good and that is hard without real live models. You'll probably want to invest in some different size mannequins or stick to something that doesn't need a model like jeans or t-shirts. You'll also probably want to create some sort of standard sizing guide, that way people aren't constantly sending stuff back. Selling clothes definitely isn't something to be taken lightly, everything has to look top-notch if you want to get top dollar for your hard work.

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