The real beginning of our Happy Tees® journey to relaunch an existing store in 2025 came from purchasing the business. Are you considering purchasing an entire Shopify store from business marketplaces such as Flippa, Acquire, BizBuySell, or eBay? Before you take the plunge, it's essential to understand a few key considerations, and have a checklist in place to ensure a successful acquisition. This list is by no means comprehensive (as entrepreneurs we like calling it the ultimate checklist), but let's dive into the important factors you should keep in mind when buying a small business.
Financial Due Diligence
Before we get into the financial aspects of the potential business, be sure to look at your own personal financial situation first. Do you have the funds? There is this concept called "opportunity cost" which basically means you have to choose: if you spend money to buy this business, would your money have been a better investment somewhere else? This forces you to think of what you miss out on, because you are dedicating your money toward buying this business.
And this is true for credit card or loan debt. Your purchasing power (available credit to buy other things) is reduced once you commit to following through on this transaction. Personally our comparison for better investments is not always to stocks and mutual funds, it is a mental comparison to other business listings, and we try to estimate which one would potentially yield the best result.
With all that being said, before making any decisions, conduct a thorough financial due diligence of the Shopify store you are interested in. Review important details such as: (1) revenue streams; (2) profit margins; (3) expenses; and (4) cash flow to ensure the business is financially healthy and sustainable.
You can request screenshots, reports, statements, emails, and other evidence to help to decide if this is worth your time and money to buy the business. And remember, even if there is limited data because of slow periods or temporarily pausing operations, you can still ask questions. It doesn't have to be a perfect fit. You just need to feel good about making the decision to move forward or not.
Traffic and Customer Base
You’re trying to estimate the current state of the store. Shopify can help on this point with some of the canned reporting that is built-in for the store. We explored these reports in our second blog post, Analytics as Our Compass to Relaunch Our Store. Otherwise you will need to see if other sources of truth are available such as Google Analytics, or maybe Shopify apps that were previously installed. Examine the traffic sources and customer base of the store. Understand where traffic is coming from, customer demographics, and retention rate. A strong and engaged customer base is crucial for the long-term success of the business.
Also, there is more to it than just exporting or reviewing the list of Shopify customers from that store. You can also ask about engagement metrics and follower counts from social media posts, and advertising campaign reports to estimate the interest level and customer response.
Brand Reputation
How old is the domain name? What are customers posting online? Ask the seller of the business if they have been banned from any accounts such as payment processors, or other platforms. Feel free to conduct web searches, as well as discussion forums and social media platforms, for the store name or products and see what results come back. Check the brand reputation of the Shopify store by looking at customer reviews, ratings, and feedback. A positive brand image and good reviews can help you maintain customer trust and loyalty after the acquisition.
And again remember to ask if there were any previously installed Shopify apps. For example, if apps were used to handle customer reviews, or net promoter score (NPS) surveys, or feedback about customer satisfaction (CSAT), then you can ask to see some dashboards or reporting from those apps. You never know what valuable insights you might uncover, good or bad.
Potential Legal Issues
Look at where the business is located, and where are the customers located. Verify that the store complies with all legal requirements and regulations. What legal requirements you say?
You may already have some of this taken care of through your normal business formation activities, but consider the following: (1) tax registration, including at the local level to collect and report sale taxes; (2) reseller's certificate, if required in your jurisdiction to buy items at wholesale for the purpose of selling through the Shopify store; (3) how to handle personal identifying information (PII data) from customers, including consumer rights to opt-out of sharing their data and/or deleting it from your business records; (4) displaying a web browser cookie banner; (5) compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA Title III), auditing for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), adding text alternatives (alt text) on images, screen reader navigation, etc; (6) licensing the software used through your Shopify store (and the fonts you use!); (7) trademark registration updates, and copyright renewals; (8) business liability insurance; and probably so much more.
It will become your responsibility to review the storefront terms of service, privacy policy, and any other legal documents to avoid any potential legal issues in the future. Shopify does a good job of helping by providing suggestions and templates for these types of policy updates.
Inventory and Suppliers
Two words here in 2025 to keep in mind for "extra" costs: tariffs and customs. If the Shopify store sells physical products, you need to assess current inventory levels and supplier relationships. Make sure there are reliable suppliers in place to fulfill orders and maintain inventory levels to meet customer demand. You have to ask yourself if switching suppliers is even possible. What are the costs involved to switch? Where is physical inventory stored (you may have to pay for a warehouse or storage unit)? How much does shipping cost? Can you afford to have products manufactured and shipped from overseas or foreign countries?
This also holds true for digital products such as ebooks, music, images, and other products that are not physical inventory. You would want to know how to continue creating these products, and more information about the supplier (or the method and process to create new products). An important note that could've also been mentioned earlier for legal, is about intellectual property rights for digital products (well, any product for that matter). Make sure you have the right to own and sell those products. For example, copyrights ©️ (C), trademarks ™️ (TM), patents ®️ (R). You cannot rely on faith that certain things are free, or have moved into the public domain. It's up to you to verify everything, and have proof, just in case you are asked for evidence in the future.
Technology Stack
What is the technology stack and infrastructure of the Shopify store? Check if the website is mobile-friendly, streamlined for search engine optimization (SEO), and integrated with essential tools and plugins for e-commerce success. You know the store is running on Shopify, but who is the domain name registrar? How would you edit the domain DNS records? What domains are included in the purchase of the business?
Anther important point is about security. Ask about email settings, how would you edit SPF, DKIM, and DMARC? What existing measures are in place to reduce fraudulent activity through the store? For example, blocking automated bots, validating details upon checkout, reducing customer chargebacks on their credit card, etc.
Support During Transition
Is the store currently live and processing orders? Plan for a smooth transition after the acquisition. Discuss this upfront with the seller about the handover process, training, and ongoing support to ensure a seamless transfer of ownership and operations. It’s customary to see business listings with 2 weeks, or 30 days, or a similar set time period, where the seller is available to you for calls or emails to answer any questions or concerns that come up post-sale.
If taking the store offline is necessary, you will need to think of a communication plan to inform customers about upcoming changes. In our situation, the Shopify store was offline with a password restriction on the main page. Our communication plan was to use the customer mailing list to “warm them up” by sending the updated annual privacy notice to everyone. We wrote about this in another blog post, Analytics From Our Shopify Email Campaigns.
Growth Opportunities
The benefit of asking all of these types of questions before closing the deal, is you might easily identify potential growth opportunities for the Shopify store. Look for ways to expand or reduce the product line, or target a new consumer market, or improve marketing strategies to maximize the potential for new sales after the acquisition.
By considering these key factors and following a checklist, you can make an informed decision when buying a turnkey Shopify store from business marketplaces. Remember to seek professional advice and guidance throughout the acquisition process to mitigate risks and maximize the potential of your new e-commerce venture. More to come . . .
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