How to Buy a Dropshipping Store in 2023 (Definitive Guide)

If you're looking to run a dropshipping store but don't want to start one from scratch, then buying a dropshipping store might be your ideal solution.

However, this can be an intimidating process, especially for someone who has never done it before.

But don't worry.

In this guide, we will teach you everything you need to know about buying a dropshipping store.

How do you go about finding a dropshipping store for sale? And what should you look for before making your purchase?

We'll answer all of these questions and more, so let's get started!

Should you buy a dropshipping store? (Pros & Cons)

Before we get into buying, let's clear up some doubts you may have about your dropshipping store; should you buy one or build one yourself?

We think it's better to build a dropshipping store from scratch rather than buy one. By creating a store yourself, you will learn a lot, you won’t get scammed, and you will know everything about your store!

Buying a dropshipping store can be an attractive option if you want to jump right into selling without having to do all the setup yourself. As long as the store is successful and well-maintained, you should be able to start making money right away.

On the other hand, buying a dropshipping store can also be a gamble. If you don't know what to look for and can't avoid the pitfalls of buying a dropshipping store, you could end up losing money instead of making it.

So, before you make your decision, it's important to weigh the pros and cons carefully:

Pros of buying a dropshipping store

• Less work. You won’t have to pick a name, register a domain, choose your products, or design your website.
• Saves time. You can start selling right away. Most bought dropshipping businesses are already set up.
• A proven concept. You can purchase an established brand that already has an audience and customers. So, you won't have to test many products before finding a winner.

Cons of buying a dropshipping store

• No background information. With a bought dropshipping store, you won’t have in-depth knowledge about your target audience or the store's true quality. You may end up paying too much for it compared to what you could earn.
• No unique website. When buying a relatively cheap dropshipping store, chances are that your store will look like most other dropshipping stores. Check out this article if you want to learn how to make a dropshipping store unique!
• You won’t learn anything. By purchasing a premade dropshipping store, you are missing out on a large learning experience. When building your own store, you will learn about product research, store design, marketing, and more!
• No knowledge of previous activities. You don’t know how the previous owner treated their customers. Maybe the store has a reputation for being a scam! There will always be a risk that the store might not have a long-term future.

The 3 different types of dropshipping stores you can buy

Hopefully, these pros and cons helped you to confirm your thoughts on whether you want to buy a dropshipping store!

Now, let's take a look at the three types of dropshipping stores you can buy:

1. Brand-new dropshipping store. A brand-new dropshipping store is exactly what it sounds like; a store that has been created from scratch but never actually operated.
   • Great when: You have a clear idea of what products you want to sell and don't mind doing the setup yourself.
     
2. Turnkey dropshipping store. A turnkey dropshipping store is designed to help you start selling as quickly as possible. The concept is that you can ‘turn the key’ and start dropshipping!
   • Great when: You want a store that's ready to go as soon as you make a purchase.
     
3. Already-running dropshipping store. An already-running dropshipping store is essentially an established business that is up and running and making sales.
   • Great when: You want to make money right away and don't mind taking over someone else's business.

Here is a general overview of the differences between a brand-new, turnkey, and already-running dropshipping store:

Store element	Brand-new store	Turnkey store	Already-running store
Domain	✓	✓	✓
Products	✓	✓	✓
Logo	✓	✓	✓
Suppliers	✓	✓	✓
Apps	✓	✓	✓
Product descriptions	✓	✓	✓
Speed optimization	✖	✓	✓
Conversion rate optimization	✖	✓	✓
Installed and mature Meta Pixel	✖	✓	✓
Marketing creatives	✖	✓	✓
Email list	✖	✖	✓
Social media accounts	✖	✖	✓
Returning customers	✖	✖	✓
Marketing strategy	✖	✖	✓

Where do you buy a dropshipping store?

Now that you know the three types of dropshipping stores available, let's take a look at where you can find them.

There are several platforms you can use to buy a dropshipping store, and here is an overview of eight of our favorite ones:

Platform	Types of stores	Price range
Fiverr	Brand-new Turnkey	$10 – $300+
Flippa	Brand-new Turnkey Already-running	$400 – $1 million+
Upwork	Brand-new Turnkey	$100 – $1,000+
Empire Flippers	Already-running	$100k – $3 million+
AliDropship	Turnkey	$300 – $900
BigBuy	Turnkey	+- $900
Lemon.dev	Turnkey	€1,499
Wholesale2b	Brand-new	$50 per month

Where to buy a premade dropshipping store?

Let's start with discussing where you can buy premade dropshipping stores, which are either brand-new or turnkey dropshipping stores.

We will shortly cover the top three options below, but feel free to check out this article for more options and in-depth reviews!

1. Fiverr

Fiverr is a platform where freelancers can offer all kinds of services (also known as ‘gigs').

That means you can use Fiverr to outsource the entire setup part of your dropshipping store and let someone else do it for you:

As you can see, close to 14k services are available when using the query ‘build Shopify dropshipping store'!

Most services have a starting price of between $10 and $100. However, the costs can rise to $300+ for the most complete ‘turnkey' premade dropshipping stores.

When purchasing a premade dropshipping store from Fiverr, remember that you get what you pay for most of the time.

You shouldn't expect a professional dropshipping store for only $10, so don't be disappointed when you find out there's still lots of work to be done.

You can buy the following kinds of dropshipping stores on Fiverr:

• Brand-new premade dropshipping stores
• Turnkey dropshipping stores

2. Upwork

Upwork is a platform similar to Fiverr. The main difference between Upwork and Fiverr is that Upwork is more professional and a bit higher-priced than Fiverr.

You will find several freelancers on Upwork that can create a dropshipping store for you:

A difference between Upwork and Fiverr is that Upwork freelancers often charge by the hour, while Fiverr freelancers charge on a project basis.

As mentioned earlier, there is more of a ‘professional' vibe to Upwork, so you should be prepared to pay a bit more for a premade dropshipping store.

But because the freelancers charge by the hour, it really depends on your wishes and the freelancer themselves how much you will have to pay!

You can buy the following kinds of dropshipping stores on Upwork:

• Brand-new dropshipping stores
• Turnkey dropshipping stores

3. AliDropship

The next platform where you could get a premade dropshipping store is AliDropship.

AliDropship is a popular alternative to DSers, it's a plugin that helps to manage your AliExpress dropshipping store. (Here's our AliDropship review)

However, selling premade dropshipping stores is also a significant part of AliDropship's business.

Their homepage displays three choices for buying a dropshipping store:

• You can let AliDropship create a premade store for you (turnkey).
• You can buy an AliDropship ‘Premium Store.'
• You can build a store by yourself.

So, if you want to buy a premade dropshipping store, you can only choose from the first two options.

For the turnkey store, you can choose from packages ranging from $299 to $899:

If you want a premade dropshipping store that is already proven to be successful, you can opt to buy one of the ‘Premium Stores.'

But be aware that the ‘Premium Store' will be a copy of a successful store created by AliDropship earlier.

The downside is that you will have to find your ideal target audience yourself. But on the upside, you will have a proven store for a low price, as you can get most of the ‘Premium Stores' for $300:

You can buy the following kinds of dropshipping stores on AliDropship:

• Turnkey dropshipping stores

Tip: Did you know that their other company, Sellvia, also sells custom stores? Check out our in-depth review here!

4. Dripshipper

Dripshipper is the most well-known Shopify coffee dropshipping app. 

It offers over 40 different coffee blends and flavors that you can sell; however, their main advantage is that they make dropshipping coffee an absolute breeze.

With Dripshipper, you can choose your preferred coffee roast, as well as the size, color, type, and labeling of your store’s coffee bags:

Worldwide delivery is available on all orders shipped from their USA and EU roasters within three to five days.

And here's the best part; you can get a premade dropshipping store from Dripshipper!

For $500 per year, Dripshipper’s team of experts will build a coffee brand for you:

If you're interested in a custom dropshipping store from Dripshipper, you can find more information on their website here!

And one last tip from us; you can use the coupon code SAVE100 for $100 off!

Where to buy an already-running dropshipping store?

If you want to buy an already-running dropshipping store, then your best bet is to look for them on online business directories such as Flippa or EmpireFlippers.

These directories list thousands of stores that are already up and running and making sales.

1. Flippa

Flippa is one of the largest marketplaces where online businesses are sold and bought.

If someone wants to sell their Shopify store, they would almost certainly do it through Flippa.

Tip: Would you like to see what it's like to sell your Shopify dropshipping store? If so, check out our article about it here!

As of writing this article, around 1,900 of the 6,000+ total active listings are for dropshipping stores:

Prices for premade dropshipping stores on Flippa vary between $400 to $1 million+. So, Flippa is definitely a platform to check out if you have a higher budget!

Flippa also has some nice features that will make buying a dropshipping store easier. For instance, they have partnered with the SEO platform SEMrush, which lets you check out traffic analytics for a store's listing.

It also integrates with Google Ads, which can help you determine how much money a store makes from ads on Google.

Even if you don't want to buy a premade dropshipping store on Flippa, it is an excellent platform for market research and inspiration.

Many listings include the store's URL, allowing you to see what they are selling and how the store is designed, all while knowing its financials.

You can buy the following kinds of dropshipping stores on Flippa:

• Brand-new dropshipping stores
• Turnkey dropshipping stores
• Already-running dropshipping stores

2. Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers is another great platform that lists dropshipping stores for sale.

Like Flippa, it focuses on various online businesses, like Amazon stores, ecommerce stores, and dropshipping businesses.

You can see Empire Flippers like a small-scale version of Flippa.

For instance, Flippa had about 1,900 dropshipping stores for sale, while Empire Flippers had only five at the time of writing.

However, one big difference compared to Flippa is that Empire Flippers focuses on large, well-established, profitable online businesses only:

As you can see, the cheapest dropshipping store from Empire Flippers costs $114,694, while the most expensive one has an asking price of over $3.5 million(!).

Because of these higher prices, Empire Flippers also offers a personalized support service when buying and selling an online business.

So, if you are someone with some money to spend on a premade dropshipping store, Empire Flippers is definitely a platform to check out!

You can buy the following kinds of dropshipping stores on Empire Flippers:

• Already-running dropshipping stores

8 Things to look at before buying a dropshipping store

Awesome!

You've now learned where to buy a dropshipping store, but before you make a purchase, there are a few important things to consider.

• Profit margins. How much money can you realistically expect to make from this store? Compare this with the asking price and decide whether it's worth buying.

• Products. What kind of products is the store selling? Are they trending, or do they have the characteristics of winning products? How many products are included in the store?

• Website design. How professional and user-friendly is the website design? Is it easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing? How well-optimized is it for SEO and conversions?

• Suppliers. How reliable are the suppliers used in this store? Do they have good quality products and reasonable prices? How long does it take for orders to be delivered? Will they continue selling the product and support dropshipping in the future?

• Customer reviews. How well do customers rate the store? How many customer reviews are there, and what do they say about the store's products, quality, and service?

• Statistics. Are the promised statistics of the dropshipping store, like revenue (sales), profit/loss, and the number of visitors, verified?

• Social media accounts. Remember that even if the seller provides you with social media accounts, they can hijack them back a few days or weeks later.

• Market. Are the market conditions for the store attractive? For example, you may buy a store selling cheese graters, only to find out later that you have eight direct competitors selling the same or a higher quality version of your product. How will you beat them?

FAQs about buying a dropshipping store

Buying a dropshipping store is a complex process, so here are a few answers to some frequently asked questions:

Summary

Before we go to the conclusion, we've created a quick summary of this article for you, so you can easily remember it:

• If you're considering buying a dropshipping store, weigh the pros and cons carefully first.
• There are three types of dropshipping stores available: brand-new, turnkey, and already-running.
• You can buy premade dropshipping stores on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, AliDropship, Flippa, or EmpireFlippers.
• Before making a purchase, consider factors such as profit margins, website design, suppliers, customer reviews, and statistics.

Conclusion

Buying a dropshipping store can be a great way to jumpstart your online business.

However, it's important to do your research and ensure that you're buying a quality store from a reputable marketplace or freelancer.

So, be sure to look at things like the profit margins, products, website design, suppliers, and customer reviews before you make your purchase!

Doing so will give you a much better chance of a successful acquisition.

Good luck!

Want to learn more about dropshipping?

Ready to move your dropshipping store to the next level? Check out the articles below:

• Where to Buy Premade Dropshipping Stores? (2023 Guide)
• Dropshipping Profit Margin: All the Stats You Need to Know
• The 15 Best Dropshipping Suppliers for Shopify Stores (2023)